Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Today was another "Let's practice being a homemaker" day! Hooray! That means...yummy food!

First of all, Spence and I made a trip down to Idaho Falls to go grocery shopping at Winco. It has the best deals on food. Among all our groceries, I found a deal on a package of 2 whole fresh chickens for $7...yes folks, that means each chicken is only $3.50. What a steal! You can't even buy a small package of lunch meat for $3.50.

I needed a good oven roasted chicken recipe. So I went to my trusted Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. You can't go wrong.

Herb-Roasted Chicken

Prep: 20 minutes Roast: 75 minutes Stand: 10 minutes

 

ingredients

• 1
  3-1/2 to 4-pound whole broiler chicken
• 2
  tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 2
  cloves garlic, minced
• 1
  teaspoon dried basil, crushed
• 1/2
  teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2
  teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
• 1/4
  teaspoon salt
• 1/4
  teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning or ground black pepper

directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Rinse the inside of chicken; pat dry with paper towels. Skewer neck skin of chicken to back (see photo); tie legs to tail. Twist wing tips under back. Place chicken, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Brush with melted butter; rub garlic over chicken.

2.In a small bowl stir together basil, sage, thyme, salt, and lemon-pepper seasoning; rub onto chicken. If desired, insert a meat thermometer into center of an inside thigh muscle (see photo). (The thermometer should not touch bone.)

3.Roast, uncovered, for 75 to 90 minutes or until drumsticks move easily in their sockets and chicken is no longer pink (180 degrees F). Remove chicken from oven. Cover; let stand for 10 minutes before carving. Makes 4 servings.

4.Herb-Roasted Chicken and Vegetables: Before roasting chicken, in a large saucepan bring lightly salted water to boiling. Add 1 pound red potatoes, quartered (or halved, if small); 3 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces; and 1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces. Add to boiling water. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes; drain. Add drained vegetables and 1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch chunks, to the bottom of the roasting pan around chicken. Drizzle vegetables with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Roast as directed above, stirring vegetables once or twice during roasting. To serve, place chicken on serving platter. Arrange vegetables on serving platter around chicken.

I didn't have all the spices the recipe called for. I just used sage, lemon pepper, salt and black pepper. And it was still scrumptious as ever!

I thought it turned out great for my first roasted chicken. I plan on using the bones and left over to make my own chicken broth. Homemade chicken noodle soup here I come!