Everyday Mom's Meals: Eight Dollars??!!!
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Friday, February 6, 2015

Eight Dollars??!!!

Woo hoo! Gas prices are way down lately around us. How about you? Now, they actually have gone back up a tad compared to a few weeks ago, but it's still cheaper than it has been in a long time, so I won't complain. However, I have noticed something interesting. Even though the cost of fuel has gone down, grocery prices, at least on some items, have continued to go up.

Now, to me, if the fuel it takes to haul them from Point A to Point B, is cheaper, than the price should reflect that. I'm not talking about things that are out of season that have to come across the country. I know to get a good tomato or orange in Indiana in the winter I'm going to pay a premium. These items are ones that don't really have a season per say, and just continue to go up.

One in particular? Chicken. It's not cheap. And it just keeps getting more not cheap. In fact, in our house, with the budget I set for myself, if chicken isn't on sale, I don't buy it. Thankfully at least one store around us usually has a sale about once per week, or every other, so I am lucky.

But a couple weeks ago I wanted a whole roasting chicken. Nothing fancy, just one I could slap some garlic and lemon on and throw in the oven. I couldn't find any in the sales ad, but I figured I would look in store since sometimes there are unadvertised specials. Well guess what! There weren't. In fact, the cheapest roasting chicken I could find was over $8!! And there are only three of us, so it's not like I was trying to buy some huge bird to feed an army. I'm talking about a 4.5-5 pound one...so you can see why $8+ was a little crazy to me.

So, there I stood, looking around in the poultry case trying to figure out what I could do instead. I'm sorry, I just refused to spend that kind of money. While what I wanted wasn't on special, they did have leg quarters at a great price, so they went in the cart instead...and this yummy recipe came to be.

If you aren't a skin lover, I'm sure this would be just as delicious on boneless skinless too, just with less of a crispy result. For me, I am a skin fanatic, from way back. In fact, others in the family, including my husband will relinquish their skin to me without even asking because they know it's a sure bet I want it.

The combination of seasonings lead to a rich flavor, with a crispy outside and tender and juicy on the inside.  A terrific oven chicken dinner perfect for any weeknight! Plus, with only a handful of ingredients, it's very budget friendly too...rather you can find the chicken on sale or not!

Rustic Roasted Chicken
4 chicken leg quarters, trimmed
3 TBS vegetable oil
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven 400. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk together oil, paprika, seasoning salt, thyme and garlic powder. Lay chicken on a rack in a large roasting pan. Baste liberally with marinade. Bake for 60-75 minutes, until juices run clear. Half way during cooking time, spoon some pan drippings over the chicken, and then again right before serving.
*NOTE* If your chicken doesn't give off much liquid, simply whisk together the same marinate ingredients in HALF quantities and baste during cooking. And if you do choose to use boneless skinless, I would mix up the marinade and let the chicken sit in it in the fridge for a few hours before cooking. Then mix up a second batch to baste while cooking. 





Shared on The Country Cook Feb. 6, 2015

27 comments:

NOVA Frugal Family said...

Totally agree! I get whole chickens when they are on sale for $0.69 to $0.89 per pound and I get at least 6-12 to fill the freezer. I am using the last one up this week so I guess that I will be in trouble soon! I love my herb butter roasted recipe and I made up a double batch of homemade stuffing so that I could freeze it and have them as an easy weekday meal as long as we get home early enough to put it in the oven. This sounds like a wonderful good idea for the change of plans!!!

Unknown said...

alright this recipe was perfect!!!!!! I will say i went a little crazy on the salt side of the seasoning. That was my fault. Other than that it was amazing. The chiclen was so tender and juicy everyone loved it. I will deffinately make again.

Krista said...

I'm SO glad you enjoyed it so much! And I can't lie...we love salt, so that's not too bad of a mistake. LOL

Unknown said...

I love this recipe, have made it a few times and it is loved every time. This is my new recipe for baked fried chicken. Love this, thank you

Unknown said...

Made this tonight and loved it!!!

Unknown said...

Made this tonight and loved it!!!

BDH said...

What if I don't have a roasting pan??? Can I use a glass dish and coat with foil?

BDH said...

What if I don't have a roasting pan? Can I use a glass baking dish and cover with foil?

Krista said...

Sure that would probably work. And you can even make a makeshift rack for the inside but using balls of aluminum foil for the chicken to lay on to. You just want the meat to be up off the bottom so it crisps the whole way around.

herbwoman3 said...

Hi! I also loved this recipe, and so did my 18 year old son. My question is about the oven: I used foil on the bottom of my roasting pan, sprayed oil on the foil and the roasting rack, so clean up was easy, but it splattered around inside my oven. The next day I was making some toast and when I opened the door I got a face full of smoke, LOL. Do you cover your chicken with anything? I didn't think I would get that yummy crusty skin if I covered the chicken during cooking. Thanks!!

Krista said...

No, I don't cover my pain with anything, but my roasting pan is pretty deep, so any splatters are contained. You could try a foil tent to cut down on the mess, but still allowing the skin to get crispy and brown.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Can I use chicken thighs instead? Thank you!

Krista said...

Sure! I would just want to make sure they are bone in & skin on.

Unknown said...

I used a baking pan (like one you would make cookies on) with a cooling rack you would cool cookies on on top of the pan and put the chicken on top of the cooling rack. It's not done cooking yet, but I think it's doing the job.

Krista said...

I've done that exact thing before too!

Unknown said...

Would this still turn out right using olive oil instead of vegetable?

Unknown said...

Wow!!! I didn't think there was ever going to be a leg quarter recipe that I could cook in my oven that I would think was good... this is a KEEPER! I'm making it again for the 2nd time this week cause 4 quarters wasn't enough for my family of 4! Everyone wanted more!

Krista said...

Hi Jessica! I'm SO happy you enjoyed this so much! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and let me know!

Scott E Johnson said...

I've made this many times and it never disappoints.... It is SO GOOD! I only recently started cooking with thighs and legs and I have no desire to cook white meat now! My family absolutely loves these. Thanks for a GREAT recipe.
I may even try the marinate on pork chops!

Krista said...

HI Scott! I'm so glad you enjoy this as much as we do! I think it would be delicious on pork! Come back and let me know!

Unknown said...

Have you ever made this recipe with a whole chicken? If so, what alterations did you make to the instructions?

Either way, this recipe was AMAZING!!! Even my picky kids loved it and were begging for seconds! The skin was crispy in the flavor was delicious. I will definitely be making this again very soon!

Krista said...

I’m so glad you and the kids enjoyed it!

I haven’t made it with a while Chicken but that sounds like a great idea I need to try!!

Krista said...

*whole

Jane said...

It was under cooked in inside and needed more seasonings. I will try again maybe lower temp, cook 2 hours,put a tent on it and definitely more seasoning.

Krista said...

Since every oven is different, I can only give instructions on cooking time based on how something cooked in mine. Plus others have made this and had no issue. The size of the piece of meat can change cooking time as well. So I’m not sure what to say about that. As far as seasonings, it does say salt and pepper to taste, so I’m probably a little more heavy handed than you. I am sorry you didn’t have success, especially since this is one of my most popular recipes and folks seem to love it.

Unknown said...

I've made this several times already and the whole house LOVES it! Spices are perfect. I usually end up making more than 4 pieces and it still seems to be perfect. This will continue to be a regular dish for us.

Krista said...

Hi Amy! I’m so glad your family is enjoying this recipe so much! Thanks so much for stopping by to let me know!