Killing Two Meals with One Bird

Last year as I am walking through the store closing clearance at World Market (**sob**) I came across this strange looking thing that was $10. I wondered, is this to hold chips or maybe a really heavy sombrero hat? So I asked and it turned out to be a vertical chicken roaster. I thought for $10, should just try it! I purchased it and it might be one of the best items in my cooking collection. Making a whole chicken has some great advantages:
1. The tray below is great for roasting veggies
2. Have you ever priced a whole chicken? It's about 89 cents a pound (on sale) which means yummy cheap food!
3. The chicken provides enough meat for 2 meals! Two easy and quick meals, which is the purpose of this post.

Meal #1: Roasted Chicken with Veggies:

Ingredients:
Rub Ingredients (optional, you can make whatever rub you want):
Olive Oil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of rosemary

Veggies for roasting:
Potatoes, celery, onions, carrots, squash...whatever you fancy
2 tablespoons of Olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon of rosemary

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Make sure chicken is thawed and remove giblets from chicken. Rub the chicken on all sides with the oil and sprinkle with the poultry rub. Place the chicken upright on a vertical roaster, making sure the top of the roaster pokes through the neck cavity.
3. Slice up all the veggies into 1 to 1 1/2 inch chunks. Place in a large gallon bag with oil and seasoning. Shake till veggies are covered. Pour into bottom of roaster dish.
4. Roast chicken until the juices run clear and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Usually around 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and carefully transfer from the roaster to a platter. Let rest for 10 minutes before carving.
6. To serve, carve the chicken into pieces. Serve hot with roasted veggies.

Save half of the meat for the next meal. My husband and I are not fans of the dark meat, so I pull it off the carcass and freeze it to use for the next meal.

Meal #2: Easy Chicken Noodle Soup:
I found this Bear Creek Chicken Noodle soup mix and I am telling you, it's the best soup mix I have come across. This is a quick and easy recipe that takes about 20 minutes to make.

Ingredients:
1 package of Bear Creek Chicken Noodle soup mix
10-15 baby carrots (sliced into 1/8 inch slices)
2 stalks of celery and some of the leaves (sliced into 1/4 inch slices and leaves chopped)
Any other veggies you want in the soup

Directions:
1. Follow the directions on the back of the Bear Creek Chicken Noodle soup mix package. The first part calls for boiling the water. Throw the veggies into the water and cook until they are almost done.
2. Continue following the directions on the package (whisking in the soup mix) and cook for the directed time. Add in the leftover chicken from the previous meal.
3. Serve the soup with some nice crusty bread on the side.

Hope you enjoy these two recipes as much as I do. They make cooking around the house easy and simple!

~Beth

Makeover in Minutes: Front House Lights

I have been a little lazy around the house lately. Every night when I turn on the front lights I notice that one more light bulb has burned out. We have five lights on the front of our house, so the other day when I noticed that we were down to only one working bulb I thought it was time I put some new ones in.

I have been procrastinating a little on changing the light bulbs because I was thinking about purchasing new lights for the front of our house. Our current ones are original to the house and are in pretty bad shape. Here is what they looked like below:
They are pretty dull and shabby after all the years.

As I am getting ready to install new bulbs in these old things I notice how easy it is to take the lights fixtures apart. The glass in them actually can be removed piece by piece. All of a sudden I have this genius idea! Spray paint the old fixtures! I mean I can't do any more harm to them right!?!

The light fixture taken apart is below. This was also a great time to wash all the little pieces of glass.
Here is the fixture with my weapon of choice (left over spray paint from the rack I painted a couple month ago.)
As I am removing all of the light fixtures I notice how bad the house numbers look. Let's spray those too!
I didn't want deal with removing the main lights from the house, so I made this little stencil cut-out to shield the bricks from any over-spray.
The results:
Just so beautiful and easy! They look brand new and at no cost to me! This little project took me maybe an hour to do and it was just so simple!

If you have any great examples of what you have spray painted around your house, send them to me or comment below! I just love to get ideas for my next Makeover in Minutes project.

~Beth

The Last vacation

Well here l am, drinking my coffee and watching the waves roll in. My husband is sitting quietly beside me reading his book. We are enjoying our final vacation till our little bundle of joy arrives. These are the moments I am going to miss as our family is beginning and these quiet moments are ending...or at least becoming more infrequent.

We are making the most of this time together. We have this nice little deck we have made our morning nest.

And a view of the ocean that can't be beat.

As we enter the next chapter of our lives, I know I will look back at this vacation with wonderful memories. Right now though, as the baby is kicking, I am also looking forward to the new.

~Beth

Back To School

Fall is on it's way and I couldn't be more excited (apparently Beth couldn't be either). As the summer winds down I find myself in a familiar situation: Back to School.

When I graduated from my beloved St. Thomas I wasn't entirely sure where I wanted my career to go. In fact, the only thing I was positive about was that I was moving home to marry my sweetheart. So when my fellow college students preparing for graduation asked me what the next step was in my life I didn't have much to say about job prospects and career goals. Honestly, I wasn't sure! I seriously considered law school (hence the Political Science degree) but in the end there was something inside of me saying this wasn't the career I truly wanted to pursue. While I believe everyone has the capability to go after their dreams and succeed at any job I just didn't think a career in law would allow me the time and devotion necessary to be the type of wife and mother I wanted to be. Maybe for others but no, not for me. That being said, I've had many moments of frustration because in most other areas of my life I'm a "planner." I plan my week. I plan for the month. I fill up my calendar in advance! But when it came to my career I wound up feeling confused and perhaps like there was something wrong with me because I didn't know what to do next. Don't most people have these things planned? Don't they know where they want to end up 10 years from now? What career they want? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!! WAHHHH!!!!
Okay, simmer down.

And yet, a small, redeeming seed had been planted during my Junior of college. During my Business Ethnics course I spent some time studying and researching the field of Human Resources; needless to say it piqued my interest. It was too late to change majors. No way could I afford to add another major and stay a year longer. But this field had potential... I had potential. Fast forward two years and I find myself thoroughly delving into a career in Human Resources and loving it. Could I really have figured things out? Could I have been so lucky? And then I found it; a program from USD that would allow me to earn a Master of Science in Administration specializing in Human Resources (the heavens open up and angels start singing). For the first time in my life I feel like I am on the right career path and am 100% devoted to the purpose behind the work.

So here I am, headed back to school... and very excited! I also must admit I tend to get overly excited at the sight of new, shiny school supplies. I may or may not be going to Office Max tonight...

So wish me luck! I'm on a mission. And for the record, I've come to realize it's perfectly ok not to have everything figured out. Take everything one step at a time.

~Christi

Finding Beauty In Your Body

Many of you know that I am 28 weeks pregnant and my body is ever changing and getting ever larger. Most women, when they get to this point of their pregnancy, feel like are just fat and uncomfortable. I see so many pregnant women out there who choose to cover up their enormous stomachs with baggy clothes when they get to this point. My question is, why? Being pregnant is one of the most beautiful, unique experiences a women can have. Why in today's society do we constantly obsess about being thin, even in points in our lives where being fat is perfectly natural, normal, and healthy?
Go to Google and search "painting and Venus" and images will come up of famous old paintings, all depicting a beautiful, curvy, woman...Venus...the goddess of love, beauty and fertility. It has only been the last few decades that pregnant women have felt the need to cover up their beautiful, plump bodies and I just don't understand it. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of the two piece swimsuit on a pregnant women, but showing off this wonderful time in your life should be encouraged!
As long as I can remember, I have always stopped and looked at the pregnancy photos on those photographer stands that are in the center of malls. They are always such beautiful images and I really wanted to have some taken when I was pregnant. When my friend Barb offered to take some pregnancy photos of me I accepted. The results were amazing!
My hubby and I with our hands on my belly
Truly, our first child, Gimzo
The best one of us together!
Yes my husband is a giant compared to me
Gizmo just loves the baby so far! Actually, I don't think she knows yet!
We are so happy to be having a little boy!
I love the silhouettes!
I am so lucky to have a friend who offered to take the photos and I am so happy with how all these images turned out! When I am eighty years old I will be able to look back on these photos and remember the special and miraculous moments of pregnancy. I think every women should take pregnancy photos. These photos not only show off the beauty of being pregnant, but they can really help a hormonal, emotional, insecure woman find beauty in your own body and preserve wonderful memories of this very special time.

~Beth

Moments of Clarity

Today was one of those days at work where you feel so busy you might forget to breathe! However, in the middle of the chaos I heard the quiet murmurs of the "Our Father" coming from one of the conference rooms. I had to stop right then and there and think about how cool it is that I get to witness and participate in things of this nature at work. I thank God for these moments and get the feeling all over again that making this career change was the best decision I ever made.
I am so blessed.

~Christi

A Girls' Weekend In...

Let me start by saying I am a very lucky woman. Some people spend years trying to find a group of women they completely connect with. Granted, I had to wait a few years but during my time at St. Thomas I found what I would call my girlfriend "soul mates." Ahh yes, it sounds so cheesy doesn't it? But I can't help but get all sentimental when I think about how fantastic these ladies are and what wonderful friends they have been. They are people that I completely respect and they make me want to be a better person. I am truly, truly blessed.

Once we graduated from college it was time to go our separate ways. We all left with the common (but perhaps, unspoken) understanding that no matter how far apart we are we will always make time to be together and to be there for each other. Fast forward to this Spring. We knew we needed to take a REAL Girls trip and seeing as Colleen is living in Cedarburg, WI we somehow settled on some time in Chicago. After countless emails and lots of planning we ended up with a fun-filled itinerary.

Here are a few of the trip highlights...

Al came up with the idea to have lunch at Frontera on our first day in Chicago. Now I had never heard of this restaurant or Rick Bayless but evidently this restaurant is a popular destination in Chi-town. Al called and made reservations for us a few weeks ahead and I'm so glad she came up with great lunch plans. We sipped ice cold margaritas and dined on gourmet Mexican dishes... it was heavenly! Give me a margarita and some fresh guacamole and I'm a happy girl. I'd definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Chi-town. It was a great way to start the trip.



Of course we HAD to take this picturesque opportunity by the Chicago River. This picture is definitely going into a frame and will be prominently displayed in my office!


Yes, yes more about food already! But let's face it: one of the best things about traveling is eating. Since we were in Chicago we wanted an "authentic" piece of deep dish pizza. We made our way to Gino's Pizzeria where it took them 1 HOUR to make the deep dish pizza pie. Although it was sweltering inside we had some delicious food and took our turn contributing to the graffitied walls and tables.


We had to spend some time at Navy Pier of course. While we were there we toured a beautiful stained glass museum (good idea, Co!), found a Jamba Juice, and rode the Ferris Wheel. We were also lucky to be there for the Chicago Air and Water Show. It was pretty cool to hear the Blue Angels in the background while walking around Chicago.


One of our favorite places was Millennium Park. It was EXTREMELY hot on Saturday so we took off our sandals and walked around in the Crown Fountain. I couldn't help but think what a great place this would be to bring your kids. There were so many children running around splashing in the water. It was a perfect way to cool off!


And who could forget our momentous trip to the Hershey's Store. We were all feeling a little sluggish that afternoon and it was just the pick up we (and by we, I mean Al) needed. I don't know if you've met my friend Al, but she LOVES chocolate. Yes a lot of people like chocolate but Al has an ongoing, serious and dare I say borderline criminal relationship with chocolate. Needless to say she enjoyed the store and we all got a good laugh out of it.


For our last night in Chicago we wanted to get dressed up and go out for a fancy dinner. We dined on delicious Italian food and shared Birthday tiramisu for Colleen & Anne's August birthdays. We also had the special treat of a retired Opera singer serenading our table. Who wouldn't love that? We also may or may not have taken some self-timed photos in the bathroom...


All in all I just can't believe how quickly the weekend flew by! We have so many memories to last us for a lifetime and I can't wait for the next Girls Trip. Love you Al, Anne & Colleen :)

~Christi