Portuguese Chicken

Well, if you know me, you know how much I LOOOOVE to cook. Cooking is an outlet for me, and is often a ministry. I know that may sound silly, but through the CARES apartment ministry and now through our involvement in our Bible Fellowship Group (glorified way to say "Sunday School") I have been able to cook and bless the lives of the people we "do life with" every day. With that said, I am never shy to share a recipe and feel like everyone else should eat and enjoy the food that I cook. And must I say that a lot of what I make is a knock-off/redo/fixup/my own spin of some recipe I learned from either Food Network or friends. All that to say that I want to share with you a new favorite recipe of all my friends. Really, no lie, this might possibly be the most wonderful tasting chicken to cross my lips. And I've had lots of chicken, people. AND it's super duper easy.

This chicken has a story too. I got this recipe from a co-worker of mine, Sue, who is from New Mexico. She got the recipe from a cookbook put together by a bunch of Portuguese women who migrated to NM (and no I don't know why....) with their families. These Portuguese women would have an annual dinner for the community where they would showcase their food, and from this was born the book where I got this delicious recipe! Please cook, eat, enjoy and share this recipe. I like it plain, in fajitas, in a salad, in tacos, quesadillas and just about any way you can eat chicken. Just please, don't over cook and dry out the meat. It will still be delicious, but you'll have to eat it all right then and there because it will be too dry to save and reheat later. Well, without further ado... the recipe.

Portuguese Chicken
-2 T paprika (I use Hungarian, but they all work)
-1 T salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional, makes it spicy)
-2-3 crushed dried bay leaves
-2-3 minced fresh garlic cloves (not the jarred stuff, it doesn't taste the same)
-1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
-4 chicken breasts

Mix all the spices and olive oil together to form a paste. Brush the paste liberally on both sides of the chicken, let it marinade for at least 30 minutes and no more than 4 hours. Grill until done and enjoy! **You can also pan sear it or bake it in the oven, but it just isn't the same. It is still delicious, but it doesn't have that wonderful grill flavor.**

And if you love it please leave a comment not so I can toot my horn but so that people will really believe me when I say its one of the best, easy and delicious chicken recipes.

It's been too long, friend.

Indeed it has been too long! I have just fallen off the map here in blog world. I have been so busy at home trying to keep up with life in general and just haven't placed this at the top of my list. I miss blogging, really. I know it sounds silly, but this is really an outlet for me. I have been told many times that I write a lot, and it's probably because I really enjoy it. I enjoy recapturing the memories we have made as a small and extended family, and reliving all of the fun times with friends. Well, I'm going to not do the last few months justice, but here are some pictures to capture what's been going on with the Morris family...

My family (Katie) doing the Turkey Trot, sans my mom, who had knee surgery and opted to tend to the turkey at home while we trotted.

At a Dallas Stars Game, something we love doing together... I think Grant and Abby came with us to this one!

Our First Christmas in our First Home!

We went to Northpark to see the Trains... Olivia and Papa are enjoying all the fun trains, and Olivia made Papa wear the hat she was supposed to wear.

Erin and Ben, he's more interested in the trains!

Once again, more interested in the trains. What a boy!

"Big D NYE"... it really stunk this year as compared to last. There must have been some sort of burn limit because the fireworks lasted about 2 minutes. But we had fun with friends!

Laura and me on NYE, freezing and trying to entertain the boys. We played 20 questions for about an hour and a half!

Valentines 2009- We decided to keep last years tradition, but rotate. Last year, Trog and Caleb sent Mendi and me on a Scavenger hunt. Well, with Mendi being preggo and on bed rest, she obviously couldn't scavenge. We added Shane and Laura to the equation and sent all the boys out for a "day-o-fun!" The girls stayed home and made Mendi's baby shower invitations and a delicious dinner for us to enjoy that night when we reunited!

Shane and Caleb playing the gee-tar at Guitar Center.

Trog on the drums, the hair makes him look legit.

Lunch at Chammps.

Rock climbing. They look whipped.

My Spiderman... apparently Caleb is pretty good at this!

The Spread we prepared for them. It was delicious!

So there ya have it. I will try to be better. Next post will probably be on the latest updates we've made to our house. It is one project after the next... but I love it! Stay tuned....