Home of Slightly Cracked Dreams

As you can see, last nights dinner was Apricot Chicken. First a disclaimer. My mother passed away when I was 13 and I was away at boarding school. I went to a rather exclusive private school, were it was assumed we would all have careers and cooks, so there was no such thing as cooking classes or home economics. My father remarried when I was 16, and my step-mother is a career woman. Her idea of cooking is adding a jar of something to chicken and serving it with rice. Or mixing meat, sauce, vegetables and noodles for stir fry.

My DH on the otherhand loves to cook, doesn't like jars of anything, and has a mother who's a rather "experimental" cook. Although in the 4 years I've been regularly eating at her house she's only had one dud. Not bad odds.

So it's really been in the last 4 years I've taught myself to cook. I haven't had many disasters, because I like recipes. I am quite good at substituting (I have quite bland tastes) and adjusting where necessary, but I like to have a recipe in front of me to work from.

This recipe is my favourite. It's easy, simple, relatively cheap and the kids (and DH) love it. I can get a meal on the table for $6 to serve 4. Considering my target for main meals is $2 per person, it's a regular on our list.

Apricot Chicken
1kg chicken drumsticks (or 500g chicken thigh or breast, diced)
1pkt French Onion Soup powder mix
1 tin Apricot Nectar (or Apricots)

Preheat oven to 180 - 200.
Place chicken in a casserole dish
Sprinkle French Onion Soup over chicken
Pour Apricot Nectar or Apricots over Chicken and Soup
Bake in the oven for 1 hour for drumsticks or 40 minutes for thigh or breast, turning twice.

Serve with rice and green vegetables (my girls like beans, DH likes broccoli and I like snow peas)