Roasty Roasty.

Anybody else trying to cut their grocery bill? Meat is one of those love/hate relationships that I have. So juicy, so good, but...really expensive. Solution? SALES! Particularly, sales of whole roaster chickens.


And check out this bargain that I snatched at our Safeway store this week.

Let's note this please. That is an EIGHT POUND CHICKEN. FOR SEVENTY-NINE CENTS A POUND. Do you know how many meals this is? For $6.37!

Sorry, I just get really excited about good grocery deals.

So, a quick roasting lesson for anyone who may be a little bit phobic of whole chickens, since they can be a little intimidating. 

First, remove the giblets. Let's be honest, nobody likes to think of these things, and even though I'm not scared of raw meat, giblets always freak me out a little bit. Which is why I'm glad they come in little packages like this. 

Yes. Unless you're brave and use these in other recipes, throw them away. Quickly.

I always rinse my chickens off with running water, even though there's some controversy about this now because of the chicken cooties being able to splash around your sink. However, I always thoroughly disinfect my kitchen after cooking raw meats so....I prefer a rinsed and patted dry chicken to roast.

I also always line my pans with nonstick foil. Makes the clean-up a LOT easier.

So, the roasting. Place your chicken in your roasting pan, like so. And season it, with whatever suits your fancy. Salt and pepper work out just fine. I usually alternate between Goya Adobo seasoning or Montreal Chicken seasoning. This time I tried poultry seasoning, just for kicks.

Sometimes I follow the instructions on the package, other times I just stick the chicken in the oven at 375 degrees for about an hour. This particular instance (since I'm not usually roasting eight pound monster chickens), the package said to cook at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours or until the LOVELY little "indicator" popped up. Which I'm a big fan of. I also added half a cup of water to the pan to help keep this ginormous chicken moist during its stay in the oven.

Roasty roasty until the temperature reads about 180 degrees in the thickest part of the chicken thigh.

Oh man, is your mouth watering yet?

Let the roast stand for 15 minutes after removing from the oven, and then slice up for meal number one!

Possible leftovers: Chicken Gorditas, Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken Salad, Chicken Soup, and the list goes on!

Moral of the story: Follow the sales at your grocery store, and get a roaster chicken while it's on sale. Just as delicious as a rotisserie chicken, and significantly less expensive. Yum. :)