A chicken narrative

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 Yesterday I had a busy first day of February.  I worked a shorter day but had to rush home to take out braids for Precious because our braider Nisha was coming in the afternoon to redo her hair.  Josiah also wanted braids (he has asked for braids for a few years now) so they were both on the schedule!  Because it takes several hours to take old braids out and condition/rinse/dry hair to prep I had a tight schedule.  I put chicken in the crockpot aroun 2pm.

    Curious question.....how is it that eggs are so expensive but I was able to find chicken breast last month for less than $2/lb?  I have been hoarding and stingy with my eggs but I have chicken in the freezer like nobody's business!  I took out 2 good size chicken breasts and thawed them in the morning...about 2.5 lb worth.  When I got home I threw them in the crock pot on high and mixed up the following seasoning:  

3/4 cup Italian dressing

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tbLS chili powder 

1/2 Tbls ground cumin

3 TBS or one pack of Ranch dressing mix

1/2 cup water (more or less)

It's a recipe I found online folks....I'm a recipe follower.

We unbraided, conditioned, rinsed, dried and set up for braids....got the kids McDonalds because on hair day there are lots of "yes"s.  After about 5 hours I shredded the chicken which smelled amazing and was tender and full of flavor.  I boiled quinoa because its good for us, rinsed black beans, dished up some cojita cheese, chopped cilantro and opened a jar of store bought salsa.  That's how I roll.  Taco chicken bowls.  Boom.  and I cleaned up the Mcdonalds wrappers and threw them in the trash.  Yuck.  Precious hair took about 6 hours or a bit more start to finish.  Josiah started at 9 and was done by 11.  Roger and I cleaned up the "salon" in our dining room and kitchen and went to bed.  

Today I came home cold to the bone around noon...after a morning of visits and errands.  I took out the leftover chicken and made a chicken tortilla soup with it.  I didn't even use  a recipe!  nacho cheese, chicken broth, rotel tomatoes with green chiles, shredded chicken from last night and some handmade tortilla strips with leftover corn tortillas.  Round 2 was also so so good.  Soup in the winter is not just frugal but it is necessary and it feeds the soul.  It just does.  

There is one leftover container in the fridge with all the chicken bowl goodness....Nisha took one to go last night when she left at 11:30pm....gosh she's a trooper.  If she comes to braid hair for you, please feed her.  

So there you have it....chicken....and blessing....and fresh braids for Black history month.  More to come.  

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