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Chillin’ n’ Grillin’

BBQ, calories, Chicken, Dinner, food, gardening, Grilling, harvesting veggies, Low Calorie Recipes, recipes, Recommendations, sunny day, Urban Farmer, Vegetable Garden 25 Responses »

Apr 262013

I love it when the weather is nice here in Portland; especially this early in the springtime. We’re so beaten down as Portlanders that we’re used to dealing with rain from November until July 5th. I think this has been one of the driest winter/springs I’ve experienced in a long time. In order to take advantage of the nice weather, Michael and I have been grilling outside.

One night after work, we went for a walk to the school near our house. There were kids playing rugby, baseball, soccer, and lacrosse. We just kind of hung out for a bit enjoying the summer-like evening before heading back to the house. We had some chicken thighs defrosted but didn’t take the time to marinade them in anything. I also was out of BBQ sauce. Bummer. I think we were both craving some zingy BBQ.

I found this recipe instead. It’s not a marinade but a glaze. It took two minutes to mix up and then I left Michael to do the manly grilling.

Honey-Glazed Grilled Chicken Thighs

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Yield: 4

Serving Size: 1 thigh

Calories per serving: 190

From: http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/honey-glazed-grilled-chicken-thighs/652dfddd-29fc-4fff-a180-cb4695242a07

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 1 lb.)
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Instructions

Heat gas or charcoal grill. In small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce and garlic; blend well with wire whisk. Set aside. Brush chicken thighs with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
When grill is heated, place chicken on gas grill over medium heat or on charcoal grill 4 to 6 inches from medium coals.
Cook covered 8 to 12 minutes or until juice is clear when center of thickest part is cut (180°F), turning once and brushing with honey mixture during last 2 minutes of cooking time.

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While he did that, I harvested some kale to go with dinner. Did I tell you guys I planted kale and spinach early this year? The last two years we’ve planted starters around the last weekend of April/first of May and I found that our spinach, lettuce and kale had a very short shelf life. It either bolted or was infested in aphids. Michael suggested be plant early this year because kale and spinach supposedly do better in cooler weather. One weekend in February we planted a bunch. Of course, the next day there was a week long frost! Thankfully it didn’t kill of my little greens.

I’ve been saving the eggshells from breakfast and I crunch them up in the soil to keep the slugs away. IT WORKS! Usually the slugs eat the crap out of my plants. Not this year. Look at how nice my kale looks! (And yes, I need to do some weeding this weekend….)

How was dinner?

It was FANTASTIC. The chicken had a nice sweet, tangy flavor and some smokiness from the grill. Most of the skin burned off on the grill (too bad) but that’s alright, the chicken was not lacking in flavor. I had cooked some kale and onions in the skillet with a little coconut oil and a dash of chicken stock. I had some cottage cheese with my dinner.

You cannot go wrong with garlic and soy sauce. Ever. It’s the best pairing for any kind of protein I think! This was the perfect recipe for a quick work night meal. It didn’t take much time at all and I had everything on hand. There are a ton of marinade I want to try someday but they always take so much planning…I get excited about something and then realize I was supposed to let it marinade for 24 hours.

The evening started to get chilly so we went inside and watched Hannibal (LOVING that show) and Mad Med.

Finally, I had my first experience meeting a reader in real life. If you guys are reading, hi. Please forgive the deer-in-headlights awkwardness. Thanks for reading.

QUESTION: Favorite glaze? Hannibal fan?

Not Just a Fad

calories, Cooking, Dinner, food, gardening, KT Tape, Manual Labor, Runner's Knee, Running injury, Urban Farmer, Vegetable Garden, Weekend Update 10 Responses »

Oct 252012

Last weekend was so productive and it’s continued into the week. Michael was on a cooking tear. He woke up early Saturday and made Pimento Cheese, then he made Chex Mix (aka crack), and for dinner Saturday night he made his famous Mac n’ Cheese, thankfully it was a half batch. I was in a cooking mood, too, but more on that later.

I also spent most of the weekend cleaning, purging and organizing. I don’t know why I am suddenly in a craze to donate things but I’m loving it. Who needs all this stuff just sitting around collecting dust, anyways? If you’re also in the mood to donate items, try giving to the Vietnam Veterans of America, that’s where I’ve been donating items to lately. Sunday I worked in the yard pulling up our garden and getting it ready for winter. It’s kind of sad that I won’t have fresh tomatoes anymore.

I wanted to share a discovery I made. I know I’m late to the game and many people already know how awesome this product is, but I finally experienced it for myself.

{Buy Here}

I’ve been a runner now for about 7 years. I’ve heard of kinesio tape, and KT Tape, many times and I’ve seen it on runners but never put much thought into it. I’ll be honest, I thought it was a gimmick. The descriptions seemed vague but promises to “provide stable support without restricting motion.” But does it really work??

“Here is how it works, KT Tape is applied along muscles, ligaments, and tendons (soft tissue) to provide a lightweight, strong, external support that helps to prevent injury and speed recovery. KT Tape works differently for different injuries. KT Tape can lift and support the knee cap, holding it in place for Runner’s Knee. Depending on how it is applied, KT Tape supports, enables, or restricts soft tissue and its movement. By stretching and recoiling like a rubber band, KT Tape augments tissue function and distributes loads away from inflamed or damaged muscles and tendons, thereby protecting tissues from further injury.”

I was feeling pretty desperate about my knees and getting to the point where I’d try anything. I decided to give KT Tape a try. Two days after I ordered my first roll on Amazon, I saw my sports medicine doctor who recommended I get some tape. She recommended the tape over knee braces and I gave it a try.

Wow.

I was shocked that I saw a noticeable difference when I put the tape on. It’s a little hard to describe but wearing it feels like STABILITY. That’s all I can think of how to describe it. It felt really good and my knees felt like they were aligned properly and there was no danger of them slipping. I was still skeptical so I wasn’t going to give it a “THIS IS A MIRACLE” vote until I worked out with the tape on.

Friday night I went for a swim. While the tape is waterproof, it’s not really pool-proof, which I discovered. It stayed on my legs for about half of my swim but it proved to me that there might be something to it. I never once had a twinge or pain in the pool–and I even swam the breaststroke without issue.

Saturday morning I taped my knees and went to the gym. I started with the spin bike for 30 minutes. I felt fantastic! After that I did a kettlebell workout, my physical therapy exercises, and ab work. Still felt awesome. I moved on to the weight machines and focused on upper body and finished with stretching. Not one knee twinge or ache or pain during the entire workout.

I was having such a good workout I lost track of time and was there 20 minutes longer than I planned on being there! The rest of Saturday I listened to my legs and they did not complain. Is it really true? Is this tape magical?

QUESTION: Have you tried KT tape? What was your experience?

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