Chemo - Part 3 - Day 2

Today was pretty similar to yesterday's visit to the doctor, except that we got an actual room and I knitted instead of blogging. Yes folks, I knit. I find it relaxing. We were only at the doctor for two and a half hours today. I guess things go faster once you get the procedure down. Things are going well so far - a bit more tired, but overall still staying active (we took the dogs for two walks today - the dogs are out cold right now because they're so worn out). Fingers crossed that things continue to go well.

Now to food... While I was at Whole Foods the other day I picked up a chicken to cook and make chicken broth out of (recipe to come). Because my co-worker BA was so unhappy with me for using a whole chicken to make my last chicken broth instead of using just the bones, I decided to follow his advice and roast the chicken first. Here's what I did for the roast chicken:

Roast Chicken

1 5-lb chicken
Inside the chicken
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1 lemon, cut in half
1 head garlic (yes, the whole head), with the outer layers peeled and cut in half
Outside the chicken
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2 Tbls olive oil
1 onion, sliced (~3/8" thickness)
6 carrots, cut into large chunks
2 bags of Brussels sprouts, rinsed and trimmed
1 bulb fennel
Both inside and outside
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Remove the giblets/whatever they're called from the inside of the chicken. Rinse both the inside and outside of the chicken, and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle salt and pepper inside the chicken. Stuff the chicken with the thyme, lemon, and garlic. Use kitchen string/twine to tie the legs together, or use something like the metal prongs that I found in one of my parents' kitchen drawers to skewer the poor thing closed. Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil so that the chicken is thoroughly coated, then rub with salt and pepper. Don't be stingy.

Spread the carrots, Brussels sprouts, onion, fennel, and thyme in the roasting pan. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Make a hole in the center of the veggies and position the chicken in the opening. Place the roasting pan in the oven. Cook for 1 1/2 hours or until the inside of the chicken reaches 170 F with a meat thermometer.

Remove the chicken from the roasting pan and transfer to a platter, covering with tinfoil. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Then cut and serve. It's so yummy!

I also want to point out that this is the first time that I've ever cooked a whole chicken. Or whole anything for that matter. The last time I had to deal with a whole raw bird was Thanksgiving three and a half years ago. My parents had come out to Texas with the dogs to celebrate with me. My mom took charge of the bird and called me over to help out at the sink. I tried. I really tried, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't reach inside to pull out the giblets and whatnot. I actually shrank away... I was too chicken (yes, that horrible pun was intended).

However, thanks to Paleo and my need to eat meat, I've learned to handle raw meat, in particular raw poultry (I'm still working on fish). So when I roasted this chicken, I passed with flying colors, though I washed my hands like 15 times over the course of prepping the chicken. So I'm a bit crazy about germs right now... or technically always... it just means that I'm a safe chef, right? You're welcome, kitchen counters and bottle of olive oil for keeping you clean.