Chicken and Curried Cauliflower

Or

Curried Cauliflower

*the following recipe is so delicious; you can roast up the cauliflower by itself for a quick veggie side. Just follow steps 4-6, minus the chicken care. Right picture; My son loves cauliflower cooked this way.

1 Whole Chicken 4-6lbs

1-3 limes, slice thinly

chopped cilantro, olive oil, salt (optional, we don’t use)

1-2 heads of cauliflower, break into desirable floweret size

curry powder 

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Chicken: wash & pat dry
2. Without tearing the skin, gently separate the skin from the chicken and insert desired amount of lime slices. I usually put 1 slice on each leg, 4-5 on the breast; squeeze a couple over the chicken and the remaining slices in the chicken cavity. I then stuff cilantro, under the skin, around the limes
3. Rub olive oil all over the skin of the chicken (and salt if desired). Put in large baking dish or roaster breast side down. Cook for 30-45minutes.
4. While chicken is cooking, take cauliflower, break into desirable floweret size, and wash well. Put cauliflower into bowl, pour a little salt and olive oil over the top and mix to coat. Put back into fridge while waiting on chicken.
5. After 30-45minutes, turn chicken over so breast is facing upward. Optional, add a little more olive oil to top, legs, wings of chicken. Add Cauliflower around the chicken. Sprinkle desired amount of curry over the top. I love curry so I go way overboard but everyone loves my recipe no matter how much curry I pile on, including my son and used-to-be picky eater husband.
6. Roast for another 30-45+/-minutes. Cover with foil or roasting top if chicken is browning too fast. Chicken is finished when thermometer reads 175-180F. I also take the chicken out and baste 1-2 times during the cooking process. I also “baste” the cauliflower so it doesn’t dry out.

Enjoy!

One advantage of living in Texas is that you can have some great birthday parties outside in the Fall and Spring months...and sometimes even the Winter months:-) Below are some pictures from a birthday party that we attended not long ago for one of my son's best friends.

Whenever a birthday invitation comes for my son, I let him open it. He gets really excited. Especially for this birthday party because it was an Elmo theme. The birthday boy was dressed in an Elmo costume so my son got really excited when he opened the invitation to see his best friend dressed as Elmo.

I like these pictures. Even though my son is still early toddler, I think he looks like an older boy the way he is just hanging out with two of his best friends here.

My friend rented out a spot at a nearby park, Flag Pole Hill, for several hours. My son was especially excited to race one of his friends on the bicycle up and down the pavilion.  

We had 10+ picnic tables, covered in the pavilion, and a playground all reserved for the birthday boy and his friends. The kids loved running around and it was a super easy cleanup for the parents. And of course all the kids loved the slides.

My husband and I waited until our child’s debut to find out the sex. We thoroughly enjoyed having people guess if it would be a boy or girl throughout the pregnancy. However, if I did want to know the sex of my baby, baby #2, down the road, then we might partake in a trendy gender revealing party theme.

My personal favorite, see pictures below from a friend’s party, is to reveal the baby’s gender via cake. Dad or mom has the ultrasound technician write the sex of the baby on a piece of paper. They aren't told by the technician the gender. Then, it’s dropped off at a bakery where a cake is baked/prepared with the revealing color inside the cake. When the parents-to-be cute into the cake, they get a sweet surprise as they reveal the sex of the baby

If your child tends to be a picky eater and you need to incorporate more veggies into his diet, you might want to try these Spinach Chicken Enchiladas. The spinach is undetectable and simply delicious!

Ingredients:

1 # cooked, diced chicken breast

12-18 flour or corn tortillas (I use larger size corn tortillas to cut down on calories)

1 medium onion chopped

2 medium tomatoes diced

4 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

1 10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I press as much water out of the spinach as possible once it has thawed)

1 10 oz. can chopped green chilies

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 oz. light sour cream

Preparation:

In large mixing bowl combine diced, cooked chicken, tomatoes, onion, ½ box of spinach, 2 cups shredded cheese

In medium mixing bowl combine rest of spinach, sour cream, soup, and green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Roll small handful of chicken mixture tortillas and place in 9x13 pan (use cooking spray so tortillas don’t stick). I fit as many in one pan as possible but usually need another small pan for the rest b/c it makes so much.

Cover rolled tortillas w/ soup mixture and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Cook for about 30-35 minutes or until edges are little brown and bubbling.