Hey everyone! I’m terribly sorry to be slacking on my posts lately– starting a new job (in addition to the part-time gig I already had) is really taking a lot out of me. It’s been a great experience thus far, but I do promise to try to do a better job keeping up with my posts for all of you guys!

Since Jay and I have both been swamped lately, we’ve been falling back to simpler recipe ideas and cutting corners when we can. Thankfully, this recipe suggestion lets you cut corners and still get a healthy meal on the table, quickly. The secret? Store-bought brine.

I picked up this “Fajita Bath”, made by Sweetwater Spice Company at Wegman’s… probably about a year ago. It takes a long time to go bad, and is made up of some really great (real food) ingredients (*ahem*: “It is a blend of Pineapple and Lime Juice with a potent herbal bouquet of Mexican Oregano, Cilantro, and Cumin.”).

Plus…lime jalapeño. Who could resist?

Yesterday (and I should preface this by saying that he is amazing), Jay got up early in the morning with me to 1) make breakfast and 2) cook some chicken for our lunches. He also happened to take pictures of the lovely protein he cooked up for us, to add to his awesomeness.

In order to fancy-up some plain chicken thighs, Jay soaked them in a 1:1 dilution (1 cup of brine + 1 cup of water) for just about 10 minutes. Then, he quickly grilled them on our little George Forman, thankfully without setting off the building-wide fire alarm (*cough*, again). You could also let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes to an hour, but no longer. The label suggests that it is possible to overdo the brine/marinade. (That said, the first time I used this stuff, I let it soak overnight… it was still great.)

Here was the final product:

This was delicious cut up over a bed of mixed greens with dried cranberries, feta cheese, and a splash of balsamic. I’m (not) sorry to say that I ate a gigantic bowl for lunch, and I can’t wait to have some more tomorrow.

Hopefully this post will inspire you to try something new! I, for one, plan on ordering a few more of these pre-made brines. When life gets hectic, embrace any help you can get in the kitchen! Am I right?

Thanks for reading! Normal, full-length posts from me will resume next week.

-Kaitlin