Birthday Weekend and Sunday Dinner

Sunday Dinner :)

Well it's been an exciting weekend! Dinner with great friends and kiddos Friday night and my sweet husband's birthday Saturday. I surprised him with a day out on the town to have lunch with friends and to spend some time together. We finished off his birthday with all the family at Pizza Uno in Fort Worth. Awesome deep dish pizza! Sunday was more of a relaxing day: breakfast, church, lunch, grocery store armed with coupons and Sunday dinner. I made my first ever roast chicken. One, its been a recipe I have wanted to try and two, the whole chickens were on sale at our store today so it was a winning selection. I have to tell you, it was very simple and good, so good that I am sad it took this long for me to try it....I added potato boats and called it a meal. I can't wait to hear if anyone tries any of these recipes and what you think. Please let me know :) Hope you have a good week, happy cooking and God Bless.

Roast Chicken

1 4-5 pound whole chicken

1 lemon
1 bunch of thyme (like 10 sprigs, they usually sell it in a container in the produce section)
5 garlic cloves, smashed (skins taken off)

2 TBSP melted butter

1 yellow onion peeled and cut in large wedges

3 carrots, peeled and cut half

1 cup chicken broth

2 tsp salt and 2 tsp pepper

(optional: lemon wedges for plates)

Rinse your chicken off and pull out any giblets left inside. (Usually, they are in a little bag inside the chicken, but oddly enough, mine didn't have any, very strange. This is the only time I really rethought this dinner...the whole giblet thing creeped me out, but it was worth it) Pat it dry with paper towels. Mix your pepper and salt together and sprinkle the inside cavity with half the mixture. Slice your lemon in half and shove both halves inside the cavity along with the thyme and garlic. In a roasting pan, or pyrex glass dish lay your chicken breast side up. Take a little kitchen twine or string and tie the legs together and fold the wings under the bird. (My wings would not stay tucked under, doesn't affect the cooking, just looks nicer) Place the carrots and onions all around the bird and pour the melted butter over the top. Sprinkle the remaining salt and pepper mixture over the top of the bird and place all of it in preheated 425 degree oven, uncovered. You want that skin to get nice and golden brown and crispy. You will need to cook it for 90 minutes to 2 hours depending on how large your bird is. Mine was a little over 4 pounds and it took 90 minutes. You will know its done when the juices run clear between the wing and the bread bone. Remove it from the oven and take it out of the pan and cover it with foil to keep it warm while you make the gravy. In a sauce pan, pour 1 cup of chicken broth, 2 tablespoons of your pan drippings and a pinch of pepper and heat it until boiling. Taste it for seasoning and take it off the heat. Serve it with your chicken and veggies. Not necessary, but I served each plate with a wedge of lemon to squeeze of the top of each serving, I loved it.

Potato Boats

5 small to medium russet poatoes

1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sour cream

3 green onions chopped

1/4-1/2 cup milk, cream, half and half...anything you got

salt and pepper too taste

Scrub and wash your potatoes and then prick the all over with a fork. Place them on a paper towel in the microwave and cook on high for 15-25 minutes until tender. This will all depend on how big your spuds are so make sure you check them after 15 minutes. When tender, let them cool for 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slice just the top off and with a spoon scoop the insides out and place them in a bowl. You will basically be creating a "potato bowl" with four of the potatoes. With the 5th potato, take all the skin off and it to the bowl. I do this because I always seem to need a little more mashed potato so the extra makes sure there is enough. My suggestion is to cut the top off of all of them and then which ever one gets messed up, use it for the one you mash all up. It never fails that one of the potatoes gets messed up by breaking it or going to far in with the spoon so this theory tends to work. Mash the insides with the butter, sour cream, milk and salt and pepper. Add enough milk or cream to create smooth mashed potatoes. Then add your cheese and green onion and fill up the "boats" high high high! Bake them also at 425 for 10-15 minutes or until they begin to brown. (another add in that is sinful is cooked crumbled bacon!)

Enjoy!

First Recipe and a Sweet Tooth Favorite!

This is a personal creation of mine that is great on cold nights and well actually warm ones too! I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas and I am ALWAYS in the mood for something sweet. This dessert promises to be easy and delicious! You can substitute blackberries, mixed berries or cherries for this dessert. You will not even need a mixing bowl! SERIOUSLY!


Peach Cream Cobbler

Ingredients:
1 Bag of frozen peaches....(one that reseals after you open it, you will see why soon)
1 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup Bisquick baking mix (I use the heart healthy brand of Bisquick)
1 cup milk (You can use whole, 2%, 1% or skim...I use skim)
4 TBSP butter ( I often use light butter here and it works great)
pinch of salt


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Grease an 8x8 square glass baking dish and place your 4 TBSP of butter in the dish, microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the butter has melted.
Add the Bisquick, milk, salt, and almond extract into the baking dish and whisk to mix everything together with the butter. (You will have a few lumps and that is OK)
Open your bag of frozen fruit, add your cup of sugar directly to the bag of fruit and seal shut. Shake, shake, shake that bag.
Open the bag back up and pour and sprinkle the peaches and sugar concoction over the Bisquick mixture that is already waiting for you in the baking dish.
There will be areas that have more sugar than others and more peaches than others and that is part of the beauty of the dish, but if this will drive you nuts, go ahead and move some of it around with a spoon.
Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour or until it is lightly browned and bubbly.

Serve it warm or at room temperature

The cobbler will be sweet and creamy and a mix between a peaches and cream hot pie and peach cobbler. It is an awesome, whip up anytime dessert. When ever I have a coupon for frozen fruit or its on sale, this dessert goes on the table! Enjoy!

Hello Out There

Hello web world! This is Lauren Etter, a stay at home, over tired, over caffeniated, probably in need of a shower, extremely happy and blessed wife and mother. I decided to begin this little blog for a variety of reasons...

1. I love the idea of being able to record my favorite recipes and personal creations from the kitchen for my personal future use and for my friends and loved ones
2. I am consistently the butt of many jokes that I may be the last person on earth not on any public site such as Face book, My Space etc. so this way I can post pictures and stories about our life here in the burbs without having to actually post any pictures of myself!
3.I have so much free time now with the addition of our 3rd sweet baby! (Yea right!)
4. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook, truly. But as much as I love to create in the kitchen, I am just as much a fan of what someone else will make for me. So I hope the two people out in the cyber world that may read this blog will share some of their favorites with me.
5. My children may be the funniest indivduals that God ever put on the planet and their stories HAVE to be shared.

So, in the belly of this little blog I vow to share our favorite treats from my kitchen, funny stories, pictures and a little piece of myself that I suspect will only show itself in the form of this blog. Interesting how that works. I do not promise that my spelling, puncuation, grammer or picture taking or posting skills will shine ...afterall, I have 3 small children and that will be my excuse for the mistakes that will most definetly appear in the previously mentioned topics...