Roast Once, Serve Three Times

A wonderful way to make dinner is to roast everything in the oven - this process is attendance-free, efficient and impressive in the way it looks and adds aroma to your house. This whole chicken pictured above was only $4.79 at Walmart (they are running about $8-9 in our grocery store) so I bought it and put it in the freezer for a special day, knowing I can defrost it easily in the microwave. There is something about a roasted chicken that reminds me of the meals my grandmother used to make.

Here is the menu:

- Herb roasted chicken
- Winter Squash
- Potato Casserole with carrots, onions and herbs
- Pink Apple Pie (crustless)
- Tossed salad

Herb roasted chicken:
1 chicken, whole, defrosted
2 bayleaves
1 tsp each: dried thyme, granulated garlic, rosemary, black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325F. Rinse the chicken in cold water and put it in the glass baking dish. Rub the outside with dried thyme, rosemary, granulated garlic and black pepper and put bay leaves inside. I roasted it uncovered to an internal temperature of 180F, which took 90 minutes.

Winter squash: Cut 1 butternut squash into quarters and remove the seeds. Put in a glass baking dish and cover with foil and place in the oven with the chicken. It takes about 80 minutes to bake.

Potato casserole:
3 small baking potatoes
1 onion
1 cup baby carrots or sliced carrots
Rinse potatoes to remove loose dirt. Cut in slices, along with onions and carrots. Place them in a baking dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and toss with granulated garlic and parsley mix and black pepper. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 70 minutes.

Pink apple pie:
3 apples, cut in wedges
1 cup leftover berries
1/4 cup pomegranate juice or any juice
Cut apples in wedges and toss with some berries and juice - in this case we were using old berries from a photo shoot. Cover and bake one hour.

If you notice, I started putting the longest-baking items in the oven first and everything came out at once in the end.

Here are pix:

I served the potatoes, winter squash and salad on the plate with just a few slices of chicken. The leftover chicken was made into 2 more great meals the following days:

- Chicken sandwich on whole wheat bread with lettuce, grapes, baby carrots and yogurt

- Chicken and rice:

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 cup chopped chicken (bone and skin free)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup peas
1 tsp each: coriander, granulated garlic with parsley
1/2 tsp chili powder

Place all of the ingredients in a rice cooker, cover and cook until done, about 30 minutes. You can also put all in a pan with a lid and cook on medium-low heat until done. This dish is done when all water is evaporated and the rice is done.

I served the Chicken and Rice with a few tortilla chips for garnish and a big green salad on the side!

Here are the new products we are making - some fun posters and one more to come that shows all different foods at 100 calories each!