Got Water? …and more Chicken!

Not sure if it’s made any national news or not but there was a HUGE water main break a few towns west of Boston and now about 30 towns/cities in the greater Boston area are on a Boil-water order.

Awesome. THANKFULLY my city, which was on “the list” yesterday, is now off :) We get 60% of our water from an source in our city and 40% from that huge water main.

Of course we did stock up just in case.

You should see the grocery stores, it’s crazy…my local store had pallets upon pallets of huge packs of bottled water!

It was also SUPER hot today!! Luckily our house stayed pretty cool inside on it’s own…yay insulation!

We had Brian’s mom and aunt over for dinner and we were quite busy yesterday so everything was done today!

I knew I wanted to grill, and so I went to a recipe I knew would be a crowd pleaser…my family is obsessed.

Ancho Chili Chicken!

not really sure the origin of this recipe but once it was made at a family gathering it became an instant favorite.

This morning I made the marinade:

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 6 Tbsp soy sauce (I use low sodium)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used 2 Tbsp)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1.5 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

(of course I had the smallest limes ever)

I put the chicken (2 lbs) and the marinade in a big ziploc bag and into the fridge it went.

Later on I made the sauce:

** I can usually find Ancho chilies at the grocery store but sometimes they are hard to find, so when I see them I usually stock up!

• 3-4 dried Ancho chili peppers (boil water, pour over peppers, and let soften for about 20 min)
• once soft, remove seeds and stems and place in a blender

Add to the blender along with the Ancho peppers:

• 3 Tbsp boiling water
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup mayo (I used some canola oil mayo as well as some Greek yogurt)
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp fresh oregano
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• BLEND!

I usually taste the sauce and add ingredients as necessary. Today I thought it was a little too strong/smoky so I added a little more mayo and a little more sugar.

Grill the chicken and serve with the sauce…I like to dip mine. It would also be great as a sandwich with the sauce on the bread.

We also grilled:

• zucchini
• asparagus
• red and green peppers

And had a simple salad:

• green leaf lettuce
• tomatoes
• cucumbers

I topped my salad with the grilled veggies and had the chicken on the side.

Perfect light meal for a hot day! This chicken is very flavorful and most everyone I know that has tried it, loves it :)

Side note:

My friend and I went for a nice run around the Charles river in Boston on Saturday…I remembered sun block on my face but of course no where else. First tan lines of the season!

so not cute haha! At least they’ll fade pretty fast.

Looking forward to breakfast tomorrow… My bff told me about her new favorite breakfast while on our run Saturday:

• Place some mixed frozen berries on yogurt (plain Greek) the night before,
• let thaw overnight,
• then add coconut and almonds in the AM.
• I’ll be adding coconut and some homemade granola

Yogurt & Berries :)