This guest post is brought to you today by none other than - my mom.
She is a mother of two, wife to one and Gramma to four of the sweetest grandkids on earth ;)
Not only was she an incredibly devoted mom in my "growing up" years, she continues to bless our socks off weekly as she spends every Tuesday with our fam...often making dinner, and even serving as an AWANA leader for her oldest grandson. She's been known to feed her family, WELL... (and anyone else who walks through the doors of our house!) This is the first of many "family friendly" meal ideas she'll share with us throughout the year...bon appetite!
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What's for Dinner?
That is the
question that came to me every single day. What am I going to fix my family for dinner tonight??? I discovered that once I had the
answer, half the battle was over.
Not that cooking is a battle for me…. I love to cook (and I love to
eat!). Still, I had to
decide daily what to feed my precious
family for dinner. Having a
husband and two children meant that I had to fix something that each one would
eat…. maybe not love, but eat. For
me, a roast chicken dinner became my “go to” meal. It was reasonable (I always bought the chickens on sale),
healthy and everyone liked it!
Hooray!
The funny
part about this dinner is what my children said about it years later (they are
both adults now). “Remember how
mom used to cook that roast chicken EVERY NIGHT??? Ha-Ha-Ha”.
Of course I didn’t cook it every night! Probably 3 times a month is more
accurate…. But they must really remember that dinner!
The beauty
of this meal is that once you get it in the oven, it’s ready in two hours, largely
unattended. To round it out, I’d
stick some baked potatoes in the oven with the chicken and cook up some veggies
(usually green beans) just before serving. I remember picking up the kids from soccer or baseball
practice while my chicken was in the oven. It was lovely to have the house smelling wonderful and
dinner ready when we got home. (Stay safe here people…. when the chicken is close to being
done, you must turn the oven off and let it finish cooking in reserved heat if
you are going to leave the house!)
Enough talk…. Let’s cook!
You will
need:
1 whole
chicken, spices and olive oil, potatoes, veggie of your choice.
Rinse
chicken inside and out with cold water.
Dry well with paper towels. Cut off fatty pieces of skin, but leave most of the skin on!
Season
chicken well, inside and out, with spices (I use seasoned salt, pepper, garlic
powder, onion powder and paprika.) Drizzle a little olive oil and rub all over the spiced up chicken.
Then, tuck the wings under (think
Thanksgiving turkey) and tie legs together (optional).
Put in 375
degree oven for 45 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325 degrees for another 75
minutes or so. Don’t forget to put
the potatoes in the oven with the chicken. You can use any kind of potatoes…. Russets or Yukon Gold are
my favorites. It’s lovely to rub
them in olive oil then sprinkle with kosher salt before baking.
After about
an hour, the chicken will give off a lot of “juice”.
You can drain some off if you’d like. (With the fat skimmed off, it makes a
lovely “ au jus” to drizzle over chicken after plated.) I like to turn the whole chicken over
at this point, to brown the bottom. Flip back over after about 30 minutes or so that the chicken finishes
breast side up.
That’s my
chicken dinner. It worked for me
for years...... and now my daughter makes it for her hungry family (although
she needs to make two chickens!)
On that note, it’s a great idea to make two chickens, because shredded
roast chicken is great for future dinners (enchiladas, quesadillas, burritos,
etc.)
May God
bless you and your family, as you all sit down together for a beautiful and
delicious meal.
I love roast chicken and haven't made one in awhile...guess what's going on my shopping list for next week. :) Thanks Darcy for sharing your recipe.