Picked Molly (8) up from her after school program and we headed home. It was cold and raining – the kind of weather that makes you want to sleep. And eat.
To get dinner going, I put some raw chicken in water and turned it on to boil.
The kids and I went upstairs to hang out for a while, and then I decided to check email. Sucked into the vortex known as the Internet, I was reading this great blog when I came to a post about picky eaters. It made me wonder what we should have for dinner….D’oh! The chicken!
Ran downstairs.
I boiled that chicken for AN HOUR!! And because the water had boiled down there was a spot on top that wasn’t submerged that was actually raw.
Damn.
So I flipped it over and let it sit for a few minutes and it turned white. It was going to cook in a casserole, so I figured it would be okay.
Time to shred the chicken for the casserole. I took the pan off the eye and used a plate and two forks to get to work. I set a bowl down on the stovetop and started to put the chicken in it when I smelled something. Sniff, sniff. (Perplexed look). Bahhh! I had set the bowl on the hot eye.
Damn.
Fortunately, the chicken ended up in the part of the bowl that wasn’t on the eye (the whole was in the other side).
So I laughed at the absurdity of it all as I sniffed the chicken to see if it smelled like plastic and looked around (as I often do) for candid cameras.
Charlie came downstairs to get a drink, and I was so distracted by the situation I had created for myself that I didn’t realize it had gotten unusually quiet.
I walked to the pantry.
“BOO!” Charlie said and jumped out.
“Muhaaaaahl!” I said with a jolt and my tongue hanging out. After I took a breath, I shook my head and said to myself, damn.
This is everyone’s new favorite pastime around here – jump out and scare mom when she’s distracted. If this continues I might have to get on some blood pressure medicine. Wait, would that fix it? Maybe I need to get on some Xanex. Or, maybe I need to start…getting even. Guess I will start with this maybe-toxic chicken. Just kidding. It’s fine. But I do plan to start scaring my kids in other ways. Muah ha ha!
Well, we’ll start with the damn dinner. Bon Appétit!
I know how you feel. I learned awhile back (after overcooking chicken to the point of eating/gnawing the equivalent of rubber) to slice the raw chicken in even thickness and chicken tender lengths. Set the eye of the stove on 4 or 5 and set the timer for 30 minutes.
That’s the trick to save us from ourselves!
I didn’t know you did that? You can buy it sliced that thin from the store. I was always perplexed by that. Hm, now I know. Good tips, Amy. The timer. I need to remember the timer. Actually can’t hear it from the computer. I need to stay away from the computer in general when I am cooking…
Don’t buy the thin strips though. They always have the thick tendon in them which grosses me out and you have to cut it out anyways. Buy the whole boneless/skinless breasts and cut them yourself. Takes a few minutes longer but is worth it.