Happy Easter

I went out of town for Easter and was unable to post, so this is a little late. Because me and the Sweetpea were in Missouri over the weekend to celebrate my Grandfather's 90th birthday, I prepared Easter dinner and took the baby's Easter pictures the weekend before. I made a roasted chicken stuffed with fresh herbs from the brand new container garden Brian is growing on our back patio. The only other preparations I did to the chicken was to rub the outside with olive oil and cover in salt and pepper. The result was a very vibrant flavor from the herbs and extremely juicy chicken. It could have used more salt, but I like to cook it with as little as possible and add it after if it needs it. No need to over salt when you don't have to and I keep in mind that you can always add more. I also made a simple cheese, rice and broccoli casserole and served peas and garlic bread. We sat at the dining room table while the baby played with some peas and of course wine was served as well.

The herbs are stuffed whole under the skin of the breast. I think it looks a little like a bikini top!

I removed the herbs before eating. The chicken is a beautiful brown and the skin was crispy.

I followed the cooking time table on helpwithcooking.com. Prepare the chicken by cleaning the outside, patting it dry and removing the giblets. Stuff the skin over the breast with whole sage, basil and oregano. Rub the outside with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in the roasting pan breast up. Roast for 15 minutes on 450 degrees to obtain a nice crispy skin. Then cook the chicken the rest of the time at 375 degrees for 20 minutes per pound of chicken plus an extra 20 minutes. This chicken was about 5 pounds so it cooked for 2 hours at 375 degrees. Don't forget to baste your chicken about every 20 minutes to keep it juicy and crispy.

Chicken, peas, rice casserole and wine.

The broccoli rice casserole is very easy.

1 bag frozen broccoli, thawed

8 oz velveeta cheese, cubed

1 can cream of chicken soup

3-5 cups rice, cooked

Combine all in a casserole dish and sprinkle paprika over the top. Cook for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. (Toss it in the oven during the last 30 minutes of cooking the chicken.)

Easter Dinner table set and ready to go.

Everleigh's Easter basket. The candy was for Brian and I. She got the books and hair accessories.

The following are pictures from our Easter photo shoot in the backyard.

The dress was mine when I was a baby::

Happy Easter everyone!