June 13, 2012 – Chicken and Lima Bean Stir Fry

CURSE YOU LIMA BEANS I WANT TO EAT OTHER THINGS NOW!!!  As no doubt you may have gathered despite my regard, or rather dis-regard, for Baby Lima Beans at the moment, I still love Asian food and most especially the stir fry.  What other dish could provide you with protein and Asian-ness at the same time?  Scratch that, there’s a lot of things...but stir fry is easy.  It’s easy and it’s quick and when we’re in summer hours at work so I’m not getting home until 7pm (at the earliest!)  stir fry is a good fix.  Plus I hoped that it would mask the baby lima beans (it didn’t).

Chicken and Lima Bean Stir Fry – from my brain and needing to use up the chicken and stir fry in my fridge

Ingredients:

• Two portions of chicken thighs – check
• Half a cup of lima beans or more – check
• Sliced orange peppers (roughly 1/4^th of a cup) – check
• Sliced cucumbers – check
• Veg oil – check
• Sesame seeds – check
• Two packets of Soy Sauce – check
• One tbs Rice Wine Vinegar – check
• One tbs Terriyaki Sauce – check

Step 1: Cube the chicken thighs into even-ish pieces.  Slice cucumbers and orange peppers into thin slivers (about the size of crunchy Asian yummies).

Step 2: Heat a tablespoon or so of oil and sesame seeds in a medium large skillet or saucepan. 

Step 3: Throw the chicken cubes into the saucepan.  Add the Rice Wine Vinegar, Terriyaki Sauce, and Soy Sauce to the pan and mix.  Allow to cook for a minute or so.

Step 4: Throw in all the veggies and beans.  Mix well without letting any of them escape their personal caldron of doom…I mean the saucepan. Allow to simmer 10-15 minutes while you clean dishes etc, or basically until it is cooked. 

Step 5: Cool and serve.

I have two-ish things to say about this dish.  The first is that I love Asian food and let’s face it, stir fry of any variety is the easiest thing to make.  Especially my stir fry which is always a decision of “well which sauces should I use, and what meat and veggies will I throw in?”  Second, I think I hate Lima Beans right now.  Too much of a food you’re not particularly fond of to begin with is WAY TOO MUCH of that food. Next time, no Lima Beans. Luckily I made enough to eat some for lunch, and also luckily I was done in time to eat, do the dishes, do my hanging laundry, and meet the lovely Ang for some vino and cheese.  This foodsperiment gets a +5 for taste, + for Asian, -4 for Lima Beans, +8 for lunch tomorrow, +5 for vino with Ang!  Happy Sperimenting!

Chicken and Lima Bean Stir-Fry...I am in a fight with Lima Beans

February 17, 2012 - Chicken and Veg Stir Fry

As usual, my hiatus from the blogosphere coincided with having a head cold, and more importantly many activities.  I had Galentine’s day (that’s Feb 13^th, the day you celebrate your gal pals) Dim Sum with my faboosh cousin KT, and then Valentine’s day spicy chickens and went to see The Artist also with KT, and then copious amounts of not wanting to cook due to chugging mad waters (no really, colds need to be drowned).  Anyway, Friday night meant I was FINALLY ready to cook something for serious.  I had thawed some chicken thigh (yes, just one) and I took a sort of “everything and the kitchen sink” approach to what to have with it.  So I grabbed what was available and made up a dish for dinner before heading out into the night of wonder.

Chicken and Veggies Stir Fry – from my brain via what’s in the fridge

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup carrots – check
• ¼ cup red peppers – check
• ¼ cup kale stalks – check
• 3 cloves garlic – check
• 2 packets of soy sauce – check
• Veg oil – check
• 1 portion chicken thigh, off the bone – check
• Pine nuts – check

Step 1: Slice the carrots into small pieces, do the same with the red peppers.  Chop the kale stalks into small rounds. Set aside.

Step 2: Smash and mince the garlic.  Set aside. 

Step 3: Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

Step 4: Heat a small amount of veg oil, roughly 1 tsp, in a pot or sauté pan or a pot.  Add the garlic and cook on low until fragrant.

Step 5: Add the chicken and allow to cook for a while, until the chicken turns white on both sides.  Add one packet of soy sauce! (seriously, how have I not turned Asian yet?) and allow to simmer for a while.

Step 6: Add all the diced veggies.  Realize you really should have used a bigger pot or sauté pan…but just try to mix everything together without letting anything fall out of the pot.

Step 7: Allow the veggies to cook down to awesome, so you can mix a little more.  Add the second packet of soy sauce.

Step 8: Realize you want something crunchy in your stir fry, look around the kitchen and PINE NUTS! USE THE PINE NUTS LUKE…er…not luke…skywalker…

Step 9: Anyway, keep cooking until the veggies are soft and awesome and the whole pot is simmering and smelling delicious.

Step 10: Don’t forget to heat your bowl and then clean the pot while you let dinner cool to an appropriate temperature.  Feel the Friday genius.

The first things I thought when I tasted this were “I’M GOOD AT COOKING! I WIN!” Then modesty took over and I thought “I want to make this for someone else” and so hopefully someday I will.  

This foodsperiment gets a +8 for taste, +5 for ease, +5 for using just one pot, and +5 for a fabulous start to the weekend! Happy Sperimenting! 

Chicken and Veggie's Stir Fry

February 9, 2012 – Spicy Chicken, Parsnips and Turnips A Naturale

I love my family.  I brag about them more than I brag about anything, and the funniest part of the bragging is that I had almost nothing to do with getting them as a family and really I don’t think I had too much to do with their awesomeness, but they’re mine so I think that I’m allowed to brag about their awesomeness.  They are all really awesome and special.  I would be lying if I said I couldn’t pick out which ones were my favorites (honesty bomb) but I do love them all.  Some of them I see a lot (like my Teta and Uncle and Cousin for Sunday Family Dinners) and some of them I see less often (like my Uncle and Aunt and Cousins who live in Cali) but all of them rock the cas-bah (I’m not sure I know what that means).  I had the fortune to have an accidental chat with my darling cousin MB and got totally psyched for August for our family reunion (yes people really do that every year).  Then for some reason made the following meal to consume in the time I had between work and meeting up with my ex-work wife Bindy and her dear friend for vino and cheese!

Spicy Chicken, Parsnikps and Turnips A Naturale – from my brain

Ingredients:

• 1 parsnip – check
• 1 turnip – check
• 1 portion chicken – check
• ½ tsp hot sauce (Texas Pete if you know what’s good for you) – check
• Sprinkle Bread Crumbs – check
• Sprinkle Red Pepper Flakes – check
• Salt – check
• Pepper – check
• ½ tsp veg oil – check

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350F.  I don’t know why I find this to be my favorite oven temperature but it works.  Peel the parsnip.  I’m not entirely sure that’s how a parsnip is supposed to be cooked because I’ve never cooked with them before but I figured they look like a potato and British people put parsnips in mashed potatoes (a practice I’ve tried and decided it’s just downright Un-American) so they can probably be treated similar to a potato. 

Step 2: Slice the parsnip into similar sizes.  This is tricky with parsnips because they’re a tuber that gets fatter, or skinner depending on your perspective.  So just try to make it work.  Set aside.

Step 3: Cut the ends off the turnip, I’m not sure that’s how to treat turnips either but I didn’t really have time for youtube.  Slice the turnip into roughly the same sizes.  Taste a bit of the turnip and a bit of the parsnip so you’ll know what they might taste like.  Turnips are  a bit sweet and parsnips have a bit of a bite.

Step 4: Mix the parsnip and the turnip together, add the veg. oil and just a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  This will hopefully make them yummy. Put them in a dish so that they’re all spread out.  Sometimes, it may take you many tries to find the right size, but eventually you’ll get there.  Pop them into the oven.

Step 5: Coat the chicken with the Texas Pete, then bread and red pepper flake and bake the chicken.  Then put it in the oven.  Let everything cook about 35-40minutes or until the veggies are soft-ish and the chicken is cooked.  The “I just checked but it clearly needs a little more time to cook” is a perfect time to take a phone call from your best friend Heids to plan things about the weekend.

Catching a small phone chat with Heids is not only the perfect time user (it’s not a waste so I’m not going to use that term) to finish cooking, but also to allow your food to cool.  Plus it’s a pleasure to get a minute to chat about weekend plans, even when your best friend tells you that you’re nuts to have too many things booked and that you might need to relax.  Ok, relax.

I can’t rave about this meal enough.  Wowza.  The chicken was the PERFECT amount of spicy.  The parsnips, well we’ll come to terms with them in a while, but the TURNIPS are like CANDY.  The best part is that they’re candy that’s good for you.  How did I never know that before?  I’m honestly floored by this.  I can’t wait to try it with a multitude of other things.

This foodsperiment gets +7 for taste, +5 for turnips, +5 for easy dishes, +5 for cousins, +5 for best friends, +5 for Chelsea Handler (who I watched on Rosie during dinner), and +5 for drinks later with my ex-work wife Bindy and Co! Happy Sperimenting!

Spicy Chicken, Parsnips and Turnips A Naturale!

January 18, 2012 – Beef Chicken and Veg Soup, Chicken Nugs, Kale Chips, and Love aka Cousinship

My dahling cousin Katie is taking a semester off from college and living at home at my fabulous Aunt and Uncle’s out in the burbs of the City of Brotherly Love and working in her industry so there’s great potential for many more cousin dates.  Also, Katie is a food science major so it’s delightful cooking with her.  We determined that she’d come over, I’d make soup, and in general there would be friendship.  She was a bit late coming over, which was perfect because I was a bit late getting out of my doctor’s appointment so instead of having dinner mostly ready upon her arrival, I had last minute request of hot cocoa available on the frigid night but dinner yet to be made.  As things were constructed we chatted and enjoyed each other’s company.  We decided to make soup (because it’s soup month) and some other items.

We started dinner by making some Kale Chips, since I still had leftover Kale from Tapas night.  They were thoroughly enjoyed by all as the rest of dinner cooked.

Beef Chicken and Veg Soup – from my brain

Ingredients:

• Beef stock – roughly 2 cups? I used the rest that I had in the fridge
• Chicken stock – roughly 2 cups, same method of use as beef stock
• 1 Bay leaf – check
• 3 cloves garlic – check
• Handful carrots – check
• Pinch of red pepper flakes – check
• Oregano  - check
• Marjoram – check
• Onions – check

Step 1: Cut onion into cube-like nature. Smash and slice the garlic.

Step 2: Combine Beef stock, chicken stock, onions, garlic, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, pinch of marjoram, pinch of oregano.  Set to simmer for a while.

Step 3: Make cousin peel a giant carrot while you prep the chicken nuggets you intend to make.

Step 4: Cut up the carrot into a bit of a cubelike strategy.  Nice bit about this part is that the soup has been simmering for a while, and you can cut the whole carrot up and parcel out the bits you aren’t going to eat in tonights soup into ziploc’s for future lunch or soup.  Add about a handful of cubed carrot to the soup.

Step 5: Simmer until the carrots are soft; turn off heat; remove bay leaf and serve.

Beef and Chicken Veg Soup

Chicken Nuggets – from my brain

Ingredients:

• Bread crumbs – check
• Red pepper flakes – check
• Chicken – check

Step 1: Thaw some chicken breast. You previously froze it into normal people sized portions.

Step 2: Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.

Step 3: In a Ziploc combine some bread crumbs (roughly ½ cup?) and red pepper flakes (the more the merrier) and mix. Add the chicken bites and use the old shake and bake method.

Step 4: Bake in the oven at roughly 400F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Chicken Nuggets

Other items that were included in the dinner menu were some rolls that were reheated, and leftover Cucumbers in Cream.  I thoughly enjoyed everything and Katie agreed!  The soup was spicy but delicious, and there was more than enough food to go around. Almost too much, woops.  We watched Betty White’s 90^th Birthday from my dvr and chatted, and agreed that our Staramama’s 90^th birthday is going to be better (sorry Betty, you’re still pretty). 

This foodsperiment gets an overall +5 for taste, +5 for ease, +5 for easy cleanup, +5 for great company, -3 for too much breadcrumbs, +5 for leftovers, and +5 for Betty White.  Happy Sperimenting!

Cousin Dinner Spread

January 9, 2012 - Apricot Day

Apricot Day

As I’ve said, my New Year’s resolution is a fairly simple one, to celebrate all of the holidays on my calendar.  The first one of the year (after New Year's) is Apricot Day!  I got myself to the grocery store (unfortunately due to circumstantial evidence…not Reading Terminal…) and procured the necessary ingredients for my apricot day festivities.  I 100% did not realize that apricots were the little nubbins that they are, I guess I usually have dried apricots which appear much larger.  But anyway, I digress.  For the holiday, I decided to make two dishes, one a dessert and one a main course.

On Sunday, before I put away Christmas in my apartment (tear) and went to my Aunt and Uncle’s to have family dinner, I put together the dessert.

Oatmeal Bars- from Martha Stewart online

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Steel-cut Oats – I used instant oatmeal
• 4 Apricots – check

Step 1: Actually use steel-cut oats

Step 2: Peel and dice the apricots

Step 3: Make the oatmeal as directed

Step 4: Mix the apricots into the oatmeal

Step 5: Spread the whole thing into your faithful jellyroll pan and cool in the fridge

Step 6: When you get home from family dinner and realize that the bars are cooled but still mostly the consistency of oatmeal, go ahead and throw the pan into the oven for a while.  Make sure you sprinkle some brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice on top because you realize this dish is going to taste like oatmeal.

Step 7: When you wake up in the morning and realize there’s still not enough consistency, go ahead and stick the pan back in the oven while you shower and get ready.

Step 8: Do a taste test at work and realize you can’t share this with anyone because it’s not that good.

So there you have it, you win some, you lose some.  And this one, was a lose.  I’m going to try real oatmeal bars sometime, but alas this time was definitely a lose.  The good news is that at least it’s sitting at work in packaging so I can eat it for breakfast for the week.  So yeah for this foodsperiment +5 for celebrating holidays, -3 for failure, +5 for breakfast.

My cold from the weekend became more along the line of “full blown” on Monday, so while I sat at work I decided to add to my planned dinner meal.  A starter course, and since it is still soup month…soup.

Chicken Soup – from my brain

Ingredients:

• Chicken stock – check
• Marjoram – check
• Basil – check
• Bay leaf – check
• Onion – check
• Garlic – check
• Red pepper flakes – check

Step 1: Peel and cube the onion, and peel and slice the garlic. 

Step 2: Put all ingredients in a pot

Step 3: Simmer for 10 to 15minutes or longer…hopefully your other meal will be ready by then but maybe not.

Wowza, so my idea behind this soup was mainly to be similar to hot and sour soup (which everyone knows is hands down the best cold medicine) and somehow I accidentally put a whole lot more red pepper flakes than I had intended.  So this soup was delicious.  It was super spicy too so I had to eat it in increments.  Next time, definitely (I know it’s sacrilege to say) but I'll use less red pepper flakes, and maybe I’d simmer it for longer…but when a lady wants to eat and go to bed as soon as possible…what are you going to do? 

For this foodsperiment +4 for taste, +5 for easy clean up, +5 for quickness, and +3 for a starter course.

Spicy Chicken Soup

As the soup simmered I set up the actual meal…which was premeditated, for the holiday.

Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken – from Martha Stewart online

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup apricot jam – I used just some apricots, at least until I discovered I did have some jam so I added a spoonful of jam to the diced apricots
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes – check
• Chicken breast halves – check
• Coarse salt and pepper – check

Step 1: “Broil” seasoned chicken 5 to 6 minutes – if you’re me you don’t have a broiler so stick it in the oven at about 350F and put it in for a full 10 minutes

Step 2: Mix together the apricots, jam, and red pepper.

Step 3: “Brush” chicken with mixture/glaze

Step 4: “Broil” 4 to 5 minutes more, or until done…roughly 25ish minutes in a oven, possibly more. Don’t get salmonella. 

Delicious! I liked everything about this!  Ok I’m lying, it was just a little sweet and after the fire branded soup it was more difficult to actually taste but still it was yummy!  It was, and this cannot be argued, the perfect celebration of Apricot Day!  Next time, I’ll make sure I get apricots from Reading Terminal, but yum. 

This foodsperiment gets a +5 for taste, +5 for easy cleanup, +5 for ease, +5 for happy tummy!!

Spicy Apricot-Glazed Chicken

December 11, 2011 - Spicy Gorgonzola Chicken Bites

Since my Facebook photo postings appear to no longer be the best method of sharing my magical kitchen creations, I think it's about time to re-boot this blog.
Tonight is the culmination of a fabulous weekend spent with my best friend Mairin (or Mai, or Mai Mai or M-dawg, or any other number of nicknames we've given her over the years) we spent the weekend celebrating Christmas with some old traditions (The Year Without A Santa Clause, LU Christmas Vespers) and old friends (Heids, Steve, KP, Julie, Vani, etc) and some inspirational Philadelphia Christmas Traditions (Comcast's Light Show, The Christmas Village, and the light show at the Wanamaker Building in Macy's).  So I came home from Vespers to a lonely apartment full of Christmas Cheer.  And a kitchen filled with some dirty dishes.  So I did what any self respecting foodoligist would do in her time of hunger and need...made something that required almost no clean up.

Spicy Gorgonzola Chicken Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 Chicken Breast
- Bread Crumbs
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Gorgonzola

Step 1: Cut the chicken breast into reasonably bite-sized pieces (that's sort of your discretion)
Step 2: In a ziploc combine a liberal amount of bread crumbs (enough to coat your chicken bites) and red pepper flakes.  The amount of red pepper flakes is a direct correlation to how spicy you desire your meal to be, put more for more, less for not as much, it's not an exact science.  Add the gorgonzola...it would be best to use smaller crumbles that have a chance of sticking to the chicken.
Step 3: Put the bites in the bag and shake like it's shake and bake until all bites are coated.  Add more bread crumbs, red pepper flakes, or gorgonzola if needed.
NOTE: Most of the gorgonzola isn't going to stick to the chicken bites, this is totally ok.
Step 4: Place the coated chicken bites in a shallow pan (I use a 9x9 Pyrex), and crumble the remaining gorgonzola on top of the bites (again you can use as much or as little as you like, I used a moderate amount, enough so each bite had some gorgonzola kick to it).
Step 5: Put the bites into the oven at about 300 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown (those are always the directions with breaded things and that usually works out best for everyone).

Well, the spicy gorgonzola chicken bites may not have made up for missing my bestie but they were just the ice cream on top of the weekend!
For this foodsperiment: +8 for taste, +5 for easy clean-up, and +5 for leftovers usable for lunch!

August 16, 2011 – Chicken Breast w/Honey Balsamic Glaze, Tri-Color Rotini, and Red Bell Pepper

Walking to work provides me such an intense joy, except when my gimp foot just goes “no please don’t” etc.  Regardless, today was a slow day, where I basically dreamed of things to buy for my apartment and of course, what to make for dinner.  What a delightfully sleepy walk home too, this whole weaning myself off of caffeine is not going so well…so of course when I got home I took an accidental power nap. 

Anyway, post power nap it was time to get down to the cooking.  I found this recipe on food.com for Chicken Breast with Honey Balsamic Glaze.  It seemed like the easiest thing in the world, and the funny thing is, it totally was.  I set the pot of water to boil for the tri-color rotini (my personal specialty and frankly the only pasta I ever make).  Then I got down to business.  The recipe called for:

• Thyme – or its substitute thanks to the internet of Basil
• Salt – check
• Black Pepper – check
• Olive Oil – I’m not sure if I was using veg. olive, or any other kind of oil but I figured it all works relatively the same (the one is unlabeled on accident but womp womp)
• Chicken breast halves – check
• Balsamic Vinegar – check
• Honey – check

Talk about simple.  Put the spices together, done easy.  Cut the chicken into halves, totally simple thank you knives and opposable thumbs.  Sprinkle the spice mixture onto the chicken, fantastically simple.  Throw the rotini in the pot with the water (thought I forgot about that? No dice).  Then throw the chicken into the pan to fry up.  While it fried (with turning) sautéed?  Whatever you call it….I cleaned and cut the red bell pepper, so I’d have some for lunches (yum).  Anyway, then the chicken goes on top of the pasta and you measure in the ingredients to the pan (still easy).  Anyway, plated the whole thing (pasta, chicken on top, glaze on top, bell peppers around the edges on a whim)…and then it was time to consume.

Gotta say, that chicken was BANGIN’.  In full disclosure…it was a weightwatchers recipe too (4points for the chicken) which made me feel even better!

For this foodsperiment: +8 for taste, -2 for using the tri-color, with the chicken it should be rice or potatoes not pasta…, +10 for clean-up while cooking, +2 for the random choice to add the bell peppers.  Def going to try this one again, so quick and easy!

August 15, 2011 – Obas Shoyu Chicken and Rice; Formaggio Con le Pere

While I’ve been incredibly remiss in updating this blog due to such wonderful experiences as…moving, a big visit from my Seestor, the best Cousinmobile known to man woman or child, driving a jet ski, another busy quarter at work, a visit from Momma and Staramama, and accountant spring break…I have not been remiss in my cooking (yum!) or eating (double yum!) habits. 

I won’t go into the gory details, as it really has been a long time…but suffice it to say that I made some EXCELLENT DISHES including but not limited to watermelon gazpacho c/o gluten free goddess, tequila salmon also c/o gluten free goddess, Szechuan shrimp and scallops, edamame.  I ate at the Ritz, and even at the Ale House in Orlando.

Watermelon Gazpacho - Voila!

Tequila Salmon with Rice and Edamame!

Lobster and Crab Bake - Ale House, Orlando Florida - TOTALLY YUM

But I digress.   It was supposed to rain, well, thunderstorm.  I decided to make two dishes at once, while simultaneous doing laundry in my basement. 

I found a recipe for Obas Shoyu Chicken on food.com, because I’d gotten a bunch of chicken breast for sale, and it’s vaguely Asian (technically Hawaiian) and I’m not so secretly, secretly Asian.  The recipe calls for:

• Boneless Chicken Thigh or Breast – clearly I used breast because it was on sale
• Soy Sauce – check
• Water – check
• Garlic, crushed – check
• Onion, chopped – check
• Sugar – check.

This recipe was super easy.  I chopped the onion and threw it in the pot.  Then I crushed the garlic and threw that in the pot.  Everything went into the pot (except the chicken) and heated it to dissolve the sugar.  While it dissolved, on super low heat, I separated my clothes so I could go throw them in the laundry in the basement.  I threw the chicken into the pot and went to go put my laundry downstairs.  It was the perfect plan until I was thwarted by someone else putting in their laundry before I could.  No matter, the chicken simmered in the pot with its Asian-ness while I put together dish number 2 for the night…

Formaggio con le Pere, or cheese with pears (also from food.com).  This recipe is obviously, interestingly, Italian…who knew that Hawaiian and Italian cuisine worked together?  Me neither.  In any case this recipe was just as simple:

• Pear, skinned and cubed - check
• Pecorino cheese – check
• Black pepper to taste – check.

Basically you just, skin (I ate the skin) and cube (I ate some cubes) the pear, then mix with the cheese, let it sit for ten minutes, add the pepper and consume. 

Everything was ready, last night’s ACTUAL Chinese food rice was reheated, the chicken was plated, the formaggio con le pere was all set, and the kitchen was cleaned.  After putting in my laundry I was ready to feast!  

The verdict:  the Obas Shoyu Chicken with Rice was DELECTABLE.  I should have taken it off the heat about a heartbeat before I did, such that the meat would have been just a smidgen tenderer.  Perhaps it should also be cubed next time?  The sauce was just a little tangier, but the next time I’d try the sauce before I put in the chicken to make sure I was in love.  I still really enjoyed it.  Definitely a +5 for taste, and a +5 for the whole thing in the same pot, +6 for using yesterday’s rice, and +8 for having Japanese plates (I just like my Asian plates).

As for the Formaggio con le Pere, it was delish.  I wish the pears were a little sweeter, so that it was a better contrast to the cheese.  Still +5 for taste, +5 for ease of making, and +5 for there being more tomorrow night.

Post dinner it started to thunderstorm.  Nothing like a full tummy and a thunderstorm to make you enjoy your evening :-)  Now I just have to FOLD the laundry…Happy Foodsperiments!

Obas Shuyo Chicken and Rice - tangy, rich, and tender

Formaggio Con Le Pere - tangy and sweet

July 7, 2011 – Happy Birthday Fantastic Feta Chicken

My latest inspirations for new recipes to try involve finding recipes which incorporate items I already have.  As I still had feta leftover from the beach weekend, and I had one more packet of chicken thighs from when I made the gorgonzola chicken, so put them together and what do we got? Bippity Boppity boo…anyway so I found this Fantastic Feta Chicken recipe from food.com.  I thought I’d make it today in honor of Maggie and Allie’s Birthdays…two close friends of mine who incidentally happen to be born on the same day and happen to also be getting married later this year.

Anyway, so I took a short break from cleaning and putting together my apartment to come home and cook in my current house. 

The recipe called for:

• Chicken breasts – obviously used thighs
• Lemon juice – check
• Chopped fresh (nope) or dried (yup) oregano – check
• Ground pepper – check
• Crumbled feta – check

Putting together the chicken was SIMPLE. EASY. Prep took less than 5 minutes, waiting for the oven to heat took longer than anything else.  Wow. Super easy.  So I popped it in the oven and set water to boil to make rice-in-a-bag to go together.  Meanwhile, I set about making a loaf of Amish White Bread (magic).  Then I plated the whole thing, and turns out the chicken wasn’t cooked (womp) so I threw it back into the oven and ate the rice, which was ready.  Luckily my bread was still rising and so I could wait to eat but I was pretty hungry.  Things I learned today…the amount of time that a chicken breast takes to cook is different from the amount of time a thigh needs to cook.

Finally after a long lost effort, the chicken was done. It was good!  A lot of lemon…which wasn’t surprising, but overall good.  I LOVED the feta!  It occurred to me that I forgot to properly prep the chicken (take off the fat etc.)  I don’t think I’d make this one again, or if I did I’d sub lime in for the lemon, since I like lime way better.