101 in 1001 Archives - Food, Booze, & Baggage

That Time I Roasted A Chicken

April 6, 2014 by Mariah 5 Comments

Last Sunday I decided to take the plunge and cross off #72 on my 101 in 1001 list, roast a whole chicken. Much like with the peanut butter, it was so much easier than I thought it would be! Dealing with a whole chicken just seemed so intimidating. Here are the three recipes I loosely followed:

Rotisserie Inspired Roasted Chicken from Taste Love & Nourish

Roast Chicken from Yahoo Shine

Classic Roast Chicken from Cooking Light

For my chicken I used rosemary (4 sprigs), lemon (1), olive oil, butter (2 tbsp) , salt and pepper and garlic (4 cloves). Wash the chicken and then pat dry with a paper towel, make sure to remove the little bag of giblets on the inside of the chicken before washing (discard unless you have other plans for them). I combined the butter, salt and pepper (about 1 tsp of each), and minced garlic together in a small bowl and then rubbed this under the skin of the chicken. I squeezed the lemon over the top of the chicken and placed the rosemary and remaining lemon (after squeezing out the juice) inside the bird. I placed the bird in the dutch oven and then drizzled approximately 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over the bird and a little under the bird, and then salt and peppered the whole thing. Baked in the oven at 375 F or about 1 hour and 15 minutes, I used a thermometer to test when done. Temperature should be at least 165 F in the thickest parts, test breast and leg. I would recommend checking it at the hour mark.

My thoughts on the project:

I’m not sure why you need to wash the chicken, but it seems to be the thing to do, make sure to pat it dry very well before doing the other steps
I do not understand why you have to separate the chicken skin from the bird (other than to put the butter under it), someone said this step is not necessary if you are not eating the skin anyway or do not want to do the butter step
I did not get any garlic flavor from the garlic/butter rub, but could taste the lemon and rosemary
I did not tie anything, it fit snugly enough in the dutch oven, so maybe if you use a roasting pan that step would be necessary
The meat turned out super moist and not dry at all, the leg and wings pretty much just fell off the bone when pulled
I FORGOT TO TAKE A FINAL PICTURE….I’m a bad blogger. I will have to make it again and be sure to get a final picture next time!

I sliced the whole bird, and we had it with mashed potatoes Sunday. The leftover chicken was used on Monday in a spring salad; it was SO good. This will be something we will make again!

The only other meal we had last week was Cowboy Dinner, it was ok but not something I’m likely to make again. P and I kept it easy this past week, because we hosted a party yesterday. We did a lot of cooking on Friday and Saturday and I will share what we cooked next week!

Have you ever cooked a whole chicken? Any tips?

Random Friday Ramblings

March 21, 2014 by Mariah 8 Comments

Hi there! Friday is my anything goes topic day, so here goes:

I’m thinking about starting a cocktail series, what do you guys think? I had so much fun creating Monday’s post for the Creative Collective prompt. I found the whole process really enjoyable. I liked playing around with the picture setup, and the graphics. It may come as a shock to some of you, but we rarely have liquor drinks at home, so it is somewhat new territory, though I might have done ~~plenty~~ a little research on the topic 😉

I’ve been putting less time into trying to socialize in the blogging world. I love all of you and clearly I want people to read my blog and I enjoy reading other people’s blogs but pushing myself about it is beginning to feel like a chore. I’m still trying to find a good balance with growing, and finding blogs and bloggers I really enjoy connecting with. I’ve always been a do my own thing kind of girl…I don’t like to follow the pack or be fake. I guess I’m just trying to say, it is hard sometimes to find bloggers I know that I will click with. Blogging is weird and it is taking me a while to get use to socializing on the internet 🙂

I appreciate all of you who take the time to read and the effort to comment…especially when I know it on a topic you could care less about…so thank you , thank you!

I’m a bit relieved that my Let’s Fly Away Series is coming to an end. I’m planning on doing one or two more on the logistics of the trip…like where we stayed, how we got around, and packing but for the most part it is completed. Yay #4 on my 101 list done!!

I’m beginning to think that having so many set scheduled posts may not be for me. I want to post what I feel like posting not necessarily posting on Wednesday because I said I would post travel on Wednesday. There will still be travel just maybe not on Wednesdays 🙂 I don’t know. Plus I might want to join all the cool kids and do a HumpDay Confession with Vodka & Soda 🙂 I know that posting on certain days is supposed to be good for your blog but it’s feeling a bit constraining.

I still like reading tips on blogging but sometimes I feel like the rules are so overwhelming. Rachelle over at Inner Loop Adventures wrote a good post on Run Social Media So It Doesn’t Run You; #5 really resonated with me. I still trying to figure out what works best for me.

Speaking of social media, I’m really debating about joining Google +. Does anyone want to give their two-cents on this?

I swear I already had this post drafted but Miriam’s post yesterday on Why You Shouldn’t Blog really hit a lot of what I’m feeling. A bit of “it was the best of times it was the worst of time” is my feeling currently. I think it is just that I want more time in general 🙂 There are so many things I want to learn and do.

Thanks for listening (umm… reading)! I wanted to get a few things out of my head, but would love to get a little feedback on any of it 🙂 Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Hello 2014

January 3, 2014 by Mariah 2 Comments

Well hello 2014! As I wrote in my last post, 2013 was an amazing year and I want to feel just as good when we close the doors on 2014.

In 2014 we will:

Create a household budget

Starting this month we are tracking all of our expenses. I’m actually scared to see what our food – more specifically, dining-out – expenses are when it’s all added up. I have decided to track dining out expenses separately because for us it is our entertainment. January will be our starting point to develop a base budget.

Consolidate banking/other accounts

See below…must complete name change to move on to this goal 🙂 This will also help us in our budgeting as well as to maximize point and other reward benefits.

Start a better exercise routine

P is much better at the whole physical fitness routine than I am. In my 101 in 1001 list I want to “do yoga at least twice a week”…so this is the year to get that going 🙂 We both need to make exercise a larger priority in our daily routine.

In 2014 I will:

Get name changed

Ok, I should have already handled this but changing your name is A LOT of work. If it was just changing your name that would be one thing but you are basically changing everything that runs your life (accounts, documents, subscriptions). I feel that writing it down will provide extra motivation 🙂

Start new career path

I do not want to be in the same position at the close of 2014 as I am now. I want to make this a priority and start making a plan for change. I want to explore some different career paths and then make a change…I don’t want just another job, I need a challenge.

Be better organized

I want to be better organized at home. I want to create a better routine I can stick to for the day in and day out of our week. For me this means packing our lunch at night, doing laundry, and cleaning on a better schedule…just all the day in and day out stuff. This is a bit of a “we item” though I feel like if I’m on a better routine P will be too…he handles a ton of household stuff and I want to be more helpful. I also want to have the house better organized-everything to have a place and get rid of things that do not have a place.

Of course we plan on traveling and having tons of fun but that’s just our life goal…a standing every year thing 🙂 I’m very committed to continue to work on completing my 101 in 1001 list, and besides exercise and career the other one I absolutely will finish this year is making our household cleaners greener/less toxic.

What do you have planned for 2014?

101 in 1001

November 18, 2013 by Mariah 4 Comments

I was inspired to do this list after seeing Shannon’s list (101 things in 1001 days) on Brass Honey. Let me just tell you, coming up with 101 items is WAY harder than it seems. It took me all weekend to develop, but I love a challenge and I feel really motivated. P has even started his own list! I tried to think of things that I’m always saying I should do or we should do. Of course if I had unlimited funds/time at least half this list would be travel, travel, travel but alas I do live in the real world and have yet to win the lottery. 🙂 I worry that I may have too many “buy” items on my list….maybe I was just channeling Madonna.

I will update the list as I complete it. Please check out the list on my 101 in 1001 page to make me accountable. 🙂 If you start your list I would love to hear about it!