Checking in....

Hey everyone in my JoLog world. I just wanted to check in and say that I am not gone, I am just taking the month of March off from the cooking challenge. Lots of things going on in the Summy house this month so cooking exciting new meals every night had to be put on the back burner (pun intended). All of the cooking and cleaning up from the cooking and then writing about the cooking was becoming too much for this procrastinator to handle. I just needed a break....a spring break! I still have several recipes to share from the last few weeks of February AND to show off my super cute Yo Gabba Gabba cupcakes I made for Amelia's 5th birthday. Honestly, by the time I finally catch up with February Blogging it will be April and time to start cooking again. And then, my challenge will be to stay up to date with the writing. Because I would much rather give you my thoughts on the food as they are happening rather than try to dig deep into my memory while I am writing. The older, busier, and crazier I get, that is become harder to do anyway!

So until then blog friends.... Happy Spring!

Week 7 Day 2 and 3 – Nobody said it was easy...

I am sitting here and thinking back a couple of weeks so that I can compose a proper post about week 7's meals and I am so thankful that I have taken pictures of the meals to job my memory. Week seven was busy starting off with Valentines day and ending with Amelia's birthday. Lots of running around crazy to get last minute things done (which is really the only way I know how to do anything...last minute) and cleaning for company... oh yeah, and cooking. So the meals this week had to be easy and pretty "normal" so that we could get through the craziness.

Tuesday night, I had a much needed girls night out with some sweet friends so I just fixed the family a traditional pizza. We love to make our own pizza because we can cater to the whole family...Cheese for the kids and sort of supreme for mom and dad. Nothing fancy... Pillsbury pizza crust, bottled spaghetti sauce, cheese, and a few vegetables for Steve. It really made the kids so happy to have something familiar. I can't say that I blame them... I could eat pizza for every meal!

Wednesday night was crazy. I decided to try a new recipe from my Classic Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals cookbook. I really love Rachael's recipes because they are always quick and easy. This one was going to be as well. Garlic Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon and baked potatoes. I was so proud of myself because I prepared everything ahead of time... chopped the garlic and rosemary. Defrosted and cut up the chicken. Washed and greased the potatoes. Then I realized I needed to run and do a few more errands for Amelia's birthday party. Ugh. So Amelia and I left for the store at 5:30. Traffic was horrible and at 6:00 we were no where close to getting home. I called Steve and he had to cook dinner. I was pretty bummed because I felt like I was giving up on the challenge. If I didn't cook the meal was that quitting? Since then, I have decided that I didn't really screw up the challenge since I planned and got everything ready to cook the meal. Steve was just my Sous Chef. All the best chefs have one. Steve is mine.

As promised the meal turned out YUM-O! but in all of the hoopla I forgot to photograph it. So, bloggy friends, do me a solid and make this meal for yourself and then take a picture of your dish. Send me the picture and I will put it on my blog to go with this recipe! Thanks a million!!!

Garlic Roast Chicken with Rosemary and Lemon

1 and 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks

4 garlic cloves, crushed

4 sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped from stem and chopped

3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 TBSP grill seasoning blend, such as Montreal Seasoning by McCormick (or salt and freshly ground black pepper)

1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

Preheat oven to 450º

Arrange chicken in a baking dish. Add garlic, rosemary, evoo, lemon zest, and grill seasoning. Toss chicken to coat, then place in oven. Roast 20 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice to the dish and combine with pan juices, then spoon over chicken. Return to oven and turn oven off. Let stand 5 minutes longer, then remove chicken from the oven. Spoon pan juices over the chicken when serving.