Roast Chicken: Easy and Economical

As usual I am running late as we all tumbled in from work/school.  Traffic was a little slow due to the unexpected snowfall we had last night.   Peanut and Button got down to chores and then homework, Hubby took care of phone calls, and I began the roast chicken before settling down to homework with the boys.  Today was all about persuading Button that his biography on Derek Jeter need more than three incomplete sentences!I love to roast…I am actually known in my circle of friends for it.

Today I will tell you about my roast chicken:

Ingredients:

1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken

Sea Salt with Sea Veg

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, halved

1 bulb garlic, chopped up finely

1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

Rosemary finely chopped and mixed with lemon juice

Olive oil

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  Carefully remove the giblets and rinse thoroughly.  Dry by patting with a clean dishcloth.  Stuff the cavity with garlic, a lemon slice, and some of the Lemon Rosemary juice.  Rub the outside of the chicken with the Rosemary-Lemon juice, rub in the garlic, and sprinkle on the salt and pepper.  This keeps the whole chicken moist but you can add the olive oil also.  Today, I did not.  I cook the chicken untied and upside down for 30 minutes.  This really lets the juices run into the breast nicely.  Upside-down

I then turn the chicken over, rub and sprinkle again of desires and keep roasting for another hour or until the juices run clear when you put a knife between the leg and thigh.  Take out the chicken and let it rest for about 30 minutes covered lightly in foil.

I then serve the carved chicken for dinner.  Today we had corn, carrots, string beans and a side of french bread with butter.

The following day, the cold chicken becomes sandwich meat.  Peanut love teriyaki chicken so I also reheat it in low sodium teriyaki sauce and keep it warm in a thermos for his lunch with a side of vegetables (depends what is fresh).

Once we have used up the bulk of the meat, I boil down the carcass and make chicken soup.  I will write about that in a future post.  I usually do it very well, making up my own recipe as I go along,  but this week I am trying a new ingredient so we will see how it works out…stay tuned!  Until then, try out some soup recipes from these favorites of mine:

• Jeanette’s Healthy Living
• The Full Plate Blog
• Real Mom Nutrition

Healthy, Lazy Dinner

From Happy Healthy Mama

After a long day at work and the commute home, it is hard to muster up the energy or enthusiasm to cook.  On days when my oomph has deserted me, I like to open a bottle of red and make up a new recipe.  The adventure lies in the fact that I have absolutely no idea about the outcome…will it be edible?  Will I like it?  Will the kids eat it?

I always know it will be healthy, but edible is another matter.  I am typing as I am waiting for the concoction to cook, so I really don’t know the answer!  Here is what I decided to put together:

4 organic boneless/skinless chicken breasts sautéed in coconut oil, garlic, organic tinned tomatoes and a good dose of wine – all simmered down to a mush (my technical term) and I cut up the chicken into strips. I also sprinkled sesame seeds on the chicken as it cooked…yummy!

1 cup of quinoa most of which I add to the concoction, leaving some plain for fussy kids.

Steamed green beans

So simple to throw together…no measuring (except the quinoa) and it smells delicious!  Now I’m off to serve the meal.  I’ll report back in a few.  Oh!  I forgot to grab the camera so I’m adding pictures more for the sake of interest than to actually show my handiwork.

Okay, I’m back and we all survived.  I think the meal was pretty successful all in all.  I think the following tips helped that happen:

• I served everything family style so the boys could be in charge of what they chose and how much they put on their plates – I’ve always done this but was reminded how helpful it can be over at Blog for Family Dinner
• I served the concoction in one dish (chicken, quinoa, and tomato sauce) but also served plain chicken and plain quinoa (the boys were expected to try the concoction – three bites – but could then opt for the plain versions if preferred)
• As the boys finished their chosen portion of green beans, I gently guided them to help themselves to more, which they happily did!

We enjoyed a nice family dinner with conversation guided away from the food and towards our daily evening chat:  What was the best and worst thing about the day?  We always have that talk, as I like to catch up with things going on in my boys’ lives, but also so they have the opportunity to share anything that is not so great.   I believe in creating a safe environment to talk about the stuff that might be on their minds.  My plan is to ensure that conversation is part of our family life  now, so communication is open when we hit the dreaded teenage years.