Easy Roasted Chicken Recipe

I've been on the hunt for easy chicken recipes to make for dinner for Bill and me. I've been trying to be good about my diet and that includes meal planning and prepping with lots of lean protein and veggies for dinner. 

I came across this recipe for One Pan Garlic Ranch Chicken with Veggies (via Damn Delicious, which is an awesome recipe blog!) and it seemed easy enough for even me to make. I'm here to tell you, it is one of the easiest dinners I've ever whipped up!

All you need is (I halved the recipe since it is just the 2 of us):

4 chicken thighs (with the skin)
4 teaspoons of brown sugar
8 oz of baby red potatoes (halved or quartered)
8 oz baby carrots (I used the bagged kind)
1 tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/2 packet of Hidden Vally Ranch seasoning and salad dressing mix (I used the whole thing...oops!)
1 - 2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp of chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While oven is preheating, place your chicken thighs on a cookie sheet. Rub 1 tsp of brown sugar on each thigh, covering all the skin. Place carrots and potatoes around chicken in a single layer. Drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle with ranch seasoning and garlic. Salt and pepper to taste.

Place in preheated oven and roast until chicken and potatoes are cooked through (internal temp of chicken should be 175). The recipe says 25 - 30 mins, but it took me about 40 for the potatoes and chicken to cook through. Then, broil for about 2 mins, or until top of chicken looks caramelized and slightly charred.

Serve immediately and garnish with parsley. Easy as that!

Bill and I absolutely loved this chicken! Obviously, chicken thighs with the skin is not very "lean" per say... But, we had this on a Sunday so I considered it half of a cheat meal ;)

I'm hoping to post about my meal prepping for the week very soon. I've had some success with this so far. I've found that prepping my meals ahead of time takes the thinking out of it which is always a struggle in the evenings!

What are your favorite easy chicken recipes?

Favorite Baby Things (at the current moment)

I would call this post "5 and 6 month favorites", but I see these products as being staples in our house for at least a few more months to come. Plus, my babe is now going on 7 months?!!

Where does the time go??

Anyhoo... Here are my favorite baby products and gadgets at the current time:

|| Fisher-Price Adorable Animals Baby's Bouncer ||

So, we have this fancy, Fisher-Price deluxe snugapuppy bouncer that was great for when he was little. I added it to my registry because it looked so snugly and it was something I wanted to curl up into myself! Now that Cam is a little bigger, I realize I needed something a little more durable and interactive. This chair has been so great! He loves to bat at the little swinging toys. This chair is also so much easier to carry around because it is so compact and light weight. If I were to do it over, I would have just opted for this one.


|| Fisher-Price Deluxe Sit-Me-Up Floor Seat ||

I bought this chair when Camden was around 3 months and I'm so glad I did! He was not a big fan of the bumbo at this time. He was still a little wobbly with his head, so he needed a bit more support. This seat gave him the right amount of support to keep him upright and he loved it! We ended up giving this chair to my sister-in-law who watched Cam every Friday so she had something to sit him in. He still loves it! There's also a version with a tray that would be great for playing with toys or feeding baby food.


|| Summer Infant 3-Stage SuperSeat: Positioner, Activity Seat, and Booster ||

This is another seat that I (and Cam) absolutely love! My parents got this one and we have since "adopted" it at our house :) I love it more than the bumbo because it has a removable, swivel tray with interactive toys to keep him occupied. You can spin the tray to have the cup holders facing in front of him for convenient feeding time as well. The tray can be removed if you just want to use the seat part. When the babe gets bigger, you can take out the orange, infant insert and use the green seat as a booster seat at any table.


|| aden by aden + anais Wearable Blanket ||

I recently bought one of these for Cam now that it's warming up at night. It is so soft and light weight. I hate putting him in the crib with nothing but a diaper or onesie even if it is so warm. I even at least like to sleep with a sheet in the Summer. It is 100% cotton-muslin and is just the perfect little wearable blankie for my babe. 

|| Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo ||

Yet another baby contraption to clutter up your home... I know! Why do they need so many things??

I ordered this about a month ago and Cam loves it! It took him a few weeks to actually grow into it to the point where his feet touch the ground (poor little guy). But, now that he can actually stand up in it, he's starting to really move! We love the little sounds it makes and he loves playing with all the interactive toys. This is in our kitchen and I will put him in it while I clean bottles/dishes etc and it keeps him busy. He also loves to be upright/standing right now, so it's perfect!


|| Old Navy Onesies and PJs ||

I have found a new love for Old Navy baby clothes! I have been buying packs of white onesies from Carter's thinking that they have the best, softest ones I could find. Wrong! I ordered some from Old Navy, just because, and they are so soft and stretchy! I love these white onesies for playtime during the hot summer days and for layering as well. Old Navy sizes run a bit bigger too, so they will last a lot longer than the Carter's ones that run small.

I also really love their footed PJs. Confession, I still put Cam in footed PJs with mitten cuffs to sleep! I have not mastered the nail trim yet and he always tries to scratch his head and cheeks at night. Luckily, Old Navy makes the PJs with mitten cuffs up to size 6 - 9 months... Now, the question is.. what am I going to do when he outgrows these?? :/

I better master the nail trim/file... Thinking about ordering this baby electric nail file to help... Anyone have this?

That's all I got for now!

I feel like I could write a book about all the baby gadgets we've gone through! I always love reading other blogger's baby product favorites, so I hope this has helped you!

I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts for Thursday!

Weekend Snaps

What a fun weekend it was!

Friday we spent the evening at a friend's house grilling out (well, their grill broke so we had baked burgers! They actually turned out pretty good!). We brought Cam and they have a 1.5 year old. There was also another couple that brought their 2.5 year old, so it was so fun to see the different stages of the little ones and how they interacted. We brought a little bouncy chair and Cam just chilled in it the entire time. He was just observing everything and was so good! He didn't get fussy until around 8 pm when I think he realized it was past his bedtime. I wish I would have got some pics of all the babes! #photogfail

Saturday was spent at Charles Penzone where I spent the day in relaxation bliss! I scheduled my spa day, which was Bill's gift to me for Mother's Day. I had an hour full body massage, a pedicure and a gel manicure. Let me just tell you, if there was such a thing as a 5 hour massage, I would totally splurge for one! I always feel like they are not long enough! 

It was also my mom's birthday weekend, so I had her join me for the manicure part as part of her gift. After our pampering we went to Mongolian BBQ for lunch and did a little shopping. Bill watched Cam for the day, so it was so nice just having a little mother daughter bonding time.

Saturday night was spent with Chinese take out and Mad Men on Netflix (our new obsession and we are almost to season 6 already!).

Sunday we hosted a birthday brunch for my mom's birthday. It was just my parents, grandma and my brother and his girlfriend. I made this sausage egg casserole (which is a staple at holidays and birthdays in my family), fruit salad and coffee cake. AND I made her birthday cake from SCRATCH, butter cream frosting and all! I was so proud of myself! Even though it kind of looked like a 12 year old made it (I went a little crazy with the sprinkles). My Grandma used to make my mom her favorite banana cake with butter cream frosting every year for her birthday and she has since passed the tradition on to me. Perhaps I will share the recipe in another post because it was so delish!

The rest of Sunday consisted of cleaning, relaxing and getting ready for the upcoming week. 

How was your weekend?

I'm linking up with Biana for Weekending!