Roasted Chicken

Yumm! I love cooking a roasted anything really. Whole chickens are pretty inexpensive too. Not to mention all the meals you can get out of one whole chicken!


1 whole chicken
1 or 2 celery stalks, cut up 2-3" pieces
1 med onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 Tbsp garlic granules (or 3-4 fresh cloves minced)
1 Tbsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Parsley
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Pepper
olive or vegetable oil


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse the chicken and throw the innards into your freezer to add to homemade chicken broth. Loosen the skin on the breasts, being careful not to tear it. Chop up your veggies and place in the bottom of a roasting pan with a rack. Mix the next 6 ingredients together to make a 'rub'. Take about one or two tablespoons of the spice rub and push it up & under the skin of the chicken, rub it around under there. Drizzle the oil all over the chicken and the remaining spices over the outside of the chicken. Place chicken in a roasting pan on top of the rack, breast side up & cover. Roast the chicken for an hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes (depending on size) or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 165°F. Don't poke too many holes with the thermometer, you don't want the juices to leak out.
Remove the roasting pan from the oven, carefully lift out the rack with the roasted chicken on it and transfer the bird to a clean cutting board. Let it rest, covered with foil, for about 10 minutes before carving.

Here is a picture of mine going into the oven. Sorry its blurry, lol.

I don't have any "after" pictures because it was so tender it fell off the bones, lol. As of today the bones are picked clean & are resting in the freezer. I am going to take most of the chicken that is left & make some chicken pot pies for future dinners. I hope the freezer is up for it.

Thanks for reading, have a nice week!



Posts from the week

Some posts I liked this week…

Megen at Sparing-Change cutting costs on your vacation. There are some good tips there, check it out.

Read this post if you are having a bad day or week. It's the weekend so hopefully you can implement some of these and appreciate the res1. Thanks, Nora.

This is a good and unusual post on more and many uses of duct tape. Another good one from Daniel over at Wisebread.

Diane @ Turning the Clock back is turning up the salads with edible flowers. Check out this post.

They have a guest blogger over at Not Made of Money and he has written about struggling with energy bills. We can all use help on energy costs.

Marisa @ Food in Jars blogged about how to tell if your canning items have gone bad. Check this post out.

Go over to The Homestead Revival tomorrow and link up to the Preparedness Challenge.

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Barn Hop #33

(click on me to chek it out)

This week on the Barn Hop, I thought I would post a recipe for Chili. It isn't quite 'chili eating' weather here in Florida, but I made it anyway in hopes it will be soon.

Chili

1 lb ground beef, browned
1-28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1- small can diced tomatoes
1 or 2 can kidney beans, light and/or dark
1 small-med onion chopped
1-2 envelopes chili mix (to taste)
dash or 2 cayenne pepper (to taste)

8 oz. sour cream
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the ground beef and chopped onion together until the beef is done. Drain fat. Add the chili mix tomatoes, beans and cayenne pepper and stir it all together. Simmer until ready to eat. Near the end of cooking time I usually mash the mixture to make the sauce a little thicker. Serve over rice if you want.

This is a very basic recipe. You could add anything you want to this. We have some picky eaters so this is usually what I start with. I can't make it too hot and this is always a challenge for me as I like it hotter than normal. We also top with a pinch of shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Enjoy!

My Blessings for the week

Sundays are my very favorite day to just relax and chill. I like to reflect on the week and just be thankful for the good things in my life. I thought I would share with you my little list today.

1. I am thankful baby Kai is healthy & that he cooperated for his 4D sonogram and quit 'hiding' so we could see his little face. 

2. I am thankful for every month I get to attend the Dorcus meetings with the ladies at church. I love to listen to them chat and share their wisdom.

3. I am thankful for the trip to the grocery store. We are very fortunate to have food to put on the table.

4. I am thankful to our vet and my kitty's perseverance.

5. I am thankful that when the sliding glass door shattered, no one got hurt, It stayed in the frame until the repairman came and we were able to get it fixed fast.

6. I am thankful for some fabulous weather for a beautiful baby shower on Saturday.

Blessings to everyone today. Enjoy your Sunday!

Mama kitty update...&

...and I promise, no more.

She is doing well so far. She is adjusting to blindness and doing pretty good for a 19-1/2 year old kitty. :}

Ok. I have been trying to catch up on reading all the Barn Hop blogs here, but still haven't had much time. I started a new quilt today. Not sure how it will turn out as I have no pattern, just in my head. I am using four 5" charm packs, sewing the squares randomly together and then I will cut them in half again and make something from that. I have seen some done this way but am not really sure what they are called, lol. Is it any surprise? ;)

We are going to a pumpkin patch this Sunday and I am so excited! I don't remember ever going to one before to be honest so my sister and I are taking her kids. I bet I have more fun than they do!

Tonight I am cooking some beef stew over rice for dinner. We haven't had it in so long and it is actually a little chilly (cough) here today (60 degrees?). It is beautiful though and I love this time of year. I can't wait for a toasty fire in the fireplace. Probably won't be until Dec/Jan though.

Thanks for reading & have a nice day!

My Baby Quilts

Here are some of the baby quilts I have made lately. I included two 'tops' and am starting another lap quilt this weekend...

This is a little flannel "rag" quilt

This is a baby gift for my friends daughter, she like fishes.

For a little girl...there are the cutest little hippos on here.

For a baby boy...dreamy & I tied it on the backside for this one. The embroidery thread is green and matches a stripe in the back side of the fabric.

This is the top of one I finished today. Love the green polka dots...the yellow will be the backing. I will bind with the green polka dots.

my favorite...(just a top right now)

The purple will be the back and the binding. I love these colors together.

 

My little helper! I just love her...see the orange cheeks? She dresses like a pumkin

for the church pumpkin patch. The kids love it! So cute!

The seams are so not perfect, but I am still learning and I stuffed everyone of them with love so the babies will be wrapped up in it! :)

My Christmas "lap" quilt is still at the long arm quilters, but it shouldn't be too much longer. I can't wait to see what miracles she has done with it. I will post pictures when I get it back. I am really enjoying this new found love of fabrics and sewing. Do you quilt or sew? What kinds of projects do you make? Any tips for me? :)

Thanks for reading, enjoy your day! 

Emergency Meal Kit Challenge (October)

Hi all! Amy over at the Homestead Revival has decided to host a "Meal Kit Challenge" for the rest of October. This is to help everyone get ideas on emergency food preparation for the first 3 "daze" of an emergency situation. As she writes in her blog post here, the first three days can be a daze so the meals should be as simple as possible. Maybe even simple enough that your older children could make it themselves, if needed. I have decided to tackle breakfast for my meal challenge, so here goes.

Breakfast:
1 pkg. precooked bacon
A jar of jelly or jam
Loaf of bread
granola
canned tomato juice or other juices (juice boxes)

I personally love a bacon and grape jelly sandwich (try it!) and you could munch on some granola for added fiber and protein. I think you could add fruit to this too though and if the power was out, you would want to eat the cold stuff out of the fridge first. You could have a hardboiled egg for added protein also. We usually have hard boiled eggs in our fridge at all times. IF there was a fridge still standing that is. This challenge was a little hard because I kept thinking of refrigerated things! I hope other post so I can get some good ideas! Thanks Amy!

Mama kitty

Mama kitty in all her glory!

So, it’s been kind of a rough weekend. My "mama kitty" is 19 years old and we found out this weekend she has kidney disease and is now blind (due to the disease) caused by high blood pressure. Did that make sense? The kidney disease caused the high blood pressure that causes the blindness. Anyway, I knew something was wrong and we have kept an eye on her all weekend. Then this morning came. Her right eye was pure blood red. Luckily, there is an emergency vet 1/2 mile from our house so I packed her up and took her down there.

They did all kinds of test and determined the kidney disease. I am very sad because I know the end could be near for her and I just love her so much. She has been a wonderful companion to me and my daughter for a long time. When I moved to my mom’s after my father passed away, she came with and did not like it one bit. She was used to being outside but had to stay in the house here. Lots of reasons why, but needless to say, she learned to like it and has had a wonderful life. Even so it is hard to see her like this. The doctors said she isn't that bad for a 19 1/2 year old cat, but I question what quality of life will she have? They say she is not in pain and just to give her the meds and keep things normal in the house. Don't rearrange things, etc and she should be ok. It just breaks my heart to see her like this. I cringe when she walks into a wall or trips over something when just 2 days ago, she was sleeping on top of the refrigerator.

The plan is to take her to her regular vet tomorrow and let him look her over with the test results they did today and then determine what would be best for her. *sigh*

Whenever her time comes, it is going to totally suck. I hate death and don't deal well with it (like anyone does?), but I will deal with it like I have many other times in the past. That's just life.

What I have been doing

I realize it has been a long time since I have written anything. Somehow the days just slipped by and I didn’t have much to say. I think I just got overwhelmed with some things & unfortunately, I tend to stop dead in my tracks until I get things sorted. Make sense? No? I didn’t think so, it doesn't to me either, but it is what it is.

I haven't been idle, however. I have made 5 baby quilts and a lap quilt. It is my first lap quilt and is 'not pretty' as far as seams, but it is mine, my first and I love it! It is being 'quilted' right now with a poinsettia pattern, as it is a Christmas quilt. I was able to go over to Nancy's, (the quilters) house and see her long arm quilting machine set up. It is very interesting. She had a beautiful quilt on the table when I was there and it was fabulous!

I also was able to reconnect with a friend from high school. We have had lunch a few times and it is very nice to catch up and reconnect. She was in a terrible car accident 5 years ago but has pretty much recovered completely.  

My daughter is doing well and the pregnancy is coming along nicely. She is 27 weeks now and looking so gorgeous. We are getting ready for her baby shower in November. Daughter dear has done real well on her weight so far. She is right on target with the doctors. My son in law is another matter, lol. I think he has gained all the baby weight. ;) He is still very lean and mean though so no biggie.

A good friend of mine’s daughter is having a little boy also and we are having her baby shower here at our house so we are gearing up for that as well. Both events will be lots of fun! 

I went on a trip to the Asheville, NC area this past week also. My sister is thinking of moving up to the area soon and we went up to look at properties and just chill out. The kids were out of school and we all had a blast together. We also made it down to Franklin NC and mined for gems and just rode the beautiful country back roads. I have some pictures, but not too many as we were pretty busy, just having fun.

I’ll close with a beautiful picture from the NC Mountains. Enjoy your day!

Wow a whole month has gone by...

FOR TODAY

Outside my window ... I see a squirrel looking for nuts

I am thinking ... it has been a long time since I have written a blog post.

I am thankful ... for God & my family

In my kitchen ... I will be cooking crunchy chicken.

I am remembering … I need to go to Joann’s for more fabric soon.
I am creating ... a Christmas stocking for someone I love very much!
I am thinking about ... future quilts for little babies

I am noticing … that my bedroom needs to be dusted (again) *sigh*. 

I am reading ... 100 days to a radical change (for women).

I am hoping ... my daughter stays healthy and delivers a healthy baby (Kai).

I am looking forward to ... Thanksgiving and getting together with family.

I am hearing ...  an owl.

Around the house ... the cats are dozing