Collect Call from Martha Stewart ... Will you accept the Charges?

I guess NASA read my blog about getting some better food up to the International Space Station crew since Space.com reported that Martha Stewart chatted with the ISS crew on Monday. Sunita Williams asked for any tips on how they could fix up the place to make some better meals. Stewart was very willing to travel up to the ISS and turn things around, but had to decline as leaving earths atmosphere would go against her parole. Guess she'll be directing things from ground control.

All kidding aside, I'm sure the Omnimedia machine could put the NASA engineers on their ear. Perhaps NASA needs a little more private sector help. In the upcoming years there'll be a lot of new countries making their way up into space. I think the winner won't be the country that can do it the cheapest, but the one that can bring their astronauts back the healthiest! The United States has some great veteran astronauts. Give 'em a good reason to head back up to the stars. Oh and save a seat for me! I should have the bugs on my outdoor grill worked out by then!! I'm still having problems with some of the foam insulation.

Roasted Chicken

Okay, so this chicken I roasted was WAY yummy. First, I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees. Then, here is the pictoral of the steps:

Wash the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel. Place chicken in the roasting dish, cut up veggies and place in and around the chicken. The veggies I used were garlic, onion, carrots, and celery.


Actually, before I stuffed the veggies in the chicken, I made sure to season the cavity with fresh basil, sage, garlic, and chives. After the veggies went in, I seasoned the outside with sea salt, 2 dried bay leaves (those actually went inside as well), dried basil, dried rosemary, and dried thyme.


I also added some wine to the roasting dish. The wine I used is Becker Vineyard Viogner.


I put the chicken in the 400 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours. Actually, at 45 minutes, I basted the chicken with its juices. It already looked yummy at that point!


45 minutes after that, it was ready. How did I know? The joints moved freely and the juices ran clear. Also, the little ready indicator had popped up. :D


It was so good and there are plenty of left overs for lunches to come. It was really easy, too. Next time, I may add some of the orange salt Saucy Joe and lemon slices gave me to make it a citrus chicken. Ooh, or I could use bar-b-que seasonings and make it a bar-b-que chicken... The possibilities on this are endless!!

Just like Mom used to make ... Only faster!

A statement I can make and not get in trouble since my Mom was the person that turned me on to the product in the first place!

A couple of years ago while visiting my Mom she told me that we were going to have Pot Roast for dinner. As it was already 5:00pm I gave her a questioning look and she returned from the kitchen with a package of Hormel Roast Beef Au Jus. She told me "it tastes just like my Pot Roast." I gave her the benefit of the doubt and was surprised at the results. As the contents of the package are pre-cooked, 7 minutes in the microwave provides a piping hot entree that does taste like Moms' Pot Roast.

Since then I've made it a habit of having one or two packages of Roast Beef Au Jus in the fridge for the just in case comfort meals. I'll still make my own mashed potatoes as I'm not ready to give up on that. I haven't the heart to look at the Nutritional Chart on the side of the package as it may be full of disappointments, but I must say that the pieces of meat that come in the package are lean and free of the fat that you'd get in my four hour cooked Pot Roast.

Missing from the formula is the thing that we usually associate with Pot Roast. The Smell! The hours of torturous aromas that fill the house. Pavlov has nothing on me!! For that reason and for the sake of carrying on tradition I will continue to spend some quality time making good old fashioned Pot Roast, but if I'm in a pinch, I know I have a good backup plan!!

You can find Hormel Fully Cooked Entrees in the meat section of your grocery store. They are packaged in 17oz. and 30oz. sizes. With our crew of six, the 30oz. size works well.

Where to go this year??

Alas, I feel as though I'll be spinning my wheels in January trying to get a plan together for the rest of the year. How exciting it is to see all that's available to cook!!! I just hope the family and friends are up to the experiments ahead!! It's going to be a great year of the Good Life with SaucyJoe!!

May we all have the Good Life throughout the year!!