Monday, December 16, 2013

Recipe: Skillet Chicken Breasts

The one food item I try to always keep in my fridge when I'm at college is chicken breasts. I also recently discovered the use of chicken thighs for most of the same recipes. You can do pretty much anything with some good chicken, such as this recipe I concocted one day this past semester.


Ingredients:
Chicken breasts or thighs (as many as you want to eat/save for leftovers)
Olive Oil (few tablespoons)
Soy Sauce (enough to provide a marinade base)
Onion Powder
Parsley Flakes
Garlic (I use the jar of garlic pieces available at Walmart)
A dollop of honey

Instructions:

  1. Marinade your chicken in the ingredients listed above for at least 5 minutes or longer depending on how much chicken you are planning to cook.
  2. Pour chicken and marinade into a skillet or frying pan and cover. Cook on medium to medium-high heat 2-5 minutes, depending on amount of chicken meat.
  3. Flip chicken and cook (covered) for another 2-3 minutes.
  4. Remove pan from heat and determine if chicken is cooked through by flaking with a fork or cutting the largest segment in half. 
  5. Enjoy with steamed rice, spaghetti noodles, green beans, etc. I also like to sauté onions or bell peppers in the leftover marinade. 
Photo: I Believe I Can Fry's Flickr page - CC BY-NC 2.0

Friday, December 13, 2013

Chicken-Themed Teacher Gifts

As a future teacher in a Teacher-Education program, I know a bit about teacher gifts. And let me tell you: your (or your child's) teachers do not need another Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul book. But they might be able to enjoy something they could eat for lunch. And of course, English teachers love puns.

I devised this cute gift idea to give to the high school teachers who worked with me in my pre-student teaching program, but I think any educator would enjoy it. First, it's a simple microwavable lunch. Second, it's a mug for reuse or to leave at school for days when coffee is needed. Third, it's a bunch of puns. Success.


I started by purchasing small, simple mugs from Walmart. I purchased Campbell's microwavable soup (chicken noodle, of course) at the same time and made sure the soup would fit inside of the mug. I also purchased chicken-themed kitchen cloths and towels.

I then stuffed the towel into the mug and stuck the soup on top. For one of the mugs (since it was too large to fit in the small bags I had purchased), I wrapped it up using tissue paper and tied with a ribbon. For the other mugs (small enough to fit in the gift bags), I used the towel as makeshift tissue paper for the bag. Either way, the gift ended up super cute.


But here comes the best part: the card. I designed the entire gift with a chicken theme, so the card was, of course, full of chicken-related puns. Since I was completing my pre-student teaching, I wrote the cards thanking the teachers for their help in preparing me to become a teacher one day, but similar cards could be written for your (or your child's teacher), thanking him or her for taking your or your child under his or her "wing" or acting with "tender" loving care, etc. Creativity rules with puns!
I used Avery.com's Design and Print Online Studio to create these cute postcards using Avery Postcards (# 3381) that you can find in office supply stores.

Food is always a plus for teacher gifts, as are pens and pencils and personalized stationary. Just make sure your teacher has no allergies or food concerns before gifting food.

Enjoy the puns, friends, and gift-give to your hearts' content!