Chicken... what are the odds?

And so it begins...

"Mooooom!!! What's for dinner TONIGHT? I'm hungry. When will you be HOOOOOME???!??!"

Soon my darlings... and I volunteer chicken as dinner!

Don't look so excited. Please. Really. I love working all day, going to walmart, and racing home to feed your grateful, little faces...and just because I make chicken frequently doesn't mean I make the SAME chicken every time.

Crank up grill, fix adult frappe... suddenly I'm feeling much better... but they are apparently still expecting dinner... Pull mostly defrosted chicken legs from fridge

Season and toss on grill, LOOOW heat as they are still slight frozen. Turn every 15 mins, plan to sauce at 30 minute marker.

While first 15 mins of grill times is ticking, made a batch of slaw from bagged slaw mix.

Add diced cucumber, tomato, ham, and crumbled feta or goat cheese.

Stir with bottled salad dressing, I like Ken's Greek Dressing. Any Italian would work.

Drink more adult frappe... maybe top off from blender. Remember that it is Friday, no lunches to make and no hairstyle requiring hairspray in the AM.

Chicken legs have been on grill for @30 mins. Time to sauce. Mostly bbq but a couple with wing sauce for me. Why should only wings enjoy wing sauce?

During last 15 minute cook/baste time, prepare baked beans.

2 cans, drain off some of the liquid, gives them that thicker, slow cook consistency
2 TBSP bbq sauce of choice
heavy sprinkle of onion powder
microwave on high for 4:30

Get chicken from grill... all basted and glazed now...

Grabbed the leftover cut up pineapple from Hawaiian Chicken and in only an hour: Game On.

Judging by the game players and empty plates, I am declared the victor.

Lucy, Meet your Dinner

Let's see what needs used in fridge - with my good eye...

Pineapple, Red Pepper, half a baggie of baby carrots, and cilantro.... Hawaiian Chicken

...in the crock pot. Assembled marinade ingredients:
1/4 c brown sugar (more if you want sweeeeet)
1/4 c rice vinegar (white or apple cider would work)
3 TBSP Soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger
1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped

Pick a pineapple... but I advise against the wrapping your vehicle around a tree part...

Prep about 1/2 pineapple into chunks...save other half for snacking. This one was sweet like sugarcane.

...along with red pepper and baby carrots. Baby carrot prep is "dump out contents of baggie."

Combine in large bowl with lid or ziploc baggie with marinade, adding chicken breasts (about 5) and stems from cilantro. Keep in fridge overnight.

In the AM, dump in crockpot.

Don't forget to set the crock pot on LOW for 4 hours.

Yes, Drew, that might have been a cheap shot... and with that, off to work I go...

6pm again... fix up some rice:
microwave rice cooker
1.5 c rice
1 c brothy mixture from crockpot
2.5 c chicken broth
Cook on high for 5 mins
Cook on 50% for 15 mins

I bet Lucy woulda remembered this chicken...

Rain Rain Go Away...

... right after dinner, anyway.  As sometimes happens, plans gotta change. I had intended to use up some produce and such to grill some Greek style kabobs and veggies. However, Mother Nature rolled through, at dinner time, thwarting my plans to grill.

In all fairness, however, I can't blame it all on Mother Nature. Instead of pulling out some steak from the freezer and marinating it along with some veggies, I skipped out and went to World Market for necessities... like torani syrups and a funnel cake kit.

Lunch at a mexi joint.

And a movie.


Really enjoyed Man of Steel, btw. Great effects, decent acting (much prefer Amy Adams to scraggly Margot Kidder as Lois Lane). Besides... um... yeah... I should keep talking about dinner...














We were driving home from the movie as it started to rain, and I couldn't help being a tad relieved. Still full from lunch and really not "feeling" the grilling vibe... or the urge to do much of anything. Time to improvise... I want one pot, low prep, fix and walk away. Dove into the freezer for thick sliced, seasoned pork chops.

Poked around the pantry for chicken broth and in the fridge for some veggies.

Chopped the veggies into bite sized chunks, drizzled with olive oil and seasoning used on the meat. Stirred up in a enamel covered, iron pot. Poured in about 3/4 cup chicken broth.

Multi tasking the appliances: pork chops defrosting in the micro, pre-heating oven to 350, bringing veggies and broth to a boil on the stove top.

Added defrosted pork chops to pot. Placed in oven for 1 hour.

Served with a pkg of "noodle mix". I said I was feeling lazy!

Easy, flavorful meal on a rainy night...

I'm easy like Sunday morning

It's the weekend again. I feel like making breakfast, but let's not get crazy. I need something between the cold cereal of weekday mornings and full-fledged brunch....and more towards the effort required for the cereal.

Buttery, flakey biscuits, but sweet... and EASY

It is summer, so I'm using my toaster oven, instead of the "big" oven. Lay biscuits out on tray and smear with light coating of butter (I guess margarine would work, if that's what you have)

Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. I had this coarse sugar leftover from another baking effort. Regular granulated sugar would be fine.

If you have already mixed up cinnamon sugar, use that! We're not dining at Plaza!

When using the toaster oven, I've found I need to turn the temp down a tad. The biscuit can said 350, I have toaster oven set for about 325. Bake for @11mins.

Ding! Breakfast is served.