Recipe(tried): Sunday Dinner at Our House - Oven Roasted Chicken Breasts

Hey, y'all! For the past few months I've felt like everything was spinning out of control. Luckily, many things are getting "back to normal."

Kristin has her cast off, she will be released from having to go to physical therapy this week, and she will be coming home for the holidays next weekend. This semester has been one long, bumpy ride for all of us!

She is able to walk without any kind of assistance. She had been using the wheelchair, crutches, and a walker at different times during her recovery period. Hallelujah!

Last weekend my husband had to go on a business trip. Before he left, Kristin put up our 9' tree and he put on the lights. I decorated it on Sunday. It was beautiful! Within fifteen minutes after decorating it, the tree fell in the living room! Many of our ornaments were smashed and the mess was awful.

I called a friend of mine to tell her of the latest "Debbie Dilemma." She came up, helped me drag that tree out of the house and out to the porch, and helped me pick up the smashed ornaments. That is a friend!

I went and got a tree last week that was advertised as "The Perfect Tree." It was pre-lit, a beautiful color, and was on sale. It was also a tree that only had to be put together using three sections, unlike our monstrous 9' had been! My friend came up and helped me put it up. "The Perfect Tree" had lights on it that didn't work. So I took it back.

Another friend of mine had gotten a pre-lit tree that she loved at a nearby town. She called to see if the company had any more pre-lit trees and they did. When I went over to look at the trees, the only ones left were a 7'5" full tree and a 9' slim tree. Since our windows are 6'X 5', I decided that the full tree would be the one that I purchased.

I FINALLY got the tree decorated today. If this one falls, leans, etc., we will be without a tree this Christmas season! I'm not planning on putting ANOTHER tree up this Christmas!

After having endured the Christmas tree fiasco of the century, I had to have something easy to cook for lunch today! The easiest thing that I could think of cooking was roast chicken breasts. We had the chicken breasts along with garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, rolls, CLAUSSEN Pickles, sweet tea with lemon, and slices of fresh apples with no-fat caramel dip.

We had a new PUBLIX open in a nearby town and I, of course, had to check it out. I was in heaven!!!!! The rolls were delicious, the caramel dip was divine, and the fresh fruits and vegetables were glorious! I was in heaven! My menu was really simple because I used these foods from PUBLIX for lunch today!

Here are the recipes:

OVEN ROASTED CHICKEN BREASTS

6-8 chicken breasts that have been rinsed with water and with bones and skin attached
2 stalks of fresh sage, chopped
2 stalks of fresh thyme, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
PAM Spray
seasoned salt
pepper
dash of poultry seasoning
1/2 cup of white wine
1 can chicken broth
1 T. flour
Reynolds Cooking Bag

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In the cooking bag, put the tablespoon of flour and shake it around in the bag. Place the chopped herbs and vegetables in the bottom of the bag. Place the chicken breasts on top of the vegetables. Spray the chicken breasts with PAM. Sprinkle the chicken with seasoned salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.

Mix the white wine and chicken broth together and pour around chicken. Cut 6 1" slits in the top of the cooking bag. Roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the chicken breasts have turned a golden brown. The internal temperature of the chicken should be 190 degrees.

When the chicken is done, remove the pan from the oven and let the chicken "rest" for about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts and put them on a platter. Using a colander, strain the pan juices from the vegetables. Throw the vegetables away. Put the pan juices into a measuring cup.

In a large skillet, combine 3 T. of butter and 3 T. flour, blend thoroughly. Cook slowly allowing the butter and flour to become golden.

Add two cups of liquid to the flour/butter mixture. If you don't have 2 cups of pan juices, add water or a can of chicken broth to make 2 cups of liquid.

Cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened. Simmer about 5 minues. Makes 2 cups of gravy. May be served with mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.

I hope that everyone else has had MUCH better luck with their Christmas trees than I have had with ours!

Happy cooking!