McQuade Slightly Spicy Chicken Tenders

I don't know about you, but I used to love the spicy chicken nuggets from a certain fast food establishment. I'm not normally a spicy food person but those are so delicious and fairly addicting. At least, they were. After six months straight of eating clean, healthy foods my whole system has changed the way it works - including my taste buds! Never mind all the calories and preservatives and...yuck.

These chicken tenders are delicious!

For two servings you'll need:

1 pound of boneless, skinless, chicken breast
2 tbsp cooking oil (olive or canola)
Salt
Cayenne pepper
A large skillet
2 gallon ziploc freezer bags

Step one - and this is the most important step - is to brine the chicken. When you brine the chicken, you're just soaking it in salt water. I like to cut my chicken first so it doesn't have to soak so long in the water. Cut the breast lengthwise in strips about 1/4 inch thick and put the strips into a the freezer bag.

Go ahead and prep all your chicken at the same time. It saves time later and letting it brine longer will only help the flavor! Just make sure that you only fill the bag 3/4 of the way so there's room for the water

Step Two - Put a lot of salt (Seriously a lot. 1/8 to 1/4 cup) into the bag with your chicken and fill the bag up with as much warm water as you can fit into it while still closing the bag. Shake the bag a little to get the salt water all mixed and to separate the chicken pieces so they can all get flavored up. Then, place that bag inside of the other one and seal it firmly. Leave the bags in the refrigerator for an hour and a half (or longer).

I tend to place the double-bagged chicken in a bowl to store in the fridge, just in case.

Step Three - Season your skillet! Sprinkle cayenne pepper and salt into the bottom of your pan. For extra kick, add garlic or more salt. For less kick, go with regular black pepper instead of cayenne pepper.

Also add the 2 Tbsp of oil to your pan (more for a bigger pan, less for a smaller one) and warm it on low heat so the oil spreads evenly.

Step Four - Add the chicken strips to your pan in a single layer and season the top of the chicken strips the same way you seasoned the pan, then cook them on medium heat. Don't worry about excess moisture in the pan, and wait to flip them until they're white almost all the way through.

Step Five - When the chicken is finished cooking, remove it and let the strips sit on paper towels to drain any residual oil. While they're resting, pour off all of the extra liquid so your pan is mostly dry. Re-heat your pan over high heat and add the chicken. Cook for less than a minute before turning over. Strips should be nicely browned.

Serve with steamed broccoli and a small serving of whole wheat pasta seasoned with a little bit of butter and oregano to complete the meal. It's delicious, and it has just a little bit of a kick without being too spicy!

You can also try seasoning a baking sheet, coating the strips in panko, or regular bread crumbs, and baking at 350 (farenheit) until golden brown.

Year 2, Day 39

Week 10

Part of me doesn't even want to write this post. After all, if I admit fault - real, actual fault - then someone might think I'm (gasp!) imperfect!

I was lazy this week. There's no two ways about it, I was lazy. There were contributing factors, for sure. Jared was sick, and after finding myself in a temporary budget crunch with the emotional blech of a cold I resorted to those "good ol' " childhood favorites: Pasta, ramen, and grilled cheese. These things are definitely cheap and I really do think they have a place in life. However, that place is not three meals a day. Because of the carb-load, I got all sluggish (my body loves simple carbs but is not genetically designed to handle them well). Instead of exercising like I knew I should be to burn off the extra, I sat on the couch with my husband and watched Star Trek while he faded in and out of consciousness. (Ah, the sleep cycle of the germ-besieged)

On the bright side, we got lots of cuddle time!

At first my systems didn't seem affected by the turn for the worse in our diet. That only encouraged my lazy, self-indulgent momentum. -sigh-

No more!

Last week I got my 100 Days of Real Food cookbook in the mail and I used that, cross-referenced with my Habits of Health book, to create a cheap but also healthy menu plan for this coming week. There's not much variety, because I'm still figuring out the (cheap + healthy + not going to aggravate Jared's existing health problems + doesn't require a crock pot or more than 15 minutes to throw together) combination. Fortunately for us, Jared and I are pros at eating the same thing over and over for a while. Our minds like the routine of it. In fact, Jared could probably eat the same daily menu for months on end. I need variety from week to week, so we'll see what happens next week. I've also resolved to buy a crock-pot as my next home improvement purchase.

Here's the menu:

Breakfast - Rolled oats with 1/2c milk and 1/2 apple
Snack - String cheese
Lunch - 1/2 grilled cheese sandwich on whole wheat, and 1/2 apple
Snack - 1c tomato soup
Dinner - Chicken tenders (homemade) with a hearty serving of broccoli
Snack - 1 square of dark chocolate and 6 cashews

That may look like it's not a lot of food. In the first week of transitioning onto a healthier, lower-calorie meal plan it certainly doesn't feel like a lot of food. But as the body adjusts you begin to see that it's really the perfect amount for a 2-3 hour interval.

I'm looking forward to getting back to a healthy eating style. I'm not a leafy greens kind of person, and I've actually been *craving* salads - which means that my body is in a pretty sorry state internally. My main focus right now is weight loss, but even if I don't lose a pound (which is unlikely), I'll be happy for a few weeks to just start feeling like I'm eating healthy again!

Yeah, I know, I'm one of *those* people. I never thought I would be one of *those* people, but I am now, and it's actually pretty nice. If I just listen to my body I should be fine weight-wise once I reach my goal. That realization is so exciting I don't even have words.