Cardio and Cooking: C-c-c-combo Breakerrr!! (Because I've been eating white people food every day for the past week.)

Chicken can be so good when it's moist and tender. This is why I only like to eat meat by the bone. Dry meat is gross. This is why I can't do jerky.

 

Things I have learned today about chicken:

- There are a bizillion recipes for chicken on the Internet.

- Bone-in chicken is ready when you can stab through it easily with a fork and the juices run clear.

- Chicken thighs might actually be better than chicken wings...but you can eat a lot of wings...nevermind! :)

- They have really good sales for meat at Save-On Foods on weekends, especially for chicken. I got a fresh package of 5 chicken thighs for 6 bucks!

 

The colour in the picture turned out kind of funky. There are my Thai chicken thighs. Yum. The sauce was like one of those annoying Food Network recipes where they add a half teaspoon of a bizillion things. The good thing is that it tastes pretty delicious.

Close-up of my plate: coconut rice, Thai chicken thigh, and stir-fried spinach.

 Coconut Rice [Using a rice cooker]
2 cups uncooked jasmine rice
1/2 packet of coconut milk powder
3 cups + 10 tbsp lukewarm water
2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tbsp granulated sugar (if you use sweetened coconut, you can reduce this amount)

1. Mix together coconut milk powder and 10 tbsp lukewarm water in a bowl until combined with no lumps.
2. Add rice into rice cooker pot. Wash rice twice to get rid of some of the starch.
3. Add coconut milk, 3 cups water, and shredded coconut to rice and stir until well coated and combined.
4. Place lid on rice cooker and turn on. Leave rice to continue cooking for about 10 minutes after the cooker turns off.
5. Take off the lid, and use a rice paddle to fluff up the rice. Mix in sugar until dissolved and evenly distributed in the rice.

Thai Chicken Thighs (adapted from CBC)
5 fresh chicken thighs
1/4 cup chopped green onions
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp unsweetened peanut butter
2 tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp corn oil
1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce
2 tbsp chopped parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 385 F.
2. Chop green onions, garlic, and ginger, and add into a medium sized bowl.
3. Add peanut butter, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, 1 tbsp oil, and chili sauce into the bowl. Mix until combined and smooth.
4. Brush the inside of the bottom and sides of a shallow baking dish with 1 tbsp oil.
5. Place the chicken thighs in the baking dish and use the remaining tbsp oil to brush on the tops and sides of the chicken thighs to prevent them from burning.
6. Spoon the sauce evenly over each of the chicken thighs.
7. Bake for 40 min until you can easily stick a fork through the meat and juices run clear.
8. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley.

For my veggie side dish, I just quickly stir-fried some spinach with some corn oil and a pinch of salt until just wilted.

This further confirms my previous statement about peanut butter being magical. :D

-M