Chemical Free Cleaning Supplies and Roast Chicken

Okay, I know that these two topics sound a little strange (especially together) but I have a reason for putting them together....trust me!

Yesterday at the store I bought a fresh chicken to roast. It was not that expensive at all (under $6.00) and the plan was that Scott would cook it so that we would have chicken for dinner and for sandwiches during the week. Well Scott got sidetracked doing errands and so yours truly was in charge of the bird! Now as I mentioned before, I was a vegetarian for 9 years. I gave up red meat in high school and all other meat in college. I did have to start eating fish due to health reasons but I only started eating chicken when I was pregnant with Z (still no red meat for me). Needless to say I have never prepared a whole chicken before. This was quite the experience!!! During the process I debated going back to my vegetarian lifestyle :( I felt the need to apologize to the bird as I gave him a bath in apple cider vinegar and patted him dry.

I used a Reynolds Oven bag to cook my 7 lb chicken which was so easy! I seasoned it with EVOO, salt, pepper, rosemary and some poultry seasoning. I am always very careful when working with raw meat. I make sure that only a few surfaces are used and I have everything on hand that I would need so that I am not opening cabinets with my contaminated hands. After I put the bird in the oven I washed my hands and went to town scrubbing our kitchen.

Here is where the Chemical Free Cleaning Supplies come into play.

For years now, S and I have been using all natural cleaning supplies in our home. We do have some bottles of soft scrub etc. for those occasions where the natural cleaner won't do the trick but for everyday cleaning we use the natural cleaners. We have found many brands that we like but recently I hit the jackpot! S's best friend, Uncle J, started a cleaning business called Green Clean Maine. If you are in Portland, Maine I highly suggest you look them up. They do a fantastic job and clean with homemade remedies created by Uncle J himself. He brought me some of these cleaners when he last visited and I am in love! They work so well and I know that they are completely safe to use around Z. He does not yet sell them to the public but as soon as he does I will tell you where you can get them. They are so great!!! Thanks Uncle J :)

Well 2 1/2 hours later we had the most delicious chicken! Even Z (who doesn't eat anything) was devouring it!! Scott then decided to take the carcass and make a soup (he is is mother's child). Before I knew it he had a huge pot of the most delicious chicken and rice soup simmering. We now have enough food for 3 or 4 days...all for $6.00 (maybe $7.00 if you add the rice, carrots and onion he used in the soup). We plan to do this every couple of weeks now.

Well it was a wonderful Sunday meal and I can't wait to eat chicken soup tonight. We finished our dinner off with a banana cream pie in honor of S's 1/2 birthday (a blog post for another day). I hope you all had a wonderful weekend :)