My marriage is falling apart. We've been on the outs for a while now. I can barely even stand being in the same room at the same time. There's just no OOMPH in our relationship. It's the same thing day after day. No joie de vivre! The other problem is no one is talking about it except me. I don't know how much more I can take it....
Did I mention I'm talking about my marriage to boneless skinless chicken breast? Well, what else would I be talking about?
I can't stand it. I am so sick of cooking --- and I don't even cook that often. (Honestly? I'm only at about 30% these days, max) I'm just so tired of cooking the same thing all of the time (when I do venture in to the kitchen). Here's my thing - if I didn't have to come up with what to cook, I could handle that - mostly. But to come up with the menu, shop for it and cook it is more than I can take these days. Okay, so it's been more than "these" days - like 7 years more. Poor T. He is SOOOO good about cooking when he comes home from a day at work. He has to be, otherwise he would have to eat his arm with some salsa on the side. Yum, T. The other white meat. Ohhhh, I crack myself up. M would be happy if I let her eat Top Ramen with a side of soy beans every night .
So I need your help! I need your chicken recipes and I need them fast. I have bscb (that's boneless skinless chicken breast) pre-portioned and in Ziploc bags in my freezer ready to be used. If there is a recipe that includes cooked broccoli/cauliflower, go ahead and post it for everyone else, but I'll have to say "no, thanks." I can't cook either without becoming ill with a migraine. Really, I'm not lyin'. It truly does happen.
Are you wondering why I don't have a request for beef or seafood? I have to stay away from beef because of my cholesterol (sniff) and I refuse to take cute little fishies out of their safe home in the water (aka I don't do seafood). Please, if you're reading this and I've been to your house and you've fed me these things, don't worry. #1) Beef won't kill me - I actually LOVE it. #2) Seafood - I've been on a mission and I can eat anything while smiling. #3) Your food was probably really good and I didn't mind. Oh - pork? Sure, go ahead and send them on over. I usually use chicken and pork interchangeably.
I'm committed to making this relationship work. Please help me save my marriage!
I'll put my thinking cap on . . . you've already been through my cookbooks!!! . . . . and I'm soooo glad you were talking about chicken breasts! Holy smokes you have a way with words . . . you are very gifted.
ReplyDeleteOh, have you come to the right place. First, I would check allrecipes.com and search for bscb. Pick any with lots of 5 star ratings. Also, I read several food blogs and one even had a great looking Avocado Chicken recipe that we're going to try this week. Here's the link: http://bloggingitswhatsfordinner.blogspot.com/2008/08/avocado-chicken.html
ReplyDeleteWe also tried the best bscb recipe EVER last week. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, it was that good. It made me think that I've been WAY overcooking my chicken for a long time. (I didn't ever own a digital thermometer, in my own defense, so I erred on the side of doneness. Read--leathery) Anyway, here it is. Keep in mind, the directions are many, and kind of picky, but if you follow them, nirvana is close behind.
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
1 1/4 teaspoons sugar
Table salt and ground black pepper
3 medium garlic cloves , minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons water
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 8 ounces each), trimmed of excess fat
Vegetable oil for grill rack
See Illustrations Below: Avoiding Imperfect Chicken
1. Whisk together mustard, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, parsley, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in small bowl; set aside.
2. Whisk together remaining tablespoon lemon juice, remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil, remaining teaspoon sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, garlic, and water in medium bowl. Place marinade and chicken in gallon-size zipper-lock bag and toss to coat; press out as much air as possible and seal bag. Refrigerate 30 minutes, flipping bag after 15 minutes.
3. Turn all burners to high and heat with lid down until very hot, about 15 minutes. Scrape grate clean with grill brush. Dip wad of paper towels in oil; holding wad with tongs, wipe cooking grate. Leave primary burner on high and turn off other burner(s).
4. Remove chicken from bag, allowing excess marinade to drip off. Place chicken on cooler part of grill, smooth-side down, with thicker side facing lit burner. Cover and cook until bottom of chicken just begins to develop light grill marks and is no longer translucent, 6 to 9 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken and rotate so that thinner side faces lit burner. Cover and continue to cook until chicken is opaque and firm to touch and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 140 degrees, 6 to 9 minutes longer.
5. Move chicken to hotter side of grill and cook, uncovered, until dark grill marks appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip chicken and cook until dark grill marks appear and instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to cutting board, let rest, tented with foil, 5 minutes. Slice each breast on bias into 1/4-inch-thick slices and transfer to individual plates. Drizzle with reserved sauce and serve.
Good luck! I'll send more as I think of them. :)
Tanya, I'm going to email you a couple of recipes that I have for chicken that my family loves. They are pretty easy too...which I love!
ReplyDeleteOkay the problem is you are obviously cooking with chicken too much. Despite what you've written in your blog, YOU ARE NOT MARRIED TO CHICKEN!
ReplyDeleteUse pork, tofo, or just skip having meat for a meal or two. Oh I miss cooking with pork! That was our main meat in the Philippines. Speaking of... here's an easy Filipino recipe for chicken!
TINOLA! OMIGOSH! I love love love love tinola!
You can Google it if you want but those are more involved.
Here's how you make it in the US!
Boil the chicken with Knorr chicken broth cubes, fresh crushed pepper and one good sized ginger root peeled and sliced. Once the chicken is cooked, add chayote (it's squash) again peeled and large sliced until cooked. This way we made it has lots of broth/soup because we'd POUR it over our rice. hmmm...
I hope you try it!
Hey! We have an old staple that we turn to often.
ReplyDeleteIngredients:
Big can of Green Las Palmas Sauce
Chicken Breasts (maybe 4)
Corn Tortillas, fried to make shells
Shredded Jack Cheese
Black Olives
Throw the sauce and the chicken in the crock pot for a few hours. When the chicken is shredable shred it up a bit with a fork. Once it's nice and thick it's ready to go into the taco shells. Top it will shredded cheese and olives and YUM! It's a winner everytime. You can also chunk up some cooked chicken and put it and the sauce in a big skillet to thicken it up. I think it tastes better from the skillet, but you have to pay more attention to it.
Hope this helps a little. :)
I have no advice for chicken.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if you want any pointers in the other department. "Every night's a good night..."