Eat healthy on a “lean” budget: Whole Roasted Lemon Rosemary Chicken and Veggies

Whole Roasted Rosemary Lemon Chicken
Eat fit on a "lean" budget
Feeds 2-4 on $7

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken
4 Medium Russet Potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
5 Large Peeled Carrots
2 Stalks Celery
1 Lemon, halved
1 Head of Garlic
1 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 Tbs. fresh or dried Rosemary, finely chopped
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove chicken from refrigerator let sit out a few minutes to take chill off. Peel carrots and potatoes. Rinse and strip and dice celery. Chop into large pieces. Place in medium size oven safe pan, slightly larger than the chicken. Lightly hit garlic to separate cloves and remove skin.  Add potatoes, garlic and veggies to pan. Rinse chicken inside and out, pat dry and remove giblets. Rub chicken skin with oil, add salt and pepper. Place rosemary and lemon halves into chicken cavity.  Place chicken on top of veggies in pan.

Put in oven: 20-25 minutes per pound of chicken. i.e., 4 lb. chicken takes 1 hour 20 - 40 minutes. Using a thermometer inserted into the chicken thigh, remove when it reaches 180 degrees. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes before carving and serving.

9am Crock Pot Spaghetti - make in the a.m for busy days

It's pouring rain outside, I have 2 business meetings, need to pick up kids from school, take them to jazz and tap dance and my mother in law is coming over for dinner and watch the kids while hubby and I steal away to dinner and a flick. Hmmm. Here is what I am making them for dinner.

9am Spaghetti Crock Pot

1 lb. extra lean ground turkey
Chopped onion, to taste
2 (1 lb.) cans tomatoes, cut up
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste
2 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. brown sugar or stevia
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 tsp. summer savory
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Brown ground turkey meat and onion in fry pan, drain off fat; transfer to crock pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over hot spaghetti. Can be made ahead and frozen. Tip: add diced veggies 10 minutes before serving OR alongside the pasta. Serve with garlic toast and side salad.

Dinner ready at 5pm. Easy and healthy.