I love chicken, but I prefer cuts with the skin and bones already removed for me. Every now and then my cheap frugal side does the meat shopping, and today I had a pair of whole chickens to prepare. After consulting with my good friends via email, I decide to roast them (the birds, not my friends), and found a clipped recipe for Roasted Chicken with Veggies.
Feeling confident, I pull out my roaster (which mostly gets used for granola or an occasional snack mix). Hmmm. . .do I use the rack? It’s there, although the recipe doesn’t mention a rack and perhaps my veggies would fall through. Naturally, I call Mom for advice. She was serving her own dinner and told me I could figure this one out myself. 
Actually, she confirmed my feeling that the rack would be a good thing if it weren’t for the veggies.
Nonetheless, I proceed to put the rack in the pan. I know. Then I open the packages and realize there are still bits of ice on the chickens. Drat. The recipe says to cook the bird uncovered first, and then cover it after adding the vegetables. I decide to start cooking with the lid on, in hopes that it will hold in heat and thaw/cook my meat faster. I chop my veggies, tossing the scraps in the stock pot for later.
Just before I add the veggies to the roaster, and remove the lid for browning, Larry came home for dinner. And I looked at the clock. Uh-oh. With 45-60 minutes of roasting left, there was no way this would be ready for him and Drama Boy to eat before confirmation class at 6pm! So the two of them head for the drive-thru on their way to church, much to the dismay of the poor children who must wait for a home cooked meal.
Finally it was time to take the bird’s temperature. I get burnt taking the roaster out of the oven, but the veggies are still crisp and the meat is only 160°. Boy Genius (with help from Twirly Girl) finds the calendula for my thumb and I put dinner back in the oven (replacing the lid, hoping to hurry things along). I check it every 15 minutes, and after 45 extra minutes we finally reach that elusive 180°.
The peanut gallery complaints start to die down, or perhaps they were feeling faint from hunger. In any event, the kids stand on my feet while I mutilate the chickens in my attempt to remove the various parts requested. I also discover that I guessed wrong when placing the chickens breast side up. And then I serve the veggies. Or at least I try. . .they are hiding under that rack. I manage to get a few pieces of carrot and potato on each plate and we sit down to eat.
Oh, yummmy! This is really good stuff, and amazingly the children ask for more! And more. . .while they stuff their faces (with the exception of Baby Boy who fell asleep in his high chair), I return to the kitchen to start the broth, since it is now after 7pm. Have I mentioned how much I dislike skin and bones entangled with my meat? Larry isn’t home to help, so I pick my own carcasses. I cut the meat up for casseroles later, and throw everything else in the stock pot. Including pan juices and leftover veggies (there are plenty with my two biggest eaters gone). I hope it’s okay to put potatoes in my chicken broth!
And now it is 9pm, and my pot of yummy-smelling broth is still simmering. I really don’t feel like straining it yet tonight, so I may put it in the fridge and take care of it in the morning. I freeze broth in quart jars to use in soups and other recipes later.
*Title courtesy of my good friend Brenda in MO, who is only responsible for my adventures in that she made chicken roasting sound fool proof!
Twelve cups of mashed banana, twenty eggs, nineteen cups of flour, and a whole lot of other ingredients too! I don’t know why some are sinking in the middle; they tested done with the toothpick. Anyhow, the four loaves in front are Marbled Chocolate Banana Bread; in back are four loaves of Blueberry Banana Bread and two loaves of Banana Oatmeal Loaf. I actually don’t care for banana bread (or bananas, period), but these recipes have enough other flavors that I will eat them.
