Toaster Oven Food: Roast Chicken Breasts

This week was a crazy week at work.  We had our Open House, and I got to meet a handful of parents.  I had a record turnout this year. . .4!  Not kidding.  I'm good with it because the 4 parents who showed came at different times so I got to spend some time with each of them, telling them how their child was doing in my class.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to speak to one of the parents because she was ready to come at me about why her son was failing his vocabulary tests.  She told me that he is the type where if he writes the definition, he can remember it.  Her jaw dropped when I told her he does that every other Monday.  I explained further that we do other activities between the definitions and the test so its not like I'm expecting them to just know these words.  So now its her turn to give me an excuse why he doesn't do well, since I obviously already do what she was going to suggest.

The other three parents who showed up were really nice, and they were pleased with things.  Of course, their kids are always polite and on-task.

Along with Open House, I had a student meeting and a football game this week.  The student meeting went well.  Its always nice to see former students who thank you for teaching them when they were in school.  This is also a back-handed slap, as it means you've been at it long enough to be teaching another generation.  The football game also went favorably.  Nice to see the boys doing well.  All their hard work is paying off.  Kudos to the head coach and assistant coaches for putting in all the time with the boys. 

Because Mr. Dependable went out of town this weekend, I had the Ds for the whole weekend, which meant all the chauffeuring.  D1 went to the movies on Friday evening.  On Saturday she had a class work session, cheer practice, and the football game. 

With Open House and all the preparation, the student meeting, work sessions, cheer practice and the football game, you would think my week was rather full.  Add on a scavenger hunt around town to locate bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, and you've entered into a whole different dimension.

Is there some kind of chicken shortage in Hilo?  I went to multiple supermarkets looking for bone-in, skin-on half-breasts, and in all my trouble, I managed to find just 1 regular-size package of organic ones.  That's it.  I don't understand it.  There were trays and trays of thighs (bone-in, boneless/skinless, organic, hormone-raised, etc.), which I detest (dark meat = blecchhhhhh).  I didn't want to buy wings because I just made those last week. 

I was disappointed, but I still needed to eat so I made a half recipe of roast chicken.  And yes, I did it in my trusty toaster oven.  Since I installed pv in late 2012, I've been trying to be conscious about electricity usage.  When I didn't have pv, I used electricity without even thinking about conservation.  True, I have some things which suck the lifeblood out of my electricity generation (fish pond, doggie pond, and auto kitty drinking fountain, etc.), but other than those necessities, I do try to conserve when I can.  Roast chicken is so versatile.  I love making chicken salad mix from the leftovers.  I've also added chopped chicken into a wild rice salad.  The possibilities are endless.  Please don't be tempted to skip the step of smearing the herb butter mixture under the skin.  It totally pumps up the flavor.  Because I have it in my garden, I usually use thyme, tarragon and rosemary for the herb butter mix.  And when I'm lucky enough to find bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, I buy four because four fits nicely in my toaster oven pan.  Crap!  I should have looked for chicken in Costco!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Herb Roasted Chicken Breasts

     4 bone-in chicken breast halves
     3 tbsp butter, softened
     1/2 tsp salt + additional for sprinkling
     1/4 tsp pepper
     1 tbsp assorted herbs, minced
     1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine butter, salt, pepper, and herbs.  Set aside.  Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Spread herb butter over chicken and under the skin.  Place skin-side up in a shallow pan.  Sprinkle with salt and drizzle olive oil over chicken.  Roast for 25 minutes.  Flip chicken pieces over (skin-side down) and roast for 20 minutes.  Flip chicken pieces over again (skin-side up) and roast for 15 minutes.  Remove chicken to a serving platter. 

This week was a crazy week at work.  We had our Open House, and I got to meet a handful of parents.  I had a record turnout this year. . .4!  Not kidding.  I'm good with it because the 4 parents who showed came at different times so I got to spend some time with each of them, telling them how their child was doing in my class.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to speak to one of the parents because she was ready to come at me about why her son was failing his vocabulary tests.  She told me that he is the type where if he writes the definition, he can remember it.  Her jaw dropped when I told her he does that every other Monday.  I explained further that we do other activities between the definitions and the test so its not like I'm expecting them to just know these words.  So now its her turn to give me an excuse why he doesn't do well, since I obviously already do what she was going to suggest.

The other three parents who showed up were really nice, and they were pleased with things.  Of course, their kids are always polite and on-task.

Along with Open House, I had a student meeting and a football game this week.  The student meeting went well.  Its always nice to see former students who thank you for teaching them when they were in school.  This is also a back-handed slap, as it means you've been at it long enough to be teaching another generation.  The football game also went favorably.  Nice to see the boys doing well.  All their hard work is paying off.  Kudos to the head coach and assistant coaches for putting in all the time with the boys. 

Because Mr. Dependable went out of town this weekend, I had the Ds for the whole weekend, which meant all the chauffeuring.  D1 went to the movies on Friday evening.  On Saturday she had a class work session, cheer practice, and the football game. 

With Open House and all the preparation, the student meeting, work sessions, cheer practice and the football game, you would think my week was rather full.  Add on a scavenger hunt around town to locate bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, and you've entered into a whole different dimension.

Is there some kind of chicken shortage in Hilo?  I went to multiple supermarkets looking for bone-in, skin-on half-breasts, and in all my trouble, I managed to find just 1 regular-size package of organic ones.  That's it.  I don't understand it.  There were trays and trays of thighs (bone-in, boneless/skinless, organic, hormone-raised, etc.), which I detest (dark meat = blecchhhhhh).  I didn't want to buy wings because I just made those last week. 

I was disappointed, but I still needed to eat so I made a half recipe of roast chicken.  And yes, I did it in my trusty toaster oven.  Since I installed pv in late 2012, I've been trying to be conscious about electricity usage.  When I didn't have pv, I used electricity without even thinking about conservation.  True, I have some things which suck the lifeblood out of my electricity generation (fish pond, doggie pond, and auto kitty drinking fountain, etc.), but other than those necessities, I do try to conserve when I can.  Roast chicken is so versatile.  I love making chicken salad mix from the leftovers.  I've also added chopped chicken into a wild rice salad.  The possibilities are endless.  Please don't be tempted to skip the step of smearing the herb butter mixture under the skin.  It totally pumps up the flavor.  Because I have it in my garden, I usually use thyme, tarragon and rosemary for the herb butter mix.  And when I'm lucky enough to find bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, I buy four because four fits nicely in my toaster oven pan.  Crap!  I should have looked for chicken in Costco!

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Herb Roasted Chicken Breasts

     4 bone-in chicken breast halves
     3 tbsp butter, softened
     1/2 tsp salt + additional for sprinkling
     1/4 tsp pepper
     1 tbsp assorted herbs, minced
     1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine butter, salt, pepper, and herbs.  Set aside.  Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Spread herb butter over chicken and under the skin.  Place skin-side up in a shallow pan.  Sprinkle with salt and drizzle olive oil over chicken.  Roast for 25 minutes.  Flip chicken pieces over (skin-side down) and roast for 20 minutes.  Flip chicken pieces over again (skin-side up) and roast for 15 minutes.  Remove chicken to a serving platter.