Blah Blah Blah Blah...

...Which pretty much describes my mood perfectly lately. It's been a rough winter! I'm sick of snow, sick of cold, sick of clouds. I guess saying I have spring fever would be the understatement of the year! I've never really been too affected by the winter blahs but this year it has really hit me. I guess it's a combination of things. The weather, the fact that it's coming up on one year since Olivia was born, and we've been thrown a couple of "curve balls" in the last few months with new developements in our family. Nothing to worry about and I'll probably explain more another time. I'm definitely ready for sun, warm and some vitamin D! Don't get me wrong, I'm not depressed and I'm certainly functioning properly, but there are days it has been a struggle and I'm very thankful for friends and family that have kept me moving and smiling!

I've thought so many times about posting something but I feel like I've had nothing to offer! We've just been sitting inside and waiting...waiting...waiting...

I have been doing a lot of cooking lately. I like cooking and being a PC consultant I've had fun trying lots of new recipes and using all my new tools! Andy has been working lots of overtime this month so I've used my "alone" time (yeah right, like I'm ever alone!) to cook 3 or 4 meals at a time and package them up in individual servings. Since he hasn't been home for meals it's been nice to have many options to grab and take to work and for me and Gwen at home. One of the new recipes I tried was Lemon Greek Chicken and since many of you asked for the recipe here it is!

Lemon Greek Chicken

3 lemons
1/4 c olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 T dried oregano leaves
3/4 t salt
1/2 t coarsely ground black pepper
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
8 petite red potatoes
1 med red bell pepper
1 med red onion
8 oz white mushrooms

1. Preheat oven to 400*. Using zester/scorer, zest two of the lemons to measure 1 1/2 T zest. Juice one of the zested lemons using citrus press to measure 2 T juice. In stainless (4-qt/4-L) mixing bowl, combine zest, juice, oil, garlic pressed with garlic press, oregano, salt and black pepper; mix well. Place chicken on center of large bar pan. Using chef's silicone basting brush, brush chicken with about 2 T of the lemon juice mixture.

2. Cut potatoes in half using crinkle cutter. Cut bell pepper into 1-in strips using santoku knife. Cut onion into 1-in wedges. Thinly slice remaining lemon using ultimate mandoline fitted with v-shaped blade. Combine potatoes, bell pepper, onion, lemon slices and mushrooms with remaining lemon juice mixture in mixing bowl; toss to coat.

3. Arrange vegetables around chicken on pan. Bake 1 hour or until pocket thermometer registers 180* in thickest part of breast, brushing chicken and vegetables with pan juices after 30 minutes.



Pretty tasty but Andy and I both agreed that it had a bit of a bitter after taste and I'm wondering if that's because of the lemon slices. So maybe omit those and add a bit more zest??