Winter Break!
This week has been the winter break week, aka March Break, for elementary and secondary school kids in Ontario. If you’re into winter activities, this is a great week to get out and enjoy some skiing, snowboarding, skating, and so on. If you’re more like my family, you get out and enjoy a break from the normal routines and you look forward to spring’s arrival.
This is how we roll!
Yes, we’re not the outdoor enthusiast type, but we still get out. There’s so much to do when you live in or so close to a big city like Toronto. This is how we roll.
Nelson was able to take a few days off from work this week. He and the kids spent a day exploring Toronto. They started with a walk through Kensington Market where Michael bought a Hendrix album for his new turn-table, and then they ate tacos and churros from a couple of local restaurants before heading to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) to check out the Vikings and dinosaurs exhibits. [insert my jealous whine here… ’cause I wasn’t able to join them].
Suburbanites having a blast in the big city. That’s how we roll.
Dinner and a Show.
On Thursday, while Michael went back to Toronto to explore the city with his friends, Nelson had another special day with Daniel. They had pancakes and maple syrup (at the source) when they went to a local conservation park to see and learn about how sap is tapped from the maple trees and then turned into maple syrup. They went to the library, and then the local indoor pool before heading back to prepare supper. Nelson kind of whipped together this fantastic meal, then left it in the oven before taking Daniel to watch a movie. Don’t worry – he didn’t leave the oven on unattended. I was working from home so I was in charge of keeping an eye on the chicken and removing it from the oven when it was done.
Perfect timing.
When Nelson and Daniel returned from the movie, I had already taken the pics for this blog post and after a quick warm-up back in the oven, we sat down to eat dinner (remember, we eat what we blog). It was a fun day for the boys, and everything was so perfectly timed.
Can I just say how freakin’ amazing this was. Seriously, this was some juicy and flavourful chicken and vegetables. I could have gone for thirds, but I might have burst.
Fun!
I love that Nelson was able to take some time off to do some fun stuff with our kiddos this week.
This is how we “winter break”. Enjoy any break you get, in the way that makes you and your family happy, and eat well, friends!
This roast chicken and vegetables dish takes a while in the oven, but it's super easy to prepare... and just wait till you see the look on people's faces when they taste it!
- 2 (about 1.6 kg or 3.5 lbs each) butterflied whole chickens (watch the video in our story)
- 2 red bell peppers, roughly chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 1/2 medium red onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cups cremini mushroom, sliced
- 680 g or 1 1/2 lbs creamer potatoes (if you can't find these, use other tiny potatoes with skin on)
- 2 + 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp course sea salt
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp red pepper sauce (optional)
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 + 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp flaked salt
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
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preheat oven to 350 ºF.
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Place all the the veggies in a large roasting pan.
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Add 2 tbsp olive oil, coarse sea salt, paprika, chili powder, red pepper sauce, lime juice and 1 tsp black pepper.
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Using clean hands, mix everything inside the roasting pan until the ingredients are all coated.
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Rub the chickens in the seasoned veggies until coated.
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Even out the veggies on the bottom of the roasting pan and place the two chickens on top of the veggies side by side.
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Drizzle remaining 2 tbsp olive evenly over the chickens.
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Sprinkle the flaked salt and remaining 1 tsp black pepper evenly over the chickens.
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Place the roasting pan in the oven on the middle rack and roast for 70 minutes at 350 ºF.
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After 70 minutes, change the oven temperature to broil at 500 ºF for 10 to 15 minutes.
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Check colour and doneness with a thermometer (165° Fahrenheit or 74° Celsius).
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Take the pan out of the oven and let rest for 10 minutes loosely covered with foil.
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Sprinkle chopped parsley (or other favourite herms) over the chickens. Serve hot! Enjoy!
Cooked chicken's internal temperature 165° Fahrenheit or 74° Celsius. Use an instant-read thermometer to determining the temperature of your chicken. You shouldn't see pink at the bone and the juices should run clear.
