Roasted chicken dinner

I can't even pretend I wasn't proud of my chicken dinner. It's not hard to roast a chicken, I guess, but I was still proud of myself nonetheless.

Sorry it's such an ugly picture, I was starving
then thought to take a picture at the
very last minute to brag to my mom about
how well I'm doing on my own

For the chicken:
1 Whole chicken, about 5 lbs
3-4 tbsp margarine or butter
1 tbsp olive or canola oil
1 tbsp lemon juice, fresh or not, both are good
2 cloves of garlic, minced, or half a tbsp of pre-minced garlic in a jar
1 tsp Dried rosemary, crumbled as best you can with your fingers OR 2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, quickly chopped
1 tsp Dry thyme OR 2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tsp Dry sage
1-2 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Pepper
1-2 tbsp white wine, if you can spare it, mixed with 1/4 cup water

For the potatoes and carrots:
2-3 Yellow potatoes, peeled, cut into 1.5 inch pieces
3 whole carrots, peeled, cut into 1 cm slices
1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
a sprinkle of rosemary


1. Heat oven to 425
2. Mix up everything for the chicken in a bowl except the white wine/water and the actual chicken. Make sure all of it is combined.
3. Place chicken in a roasting pan or a deep baking tray (I use a 16X11 tray). Cover the chicken in the butter mix, even a little bit on the bottom but of course most of it on the tops and sides, using your hands or a brush.
4. Put all of the potato and carrot ingredients in a bag, shake it up until everything is coated evenly.
5. Carefully pour all of the veggies around the chicken, try not to let any of them land on top or rub off too much of the butter on the sides. Pour the water and wine mix into a corner of the pan and gently tilt it to spread it evenly
6. Cook, uncovered, in the oven for 45 minutes
7. Pull it out of the oven, flip some of the veggies so they don't dry out too much. Baste the chicken or, do what I had to do, tilt the pan and spoon the juices over the chicken.
8. Cook in the oven for another 20-25 minutes

Let it rest for 10 - 15 minutes after pulling it out of the oven, It's gunna be hella hot and you WILL burn your fingers if you don't let it rest.

Creamy White Wine Mushroom Sauce

So this is pretty grand sauce, and I pretty much made it up by myself (little help from google, of course). It would go well with chicken, maybe some bacon crumble, maybe some sauteed spinach, maybe some green beans, whatever you like with your white wine. I made it with bowtie pasta and that was more than enough.

The lighter chunks are some leftover chicken from the night before

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup milk, I used 1%
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp butter, more if needed
- 5-6 white mushrooms, chopped
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup white wine (not a sweet one)
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese - best fresh or that pre-crumbled stuff, not the pre-grated stuff, the pre-grated adds a weird sweet taste that almost makes it taste like the milk has gone bad
- About 2-4 tsp of salt, about 1 tsp pepper

1. Melt 2 tbsp of the butter in a non-stick pan or skillet over medium heat, add some of the salt, oregano, garlic, pepper. Once the butter is melted and bubbling, add the mushrooms to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, until they're soft and they've shrunk.
2. Melt the last tbsp of butter maybe a little more if it seems like there's not much in the pan, add the flour when the butter's melted and mix the butter and flour together until it's like a paste.
3. While stirring, slowly add the first 1/2 cup of milk. Make sure everything is combined, the milk may thicken up quickly and that's okay.
4. Add another 3/4 cups of the milk, make sure everything is combined. Set aside the last 1/4 cup of milk for later.
5, While stirring, slooowwwllyy add the white wine. Let it cook and thicken up for a little bit.
6. Sprinkle the cheese over top and stir in. Let the whole thing cook for a few minutes, Maybe about ten. If you're waiting for chicken to finish cooking, or pasta to finish boiling, etc... now is when you add that last 1/4 of milk bit by bit to keep it liquid-y.

Addicting honey soy chicken thighs

I've eaten this chicken twice in the past week, sorry not sorry. My roommate walked in with her girlfriend while this was cooking and they started whining that I wasn't making it for them. It's delicious and beyond simple. I personally find it best with 24 hrs+ of marinating, but you don't have to marinate it for it to be good. Definitely make sure you make two for everyone you're feeding that isn't a child, they'll definitely want it, and even if they can't finish both they'll keep it for lunch the next day (or snack 5 hours later if you're my boyfriend).

Usually I eat two thighs and some other stuff for dinner, but a single
thigh and some veggies make a lovely lunch.

All of these are rough measurements. Remember, cooking is art and baking is science. Feel free to let your artistic flag fly! Adjust measurements accordingly if you add/take away thighs.

- 4 large skin on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 2.5 tbsp honey
- 2.5 tbsp soy sauce
- 2-3 minced cloves of garlic, or what you think would be an equal amount out of those pre-minced garlic jars.
- dash of black pepper
- 1 tbsp oil of your choice

1. Mix everything (except chicken) in a bowl. Put chicken thighs in a ziplock (freezer bag, you need it to be thick) and pour mixture over it. Seal the bag and "sloosh" it around a bit, trying to get every bit of the chicken thighs covered. Lay it flat in the fridge until you're ready cook it, flipping the bag every few hours to try to give it the most even possible flavour.
2. Set your oven to 425. For the record, this does work in toaster ovens too.
3. Once the oven is ready, place chicken thighs in a ceramic or glass casserole type of dish. Obviously, make sure it's oven safe. Nobody likes exploding dishes. Add as much of the marinade as you want, I wouldn't suggest going past halfway up the thighs though.
4. Bake thighs skin-side up for 25 minutes, Flip, bake for another 10, flip, bake for another 10.
5. Serve with whatever veggies you want, and maybe a bit of rice. Rice soaks up the marinade nicely if you like that kind of thing. Careful, it's hot.

My favourite salmon rub

Works well on the barbecue (don't put the rubbed side down, that would be silly, I actually bbq it in a deep baking pan with parchment paper to avoid sticking) and in the oven. Wouldn't recommend pan-frying, doesn't end with the same results. I love serving this with roasted brussel sprouts with asiago cheese, and with garlic mashed potatoes. I usually do this in parts so I'll make an attempt to do it in measurements but adjust everything as you see fit. These are measurements for 2-3 pieces (servings) of salmon. Sometimes there's a bit of the rub left over depending how much I actually made and how much salmon there is. Lately I've just been sprinkling that on top and letting it soak in with the rest during the cooking process.

- 1.5 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- pinch of smoked paprika (careful, this stuff is spicy)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- about 1 tsp black pepper

You'll need about a tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil. Don't pat the salmon dry. Rub the oil all over the salmon - top, bottom, sides. Mix the rub together with a fork so the flavours are evenly spread. Sprinkle evenly over each piece of salmon and rub/pat it into the oiled top. It will probably stick to your fingers and look like way too much brown sugar. I promise, it's yummy. Just try to get the stuff on your fingers onto the pieces of salmon that look bare. Bake or bbq salmon as you normally would.

Italian dressing pasta

It doesn't really have a name, unfortunately, "italian dressing pasta" is more of a description. My friend made it after I showed her that, for her picky threenager, she could freeze small portions of pasta dinners then re-heat as needed. I have to admit, when she first made it, we ate so much she had to make more to freeze! There are no real measurements, so you can decide how much of each you want.

-Macaroni noodles (cooked)
-Ground chicken, turkey, or pork
-Spinach
-Feta cheese
-Tomato (diced)
-Garlic (minced)
-Onion (diced)
-Italian salad dressing
-Veg or canola oil

1. Heat up oil in a pan, cook your onions until translucent and add the garlic. Once the garlic has cooked a little, add the ground meat and a splash of the dressing.
2. When the meat is cooked, add the spinach. When the spinach is limp, add the tomato and feta.
3. Add noodles and another splash or two of the dressing. If you want, add a bit of salt and pepper.
4. Serve! ...or divvy up into small servings and freeze for later.

**Edit: I've just been informed that this is great with greek dressing too!

Cheesy Tuna Casserole

My lovely boyfriend introduced this recipe to me, and I can't help but devour half of it every time it's made!! It's super easy, and takes pretty much no cooking talent, so anyone can make it!

-1 large head of broccoli, cut into bite-size florets

-1.5 cups minute rice

-1 can tuna, drained

-1 can condensed creme of mushroom soup

-Milk

-White canadian cheddar, or any other sharp white cheddar, shredded. At least 1 cup.

1. Dump the rice, tuna, broccoli, and condensed soup into a large glass or ceramic bowl or casserole dish. Fill the empty soup can with milk, that's the amount you need, and pour it into the bowl/casserole dish. Mix it all up, obviously making sure the tuna isn't one can-shaped chunk and that all the rice is covered with milk and soup.
2. Layer about half the cheese on top of the mix. Don't mix it in yet.
3. Microwave for 10 minutes

4. Remove from microwave, mix it all up again, getting the cheese in there.
5. Layer the rest of the cheese on top
6. Microwave for 10 minutes

Serve and enjoy!! Careful, it's freakin' hot!!!

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

So it snowed (a worthwhile amount) for the first time today. Yay Canada!! It's so beautiful, I couldn't possibly deny myself a warm winter-friendly breakfast to get my day started. Thankfully, it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. You can easily pack this up and run to class, too. Breakfast on the go!

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup oats
-2/3 cup milk - and a little extra for at the end
-1 sweet apple (mcintosh, gala,red delicious, empire, pink lady, whatever you'd like. I guess you could even do granny smith if that's what you like)
-2-3 tsp brown sugar
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-pinch of salt

1. Pour your milk and oats into a bowl. Let those sit while you cut up your apple into slices. Depending how much you like, I used two slices and cut them up to tiny bits, but you can use as much as you'd like I guess. I just ate the rest while it cooked, no use in wasting fruit.
2. Mix your small chunks of apple into the oats and milk
3. Microwave for 2 minutes, 15 seconds
4. Mix in a dash of milk, the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

Be careful not to burn yourself taking it out of the microwave, it can be pretty hot!