Living - Whatchya Got Cookin'? Article #1: Easy Chicken Legs!

Quite honestly, up until the past 6 months or so I had NEVER purchased any piece of chicken from the grocery store besides the skinless, boneless chicken breasts (unless you count chicken nuggests)!  But recently it was time to start looking to save wherever we could and get crafty with our meals.  I started looking beyond the breasts and noticed that instead of paying $2.99-$3.99 a pound, I could pay $.79-$.99 a pound!  (Of course prices vary by store, season and so on.)

HyVee had their 10-packs of chicken legs on sale for $.79 a pound a while back and I thought to myself, for that price I have to be able to find something to do with them that my family will love. (Note:  These are on sale through today for $.99 a pound.)

And just as I thought, I did!  And the recipe I have thrown together over the past few months has become a favorite.  And it is one of the easiest recipes!  But bottom line, it is definitely a budget friendly recipe.

I'll call them, Easy Family Favorite Chicken Legs!

What you will need:
Crock Pot
Little water
Little Lawry's Season Salt
Little Black Pepper
1 10-pk Chicken Legs (or more depending on the size of your family and crock pot)
1 Cup Ranch (use the cheap ranch, when mixed in it doesn't matter)
1/3 Cup Mustard
1/3 Cup brown sugar

What you do:
Turn crock pot on:  If you have all day (putting them in before you head to work), set to low and they will be done and falling off the bone when you get home.  If you only have a few hours, set the crock pot to high and they will be done in about 3 hours.

Fill the bottom 1/4 inch of crock pot dish with water (don't put in too much or it will 'wash off' your sauce).  Place chicken legs in crock pot, sprinkle with lawry's and black pepper.  Cover until sauce is made.

Mix together ranch, mustard and brown sugar.  Drizzle chicken legs with half of ranch mixture while they are in the crock pot and recover until chicken is done.  Set remainder of ranch mixture in refrigerator.

When meat is cooked through, serve with remainder of ranch mixture for dipping.

Notes: If you prefer a crunchier skin on chicken, you can place legs in the oven for approximately 15 minutes at 375 degrees.  You could also substitute BBQ sauce or your favorite sauces in place of the ranch mixture.

Yummo!

I made these last night so that I could grab some pictures to show you and there were no leftovers.  My 4-year old daughter had 3 legs! 

Approximate overall cost (not considering coupons):
10-pk chicken legs $3
Ranch $1
Mustard $.50
Brown Sugar $.25
= $4.75!

These would make for EASY and YUMMY eats at your SuperBowl party!