Rosemary Garlic Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

So this was the first time I've actually cooked a whole chicken, and I have to say I was pretty nervous, but it was SOOO easy! Not to mention this chicken is amazing! I promise, you won't be disappointed. 

Ingredients:

• 4 pound chicken ( In my opinion, a free range, natural chicken tastes the best)
• 3 garlic cloves (peeled)
• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 sprig of fresh oregano
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 a teaspoon ground black pepper
• twine

Preheat the oven to 425. Pat your chicken dry with a paper towel (the drier the chicken, the crispier the skin). Set aside.

Chop up 2 sprigs rosemary, garlic and 1 sprig oregano.

Place the rosemary, garlic, oregano, black pepper, and salt in a small bowl.

Add the olive oil and stir together. 

Take the rest of the fresh oregano and rosemary and stuff into the chicken cavity. It's time to truss your chicken. I didn't take pictures of this and it's kind of hard to explain. Here is a good website if you aren't sure how to do it. 

http://www.chow.com/food-news/53715/how-to-truss-a-chicken/

Next take 1 tablespoon garlic and herb mixture and place between the breast and skin, using your fingers.Rub the rest of the mixture all over the chicken.

Put the chicken in an oiled casserole dish and place in the oven for 25 minutes. If you are making vegetables with this prepare them while the chicken is cooking. Chop up some of your favorite veggies, or whatever is in season. I used carrots, new potatoes, and 1/2 an onion. I highly recommend adding an onion, it adds so much flavor. 

Toss all the vegetables in a bowl with some salt, pepper, and olive oil. 

After the 25 minutes are up, add the vegetables to the dish around the chicken. Cook for another 55 minutes. 

ENJOY!

Total cook time: 1 hour and 20 minutes. Feeds 2-4 depending on how big of a chicken you get. This was a small chicken.

                                                                   

Chair Rail

We decided we really wanted a chair rail in the nursery. It makes things seem so much more complete. However, we we're pretty nervous, as we don't do to many wood working projects. As it turns out, putting up a chair rail is pretty easy. First you have to measure the room and buy the proper amount of railing. You'll want to draw a line on the wall right where you want the chair rail to be, so it's even all the way around the room. (We did this in the painting stage). Then you cut it into pieces to fit each wall.

 =)

Make sure you cut each piece the right angle, so they fit together seamlessly. (VERY IMPORTANT!!)

We used a mitre box and saw for this part, nothing fancy. 

Next, you need to hold all the pieces up to the wall and make sure they fit together good.

After you're sure everything fits good, you need to nail it up. We used a brad nailer for this part. My husband was pretty excited! haha.

You'll want to add some wood putty to the nail holes and corners to blend it together, and maybe a little touch up paint. 

ALL FINISHED!

Dim The Lights

What nursery would be complete without a dimming light? Starting out the room just had a regular flip light switch, so we decided to add a dimmer switch. It was actually pretty easy. We went to Home Depot and picked out the style of switch we wanted, and it came in a whole package, everything you need to do it. It was pretty similar to changing the outlets. First you have to unscrew the old cover and then take the switch off the wires. Connect the new switch, screw it to the wall, and add the cover. Dim lighting.....check!

                                                                             BEFORE:

AFTER:

A shocking transformation. Changing an outlet.

It's amazing the difference new electrical outlets and covers can make. The outlets in the nursery were in rough shape, painted over, old, cheap. Let's just say they needed a face lift. 

                                                                             Before

Step 1 is to get the old outlet out of the wall.

Then take the old outlet off the wires. 

Put on the new one.

Add a pretty cover, and BAM! 

=) I can't not add the picture of my husband reenacting getting shocked.. Apparently the nursery is on two breakers. 

&& the painting begins...

After we found out our little bundle of joy was a girl, we started on the nursery. First step, Connor got a big boy bed!!

A big boat!

I think he likes it!! =)

We started in on the nursery by painting. 

Getting the wall ready for the chair rail.

Taping off the door...took FOREVER.

The pink is finished!

The final colors, pink and green (with a little tape in between for the chair rail)

Yay!

Mommy + Daddy = BABY!

That's right folks, we're expecting!! On December 14th we confirmed another little one is on the way. =)

Hello world! 

On March 14th, we found out it's a....GIRL!!

YES!! YESS!! YES!!

As you can see, we're sooooo excited!! 

STARRING: Miss Olivia Grace. 

Flip-Flop Hangers!

It's officially spring time! So that means, here is the south, it feels like SUMMER! & who can have summer without flip-flops? :) I found this cute little DIY project on pinterest.com and decided to give a whirl. Here it goes...

Step 1. Find a metal hanger, which is pretty hard to do around my house.

Step 2. Cut the bottom off with a pair of dikes. (Or in my case, convince your husband to!)

Step 3. Using a pair of pliers, twist the ends up, to get rid of the poky part. Then bend the hanger into this shape.

Step 4. Add something to spice it up, like this fabric cover and a button.

Step 5. Add flip-flops and ENJOY!