February 3 | 351 words

Today I woke up earlier than I wanted and later than I wanted, and I was out of shampoo, and it was cold. Today I had more work than energy and my phone battery died. Today I got some bad news and forgot my lunch. Today I couldn’t go to yoga and two of my friends were out.

Today was not a good day.

So on the way home, when I stopped at the shopping center across the street from work to get crickets for my leopard gecko, I figured I’d treat myself to some fancy groceries at Whole Foods and cook up something tasty. Without my phone to look up recipes, I was totally on my own, wandering their all-organic produce section until something caught my eye.

I ended up with bright purple potatoes and tri-color carrots, because I really like both colors and root vegetables, then figured I’d roast them with chicken, because that’s easy. I’ve been using thighs more than breasts lately since they’re tastier, so I grabbed some too.

I also bought some “cactus jerky” because I was hungry and cranky and wanted nibbles for the drive home, and it was cheaper than the animal jerky and I’m a sucker for interesting foods. It was horrifyingly gross. I took one bite and decided I’d rather be hungry and cranky for the drive home. Which really tells you how gross it was, if you’ve ever been around me in hungry-cranky mode.

Cooking totally turned my day around, though – chopping up the brightly colored vegetables and getting everything set up to go in the oven was just what I needed, plus it was a great cozy meal to welcome Chas home with on this cold winter day. If you want the recipe, it’s just this:

-little potatoes (purple for color, but anything works)
-carrots (again, color of your choice)
-onion
-chicken thighs
-spices: I have a poultry blend from penzey’s (thanks mom!) plus salt and pepper

Roast in the oven at 425 for just under an hour, tossing everything around after 30 minutes. I call it: Cheer Up Chicken!