Kitchen Day

Hello Lovely Ladies, Welcome to Kitchen Day.  This is Day 2 of me sharing with you the new routine and systems that I am trying out for the next couple of weeks.  So far the hard work has paid off and we are enjoying the blessing of spending more time together as a family.  We've had time for conversation.  More time for rest which comes at a good time since I am under the weather right now.

So, what is Kitchen Day you ask?  Kitchen Day is a day when you spend extra time in your Kitchen.  The heart of your home.  The place where you find yourself 21 times a week plus snacks.  Or 1, 095 times a year plus snacks.  Kitchen Day is a planned day where you can spend extra time baking, preparing meats for dishes later in the week/month, cleaning out a cupboard, cleaning out a drawer, getting things organized.

I spent my very first kitchen day roasting chicken.  Line your pan with foil (you will thank me and feel like giving me a big old hug if this is new to you).  No scrubbing.  Personally I put my cookie sheet in the dishwasher versus hand washing when I am done because I firmly feel this is what the Proverbs 31 Woman would have done.

(a sidenote about a package of fresh chicken: I used to divide it up when I got home from the grocery store in packages, think foil or Ziploc bags, of 2...HOWEVER, since my roasting chicken day was so successful now I will just toss the entire package into the freezer and roast it all on Kitchen Day)

Preheat your oven to 375.  Line your pan with foil.  Lay chicken in a single layer, top with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Salt and Pepper generously.  Bake (or say Roast because it makes you sound like the Gourmet Cook that you are) for 40 minutes.  Take out of oven and let sit for about 10 minutes.  This allows the chicken to cool and it lets the juices redistribute. Very Food Networky of us isn't it?

OK so we already talked about preheating the oven to 375.  Always preheat your oven.  I don't know why.  Good cooks tell me to do it so now I'm telling you, it'll help you get in touch with The Gourmet Cook within.

Chop up the chicken and place in bags with the amount written on the bag.  I added 1 1/2 cups to this bag and popped in the freezer.  When we made a Chicken Pot Pie last week my chicken was cooked and ready.  Look at my sweet little helper.  He loved the Roast Chicken.  Would you take a look at those chubby little hands, love that.  You could have chicken prepared for Chicken Chili, Mexican Chicken, Quesadillas, Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Spaghetti...just to throw a few ideas out there.

You can also use Kitchen Day to do a little extra deep cleaning in the kitchen area while you wait for things to bake.  Plan your most labor intensive, time consuming recipe for the week on this day.

(another side note: do you have disposable kitchen gloves?  you can buy 1,000 at Sam's Club for under  $5.00.  they are so nice to have on hand in the kitchen when you are preparing food)