Easy Sunday Lunch

In all honesty, our family usually goes out to a restaurant for lunch after church on Sundays.  BUT during the fall when the Hubs has to be at a football coaches meeting by 2:00, sometimes it's easier to us if I plan a lunch at home.  This can be tricky since we are at church until at least 12:30.  I usually do something in the Crock Pot, but I came across this easy recipe by Rachael Ray that, when mixed with some leftover lima beans and the easiest cookies in the world, turned out perfectly for a yummy, healthy Sunday lunch.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
Rachael Ray

1 cup basmati rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 lemon, thinly sliced
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 whole chicken, 2.5-3 lbs.
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Pour the rice into a 9 x 13 pan.  Add the chicken stock, lemon slices, thyme sprigs, and some salt and pepper, stir to combine.  Place chicken on top of rice, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in a 400 degree oven for one hour or until the chicken and rice are done.  Let the chicken stand for 5-10 minutes, carve and serve with the rice.

I could not find a chicken that small.  The one I cooked was about 4 lbs, so it had to cook for a little longer.  I should have put more stock in the rice because it dried out just a little, but it was still good!

Easy Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman

1 tube of Refrigerator Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
24 mini Reese's cups

Slice the cookie dough into 6 equal slices.  Cut each slice into quarters so you have 24 pieces of dough.  Put one piece of dough into each cup in a mini muffin tin.  Bake at 350 for about 6-8 minutes until the cookies are almost done.  Immediately after pulling them out of the over, press in a mini Reese's cup.  Allow to cool completely before removing the cookies from the muffin tin.

These can be done with pretty much any cookie dough with any mini-sized chocolate candy you like.  Ree's recipe is called Quick Candy Cookies because she had made them so many different ways.  My family enjoyed the cookies immensely.  However, I should have baked them for 10-12 minutes.  They were not completely done, so it was hard to eat them.  But who doesn't love cookie dough??

So, take a little time to prepare an easy Sunday lunch for you family!