A fun week!
Hey friends, Nelson at the keyboard today. You’ve often heard us complain about how busy we are. Maybe we whine too much, but let’s be honest here… between fighting traffic after work, kids’ activities, dinner prep, and errands, weekday evenings can be pretty chaotic. I know we’re not the first family to feel this way.
This week however, although busy, there was some variety in our routines. It made the week more interesting and it really flew by quickly.
The end of an era
Cue the dramatic music. I guess I’m feeling a little sentimental right now and maybe overdramatizing this, but I really feel like our eldest son is moving to a new ‘grown-up’ stage.
You see, this past week I took Michael to his last music lesson. He’s been taking guitar lessons for the last 4 years. He’s loved this time – mostly because he’s gotten to learn on his terms.
No theory. No notes or traditional music workbooks. Instead, the lessons were more like a jam session, with the added bonus of getting tips on how to play that tricky bridge or make that difficult chord change in whatever song Michael happened to be working on that week. I think it was that freedom that allowed Michael to really enjoy the lessons and learn so much.
He’s not a kid anymore though. Between his project-heavy college studies, working on a number of gigs under his new multimedia business, getting out to do street photography, and still finding time to spend with family and friends–his priorities have shifted. He knew he could really use his music lesson evening.
He’s still very focussed on music and continues to play and write new material, but the spare evening will give him some flexibility.
Although we’re a little sad to see the formal lessons end, we’re thrilled to see him experience these new phases and grow into a responsible and driven young man.
Movie night… at school
Our little guy also had a highlight evening this week. The grade eights at his school organized a movie night to raise funds for their graduation event. They sold popcorn, cookies, and juice boxes, and they setup the mats and chairs in the gym.
It was so cute! The kids were stretched out on the mats, wrapped in their blankets, and all comfy–some with teddy bears. Some parents joined their younger kids on the mats, while others, like Liz and I, “relaxed” (not so much) on hard chairs around the gym.
Needless to say, it was super noisy, but lots of fun to watch them interacting with each other–talking and laughing with no phones, tablets, or gaming in their hands
But wait… there’s more!
This week we also celebrated a birthday and got to visit a premium burger restaurant, Ground Burger Bar…not once…but twice! No complaints… they had me at burger 🙂
Although it was a busy week, there was some variety and it flew by.
On the days we were home, I wanted us to enjoys some nice home-cooked meals. But as usual, weeknight meals have to be quick and easy.
Here’s to quick and easy!
I decided to make some roast chicken on one of our weeknight evenings. I needed the prep time to be minimal so that I could get the chickens in the oven fast.
Roast chicken doesn’t need complex flavours to taste great. I ended up mixing together some soft butter with spices to create a flavourful rub. I slathered the inside and outside of the chickens with this butter mixture, placed the chickens in the roasting pan and put it in the oven. This only took a few minutes while the oven was heating up.
In just a little over an hour later, we were enjoying delicious roast chicken with salad.
Tasty meals don’t have to be complicated or take long to prepare. Build up a list of some easy-to-make family favourites, and always eat well, friends!
Who says you need to buy ready made BBQ chicken on busy weekdays? This recipe is simple to prepare and can be on the table before 7:00pm.
- 2 3.6 lbs chickens
- 1/2 cup softened butter (you can soften it a little in the microwave)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tsp course sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp old bay seasoning
- 2 limes, cut in half
Pre heat the oven to 425 ºF.
In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and old bay seasoning until well combined.
Prepare a large roasting pan. Cover the inside bottom with aluminium foil or spray with cooking spray. Place the rack inside the roasting pan.
Using your (clean) hands, rub the chickens inside and out with the butter mixture. Make sure the chickens are completely covered with the butter mixture.
Tie the legs together with kitchen string and flip the wings under the chicken.
Place the chickens on the roasting pan rack, breast side up and side by side.
Place the pan in the oven on the middle rack and roast uncovered for 1 hour, 20 minutes.
Take the roasting pan out of the oven and squeeze the limes over the chickens.
Loosely tent some aluminium foil over the chickens and let rest for 15 minutes before carving.
Serve hot and enjoy with your favourite sides.
Feel free to cut the recipe in half if you only want to cook one chicken. We like having leftovers.
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