embarrassment

quick update on weight: i hit 147.5 this past weekend after a 5 mile run. i still had good energy after the run which was great. congrats to me.

the 21 day meal plan is over and my wife and i decided that it's best to somewhat keep up with a healthier eating lifestyle. we agreed to buy breakfast foods and cook them on sunday to be available during the week in addition to making snacks for me to munch on during the day between meals. the first result this morning was great. turkey breakfast tacos with corn tortillas, egg whites, low fat cheddar cheese, and salsa. also boiled some red potatoes with seasoning to mix it up later in the week.

the meal this morning was a much better result than my disastrous quick dinner last night. in a bit of a rush, i had some chicken breasts thawing with the assumption i was going to cook 'chicken cooked in butter' from a recipe book i've had since my single living days. the recipe called for the use of flour, which i didn't have. so, in my quick-witted thinking, i said i would just bake the chicken in a lime and garlic marinade.

*quick background note - i would like to disclose that my wife and i are NOT cooks. since living together, we've maybe cooked 15-20 meals together in the last 2 1/2 yrs. we love food, just not the work that goes into it...sad.

anyways - i preheat the oven, squeeze the lime, and mash the garlic. i drizzle the marinade over the chicken that is resting on some foil in a shallow baking tray. after checking that the base of the chicken is surrounded by the juices, i place it in the oven to bake for around 30 mins. i heat up some green giant niblets corn as a side dish in the meantime. after confirming that the chicken was fully cooked, i neatly assembled everything on a dinner plate and set our normal places in front of the tv. over the next 10 minutes, i sat and ate the worst chicken i've ever had. i understand it's not hard to mess up chicken, but in my lack of cooking experience, i was able to do just that. it was dry, tasteless and bland. it looked like a poor pale chicken breast in desperate need of a tan. the chicken didn't even taste like....chicken. it had no taste. i was lucky that i dribbled the leftover marinade onto our plates. my wife hadn't said anything after a few bites over 5 minutes. her eyes were set on the tv watching food network. i had gone through about 3/4 of the large chicken breast before i stopped and blurted out, "this is the worst chicken i've ever had". Hang looks at me and laughs. i dunno if she wanted to be nice, but she smiles and says... "it is a little bland" and keeps eating. ugh. i told her i couldn't eat anymore and cut a few pieces for my dog and placed them in his bowl. to my amazement, Peanut ate up the chicken bites, but only after he had a few quick pick-up and drops to make sure it was up to his standard. great - i wondered.... how bad would this be if my DOG didn't even eat this?! a sigh of relief came after i noticed he consumed everything. i even forbid Hang to take a picture of it after she found my thoughts to be hysterical. there was no way i wanted to remember this meal, but unfortunately when you've had the 'worst' of something...forgetting about it is hard to do.

-E