saturday's dinner/sunday's lunch

I cooked a good amount on Saturday since I really didn't have a lot else on my plate (haha, get it?).

for dinner, I made a pretty simple rotisserie chicken in our wonderful convection oven given to us by my mom and step dad a few Christmases back.

for the brine, I just used about 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, about 2 cups of water along with various spices including garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and season all (ya, ya I cheated on that one).

I left that in the fridge for about 6 hours; turned in over about halfway through to make sure the brine got all of the chicken.

The chicken was about 4 lbs; nothing too crazy.

before putting it in the oven, I sprinkled it with more garlic powder and onion powder as well as a good amount of salt.

for some reason the convection oven didn't want to get quite up to 450 for me on the rotisserie setting so I had to cook it for about an hour on that, then about a half hour on the regular ol' convection setting at 450 as well.

the bird turned out pretty perfect! I wish I had kept it in just a tad longer so it would have been a bit more crispy but other than that it was great!

we had that with fresh steamed brussel sprouts that we had bought at a farm that day(mmhhhmmmm) and stuffing (yes, stuffing from a box; it was Bells at least. Jesse loves the stuff).

for lunch on Sunday I made a sort of creamy mushroom and chicken pasta. It was quite delicious and I did cheat a bit.

Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta

about 3 tsp oil
about 1 pound of mushrooms (maybe a tad less, depending on how much you like them)
about 1/8 cup of corn starch (to thicken)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (here's where I cheat.. and it's really not even that necessary!)
1 cup of milk
about 1 pound of cooked chicken (I used leftover from the rotisserie from the night before)
1/2 pound cooked pasta (1/2 lb weight before cooking; so half of a normal bag/box); your choice of pasta (I used spiral macaroni shells)
semi-optional spices (you can kind of feel around for the ones you like best):
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 salt

Heat oil on medium heat.

Add mushrooms. cook until browned and somewhat soft.

Sprinkle mushrooms with cornstarch; follow with can of soup and milk. Stir until incorporated.

add chicken, pasta and spices until well mix.

serve!

*the salt is an added ingredient. I didn't use it on Sunday but I wish I had. the dish was just a tad bland! I definitely suggest adding it.

Good, hearty american meal. Not the healthiest but hey, it could be a LOT worse!

I will leave you with this wonderful quote by a pretty awe-inspiring woman chef:

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” 
― Julia Child