Wednesday Night Dinner..

I must warn you, this post is very very pic heavy. This meal is not hard at all but I took a ton of pictures through out it.

So that said.. Let's get started..

I cooked a rosemary thyme chicken with potatoes and veggies.. I love a whole chicken. A $ 5.00 chicken is 2 meals.. YEP!! I mean, how can you beat that? I love it.. I will also explain later in the post how I am using the left overs for meal 2 . I will also link that post up with this one after I make it, in a few days!

I had kinda like 3 stations on the counter..

Here they are.

Station 1

As you can see in the pictures, I only had a few red potatoes in the house so I just added a couple of regular ones. It doesn't make a difference at all!! Besides that, I am also using fresh carrots, onion, and garlic.

Station 2

Take the chicken out of the bag, drain it ( there are juices in the bag.. more like blood ) and be sure to sit it on a plastic or glass cutting board. Wood will absorb all the nasty and dangerous germs.

Station 3

This is the area where I am getting the butter coating for the chicken mixed up.

You will want room temp butter so make sure you sit it out for a bit or zap it in the microwave for a few seconds.

Now as you will see in this post, I have a TON of cutting boards. If you only have one or 2 you will have to just do this in stages.

First thing I did was..

cut up the veggies. I left the carrots whole.. and I also left the garlic whole. I used about 11 whole cloves because I love garlic and for a meal like this.. it does not over power it. For the onion and potatoes, its just a large dice cut.

Then on to getting the butter ready for the chicken.

The 2 herbs I am using is Thyme which has a lemonish flavor and Rosemary that's woodsy and comforting.

Fresh is best.. but all I had was dry in the house so that's what I am using.

Talking about a

palm full of thyme.. add it to the bowl..

Then for the rosemary, even thought its dried I like to put it on a

cutting board.. ohhh about the same amount as the thyme

and

run my knife through it.

I just like it a little smaller than the way it comes.

You can also kind of grind it up with your hands.

Add the spices to

the bowl..

Then add some

salt and

pepper..

Then take the room temp butter and

add it to the bowl and

mix.

Then get what ever deep cooking dish

you plan on using out.

Add the

veggies and be sure to salt and pepper them.

Now on to the bird..

The chicken should be on a plastic board, rinsed an clean.

Also most chickens come with

a packet with the neck and heart and liver in it. I don't eat these.. Sit aside. ( I will show you how to fix this up in a bit )

Then take the chicken breast side up

and take your fingers under the skin of the breast and gently

pull it away from the breast without tearing it. We are going to add some of the butter to this area to really make it tasty and juicy.

Next..

You will want to pat dry the chicken with a paper towel otherwise it won't brown.

At this point.. I should say clean hands are the best tools you have!!

Then grab up some

of the butter mixture

and

push it under the skin of the breast.

Do this on both sides. Use about half the butter for that

and then

take the rest of the butter and spread it all

over the chicken.

Then take the chicken and

sit it right over all those veggies.

Then I take the

wings and tuck them under.

Now I went to Culinary School.. I know all about trussing but 

I don't always find it necessary so I just kinda pushed the legs together.

Then take some

( the resealable boxes are the BEST )

And add a couple of cups to the veggies. While the chicken cooks all those good juices are going to come out over the veggies but it won't be enough liquid. so add more!

Then put the chicken

in a 450 degree oven and let it cook at this temp for approx an hour.

Once the chicken has a nice color on the skin turn the oven down to 400 for approx another hour.

Ok.. on to the neck.. If you have animals in your house like a dog or cat they will love this.. If you like it, cook it right along in the veggies but here is how I make a tasty treat for my kitty's.

Open the little bag up..

add the neck and items to a pot..

add some more chicken broth and a a little water just to

cover and

bring to a boil.

The kittens were going crazy at the bottom of the stove so I let Gizmo

take a look and smell of what was cooking for him!

While chicken was cooking in the oven and the kittys treat was cooking on the stove,

I broke out some

cookies. I know these are kinda cheating.. but they are so easy..

Why not!?

If you don't have one of these little baby ice cream scoops you are missing out!!!

Get one.. they make cookies all the same size and its so much easier.

I got them all on the cookie sheet..

Not even using a sil pat with these.. No need.

Once the chicken has cooked for a couple hours

get it out and also get out your

meat thermometer.

I don't need one of these anymore for cooking but I still use it because it's handy.

This one in the picture above my mom got me last Christmas.

Its handy because it does have a light and it also tells you the temp that you should be aiming for with every kind of meat.. Beef, pork, lamb, etc.

On this one..

on the cover for the thermometer itself has all the right temperatures too.

put it into the chicken.. not close to a bone and wait.

I know its hard to tell but it says 181... perfect!!

Take the chicken off the veggies and let it rest for a few minutes

so all the juices won't run out when you cut into it.

Veggies are tender and done!

Then after about 10 minutes..

I carved into the breast of the chicken

and

dinner was served..

Does this not look good!?

It was so good that

I cleaned my entire plate.

Right before we sat down to eat, I took the kitty's treat and

put it on a cutting board to cool and then went back

and

then I took all the meat off the neck and cut up the rest.

I served it up and they loved it.

all of them..

really enjoyed it.

Including my picky eater - Willow -

Then with the rest of the chicken

I took it off the bone

and cut it up.. See.. is that not a lot of chicken.. I am using it for a chicken pot pie in a few days!

I put the cookies in the oven..

let them cool..

And then took my cookie spatula and

took them from the cookie sheet to the

cake stand where

we can all help ourselves and enjoy!

I didn't use cooling racks for just this small amount of cookies. Its not necessary!

Anyway, dinner was sooo good and easy.

I hope this shows you how you can get more than one meal out of a 1 chicken and when I make the homemade chicken pot pie.. I will use all the left overs.. the chicken and the veggies!!

Love that!

Let me know if you try this!

Too see the 2nd part of this post click HERE

K Jaggers

♥