Finger Licking Good

My housemates and I have an inside joke about me and chicken. It's partially racist seeing as I'm half black and they say - the elusive they, not my housemates - that black people loooooove chicken :) but we know it's a joke; especially as we ALL eat a lot of chicken up in here!

Anyway, the point of today's riveting post... yeah it's chicken. I'm currently cooking it and it inspired me to write. I never really stay true to a recipe, I just kind of throw a load of seasonings on top of food and hope for the best BUT I have this one down and I wanted to share it with you because it's delicious!

What you need:
Chicken legs, drumsticks or thighs (could work with a whole chicken but you'll need to revise timings)
100% Pure Coconut Oil - I use KTC 
All Purpose Seasoning - I use Dunn's River
Jerk Seasoning - I use Dunn's River
Grated Creamed Coconut - I use Dunn's River

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Wash your chicken and trim off excess fat
Grate the creamed coconut

The Cooking:

Melt or warm a tablespoon of coconut oil in an oven dish.
Place your washed chicken into the dish.
Sprinkle a light layer of both the All Purpose and Jerk, followed by a generous coating of the grated coconut.
Pop it in the oven for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, remove from the oven.
Turn the chicken over and season the other side as described before.
Return it to the oven for another 15 minutes.
Once the chicken has cooked for a total of 30 minutes, reduce the heat slightly to just under 180 degrees and turn the chicken again. No extra seasoning is required.
Put the timer on for another 15 minutes.
When the timer is up, turn the chicken once more and return it to the oven for the final 15 minutes.

The sides:
Serve your chicken with sweet potato mash, buttered rice or cous cous, regular mash, basically whatever takes your fancy, and serve knowing your guests will leave satisfied - BOOM!

Mine never sits on the plate for too long.

Enjoy x

The onesie rut

Sitting at home watching movies with your girls is all right every once and a while but when you take stock of your month and see that it happens each and every evening and weekend… it's time to re-evaluate your social life.

The problem with January is it's a 'poor' month for me. I over spend at Christmas because it's the party season and I've seem to continued with that level of spending into the New Year. It's day 20 and I've already had to dip into my savings to save me from going too far into my overdraft.

We all know I love to spend.

In the last month alone I've had to fork out for 3 family birthday presents, lots of travel and then there's my shopping habit (2 coats, 3 pairs of shoes and some new gym kit - not apologising for the the last one though).

This has GOT TO STOP. With 11 days left of the month I'm looking at my calendar and thinking - I can hold on for a little bit longer if it means I am in a better position financially.

My hair is badly in need of a trim but with some serious deep conditioning and homemade oil treatments, my ends can survive for another 2 weeks. And now that I've recovered from my common but brutal cold, I'll fill a couple of week nights with visits to the gym, even if it's just for 30 minutes in the sauna.

My work lunches will be brought in from home EVERY DAY and I will use whatever I have in the cupboards. Dinner will be sponsored by Scandal, meaning that I shall be eating nothing but popcorn until pay day next Friday, and at the weekend I can make a point of visiting my mum's to get fed.

Bloody hell, I'm nearly 31 and I'm living like a student.

In the meantime I should probably invest in a few more onesies... I think I might have a shopping addiction.

Seven days (Day 1)

I'm having a lie in. Well, I say lie in but I have to get up at seven thirty am. My new housemate is in the shower.

I woke up about 3 times last night. I'm starting to get that 'dread' feeling in my tummy on Sunday nights but to be honest that could just be that I'm still feeling emotional from last week's events.

Showering always feels like a break from reality. I love standing beneath the shower. Water has never failed to soothe my troubles.

Breakfast equates to 2 dry pieces of toast. I can't handle it with butter at the moment, it makes me want to gag. I've decided to walk today. It's gorgeous out and if I'm going to be trapped indoors all day I might as well make the most of it now. My housemate thinks me crazy for liking to walk, but on days like today I could just keep going.

Work is work - nothing interesting happens, but I talk to him for 20 minutes about nothing in particular. It improves my mood and the rest of the afternoon passes quickly.

I leave 5 minutes early in order to actually get on a bus, I'm on my way to the gym. When I arrive I change quickly and head for the brightly lit workout area. There are no weight machines available so I'll have to reverse my planned workout and hit the treadmill first.

I'm sweating profusely, my towel is completely damp, and even though I've had to stop and walk twice, I'm determined to go the distance.

I manage 50 minutes and then do 5 sets of 10 on the Lat Pull-Down. Everything else is still busy so I call it a day and head home. Even though I've just ran/walked for 50 minutes, I still have a half hour walk home. I cut through the park (it's still light and densely populated) and make it home relaxed though aching.

Dinner is 2 trout fillets, chopped carrots, peppers and onion in a stir-fry style, with a cob of corn on the side. I flick through the channels on TV as I eat but I'm done in 15 minutes.

I'm hanging out the washing I put on when I got in as my housemate walks in the door. It's nine thirty in the evening. I'm shattered. We have a chat, I enjoy a hot shower and find myself falling asleep on my bed wrapped in my towel.

I get up to close the door, change into my PJs and wrap myself in my duvet, asleep within minutes. It's ten thirty pm.