Spicy Peanut Butter Chicken

I generally try to just give you recipes that you can make without needing to buy a specific product--this, however, is an exception. Because I had no choice. Sorry!

You see, I've had a jar of Peanut Butter & Co.'s "The Heat is On" (AKA their spicy peanut butter) sitting in my cabinet for awhile. And I could not figure out what to do with it. So I finally decided to get creative and try to make something for the Michael. He was pretty unsure about the idea of spicy peanut butter in a savory dish but I asked him to just give it a try,

Annnnd-THANKFULLY-it worked! I made this super simple chicken dish and he loved it. He was surprised that he loved it, but he did!

And it's crazy easy. You just whip up a marinade, using the peanut butter as well as soy sauce, seasonings, etc. You coat the chicken in it. Then you fry the chicken until cooked through.

Now-you can marinate the chicken for awhile, if you want (I just coated it and then immediately fried it)--if you marinate it for a period of time, however, it will be extra spicy. So just be prepared. You can also prepare the marinade ahead of time and-before adding the chicken-just cover and store it in the refrigerator. I did this. Be forewarned that it will thicken up a bit. I'm not sure that it adversely affected the results but just wanted to give you a heads up.

The chicken ends up juicy and spicy with a bit of an Asian cuisine flavor profile. And you just might like it--I know my Michael did!

Smoked Sausage Fried Rice #HillshireSausage

Michael is a guy who NEEDS variety in his food life! Unfortunately for him...I errr...don't. And I have a difficult time thinking outside of my chicken/potato box oftentimes. Which is why I was THRILLED when I was forced into some creativity by Hillshire Farms when they asked me to make a recipe using their Smoked Sausage.

And...wow...it could not have been simpler!

Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage requires like...no effort. You just take it out of the package and it is ready to be used! Whether you decide to throw it in a pasta sauce, make a chili or stew, put it on a pizza, etc! The options are endless and kind of crazy easy! For more recipe ideas check out the Sausage So Simple tumblr!

Now, I decided to make some fried rice with the smoked sausage because Michael loves Asian food and I never make it, so this was a double opportunity for changing stuff up! And it took me no time to make, which means it is the perfect weeknight dinner option!

The first person who tried this fried rice was my brother and he immediately texted me how good it was! He really loved the flavor the sausage added (which makes sense since Hillshire Farms experts have perfected the pre-seasoning of their sausage over the last 75 years!!) and the fact that it was the perfect post-workout meal (*shrug* he's pretty health conscious these days). And he hoped Michael wouldn't like it so he could have more, hehe. Michael DID like it (a lot), but we were nice and let Josh have some more also. Because when you have the option of making such a quick and perfect dinner...there's no reason not to share!