Brown Sugar Barbecue Chicken

I get to claim this recipe as my own! For once, I didn't copy something I found on Pinterest.

I came up with this recipe all by my little self and I'm really proud because it's delicious. I had two others concur that frankly, this was the bomb.

I will elaborate more at a later date, but I am eating better. We all are. I was home with a sick little boy and knew I had plenty of time to think about a semi healthy dinner. I saw there were huge chicken parts in the freezer so I got the bag out to grab a few.

First, before I even started, on the front of the bag there were big letters that said "YOUNG CHICKEN". How sad!!! I'M EATING BABIES!! Anyway...

I've learned through my Pinterest trials that there are some good marinades out there. Since I had about 7 hours until dinner, I wanted to find something good so the chicken would be nice and juiced up.

The previous night, we had cooked some sausage links and Husband had bought some KC original barbecue sauce that was on sale. It was actually really good. There was plenty left so I thought I would just use it up.

But it didn't stop there. I thought "Hmmmmmm, how about some brown sugar?!" *good choice*

Let me break it down for you:

1- I added the remaining 3/4 bottle of barbecue sauce into a gallon bag.
2- I added 3/4 c. brown sugar. I closed the bag and shook my booty until it was well mixed.
3- I put the thawed chicken (3 leg looking parts) in, got all the air out of the bag and let it sit.
4- I turned the bag over every hour so each side got the same amount of goodness to soak in.
5- I marinated for about 5 hours.

I got a pan that had holes in it (like a pizza pan), sprayed it and set the oven at 350. I've learned that if you just use a cookie sheet, the chicken sits in that juice and the bottom doesn't get crispy. I put the cookie sheet on the shelf below the chicken to catch all the juice.

I let it cook for about an hour. I just decided the top looked nice and it turned out to be the right amount of time. Ready for the final product? Feast your eyes on THIS...

Oh yeah. It was gooooooooood!! I suggest you give it a try, it will be worth it :)

Cheesy Zucchini

Do you ever have a recipe that is really good but kind of takes a long time and you wish you could just have a time traveling version of it? As in, it can travel 30 minutes into the future and be done?

I think about it every time I cook. Since I've been binge watching Fringe, I think about stupid sci-fi stuff all the time now. What does the me in the other universe look like? Is she as awesome as me? Does she screw up her recipes as much as me? You only know what I'm talking about if you like Fringe. I swear I'm not weird.

This is a time traveling recipe. Take broccoli cheddar casserole. Does it take forever? I've never made it so I don't know :) If it does, then this stuff is your go to. It tastes exactly like the real casserole. And it only took about 10 minutes. The best part is that my Saladmaster slicer chopped up the zucchini in 20 seconds. It also chopped part of my finger and blood got everywhere but it's ok, I totally rinsed it off.

I overdosed on the cheese because I didn't want what was left to go to waste. Bad call on my part.

Still good! I recommend it as an easy side dish.
http://www.howdoesshe.com/zucchini-coming-out-your-ears/

Chicken Tortilla Stack

The picture for this recipe looks SOOOOOOOOO good!!

Aside from that, the ingredients are so simple and the putting together seemed simple as well. I was worried that with no real flavoring to the chicken, it would be just another bland dish. I don't think I've ever mixed these three cheeses either. Sharp, pepper jack and mozzarella.

Lucky for y'all, I only screwed up one cheese and it still tasted delicious!! I used monterrey jack. White cheese is white cheese, right?

Everyone loved this and it was sooo easy to make and totally yummy to my tummy. I recommend this for one of those nights where you don't have a lot or time or energy. 8 out of 10.

You know you like that ghetto slice of avocado on top.

http://damndelicious.net/2013/05/05/chicken-tortilla-stack-and-a-giveaway/

Creamy Crockpot Hot Chocolate

I decided to spice up the hot chocolate selection one night and try this recipe that I had pinned a LONG time ago. It was cold and we were all in the mood for a little chocolate bubbly. I happened to have all the ingredients so I gave it a shot.

The part that sounded the yummiest was the whip cream!!

So on I went...ingredient 1...ingredient 2...ingredient 3...and so on...

Let's see the final product.

Looks like hot chocolate huh? Well well well, hot chocolate can be sneaky because this melted poo tasted just like that...

POO!! As in, EW. It was extremely bitter and INSANELY ew. Such a waste of incredible ingredients. So save your chocolate for something you know is good because this isn't it.

http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2010/12/creamy-crockpot-hot-cocoa-best-ever/

Yikes!

It's been a month. My bad! Life has really taken over. The weeks leading up to Christmas break are hectic when you're a teacher AND a mom. So I am finally getting some down time. I have some new recipes to show you so I promise I will have something new this weekend!

Toodles :)