An Easy Roasted Chicken Recipe

Last night was quite an adjustment. When I walked through the door at 7pm, there was no delicious aroma or a friendly face greeting me. Instead, the house was dark and the only light was the bathroom light we forgot to turn of that morning.

Yesterday, Bo started his new job. Evenings of home cooked meals which took hours to prepare were quickly forgotten. While the house was still neat, my week’s errand list still remained untouched on the counter.

Instead of missing the dinners and aroma, I decided to role my sleeves up and make my husband proud. Dining alone is not an excuse to be lazy and resort to deliver, cereal, and soup. Sometimes cooking alone can be relaxing, therapeutic, and enjoyable.

However, failing at your first attempt is no way to find inspiration. Therefore, I chose to make my favorite easy dinner last night. This main course is a perfect way to entertain a new love interest, impress your next door neighbor, or bring a smile to your roommate or significant other’s face when they smell the aroma. It takes only a few minutes of preparation but can result in at least two days worth of food! IMG_4010 (640x478)

A Healthy, Happier Bear’s twist on  Perfect Roasted Chicken

 Ingredients:

– one all natural small fryer chicken

– one cast iron skillet or roasting pan

-1 small onion, peeled and quartered

– 2 lemons, halved

– unlimited garlic cloves, peeled and quartered

– salt & pepper

– Safflower oil, or another cooking oil

IMG_3996 (640x478) Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

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2.  Unwrap chicken and remove giblets from chicken cavity. The giblets should be in a bag and easy to remove. After discarding the giblet bag, thoroughly rinse the chicken with cold water, inside and out. Dry the chicken using an old towel or paper towel, careful to dry both the inside cavity and under the skin folds. IMG_4001 (640x478) 

3. Place the onion, lemon, garlic in the cavity of the chicken. Salt and pepper the inside cavity with more seasoning than you believe necessary. It is almost impossible to over season! IMG_4005 (640x478)4. Truss (tie) the legs together with kitchen string, mostly closing the cavity opening. Tuck the wings under so the tips overlap the breast and tie in place, securing the wings to the body. I highly reference using this video to help with trussing the bird.

5. Once the chicken is tightly trussed, give it a good massage with the oil. Cover the entire bird, remembering to flip it over during the process. Follow with a healthy dose of salt and pepper all over, being careful not to over season on this step.

6. Place the chicken in your roasting pan or cast iron skillet, breast side down. IMG_4007 (640x478)

7. Roast the chicken for 25 minutes. Flip the chicken breast-side up and continue roasting, approximately 1 1/4 hours. I use a meat thermometer to check for doneness, removing the chicken when it registers between 170-175 degrees.

8. Let rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before carving.

9. Enjoy!

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Question: What is your favorite side to enjoy with a simple dish like roast chicken?

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Equissage: Equinox’s New Massage Service

If you’re a frequent reader or follow me on Twitter, then you may know that I love massages. There is no denying the healing power of touch or the instant calm that over takes my body the minute I touch the warm massage table.

In fact, Melissa has been known to make fun of me for what she deems my massage obsession. I don’t consider it an obsession but much to my wallet’s disappointment, I enjoy a massage an average of once per month. My experiences have ranged over the years, ranging from the University of Georgia health center, 3000 BC Spa in Philadelphia, Glow Spa in Savannah, and a multitude of different spots in New York including Equinox and Exhale.

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My worst experience to date was a Groupon gone bad somewhere between Canal Street and my pride. Needless to say, the massage only lasted five minutes before I high tailed it out of there due to fear of catching a disease or seeing a rat.  Since this experience, I’ve realized the importance of checking out Yelp and other reference sites before booking a massage or spa service, regardless the discount.

Luckily, a few weeks ago, Schuyler, the Spa Coordinator at 54th Street Equinox aided my guilty pleasure with a discounted massage session. He is not only their coordinator but also a certified wellness coach, licensed massage therapist, and Energy Rebalancer! I knew I was in for a treat after reading his initial email. They gave me the opportunity to experience their brand new new massage technique, Equissage.

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Have you tried Equissage yet? It’s our newest service – combining a postural assessment with multiple massage techniques to create a completely customized treatment. It will be the perfect complement to your personal training work. The Equissage is available in 60 and 90 minute sessions in order to meet your specific needs and time constraints.

The words customized, multiple techniques, and complement alone sold me on the new service. One of my biggest pet peeves is that you have to choose which massage you’re in the mood for weeks in advance when you book a service. What if you arrive and decide you need a relaxing Swedish massage instead of a deep tissue? Often times, you can’t change your mind. But, this service makes all of that possible while also allowing you to experiment with different techniques that you’d most likely never try otherwise.

Since I opted to take advantage of the massage the day of my long run, my massage was focused primarily on the muscles affected by running. My 90 minute session passed far too quickly but I enjoyed every minute, even the deep tissue portion.

Schuyler started the treatment with aromatherapy in order to relax and calm my body. The eucalyptus essential oil is a natural way to enhance deep breathing while the lavender relaxed my entire body. In addition to the essential oils, he also incorporated Bio Freeze into the leg work. A pain relieving gel including menthol and natural botanicals, it left my muscles relaxed and pain free.

During the massage, I asked Schuyler to discuss the different techniques he was using and the reason he incorporated each one. While I’m sure he wished I’d just fall asleep, he humored me and thoroughly explained each and every one!

  • Kinesthetic Awareness through Rocking: This technique, which was new to me, was used in the beginning to activate my parasympathetic nervous system. This calmed my body and made my muscles more aware of touch.
  • Swedish: These strokes were used to calm the muscles as they were still quite tight from the morning run and retaining toxins.
  • Deep tissue: Painful as always, the deep tissue portion was used to target certain areas along my IT band and shoulders where I carry a great deal of tension and therefore had developed multiple adhesions.
  • Hydrotherapy: He applied heat packs to loosen my back muscles and improve circulation which helps move lactic acid out of the system.

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During the 90 minute session, Schuyler was also able to help me understand why I sleep with my legs spread each night, much to Bo’s chagrin.  When I increased my mileage during last year’s marathon training, my hips grew very tight. Since my internal hip rotators are weak and my external hip rotators are short, it’s most comfortable for me to sleep with my hips splayed open. It is my body’s way of adapting to the tightness. Since this has been identified, my personal trainer has incorporated hip strengtheners into each personal training session!

I still can’t believe how much I learned in 90 minutes!  Not only was this a relaxing session which incorporated multiple techniques, but it also left me craving another session. It also reinforced a few of the things I’ve discussed previously on the blog.

  • A massage is like yoga, in order to truly be present and enjoy the moment, you need to stop making to do lists in your head.
  • Stretching for two minutes doesn’t stretch, lengthen, or relax your muscles after an hour of spin class or other physical abuse.
  • Massage therapy will in time increase my flexibility.
  • Ice therapy can be a wonderful at home massage technique to balance foam rolling and stretching. 

If you’re in the New York City area and would like to enjoy your own Equissage session, you can receive a complimentary upgrade through the end of August! Just leave a comment or email me for more information.

*While Equinox provided a discount for my Equissage service, the review and opinions are my own.

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New York City Marathon Training: Week 5

I can’t believe it’s already Sunday. This past week was a whirlwind of travel and fun events. I ran in three different cities this week: New York, San Francisco, and Chicago. While it was a fun week, it left me exhausted and feeling defeated in regard to the amount of mileage I actually accrued. It was my lowest mileage week in ages, at only 20 miles. Hopefully this unintentional step back week will mean that this week’s runs are even stronger due to fresh legsIMG_3831 (640x480).

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 IMG_3849 (640x478)With 12 weeks left until the marathon, here’s how my mileage has progressed so far:

Week 1: 17 miles

Week 2: 21 miles

Week 3: 24 miles

Week 4: 23 miles

Week 5: 20 miles

I was able to stick with all my runs except my 4-5 mile midweek run and yoga. While I didn’t feel the affects of the time change and travel this week while I was traveling, it hit my like a ton of bricks yesterday. Here is how my week shaped up.

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Monday: 4 mile run

Tuesday: Personal Training Session

Wednesday: Travel day/rest
Thursday: 12 mile long run in San Francisco

Friday: 3.4 mile shakeout run in Chicago

Saturday: Travel day (Chicago-New York-Philadelphia-New York)

Sunday: rest

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I’m looking forward to spending the week in New York City enjoying my normal workout schedule, a few home cooked meals with Bo, and getting ready for Healthy Living Summit. A week of crazy travel makes my daily life seem like nothing!

Here’s this week’s schedule, including a wonderful long run with my friends at Healthy Living Summit. Hopefully the camaraderie will result in a wonderful run!

Monday: 5 miles

Tuesday: strength training on my own

Wednesday:3 miles speed work 
Thursday: 2 miles and spin class
Friday: rest day

Saturday: Long run 14-16 miles

Sunday: Healthy Living Summit 5k

My goal this week is to not miss a single workout. In addition, since my trainer is out of town this week, making sure that I get in my Tuesday strength session will be a challenge..

Thanks for all your great feedback last week, I look forward to all the upcoming Marathons+Moderation posts from y’all!

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