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Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself?
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Since food and I have had a good relationship for decades now, I sometimes forget about the early years. In my teens I was was pretty obsessed with being thin. Back then, there was a lot of interest in dramatic cases of eating disorders, especially Karen Carpenter’s death from heart failure due to anorexia nervosa in 1983 (my senior year of high school), but the casual use of Dexatrim (over-the-counter speed), starving yourself and occasional self-induced vomiting was no big deal. All the supermodels had protruding hip bones and thighs that did not touch. That was the goal. I remember a gym teacher talking to me once about being too thin. (I was 5’8” and about 118 pounds.) I thought I looked great. So did my boyfriend.
Thankfully, I mostly quit dieting in college and eventually got into swimming and was a pretty normal eater. I dabbled in vegetarianism, but I ended up consuming so much cheese that it elevated my cholesterol and I also developed lactose intolerance, which thankfully resolved. (Imagine a life without ice cream!) I now take a daily statin to control my high cholesterol, which I blame on my genetics. My parents both take statins, but at 87 and 92 they’re still traveling and eating whatever they want, so I’m not gonna worry about it.
I really love to eat good food now. We have a great relationship. Sometimes I try fancy recipes from the New York Times, but more often I make a few standbys that have like 4 ingredients and always come out great.
One of those is crockpot lemon chicken. A friend of mine once shared this recipe on Facebook and said “this sounds good” —and so it was. I’ve made this recipe dozens, if not hundreds, of times:
Crock Pot Lemon Chicken
Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3–4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thirds
1/4 cup butter
1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing/seasoning mix
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1.) Rinse the chicken pieces with water, then lightly coat them in flour. Set aside.
2.) Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, add half of the flour-coated chicken pieces. Avoid overcrowding the pan; you will cook the chicken in two batches.
3.) Season with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken for 3–4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. You are not cooking the chicken all the way through at this stage, just creating a golden-brown crust.
4.) Remove the chicken from the skillet and place it in the crock pot.
5.) Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Cook the remaining flour-coated chicken pieces for 3–4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place it in the crock pot.
6.) Sprinkle the Italian dressing/seasoning mix evenly over the chicken.
7.) Pour the fresh lemon juice and chicken broth over the chicken.
8.) Cover with the lid and cook on LOW for approximately 3 hours.
9.) Serve the chicken pieces whole or shredded, topped with the lemon sauce and broth.
RIP Karen Carpenter. I loved her voice so much. She was one of the greatest altos of all time. If only she hadn’t had such a fraught relationship with food, she would have been 76 now.
