Pop's Chicken...with a Twist

"Pop" was a very important person in my life.  My Mom married "Pop" a/k/a "Charlie" a/k/a "Sal", a few years after she lost my father.   Pop made an immediate impression on me and I was drawn to him and his love of cooking right away.   He was of Sicilian heritage, loved being in the kitchen, and most times you would probably find the following ingredients in his refrigerator and pantry: 
Bell & Evans chicken, olive oil (large can), garlic, fresh basil, fresh parsley, Pecorino Romano cheese (in large quantities), lemons, Hunts tomato sauce....I could go on and on.  He taught me how to cook many things, including stuffed artichokes and cranberry beans, both of which I had never experienced until he came into my life.  "Pop's Chicken" was one of the first things he ever made for me and I loved it from the beginning!

Okay.  So here's the basics of Pop's recipe.

Chicken pieces (I'm using eight thighs, skins removed), clean and dry
Potatoes, clean and dry (I'm using about 1.5 pounds)
Large onion, peeled and quartered (I cut in eighths)
Salt and Pepper
Dried Oregano
Olive Oil (I use about 2 tbsp.)
Honey
1/4 cup White Wine or Vermouth

Reen's Twist (must be the Irish in me), I added one Rutabega, peeled and cubed into 1-inch pieces
and a half bag of baby carrots.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Pop said to use a glass pan.  Put olive oil in bottom of pan.  Place chicken, potatoes, onions in pan.  No real specific way to do it.  Just get everybody in there.   Season with salt, pepper, and dried oregano. 

Put it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes (I go 40).

Remove pan from oven, flip chicken and toss veggies around a bit.  Season other side with salt, pepper and dried oregano.  At this point, at 1/4 cup of wine (or vermouth) to the pan and drizzle with honey all over (I used about a tablespoon maybe).

Bake for another 30 minutes (I go 40).  Flip chicken and toss veggies again, then drizzle with some more honey (Again, I used about a tablespoon).

At this point, turn the oven up to 400  degrees and put the pan back in the oven.  Watch carefully (his exact words) and cook for another 15 minutes.  Done! 

Eat and Enjoy, and "if you don't like it, you can get your money back."  (Again, his words) :)

Now, a few notes.  Because I didn't have a big enough glass pan handy, I used my stainless steel pain today, but I think it would have cooked nicer in the glass pan.  Also, because I added the rutabega and carrots, there was a lot in the pan .  So maybe I should have gone with my extra large pan.  The carrots and rutabega could have been "roasted" more.   So take that into consideration if you're adding other veggies.

Also, I would have liked more honey on it tonight.  That may be because there was so much juice left in the pan (didn't cook off because there was too much in the pan), and it didn't get that "sweet roasted" flavor that I love so much.  But hey, we learn from my mistakes, right?  But the juice from the pan was really really good spooned over everything.  Or, of course, Pop probably would have had a nice crusty baguette with it and dip the bread in the juice!

I can only estimate what the PointsPlus value is because the recipe builder for some reason doesn't have raw chicken thighs listed, but if I add up all the ingredients individually as cooked ingredients, and then break it down to 4 servings (2 thighs and a quarter of the veggies), it comes up to be about 14 PointsPlus. That's a little high for me normally for a weekday, but on a weekend, that's about right, considering it includes the chicken, the potatoes and all the veggies. It's a one-dish meal! If you want to break it down to 8 servings (1 chicken thigh and an eighth of the veggies), it's only 7 PointsPlus.

So there it is, Pop's Chicken. 

Oh, and made another "test batch" of cupcakes today, this time playing with colors.  I think these came out pretty cool.  We have a "Wing Fling" fundraiser coming up, hot wings obviously, so I was trying to do something that went with that theme.  That's why I went with the "hot" colors. 

These are actually the Weight Watchers chocolate pumpkin muffins with the frosting added.  So they're not so bad.  The "cupcakes" are only 3 points, and then the frosting is another 3 points.   It made 21 cupcakes.  So I've got to give some away again.   Can't keep that many cupcakes in the house, even if they are semi-Weight Watcher friendly!

7.19 Miles...and feeling it!

Happy Weekend!  Woohooo!  Don't have to work this weekend, but don't know if I'm happy about that or not.  Work seems to have slowed down once again.  So I'm going to do my dancing prayers to the "Work Gods" and hope that things pick up.

Got back from my trip last Sunday and got right back onto the program, tracking every single bite.  Have I said how much I LOVE Weight Watchers eTools?  Oh, my gosh, love it!  I still have to track everything, but this way, I don't have to look up the points values.  Just great!

I had yesterday scheduled for my long run.  Fridays are usually a little hectic, but I decided that instead of doing the grocery shopping on Friday this week, I was going to set it aside until Saturday after my WW meeting so I could get my run in on Friday, which I did.  I mapped out my route.  Almost put it off because it was a little cold (36 degrees), but decided to dress warm and get out there.  Tried to keep the same attitude as earlier in the week when I ran on that very windy day.  After all, I can't control the weather on the day of my half-marathon. 

So anyway, dressed warm and off I went.  I have to say that it was a difficult run.  It's much easier to run 7 miles when you're running among palm trees and along the ocean (last week in Florida).  But I did it.  I ran the entire route I had mapped out, a straight route from my house, out and back, for a total of 7.19 miles.  Now I'll do this route once a week for the month of March and bump up the distance again in April.

Have to say though that I'm a little worried.  I am SO ACHEY this morning in my back.  I took myself off the glucosamine a month ago because I was having some stomach problems and wasn't sure what it was from.  Wondering if that has something to do with it.  I also have to admit that I have missed taking medication lately that the doc has me on for the back.  Maybe that is affecting it as well.  I'll get back on that but not sure I want to go back on the glucosamine right now.  So I'll take some Motrin and see what happens.  It's not pain, just achiness.  

So this morning I finally go back to my usual WW meeting.  Haven't been to a meeting since the end of January!  I miss all my friends there and am anxious to get there.  I think the scale went up a pound but that's surely from vacation and will be off again next week.  No problem. 

Have no idea what I'm cooking for dinner today.  Weather is supposed to be decent today so I'm hoping to get out in the garden later and start doing a little "spring clean up".  All the spring bulbs are popping up now so I would like to get started. 

Maybe dinner will be "Pops Chicken", a recipe of his that I treasure.  Seasoned chicken thighs roasted with potatoes and onions, a little white wine, and drizzled with honey at the end.  Oh, my gosh, so good!  Yep, that might be it.  Pops chicken with a little "Reen's flare".  Will post about it tomorrow. 

Hope you all have a GROOVY DAY!  Oh, yes, planning on getting the hula hoops out for a good workout too!