October 24 - 31

We've been defrosting this 11-pound chicken for a few days. It's almost thawed -- we plan to roast it tomorrow. My mom knows a chicken farmer who raises these big guys. The farmer says this breed just grows to be giant... so anyway, we'll try it and see. Needless to say, when I heard my mom was planning on buying some chickens from someone she knew, I never anticipated the one she'd get for me would be bigger than some turkeys.

Agricultural monstrosities aside, it looks to be a pretty regular week... nothin' fancy. It's cold and windy and rainy now, and I just want to stay home and cook things so the stove and oven will create warmth and good smells. And maybe if I cook good stuff, I'll be less tempted to break into all the Halloween candy I finally bought today...

And so...

Saturday

Homemade pizza. I'm trying a new crust, since the two recipes I have require more machinery than I care to wash right now (one is for a bread machine, the other for the Cuisinart). Just basic pizza crust with a mix of white and whole wheat flour, then just regular stuff: sauce, mozzarella, ham, onion, mushroom, red pepper...

Salad to go with it

Sunday

We're gonna roast a giant chicken! (We'll use the extra later this week, and I might try to freeze some of the meat -- I have no idea how cooked chicken freezes -- and I hope to make stock with the giant chicken's bones)

Roasted brussels sprouts

Roasted squash

Monday

Chicken quesadillas (with leftover chicken, duh)

Beans

Wednesday

Pasta with chicken, veggies and pesto

Friday

Take out! Yummmmmmmm

Saturday

Happy Halloween... I think we're making chili -- good for munching between trick-or-treaters.