Updated Nostalgia

Back in college, I could barely boil water. My go-to meal when I was home was a totino's party pizza.

When Lee and I met, I started to cook a little more. Fancy nights were always Stouffers Lasagna and the garlic bread that comes in the foil (still the best!).

There was this one meal I can remember making for us that I thought was just the best thing ever. BBQ chicken and mac-n-cheese. I basically would throw chicken tenders in a glass dish with barbecue sauce and bake them until they were cooked. Finish it off with the Blue Box mac and woohoo!

Friday, the snowpacalypse hit Houston - so all schools were closed and we were stuck in the house. I set out at dinner time to make something hearty and warm. I had chicken breasts in the freezer and decided to try and upscale some of our nostalgia from college while warming our bones.

I started out they way every meal should:

Butter in a skillet...

Then I added some sliced onions

I let these get soft and a little brown and then removed them back to the cutting board.

My chicken breasts were massive so they were not 100% thawed. I threw them in the skillet to get them browned on the outside.

Since they were a little frozen I let them cook in the skillet a little longer to make sure they were thawed when I put them in the oven.

I basted them with a little barbecue sauce and put the onions back in the pan and put them in a 375 degree oven, with the goal of about 25 more minutes cook time.

Now, don't forget our mac-n-cheese.

I dug really deep to upscale this portion of the meal...

I mean - it's BETTER than the boxed kind...
My poor sauce pot has seen better days in the last 10 years, as you can see.

When the mac was about done, I checked on the chicken and added more sauce

It wasn't really bubbling for me so I upped to 425 for 10 minutes. That did the trick and allowed me to make a salad. I also put a little grated cheese on the macaroni and put a lid on it to melt.

In the end, my plate looked like this

It was a very filling meal that really hit the spot. Logan didn't want the chicken but he sure hoovered the noodles!

I did NOT like college, or Nacogdoches. But Lee and I often look back at our lives in our 500 square foot apartment and think of how much fun we had there.