I’m super busy this week, so I made a huge recipe this weekend so I’d have leftovers. It only took like half an hour even though my chicken was still sorta frozen. I got the recipe from my mom, and I’m not sure where she got it, but here it is for your lazy cooking pleasure:

1 package of yellow rice
6 chicken breasts
2 cans of Rotel tomatoes (original if you want it spicy, mild if not)
1 small can of ripe sliced olives
4 green onions, chopped

Start the rice cooking. It will probably take longer than all the rest of these steps.

Throw the chickens in a pan with a little oil and brown them on both sides. Dump in the Rotel tomatoes, and the (drained) black olives. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer until the chicken is pretty close to done. (I use a meat thermometer. Kitchen gadget of the year, for real.) When it looks like you have a few minutes left, dump in the green onions. (You can dump them in at the start, but they don’t stay bright green and pretty if you do that.) I also sprinkle on a little paprika at the end. When the chicken’s done, serve over rice.

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I’m not a huge homemade kind of gal. If I can buy it in the store, I’m usually ok with that. But there are a few things that are better or easier or cheaper when you make them at home, enough so that I’m willing to do it.

Popcorn

I love popcorn. Of the things I love, popcorn probably ranks third behind, like, books and puppies. I used to make it in those microwave popcorn bags. It was ok. But I discovered that it’s easier, much cheaper, and actually tastes better to make your own microwave popcorn bags.

You need:

• a package of standard lunch bags
• a jar/bottle/container/whatever of unpopped popcorn
• butter
• salt

Measure 1/4 of a cup of popcorn kernels and dump them in a lunch bag. Fold the top of the bag over twice. Throw it in the microwave. Wait until there are a few seconds between pops. Take it out, pour it in a bowl, and dump however much butter and salt you want on it. It’s SO GOOD. Nice and fluffy and way fresher tasting than the prefab microwave bags.

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