Whole Roasted Chicken

Although I make this chicken recipe quite often, since we're getting into the colder months and holidays, I thought this was an appropriate post.

I buy my whole chickens from Lima Family Farms, where my husband used to work. I love knowing exactly where my chicken comes from. Free-range. Organic. Handled with care. It was funny when he worked there, he usually could tell me if the chicken I bought was one that he plucked!

I love to make a whole chicken and then use the bones to make my own broth. I use an awesome crock pot broth recipe from www.100daysofrealfood.com that is not only delicious, but super easy since you throw everything in the crock pot and let it cook overnight!

I also like to butterfly the chicken so I know it's going to cook all the way through. I also change up the spices from time to time when I make this and you can add whatever vegetables to the bottom of the baking dish that you have on hand.

I'm going to do this recipe description a little differently, because like I said I change up the ingredients quite often and you can literally use whatever spices you have on hand and whatever vegetables are in your fridge!

• Start by filling the bottom of a large baking dish with a variety of vegetables. (I used carrots, leeks, potatoes, onions, and fresh thyme)

• Melt a couple Tbs butter and baste the chicken. Then, add your spices evenly to all sides of the chicken and place in the baking dish.

• Bake at 350° for 20 minutes per pound (the chickens I usually get bake about 1 1/2 hours). The chicken should be moist and the skin should be crispy. Vegetables should be tender.