Second Wind

Its been awhile, I know.  And I harbor no pretensions that anyone will actually stumble across this blog accidentally after over a year of no posts.  But before you get all judgy, don't forget I've been a little busy chasing toddlers and having babies and moving across the country! 

Anyway, my main reason for this post is that I've decided to do NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this November, and what better way to get creative energies going than take 5 minutes to revive my good old blog?  Ok, yes, the main reason is actually to procrastinate.  I'm already 6,000 words behind for the month!  Plus, I still harbor the hope that one day I could become a pinning sensation that is so out of control blogspot crashes and I have to add one of those little "pin it" buttons at the bottom of my blog.  A girl can dream, right? 

Even if that never happens, tonight I have a REAL treat just for you, that random person that stumbled across this blog accidentally while googling a CS Lewis book.  Hopefully you like food, at times like to cook, and often don't have time to do it, because this recipe is the easiest one I have ever made, and had my husband raving and 2 year old popping chicken pieces like they were animal crackers.  It took 4 ingredients and about 10 minutes of prep time and no ingredients of questionable integrity.

 

 

That's right, Swiss cheese, Balsamic vinegar, Italian style breadcrumbs, and chicken tenderloins (I used frozen from Trader Joes).  Pull the chicken out of the freezer the night before and defrost in the fridge.  About 40 minutes before dinner, I put 8 in a gallon sized zip lock bag and pounded them flat (I guess about 1/4 an inch?).  I added 1/4 cup of balsamic (that's a lie, I usually eyeball, but I made sure all the chicken was coated but not drowning in it) and let it sit in the plastic bag for about 5 minutes while I chopped the swiss cheese into small, 1 oz-ish chunks.  Wrap the chicken around a chunk of swiss and roll it in the bread crumbs.  Place in baking dish and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until the juices run clear.  That's it!  (And if you don't like it--not like you wasted too much time!)

 

My husband graciously sat there while I grabbed my camera.  Seriously?  You are taking a picture of my plate?  But considering the relatively short wait for a delicious dinner, I don't think he minded too much.  Try it out!  I hope you like it!  The bitterness of swiss cheese was really well balanced by the sweet and tangy balsamic, but if you can't handle that, a provolone cheese would probably work really well too.  Enjoy your dinner -- and the extra time to write!

 

PS--this post was 466 words...can that count?