Chick-Chick-Chick-Chick It Out.

That's a little Beastie Boys inspired humor for you. See?
(Heads up: There might be some swearing involved.)


Beastie Boys - ch-check it out by powernine

ANYWAY... For the past month I've been trying to get onto a more normal sleep schedule. I've been pretty nocturnal my whole life... and then I married a night-shift nurse. At first it was great and super convenient. I stuck on his schedule (nocturnal on the nights he worked so we could sleep at the same time and then switching to nighttime sleeping the rest of the week). But honey, I ain't getting any younger. And in my old age (har har) I'm finding it harder and harder to function without... regular sunlight? Vitamin D? Social interaction with other people in my own time zone? A SCHEDULE? All of the above? Yep. Aside from that, everything I've read about dealing with PCOS-induced fertility issues stresses normal sleep schedules as being über important (and yes I did in fact just Google "uber" so I could copy and paste the correct spelling here. I'm just that dedicated. You're welcome). So, here we are.

For the most part, this whole diurnal thing is going great- I'm way more productive, socializing more, and, here's the kicker- actually seeing the husband MORE than before. I've been waking up right as he gets home in the morning so we can both have a little space- he can unwind and have breakfast and I can, well, wake up in peace. Then we can chill for a few before he goes to sleep and I have the day to myself. If he didn't sleep like a....

(Oh yes, that's a real screen capture. "Sleep like a tiger"?? Really?!)

Well, if he didn't sleep as insanely soundly as he does, this little arrangement wouldn't work out, but thank the heavens, he does. 

To get to the point, I have a lot of newfound free time during far more productive hours than before. Stores are open during the DAY! So if I, let's say, want to make dinner for this person I'm married to, I can! Which has in fact been happening more in this past month than possibly our entire marriage. That's sort of an exaggeration. 

Without further ado (adieu?), here's what I made tonight: 

Coconut Almond Chicken with Spinach and Pineapple Salsa

I found it via Pinterest, one of my biggest time-wasting obsessions. 

Here's the original post: Paleo-Primal Coconut Almond Chicken but that doesn't include the salsa.

And here's my version: 

In an ideal world the salsa would have come out a different color, since it blends in with the pieces of chicken so much. I kind of winged the salsa though, so I could easily tweak that in the future. Orrrr just not be so picky. I would, perhaps, add more spices to the almond-coconut mixture next time, but it was still fun and delicious and totally satisfied my breaded-anything craving (I'll talk more about our my PCOS diet restrictions in a later post). Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 1/2 c. finely chopped almonds

- 1/2 c. unsweetened shredded coconut

- cinnamon (and/or any other spice- I used black pepper and ginger)

- coconut milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Mix coconut, almonds, and cinnamon in a bowl. Pour coconut milk into a separate bowl.

3. Dip chicken in coconut milk and roll in mixture, place on pan.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Voilà! So easy!

Emeril's got my back.

Was that long-winded enough for you?? Catch ya on the flip side. :)