Besides being tasty, let’s talk about another reason why buying the whole chicken makes sense, or should I say makes cents? That’s right, I’m talking about the $$$. I bought my chicken, full price, for about $6. Monday night, I made a beautiful and delicious roast chicken; let’s call that meal #1. After dinner, I stripped the remaining meat off the frame and stuck both meat and bones in the fridge. Yup bones, too, but that’s tomorrow’s post. Yesterday, just before lunch I pulled out the leftover chicken and got ready for meal #2: Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad. I had about 2 cups of chicken left over, but we are a small family. If you have less left, just estimate and adjust your other ingredients to make the chicken salad. It’s a really forgiving recipe. If you have no chicken left over, that’s sad. Next time make two chickens. You can’t go wrong with having extra chicken around the house. Besides chicken salad, cooked chicken comes in handy for topping green salads, making wraps or sandwiches, casseroles, soups, chicken enchiladas or burritos, chicken kabobs, chicken-gumbo, chicken fricassee… sorry, I just started channeling Benjamin Buford ‘Bubba’ Blue for a minute. Anyway, my point is, cooked chicken is a good thing to have around.
Sweet and chewy cranberries, crunchy celery and walnuts and tangy yogurt combine with chicken for a salad sensation. If you feel the need to eat it straight from the bowl, standing in front of the open refrigerator, I won't judge. I've done it myself.
Ingredients
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
½ cup celery, sliced
3 green onions, sliced
3 Tbs mayonnaise
¼ cup plain yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tbs dried oregano
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a large bowl, combine chicken, cranberries, walnuts and onions; mix well.
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, oregano and pepper; pour over chicken mixture. Mix gently.
Tastes best if you have time to refrigerate, covered, for 1 to 2 hours.
Let’s talk chicken. Sure, we are all familiar with the boneless, skinless variety, but can I be frank? Those can be a bit, um… boring. This week, I’m going to help you to break you out of that chicken rut. Let’s start by embracing the whole bird, shall we? Um… not like that. Awkward.
Want to feel like a hero in the kitchen? Put this on the dinner table:
Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken
I made this dish for dinner last night. My family raved over it, and gave me enough praise to fill my little middle-child heart with glee. What they don’t know it this: roast chicken ranks right up there with spaghetti and baked potatoes on the cooking difficulty scale. This is one dish where the outcome far outweighs what you put into it. Want to make things really easy? Throw some potatoes in the oven to bake while the chicken is roasting. If you round things out with salad, making it will be the most difficult part of the meal.
Don't fear the chicken. Roast chicken is honestly one of the easiest foods there is to make, but we can keep that a secret. Your family will think you've slaved all day over this sweet and spicy masterpiece. Go ahead and let them do the dishes.
Ingredients
One whole fryer
Olive oil
Spice rub for poultry (mine has sage, thyme, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and parsley in it), season salt, or salt and pepper
¼ cup apple jelly
¼ cup honey
½ - 1 tsp fresh grated or jarred ginger
¼ - ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°.
Begin by preparing your chicken. Remove from packaging and reach your hand in the cavity (trust me, this dish is worth it). Pull out any giblets, large fat deposits and/or neck. Set aside for another dish or discard.
Trim any loose skin and tail, if desired. (The tail question comes down to aesthetics. I usually leave it, because I am a lazy cook.)
Rinse chicken, inside and out with cold water. Pat dry with paper towel.
Place chicken on a rack in a baking pan, breast side up.
Rub entire bird with olive oil. Liberally sprinkle on spice rub, season salt, or salt and pepper and lightly rub in.
Place chicken on lower-middle rack in oven and roast for about 25 minutes, to start.
While chicken is roasting, prepare glaze: Combine apple jelly, honey in a small dish. Stir. If jelly does not break down and combine well, microwave mixture for 30 seconds to melt.
Add ½ teaspoon of ginger and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne. Taste, then add more of each, if desired.
After cooking chicken for about 40 minutes, remove from oven and spoon half of the glaze over the bird, taking care to cover legs and wings.
Return chicken to the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove and cover with the remaining glaze. If wing tips are beginning to look overly brown, cover them with foil.
Place chicken back in the oven and cook until juices run clear and thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165°. Take care not to touch the bone with the thermometer; that would give a false reading.
Total cooking time should be between 1 and 1½ hours, depending on the size of bird.
Sometimes I like to pretend that my life is a musical.
I often bust out into whatever song I feel is appropriate, much to the embarrassmentadmiration of my friends and family. Even when I’m not singing out loud, there is almost always a song running in the back of my mind. When I pay attention to it, I find that the words usually relate to whatever I am experiencing at the time. For example: a couple of months ago, smack in the middle of my personal winter, I spent several days with The Lion King’s The Circle of Life running through my head. I had no idea why, and frankly, I was beginning to get a little annoyed by it. However, when I took the time to pay attention, I realized that the predominate lyrics I was thinking on were: There’s more to see than can ever be seen/More to do than can ever be done, Lightbulb: I was silently belting out my feelings of anxiety and stress. Realizing that did absolutely nothing to relieve my stress, but at least I understood the soundtrack.
On a happier note (Ha! See what I did there? Song? Note? … Hello?), I’m pleased to report that for the last three days in a row, I have awakened to this song in my head:
Go ahead and listen. You can’t help but love it.
Here are a few things that are making me smile today.
one The flood water is receding. Note: It took me three tries to type w-a-t-e-r. My fingers kept wanting to type w-a-l-t-e-r. Walt is not receding. Thinning a bit, yes, but definitely not receding. Not only is the water level going down, but we have had honest to goodness sunshine in patches over the weekend. Me, suddenly bursting into song: I’m walkin’ on sunshine, yeah, yeah and don’t it feel good? This is the kind of thing that people who know me well have to put up with all the time.
two The slug slime came up off my couch. All I had to do was wait for it to dry, then scrape it off and then seal off and fumigate the entire area with napalm. Now it’s gone, gone, gone, whoa-oh-oh-oh-whoa…
three Things are getting done. Hurray! Our remodeling/repair job feels like it is taking for-ev-er, but progress is being made. For example, we once again have two (count ’em: one, two!) functioning bathrooms. The hall bath has received a complete makeover, including new tile flooring, new cabinets and sink, granite counter top, and a brand new no overflow toilet. Haaaallelujah, haaaaallelujah, hallalujah-hallalujah, hall-ayyyy-ay-lu-yah! We’ve still got some finishing touches to do; I’ll share pictures soon.
three-and-a-half Remember this? We found that old window at a garage sale back in September and I had such big plans for it. On Saturday, I batted my eyelashes and sweet talked Walt into finally helping me bring those plans to fruition. The following horror was our entry when we first moved into our house. If you have small children on your lap, you may wish to cover their eyes. We have done a fair amount of work there: replacing the front and closet doors, tiling over the ugly vinyl (not pictured) with a pretty matte black granite, replacing and painting the wood trim, and utterly demolishing those terrible prison bars spindles. Still the area didn’t look finished. Without the spindles, we had a hole in the wall that looked to me like a walk up ice-cream counter. Enter new-old window: Please note the new curtains too. Love. Them. Here is another peek at my window: This afternoon Newt told me: “Mama- I love that she calls me that… “Mama, if we sit right here on the couch and look at the front window and the entryway our house looks done. Let’s just not turn around briiiight eyes.” Agreed. I’m not going to turn around and see my plywood and 70’s vinyl flooring (now with more asbestos!). …but the view I love the most is on my front porch lookin’ iiiin!
four Our church has multiple congregations that meet in the same building. Every year we trade meeting times around. Last year, we went to church at 8:30. AM. Twice a month I had early morning meetings. At 7:00. AM. As in, in-the-morning. Aye-yi-yi, that’s early. This year, we meet at 12:30. Sunday mornings are slow and relaxed again. We stay in our pjs for awhile, walk the dog together, make breakfast… It’s heavenly. That’s why I’m eeeasy, easy like Sunday mornin’…
four and three-quarters Newt made breakfast for us yesterday. I found her a recipe for pumpkin muffins and she went to work. They’re whole-wheat with no refined sugar, using honey instead, and oh-my-yum. The only modification she made (she is my daughter, after all) was adding some pumpkin seeds and walnuts to the batter. Want some? The recipe is right here. Why are there so many songs about muffins, and what’s on the other side? Oh yeah, I also make up my own lyrics. Why not? It’s my show life.
First of all, thanks for all your kind words yesterday. I really appreciate your support. Okay, enough sharing of the feelings: let’s eat. Last week’s BlogHer Book Club review has got me thinking about all those good Omega 3s (and chocolate) that my body needs. Banana Bread to the rescue! Where you will find Omega 3 oils in this recipe:
Farm-fresh eggs and milk: grass fed animals produce higher omega 3s in their meat, milk and eggs (though store bought products will still make a great-tasting and good for you banana bread).
Nut lovers rejoice! Walnuts are high in omega 3s.
Just to take it over the top, there’s 1/4 cup of ground flax for mega-omaega 3 power!
None of that would matter much though if it didn’t taste amazing, right? Go ahead and eat half the loaf while standing over the kitchen sink. I won’t judge. It’s a health food.
You know, ugly things get kind of a bad wrap. Where would the world be without hairless cats, Donald Trump’s hair, and decidedly unphotogenic casseroles? Newt wanted lasagna after church on Sunday. Lasagna is pretty easy, really, but I wanted to streamline it a bit. I just wasn’t in the mood for fussing with the layering. I took all the basic ingredients, substituting macaroni for the lasagna noodles, dumped it in a dish and called it good. Walt and Newt called it good too, when we sat down to eat. This dish may not be the prettiest girl at the ball, but it sure has a great personality.
This casserole won't be winning any beauty contests, but it tastes great and it's even better for lunch the next day. Even with making your own sauce, it comes together pretty quickly.
Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 small yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, pressed
1 lb lean ground beef
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp honey (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups dry macaroni
2 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375.
Begin by preparing your homemade pasta sauce: Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent, then add garlic. Cook until slightly brown.
Add ground beef and cook until browned.
Stir in herbs, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. If you prefer a sweeter sauce, add honey.
Salt to taste and simmer while you prepare pasta. (Tip: if you have time, simmer longer, up to an hour or so. The longer you simmer, the better the flavor.)
Cook pasta in boiling water until just al dente. Drain and mix pasta with sauce. Add 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, mix ricotta and Parmesan cheeses. Spoon into pasta and stir slightly. (You want the ricotta to stay somewhat clumpy.)
Pour into a greased casserole dish and top with remaining mozzarella.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.
Remember when I said I was all full of ideas and plans? Yeah, me too. What’s that old saying? People plan, God laughs? I might as well join him: Ha ha hee ho hum… Poor Newt has a nasty stomach bug. All plans are on hold. Yesterday, I spent the day providing ice chips and clear fluids, fluffy pillows and tv. Time and loving care seem to be working and Newt is on the mend. Tomorrow, if all goes well, I’ll serve her favorite breakfast and we’ll get on with our plans.
This is a great dish. It's cake-like yet filling, good hot or cold and is oh so good for you. It's made with real, wholesome ingredients and no refined sugars. Soaking the oats before preparation makes them easier to digest and helps your body to better absorb the oatmeal's nutrients. Plus it's super tasty. You'll almost feel like you are getting away with something bad.
Ingredients
2 cups rolled oats, not instant
1 cup full-fat plain yogurt with live, active cultures (We use homemade yogurt, but most store brands are fine. Just check the label.)
½ cup water
2 eggs
⅓ cup honey
⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1½ tsp baking powder
⅓ cup whole milk
1 – 2 cups fresh, frozen or dried fruit (I used a handful each of dried apples and frozen blueberries in the pictured dish.)
Instructions
Mix oats, yogurt and water in an ungreased 8 x 8 baking dish. Cover with a clean towel and let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Don't worry, your yogurt won't spoil. The live cultures keep it from going bad. (Of course, never eat anything that looks or smells spoiled, but I'm telling you, you don't need to worry about it with this dish.)
When you are ready to prepare your oatmeal, mix remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add to oatmeal mixture and stir until incorporated.
Bake at 350° for 40 minutes.
Scoop servings into bowls and top, if desired with real maple syrup and milk or cream (skimmed from the top of fresh, raw milk is divine.)
Leftovers can be reheated or eaten cold. Both are wonderful.
Lies to children for fun and profit. NYT Bestselling author of Hook's Revenge, Hook's Revenge: The Pirate Code, and Giraffes Ruin Everything.
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