Oven roasted warms the body, heart, and yummy to the tummy!

I adore oven roasted chicken. In fact, when I cook yard bird this way I genuinely feel happy, warm, and comforted (especially in the fall/winter time). And contrary to popular belief very easy to accomplish like a professional. It's the end of the month and I operate off of a very tight budget. My pantry does not contain lots of fresh vegetables by this point but as for my taste buds they refuse to suffer. Where's the joy in a great dish if it's not tasty? Exactly, pointless.

One whole chicken with giblets removed and thawed-
Oven heated to 400 degrees-
Dice up chives about a third of a cup-
Two cans of beef stock-
Spicy Cajun mustard-
1 tablespoon of salt-
1 tablespoon of garlic-
2 tablespoons of olive oil-
1 tablespoon of red pepper-

In a bowl mix together the mustard, oil, red pepper, garlic, and salt. Try and make sure everything is dissolved as best as possible. Using a syringe infuse the mustard mixture into the chicken just under the skin all over. Cooking shows and all those fancy professional chefs like to use a turkey baster. I am poor. Ha! I use an extra infants medicine syringe to infuse the chicken. Nifty huh. :)

Dump the beef stock(beef consumme or beef broth) into a large roasting pan. Take 1/2 cup and the chives and pour into the derriere of the bird. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven.

Cook in the oven for 45 minutes, take out, and using the syringe again re-infuse the chicken with beef stock.

BE CAREFUL! The syringe can cause a spurting of hot broth that will cause a minor burn. So be gentle and push the plunger of the syringe slowly. 

Place back into the oven for an additional 75 minutes. Take out, slice, and serve! So moist and such a great balance of flavor. Not even remotely spicy.

Make this chicken work for you. Take the left overs and make a chicken sheppard's pie, soup, stew, chicken tacos, or salad. Next thing you know a five dollar bird has turned into a meal for your family two times! Stretching those dimes even further. That's how I roll :D

Good grief- what to do now for the hubby and my birthdays coming up? I think I want to revisit Lomi Lomi and maybe Bulgolgi for that man o' mine. Stay tuned! Easy fixens for the family and trotting the globe.

Of all the hair brained things...

Today, I am sporting this lovely outfit. Except for the Houndstooth skirt is a combination of black, red, and white. I could not locate an exact picture from the Cato's website. A high wasted modern day nod to the '60s I chose to rock this outfit for the Mock Interview today with a pair of dark grey tights. I'm so glad tights are back in...they have always been a secret love (until now-now I bring our romance out into the open). The shoes are by Pierre Dumas and when you wear these sweet little puppies not only are you blessed with just a little lift on the heel, you are also able to walk for miles in these Mary Poppin'esque cuties. Honestly, where's my Bert and hairbun? My "Bert" is in bed sleeping off a long night of guy time.
 My program of study is Criminal Justice and I am hoping (somewhat confident?) this outfit is a healthy balance between professional, modest, and feminine. Nails are manicured and french tipped. The hair is, well-that is the glitch in the perfect package. Shout out to my two favorite females for calming my neurotic semi-anxiety attack last night.
You see I was fretting, pacing, twitching, and spazzing out completely over my lack of confidence in all my prep work. I realized my hair is in desperate need of a touch up on color. I do a decent job of coloring my hair whichever hue fits the mood most days. And I know the golden rule of not sacrificing quality for cost. But I slipped. In my weakened state I failed to heed the rule. And it bit me in the tush. My hair which should have been a brilliant chestnut brown. What I incurred was a hodgepodge of almost black, brown, light brown, and ash brown. How in the world!? Oh yes, if I wasn't in a full blown panic attack before I am now. God is funny like that in a twisted sort of sense. But it worked, it calmed me, and I am prepared. It was my own doing anyway. I knew better. What a silly dolt for breaking the rule. Onward now with confidence, natural make up,   Mary Poppins Pierre Dumas Mary Janes, and maybe even a bit of a swish? Nope, that was just a cool breeze up a knee length skirt. Have a good fall day everyone.
Change the world. :)

The world from my stove top.

I do not feel well; this croupy-cruddy-swollen 'node-sickly condition is not pleasant. I'd rather be laying down not moving a single muscle for fear once I do the small invisible people hammering away at every injury I have ever had (and some I did not know existed) will start again with renewed fervor. And yet, here I stand, faithfully at the stove preparing yet another dish stretched for four from a hundred dollar a month budget for sustenance. The rule most say, or at least from what I have heard, is in one month a modest family will consume a hundred dollars worth of groceries per person. These people do not coupon and have a budget that allows for such spending OR they do not know how to coupon and are throwing away money. (I will come back to this more devotedly in another post).

-Digression-

I don't like to eat when I am sick. In fact; "eating" becomes more "slurping" if I am sick when I prefer to eat a soup, stew, or camp like dinner. I hate soup (minus tomato soup with Gemaw's grilled cheese- that my friends is perfection and not at all healthy). Soup, if food were a religion and for some it may very well be, is the anti food. It's liquid. And unless it is from Tropical Smoothie, I prefer to not drink my meals. It makes me cringe at the idea of somehow failing my teeth. I have good healthy teeth and it's disgraceful not to bite when eating.

-Digression again (hang in there)-

Today's meal: Sheppard's pie
1 pound of ground beef
1/2 pound of chicken (oven roasted from a previous meal)
1 can of mixed vegetables including potatoes
1 can of green beans
2 tbspns of chopped chives
1 garlic clove
2 packets of Butter homestyle mashed 'taters (I'm sick I am NOT making this from scratch)

Brown the ground meat in a pan with the chives and garlic and once it is browned drain but do not rinse the meat. Add to the bowl with your vegetables drained of water. Fold all the meats and vegetables together. Prepare the mashed potatoes. Take all the meat and veggies put them in a greased pan. Take the mashed potatoes and add them to the top. Bake in the oven for 2o minutes. Remove sprinkle some cheese on top of your preference. Place back in the oven for ten more minutes.
Cool.
Serve.
Finito-

The first of many...

My husband doesn't understand blogging. And in a technical sense I don't understand the mechanics of it, however, as a tool for expression of ideas- I love the concept.

So here it goes, my virginal post, the first "post" to ideally inspire and educate! And now that it has arrived, the time is here and now, the keyboard hungering for my fingers to tap out that one pearl of wisdom to potentially change a life and I have nothing! In fact the only real thing going through my mind right now is "crap my hands are cold. Makes it hard to type. I am NOT built for cold weather even though my 'sturdiness' implies otherwise. Did I forget to turn the crock pot off? And dang, it's time for class."

I have failed. My apologies, I will try again later.