New Beginnings

So here's my brilliant idea that will keep you from being bored at night, teach you to cook, create something entertaining to read later, and most importantly, keep me amused. Because clearly, this is all about me. Seriously though, I think this could be something pretty cool and hopefully something that gets you out of the little rut you're in now.

I mentioned to you that I'd send you recipes to cook, you'd cook them and then tell me how it goes. Well, instead of shooting emails back and forth, I figured having a blog that we could both access would be easier, plus it'd create a history for you to 1. reference back to in the future for recipes that you like, 2. track your progress, and 3. provide some amusement later on. If you ever get a digital camera, you can post pictures here too. Hopefully, you like the idea so far.....

I had to create a gmail account for this....I'll email you the password separately since a techie would never post a password on a website, even if it is for something as frivalous as this.

Your first recipe is super easy....the chicken that I baked in Tahoe. This is super detailed, since I dont' know how much you know. Give me feedback if its too long, too detailed, not detailed enough and I'll tailor future recipes accordingly.

1. Grocery store trip - day before you want to cook

Marinade - Find a marinade you like. It's usually in the aisle with the condiments. I like Carribean Jerk, but there are TONS of flavors (lemon pepper, teriyaki, pepper steak, whatever your heart desires). They are also usually on sale, so you can pick up a couple different flavors for the future if you want to be cheap and save money.

Chicken - You can either buy frozen or fresh. If you buy frozen, you can buy a huge bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer section for pretty cheap. If you only want to buy a small amount, or you are trying to cook this the day of, you can buy chicken breasts fresh and defrosted.

Sides - I usually do a steamed vegetable. Broccoli is pretty easy and healthy. You'll have three options for broccoli usually - whole, heads and prewashed. To save time, you might want to buy the pre-washed in the bag. If not, I'd get the head even though its a little more expensive than the whole, unless you like the stems a lot.

If you need something in addition to chicken and broccoli, I'd grab a loaf of garlic bread (You can buy this in the bakery section usually prepared minus baking. The instructions for baking should be on the bag. If the bakery section doesn't have it, you can look in the frozen section) or Rice a Roni/Uncle Ben's (They have things like Rice Pilaf, wild rice, etc. Usually all you do is stick the rice in boiling water, add seasoning packet and wait.)

Baking Pan - Hopefully you have a Pyrex baking dish at home. If not, the grocery store usually has them for about $10.

Steamer - You can buy this pretty cheap at the grocery store or at a Bed Bath and Beyond. It should be a little metal contraption. Shouldn't be more than a couple bucks. You can see one here: http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/21VHXJ687JL.jpg


2. Prepping
Since you're doing this the day before you're going to cook/eat, you want to marinade the chicken overnight to get the best flavor. Get a big ziplock bag, put a couple chicken breasts in (however many you want to eat...this makes for great leftovers) and then pour the bottle of marinade in. Seal VERY well. Stick the bag in a bowl (to catch any leaks) and put it in the fridge overnight.

3. Cooking
Pre-heat your oven to 375. Meanwhile, get the baking dish and empty the contents of the ziplock bag (chicken and marinade) into the dish. The chicken should be well covered in marinade. Once the oven has reached 375, put the chicken in for 35-40 minutes. To check if the chicken is done, cut one piece in the middle. The middle shouldn't be pink at all. If it is, stick it in for a couple more minutes until its done.

If you are doing the garlic bread, you will probably put it in a little after the chicken.

After the chicken has been cooking for about 20 minutes, cook the vegetables. Get a pot that fits the steamer. Fill it with about an inch of water. Put the steamer in the pot. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Throw the vegetables in the steamer and cover. It should take probably 5 or so minutes for the broccoli to cook. To see if its cooked, stick a fork in hte broccoli. It should enter easily. Once the broccoli is done, take it out of the steamer, otherwise it will continue to cook and get mushy.

The chicken should be done at this point. Pull it out of the oven (don't forget to turn the oven off), add the broccoli, and enjoy!

Hopefully by the time you've reached the end of this, you aren't too disheartened or bored. Let me know what you think!