Baked Sesame Chicken

From coconut oil popcorn to old puzzles with missing pieces, to evenings with friends drinking mulled wine from solo cups.  A few things that have been happening in our world

lately

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He –  Juggling a lot, per usual; with an amazing attitude, per usual. Puppy walking.  Jack-of-all-trading, snapping photos, cooking potatoes. The joke-teller, the butcher, the fire-maker

Favorite New App – Way of Life  It's great for tracking habits, is simple to set up, and will even create beautiful charts and graphs.  A few in my list?  Minutes spent walking, yoga, weight lifting, no sugar,  meditation, and “today have I treated myself the way I would a very close friend?”

Recommending to Everyone – Headspace's Take 10 Challenge. If you can make it through 10 days of meditation, you'll be hooked.  It's incredible for calming a racing mind

Drinking a Lot Of – Kava tea   A couple of tea bags soaked for 15 min, and you'll feel like settling into your chair.  Stressed after a long day? Skip the glass of bubbly and have a cup of kava; you'll still be super relaxed

(ps:  Have you ever been to a Kava Bar?  Austin, it's on my wishlist the next time we visit)

Excited for – Puppy school(!)  We'll start our next class this Thursday, on the path toward therapy dog certification

Reading – Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach: It's incredible if you want to learn how to stop beating yourself up, and how to stop carrying around anger and resentment.

“I knew I'd never treat a friend the way I'd treated myself .. without mercy or kindness”     ~ Tara Brach

One of my favorite stories from the book?  A tiger named Mohimi who was rescued from a zoo and been confined to a 10′ x 10′ cage for several years.  She was finally released into a pasture, with lots of excitement and anticipation, but it was too late.  The tiger immediately sought refuge in the corner of the compound, where she lived for the remainder of her life

“Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns.  We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing.  Yet each day, we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.” ~ Tara Brach 

Can't Stop Looking At – The Year in Pictures via The New York Times and The Obama Years    [via The Washington Post]

Inspired By – The most amazing 98-year-old yoga teacher(!)  Let's all live our best lives for just as long as we possibly can

Listening To – The FoundMyFitness and The Sean Croxton Sessions Podcasts

Taped to the Bathroom Mirror? My Word for 2017 – Kindness

A fun and different recipe to start the week; one that is so much better than takeout.  The chicken bakes up tender with a beautiful crust and is coated perfectly with the sweet and tangy flavors of the sauce.

As you read through the recipe, you may notice it's a little off the beaten path.  The first step is an ultra-quick flash-in-the-pan in hot oil to give the chicken a crispy outer layer, although the pieces should still be raw in the center.

From there the pieces are coated in sauce and baked in the oven for an hour (it's not a typo).  Certainly, you could cook them less, but you'll end up with a sauce that hasn't thickened as much as it would have if baked for a full hour.

Enjoy!

xoxo

~ Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and the baking process adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe