Back-to-School and Butterfly Chicken

Well we've been back to school a full week now, and I have yet to get used to standing and talking all day. Those of you who are not teachers, let me enlighten you to the oh-so-lovely beginning of the year questions...

Hoops and Yoyo reminder!

Student: "Where do I put my warm-up paper?"
Teacher: "How about in the warm-up section of your binder."

Student: "What does confirm password mean on my account?"
Teacher: "Confirm your password by retyping it"

Student: "What does password hint mean?"
Teacher: "A hint to remember your password."

Student: "I put my lock on backwards, can you unlock it?"
Teacher: "Sure, let me be a contortionist to unlock that."

Student (said on day 3): "Where is the main exit of the school to leave?"

Student: "When is lunch time?"


But in reality, I (and all you other teachers out there!) find the humor in questions like these, and love striving to turn on that "little light bulb" in students' heads!

And now, for the dinner...  I had gotten this idea originally from the Whole Living blog.  I called it Butterfly Chicken, because of the way you cut the chicken.

Surprisingly, I actually usually HATE chicken.  I find it's always dry, no matter how moist it may actually be (traumatic childhood chicken experience).  Even though my taste-tester (my boyfriend) said it wasn't dry in the least. He said (as unbiased as he can be) it was one of his favorite dishes, a 9 out of 10.  I on the other hand gave it probably a 6/7, mainly because of my issues with chicken.    

Ingredients: 

Marinade:
Italian dressing made with oil, vinegar, and seasoning

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Garlic sea salt
9 (or so) fresh basil leaves
2 beefsteak tomato

Steps:

1)  Butterfly the chicken breasts.  Do this by horizontally cutting through the chicken, but don't cut all the way.  This way you can open the chicken breast like a butterfly!





2) Place the chicken in a small dish, and cover with the italian dressing marinade.  Be sure each part of the chicken is fully covered.






3)  I let it sit for about 2 hours. You can certainly experiment with a longer or shorter time.  However, I wouldn't do less than 30 minutes.



4) Line a cookie sheet with tin foil.



5)  Open the chicken and layer with sliced tomatoes, basil, and garlic salt.  Close the chicken.

6)  Broil on high for about 7 minutes a side.  I always use a meat thermometer to test the thickest part.

Anyone have back-to-school stories?? Silly things you did as a kid??  What helps get you through those long days?

~Eat Well and Be Happy~