Maryland Roasted Chicken

Thanks to all for the nice comments about the marathon this weekend. I did something I was trying not to do and checked the weather! I know it is out of my control, but I had to do it. So far, so good. Partly cloudy, high of 58, low of 38. I could handle that.

Tonight's walk with Oscar was in the dark, on the outside of the park. (I grabbed a big honeycrisp apple before I left for the walk to hold me over until dinner) I get freaked out going into the park at night, so we walked down by where the football/soccer field was because they had the lights on and then I was able to let him off to run and chase the ball. Kevin went with a co-worker to a group run in Federal Hill. Every Monday at 6:30pm, a group meets and runs 4-6 miles and then goes back for a 30 min ab workout. It sounds awesome, so I want to try and go after the marathon!

After the walk, I came home and had 2 of the leftover potstickers from last night and then a few (too many) tortilla chips with whole foods black bean dip. This stuff is addicting. For dinner tonight, I made a turkey and swiss cheese melt on whole grain bread using light, whipped butter.Meanwhile, I decided to roast a chicken that I got from the store last week. For 99 cents a pound, I knew it was the perfect time to try this for the first time. Gotta love a deal.

I chopped up a bunch of carrots, onion, celery, and fresh parsley to put in the bottom of my glass baking dish which I had sprayed with PAM. I poured about a cup of water and placed the chicken on top of the veggies. The top of the chicken was seasoned with pepper and old bay and then I stuffed some unsalted butter between the skin and meat. I pressed it around to cover as much of the chicken as possible. (I probably used about 3 Tablespoons)This went into a 400 degree oven for an hour and a half. I made sure to baste this chicken every 20-30 mins or so using the juices from the chicken mixed with the water in the bottom of the pan - it smelled SO GOOD.

The cooking time will vary, but since I happen to have a meat thermometer, I kept checking every 10 mins after the hour and a half were up until it reached 180 degrees internal temperature.Its done! Kevin is planning to use the juices in the bottom of the pan with all the veggies and create a veggie gravy...yum. Dinner tomorrow night will be a good one!Hope everyone has a great night - GO Redskins!