Food Post: Honey Sesame Chicken

Well, I've been putting so much effort into my dogs' food for the past week, I decided it was time to cook a good meal for myself.

Chicken thighs were pulled out of the freezer yesterday, so I decided to take a few of those, pan fry them, then finish them off in the over. It is something I love about cooking with cast iron pans, that they work equally well on stove top and in the oven. And, for the matter, on the wood stove, bbq, or over an open fire.

A Asian twist to dinner sounded good, so I started by toasting up some sesame seeds in the pan.


After they were golden brown and starting to pop, I poured them out into a small bowl for later. Into the hot pan went some oil and the four chicken thighs. I let them sear a little on each side, then added Hot Chili Sesame Oil to them, let them cook a little more, then poured honey over the top, sprinkled them with toasted sesame seeds, and into the oven the whole pan went.



I pulled it out 40 minutes later and served it with a quick salad of chopped cabbage, grated carrots, and a salad dressing of rice vinegar, brown sugar, and milk.



Overall very satisfying meal. Unlike a good number of recipes I come up with on the spot, this one is a definite repeat, though next time I might put some hot oil and honey under the skins of the thighs as well so the flavor gets deeper into the meat.

After One Week

One week down on the rawfeeding adventure. Pallo is doing great with it, loving the meals, happily eating most anything I give him. The only rejection so far was for an egg in the shell. He slurped the eggy bits out and left the shell for Koira to steal. Koira on the other hand obviously enjoys crunching up egg shells.

I did end up starting Koira on raw two days into Pallo eating it, as she seemed very interested in what Pallo was getting. To my surprise, she took to it right away, eating her chicken portion with enthusiasm. I did have to add a little probiotics to her food after the first day, but that seemed to get rid of the minor runs she had, along with upping the bone content in the next meal.

Pallo with his iron stomach has already had some liver added (half a chicken liver) and a chicken heart. He handled them like a champ.

I think its just the human condition, but I feel like I am not feeding my dogs enough, even though they are getting well within guidelines amounts. At 30lbs and 40lbs, Pallo should be getting .6-.9 lbs and Koira should be getting .8-1.2 lbs. And it just doesn't seem like a lot of food when I dish it out twice a day. So far they are maintaining weight and energy level though, so that is what I need to focus on, not their pleading eyes when they finish each meal.

Speaking of pleading eyes, how about a Basset's eyes?


Lola the Basset was here for a couple days, and very very sad with her sad sad eyes about not getting some good old fashioned meat. Her kibble, apparently, did not compare. I even had to rescue Koira's chicken leg from Lola at one point (after which everyone got fed in their kennels instead).

And a Happy New Year

Or anyway, its a happy new year for those without dogs that shiver and shake at the sound of fireworks. Koira spent the night curled up under the covers with me, trembling despite the TV noise. Pallo could've cared less as it turns out.

Well, recap of 2010.
January saw the first flyball tournament I've ever been to. Koira competed, running with our old team. I realized how seriously in over our heads we were, and while I had fun, we had a long way to go to get into more tournaments. I also decided that Koira's turn was the wrong direction, and began retraining her to the left.

I saw this pathetic picture of a corgi mix for adoption at the local pound in February.

Somehow I ended up in there, taking home a new dog, that very same Monday. Birthday present for myself.

Pallo has since began flyball training, competed in his first tournament where he ran completely clean all day. He fast became my reliable flyball dog, and now loves the sport so much its hard to see him a year ago, when he was just a scared, worm infested, ball crazy dog who worshiped at my feet from the moment I brought him home. He was trustworthy off leash at the unfenced dog park within a week (after the worms were cleared anyway). He even let this silly Aussie beat him up as much as she liked.


Pallo brought me lots of laughs, like the way he does a weasel dance when playing, just like a ferret does. And the way he gets scared of random things, bobs and weaves at them, then hits the ground and backs away as fast as possible.


Koira became obsessed with the water this year.

She started running the rapids with me whenever we went to the river, and enjoys swimming, facing upstream, at the bottom of a strong current in the middle of the river. She even started yelling at me if I was taking too long to get in the water with her.


Really the most memorable part of the year is how Pallo has come in and become part of the family with me and Koira and the kitty Martha. Its hard to believe its been less than a year since I saw his pathetic face on the county website. He is Koira's best friend, my best flyball dog, and has become a second heart dog for me.


We are looking forward to the next year of our lives, to see where it takes us, and what happiness we can find there.