Every meal you make for yourself and your family is imbued with the energy and mood of the preparer's hands.  So put a loving touch into all of your food preparations.  It doesn't have to be a complicated recipe to be a great meal.  Presentation is half the battle.  Add a sprinkling of chopped parsley around the plate edge, or encircle your roast chicken tonight with roasted baby potatoes and carrots.  It's so easy.  You can do it! 

The kitchen is the hearth of your Emotional House and the site of physical, as well as emotional nurturance.  Make this room a place of physical sustenance and emotional support.  Fill it with delicious smells, visually appetizing meals and kind words.  "Mothering" yourself daily in your kitchen is a way to create a warm, loving hearth that welcomes you in and tells you, you will be well-fed and loved here.

If you've never cooked anything before, this simple recipe will get even the most reluctant of cooks started. 

SUPER EASY LEMON-GARLIC CHICKEN

It's not rocket science, it's dinner!  And this week's recipe is super easy lemon-garlic chicken.  Bake it in the oven or slow cook it on the barbeque and you have a cheap and quick meal for a whole family (for a mere five or six dollars)!  You probably have all the ingredients in your fridge and cupboard already.  If not, add them to your next shopping list.  It's not complicated.  Forget those measuring cups and spoons, just have a whack at this easy recipe. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 Fresh chicken - any size

A juicy lemon

Olive oil

Garlic salt

Give your chicken a good wash and remove any innards from the cavity that the grocer may have left inside.  Hey, don't just throw those extra parts away, fry up the heart and liver and mash it up for your cat!

Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl.  Pour in an equal amount of oil.  And shake in LOTS of garlic salt.  Slather your chicken with this delicious marinade sauce and that's it!  The whole recipe is complete in just 2 minutes.  All it needs now is a little heat.

OVEN METHOD

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Place your chicken in a shallow roasting pan.  Pop it in the oven and cook until crispy brown.  About an hour to ninety minutes depending on your oven.  Voila!

If you have some marinade left over, brush it on your bird from time to time while it's baking.  But the great part of a roast chicken dinner is that it practically makes itself while you chill on the porch with a cool beverage.

A JUICY TIP:  Start baking your chicken, breast side DOWN.  Let the thighs take the brunt of the heat and drip the delicious juices into the breast meat to get moister breasts, then flip the chicken for the last fifteen to twenty minutes of cooking to brown all sides.

BARBEQUE METHOD

Low and slow is the way you cook chicken on the BBQ.  Use a LOW temperature and cook it SLOWLY.  If you have a gas grill, put your chicken on the highest shelf (furthest from the flame).  Turn it frequently and baste it each time you turn it.  When it's brown and crispy.  It's done!

For a delicious vegetable course, cut-up some potatoes, onions and carrots, sprinkle them with oil, salt and pepper and wrap them in aluminum foil to cook beside the chicken.  That's a complete meal.  See, we told you it was easy!

Remember to enjoy your outdoor patio time while cooking! 

Start your first forays into the kitchen gently with easy recipes that guarantee success and an instant culinary reward.   It will encourage further exploration, and soon you will discover the joys of fresh garlic.