Sticky Chicken

Through the years, I have belonged to different email lists that discuss ides for homeschooling,weight loss, housework and freezer cooking. It's like opening up your mailbox and finding some tip that can make your life a thousand times easier - what's not to love ! The freezer cooking loop was at one time a treasure house of economical, good tasting meals that could be done in bulk or frozen for future use, and I was in love ! I tried many of the recipes with great success, but there was one that I hesitated to try- sticky chicken !  The name comes from the fact that it turns out like store bought rotisserie chicken, and the skin is sticky from the herbs.The biggest reason I would not make it was that it involved using chicken with a skin. Oh, the horror ! Chicken with skin is so high in fat, and fat is so bad for your weight and heart. Since learning the truth ( fat DOES NOT make you fat and if you eliminate animal fat from your diet you will do serious, long term harm to your health), I have included chicken with the skin on and bones in tack. Better to make bone broth with .

I came across the Sticky Chicken recipe the other day and decided that I wanted to try it. First you create a dry rub marinate of spices, coat the chicken with it and leave it on for at least 6 hours, and then roast it in a low oven for a slow pace ( 250 for 5 hrs). I did not have a whole bird, but had chicken legs. I noticed one problematic ingredient in the rub- cayenne pepper ! My son has "Canadian " tastebuds and often complains that things like katsup are too spicy. I am not a fan of spicy foods either, so I decided to test out the dry rub on the legs and see what needed to be altered to the rub

Sticky Chicken rub

4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
 2 onions, quartered

The results ? HIGHLY seasoned , yummy chicken ! I let the rub sit on the chicken for 6 hrs and then cooked them at 350 for 1 1/2 hrs. I believe the rub would work best with breasts, as the flavor is more mild. I used half the amount of Cayenne, but  next time I will leave it our all together- the paprika adds enough of a warming on it's own. The chicken did com out very moist and somewhat sticky. This one would be a definite "better for you homemade" recipe to replace those supermarket rotisserie birds or even Boston Market. Leftovers work well in any recipe calling for cooked chicken.

Meanwhile, life has been good. Slowly recovering, and finding less and less need for my cane to walk. Every now and then my knee completely gives out, so I have not completely abandoned it's use. Noticing several old scars continue to fade, which is very strange. I have needed to use my glasses less and less, and it seems that my cycles have returned, without PMS problems. Nick continues to make a lot of intellectual strides. The other day he chatted with me about his idea for a grocery shopping company that he could start, and he has a sudden desire to do a lot of things completely independent. That is something I worried would never occur ! The "backlash" with this is he seems to be in the midst of another growth spurt, and has an appetite that could terrify most wallets. It is as if his body has woken up with the inclusion of things like whole eggs, butter, cream, liver, animal fats.It is so odd to see this child who was at one time distant, mentally absent and eating only plain pasta emerge from his very silent, internalized world emerge and talk about his dreams, goals, opinions and so much more. The future looks very bright  indeed.