Beer Can Chicken

As previously mentioned, on Christmas day Kyle and I cooked our first beer can chicken (also only the second meal we cooked in our new house- the first was angel hair pasta). We looked to a couple websites for some guidance, but the process is fairly straightforward and simple. It was very delicious. Maybe this will be one of our new Christmas traditions? We will have to wait until next year to find out!

What We Did:
Defrost the chicken, ours was 6-7 lbs
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
Rinse in cold water and take out the innards that might still be stuck to the chicken because you didn't defrost it enough because you only bought the chicken the day before because you were previously without a refrigerator
Pat dry
Season the inside, we used Weber Beer Can Chicken Seasoning; this is also a good time to pull out those last remaining giblets you missed the first time around
Rub the outside with olive oil and then season the outside
In The Meantime: drink half a can of beer, we used Moose Drool
Slide the chicken over the beer can; maneuver it so that it stays upright
Hope that it won't fall over
Fix it when it starts to tip over, getting spices and salmonella all up under your festive green sparkly finger nails
Put it in the oven and cook away for about two hours
Take it out of the oven; try to get the can out through a combination of lifting the chicken from under the wings while shaking it and tapping at the can (because you don't own tongs), all the while hoping you don't get scalded by burning hot beer/chicken juice
Carve it like a crazy person who knows nothing about chicken anatomy
Om nom nom

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Miss Sarah the Cook

Hi! I am in/around Fort Payne, Alabama, about 80 miles from Birmingham. I wanted to make it to Chattanooga, Tennessee, so I'm in a good position for finishing the trip tomorrow. I'll post about the trip and moving later, just checking in from the road! Here is a post I've had in the works.
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As previously mentioned, I don't cook much at home, since I cook dinner every day for the kids at PATH. We get food from the Food Bank, with occasional grocery store purchases, so my ingredient options are limited, but I think I have been pretty creative in coming up with some new dishes with what we've got. Some items new to the menu that I've come up with are: tuna casserole (delicious, and I was never a big fan myself; even the kids who don't like tuna like it!), meatball subs, chili, garlic bread, and Shepherd's pie. We serve fruits and vegetables with every meal, usually from a can but sometimes I work it in to the main dish and trick the kids into eating their veggies. Anyway, here are pictures some of my creations, when I remembered to snap a photo.    

Everything takes around or under and hour to make. I think the biggest kitchen challenge I had was with the can opener (though I was not a fan of the ham that splattered all over me). I opened sooooo many cans with this crappy can opener. It took way too long to open this giant can of green beans.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Holiday Baking

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Cooking with Husband

Obviously cooking with husband is not something I have been able to do very much since back when we both lived in Pittsburgh. But we both like to cook, especially together and for each other. The Dexter opening credits (he has been watching over in Iraq) make him hungry for breakfast, so I am planning such a meal for him when he returns (I am quite good at making breakfast). Cooking for just myself is hardly inspiring, I make dinner for the kids Monday through Friday, and cook at my other job as well, so I actually don't have to eat meals at home much, a lot of frozen veggies, yogurt and granola bars. I've been collecting recipes and ideas of things I would like to make once he is back (not all at once).  These photos of tasty treats are all from Healthy Food for Living. I gravitate towards things with avocado for him, seasonal specialties for me (still in pumpkin mode), and things with mango for us both. Mostly anything that looks or sounds delicious.

I think I will start accumulating some pictures of the meals I make the kids. We get our food mostly from the food bank, so there's a lot of cans and packaged food, nothing too spectacular, but I've tried to be a little creative and put some things together that I didn't see on the menu before I arrived. Today I seasoned and roasted the seeds from the pumpkins they carved the other day (and made chili for dinner).

PS- You can find links to the recipes that make the food above on my Pinterest page.

- From the desk of Mrs. M