A meal that isn't chicken!

Look ma! No chicken! I broke out of the chicken rut and tried my hand at some enchiladas from the Budget Bytes blog.



I did take a picture of my enchilada on a plate but it was a decidedly less appetizing photo. Though if you really want to see it, go here.)These enchiladas were pretty good. Not really a replacement for going out to a mexican restaurant (no endless tortilla chips and cheese dip!) and I actually really prefer the shredded chicken enchiladas from those restaurants. But they weren't bad and I don't consider it a failed experiment. They were pretty easy to put together but I don't know how often I'll make this recipe though. It makes a crap ton of food and unfortunately they don't really reheat well. Kevin and I had the leftovers for dinner tonight and the wraps were soggy and kind of mushy (I even did it the slow way and reheated them in the oven). So that's a downer.

To sum up, this recipe was a nice break from chicken (though it probably would've been better if I made it with chicken) but the left overs do not reheat well.

Honey Lime Chicken

It's usually pretty rare that I have all ingredients necessary for any new recipe I want to try. Trying a new recipe usually requires a trip to the grocery store to buy some specialty ingredient that I would never think to have on hand and may never use in another recipe again. Tonight however there was the perfect storm of ingredients and I actually had everything on hand (namely limes and jalapenos) necessary to make this Honey Lime Roast Chicken in this month's issue of Food Network Magazine. Yes, yes, I know, it's more chicken! But this chicken was 98 cents a pound and the recipe looked tasty so there you go.

The only change I made was that I used split chicken breasts instead of half chickens and I didn't have regular thyme so I used my lemon thyme from the herb garden. Not really major changes at all.

The chicken was delicious and came out looking really similar to the picture (as you can see from above).  I served it with rice and roasted broccoli. Kevin declared that it was 'the bomb'.

Eat more chicken

One thing I don't really need to do is eat more chicken. I eat chicken so much I'm fairly certain I'm going to grow feathers and start clucking. I eat it grilled, in stir fry, baked, sauteed and fried. Chicken, chicken everywhere. You can tell that I'm uninspired come dinner time if chicken is on the menu.

But one recipe I've tried lately that I really enjoy is the Coconut chicken strips from Budget Bytes.


(pardon the photo, I forgot to take one before eating)

The recipe itself is really simple. She's also got a version for spicy strips with sriracha sauce. I didn't have any on hand but I like the idea of making them have a little kick so I add hot sauce to the egg wash and cayenne pepper to the flour mixture. Gives them a little heat. Also, the sweet chili sauce is a must. It really does add something special. I enjoyed these so much the first time I ate them I made them again a week later. I also made them this past weekend for our poker party and they were a hit, everyone raved about them and kept asking me what the sauce was.

I really like the Budget Bytes blog. She has plenty of recipes that are easy to make and I usually have most of the ingredients on hand. I recently made her Garlic Noodles to go with some fish for dinner and they were fantastic. No modifications needed for that recipe and I would've gladly made them again if Kevin hadn't used up the angel hair pasta for spaghetti.

I also want to share a recipe that my sister gave me for chex mix. (I lovingly refer to it as chex crack.) She makes it every year for Christmas but since Kevin and I alternate holidays now some years I don't get to have it and that makes me sad. I insisted on getting the recipe so I can make my own for special occasions (or when I feel like putting on 10lbs). I made a half batch this weekend for the party and it was wildly popular with the ladies. It's a sweet/savory mix and almost impossible to stop eating. Also, it's very, very bad for you. Make at your own risk.

4 sticks butter
2 cups oil
1 cup sugar (plus some brown sugar if you feel so inclined)
8 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
4 teaspoons garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and boil for 5 minutes. Pour over:

1 box rice chex
1 box corn chex
1 box honeycomb
1 bag pretzels
peanuts

This makes TWO gigantic disposable baking pans. The glaze doesn't look like it will be enough for both pans but it will be. Bake at 250 for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Share with everyone you know and become the most popular person in your circle of friends.