Garlic and Thyme Roast Chicken . . . It's like a superhero for your dinner table

 For real, peeps, this chicken.
Put a cape on it.
It's here to fly in and save the day.
I'm not even kidding. 

That and every time I prepare a whole chicken, I'm bewildered as to why there aren't more chicken-based puppets. I mean . . . I don't know, maybe I'm weird, but it's like it's begging to be made to sing and dance. Maybe that's just how I cope with the thought that I'm putting my hands up that poor birds hoo-hah and ripping out its innards. 

That really makes you want to cook now, doesn't it??? 

Because this chicken is so worth it.  It's incredibly moist and flavorful, and, the mushrooms people. THE. MUSHROOMS. I was ready to propose right then and there and run away to wedded mushroomy bliss.  

Prepping this sucker is incredibly simple. Prep the spices, rub the spices on the chicken, and put the chicken in the oven.  The trick comes once the chicken's cooking--to help keep it moist and flavorful, you have to empty the fluid from the bottom of the pan and dump it back over the chicken every fifteen minutes.  I put my chicken on top of this roasting insert that came with my crockpot and then placed them both in a casserole dish. I'm sure there's a better/easier way to do it, but I didn't have many options.  So, every fifteen minutes, I'd remove the whole deal from the oven, tilt it to the side, pour the juice into a little cup, and then pour it back on. Looking back on it . . . I probably should have REMOVED the bird, then poured the fluid, placed the bird back in the pan, THEN dump the fluid over the bird. 

Or .... Um .... USE A TURKEY BASTER!
But I was so puzzled at the moment, I wasn't thinking clearly. 

ANYWAYS, learn from my fumblings (and blurry pictures) and make this chicken. It's AWESOME.

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (roughly 5 pounds)
• 3-4 shallots
• 3-6 big Garlic pods
• 8oz - 16oz mushrooms (depends on how much you love mushrooms)
• 1½ Tablespoon fresh Thyme
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• pinch salt
• pinch pepper
• 1 cup of water

Instructions
(Original recipe found here)

1. Rinse it and place the chicken with the breast up into a baking form.

2. Chop your shallots, mince the Garlic, and rinse your mushrooms. Remove the tiny thyme leafs from the harder “branches” so that you have about 1½ Tablespoon or so (I lean more on the OR SO side).

3.Take some of the garlic and thyme and rub the flavors into the chicken inside and keep them in there.
 

4. Tie your chicken legs together (or, if you find yourself out of string, you can try to toothpick them together like we did). Place the chicken on a roasting pan in either a casserole dish or a pan with a lip. Place the mushrooms and shallots in the bottom pan.

5. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top too and add the water into the oven pan. Place the dish into the oven at 425 F. for 15 minutes first.
 Remember what I said about make sure you do the easy thing? Remove the bird on its roasting pan, set it aside. Tilt the rest of the pan to drain the liquid into a measuring cup or bowl to the side. Place the chicken and roasting pan back inside the bottom pan, then pour the liquid on top.  Yes, it will be a little messy, but it's how you get an awesome chicken ;] 

OR JUST USE A TURKEY BASTER!!!

(I really wish I had thought of that sooner)

6. After 15 minutes take it out and pour the liquid in the pan over the chicken several times and back into the oven for another 15 minutes at 425 F.
Tip: If you feel there's not enough liquid to keep your chicken moist, add a little more water and olive oil.

7. Again take it out and do the same again by pouring the liquid on top of the chicken. Place the chicken back into the oven for a last 15 minutes round!
Repeat this process as many times as necessary until your chicken is cooked.

7.  Your bird is finished cooking when the chicken skin is getting brown and when you poke with a knife into the meat and it is no longer raw (though you will notice that the meat might seem a little bloodier/juicier than if you were cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts).

Now cut up, dig in, and savor that delicious son of a gun!
Seriously, your tastebuds will thank you.

Also, be sure to check out all these lovely ladies on my sidebar! They are fabulous and keep some really sweet blogs! Give them a look!!!

The Wrong Place for Shoes and Other Updates

Peeps, I'm posting this from my phone, and I have no idea how I feel about that.

I don't think I like it.

So if I miss an autocorrect malady, please forgive me just this once.

I always say I will blog more, and then something comes up. This time? It's employment.

That's right, peeps, Ima workin'!

Maybe not a fancy career or anything, but I'm now full-time nanny to an adorable four-year-old girl.  

Let me say this right now: moms are heroes. After only two days--count 'em! TWO--I came home so exhausted that I couldn't form coherent sentences and had a meltdown over wanting to avoid tricker treaters because, dagnabbit, my house was messy, I was hungry, and all I wanted to do was watch TV uninterrupted and eat something other than PB&J. Did you know "I need a nap" two-year-old-style fits are less than attractive on a twenty-six-year-old woman?? It was bad, peeps. BAD. All that to say, moms, you need chocolate and a mani-pedi like STAT!!! Husbands/Boyfriends/Whatevers, get on that business like NOW. Mama needs a break.

Despite my newfound battle for stamina, it's been great. Really. :) It's just that life doesn't let up because now there's work,  housekeeping (or there should be .... My floors .... The vacuum is desperately needing to kiss and make up with my carpet; it's revolting), cooking, the new social life, AND YOU!! Yay blogging!!! So, after eight months of wasting time, I'm relearning how to manage my time without imploding into a puddle of exhausted goo. I'll get my stamina back soon ..... Lord willing .... And I bet I'll have lots of fun nanny stories.

 Like this one:

My wee little charge is playing with her Polly Pocket doll under the table because, apparently, that's the place to play ... Or I'm just naive to sneakiness because I've been out of the kid game for a while. Then I hear, "HEY!!! Hey you! Help!! I have a slipper stuck in my nose."

"You what?!?"

"A slipper! It's in my nose!!"

I had flashbacks to the story about my brother who, at age three, decided it would be a good idea to tear the buttons out if his toy phone and stuff them up his snozz. "Mommy, ABC up my nose!" He sneezed them out during the panicked drive to the doctor. 

So I pinched the empty nostril and told her to blow as hard as she could. In response, a tiny teal scuba flipper burst out of her nose, unfolding and twirling like an acrobat shot from a cannon. Success.

Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Huzzah. No nose surgery today, peeps. Not on my watch.

We proceeded to have a discussion about why we PLEASE do not put tiny shoes up our nose. 

And that's my life now :) 

Those of you who have requested I make you buttons, I have NOT forgotten!! I am working on them, I promise! If anyone else would like to add a free sponsor button to my site, shoot me an email at ANYWAYWIND(at)GMAIL(dot)COM. If you don't have a button, don't worry! I can whip one up for you if you send me a picture of yours that you feel suits your blog. 

PLEASE make sure that it is a picture that I can crop or resize to 250x150 pixels (that's a rectangle that is longer than it is tall ;) ). Again, thank you so much! I have some wonderful ladies to introduce to you guys!!! Whoo-hoo!!!

"IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIE!!!!"

WOW!!!
Holy guacamole, peeps, I did not expect this! Nope, not even at all--through Cara's lovely giveaway (CONGRATS, CASSIE!!!), my blog following has tripled.
Like it went from about 40 Bloglovin' followers to 124.
Peeps, I can't even.
I just can't even.

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Also, if you click that source link and read the article, it's SO STINKIN TRUE

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I know that still makes me a tiny blogger, but gosh this is just too awesome! Yay!


Now if I can just keep you guys reading . . . that's the trick, right?


Anyways, in a tiny celebration of new followers, I would love to offer you all FREE sponsorship on this here little ole blog.  Just email me at the NEW blog email:

anywaywind@gmail.com

Just send me:

1. Your name
2. Blog or shop link (or whatever profile you'd like--Bloglovin, Facebook, Etsy shop, etc)
3. A 250x150 button

Let me know if you'd like to do a guest post, interview, or feature to get your name out there :]  I'd love to continue growing this space and, in turn, help you grow yours!

This time around, let's see . . . maybe . . . 10 blog buttons on my sidebar? Twelve? Hmmm . . . I guess we'll just see if we have any takers. ;]

Also, in the comments, let me know what you'd like to see more of here.  I know my posting has only been once or twice a week, and that's something I'm definitely working on, and I'm trying to add more photos and recipes when I can. But I'm always open for growth!

Thanks again, guys! You rock my face flippin OFF!!! Love you!

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Here's to you, guys!
Here's to you.