Caribbean Chicken

Well, here it is, the last day of May.  It's unbelievable how fast this year has gone.

The school year is officially over and Kolby has been promoted to the 4th grade.  Looking back, I do wish we would not have used an online public school to finish out our home schooling endeavor.  The curriculum took away from our time learning together.  Home schooling is supposed to be an opportunity to grow as a family.  Before Connections Academy, we did just that.  Everything we did was a learning opportunity.  Anywhere we went, we learned.  With Connections Academy, we were stuck to a structure and we did what they wanted us to do.  Doesn't sound too different from a brick and mortar school, does it.

I don't want to turn this into a complaint file on Connections Academy, but there were things they did not tell us from the beginning.  First thing; Kolby started with this school at the end of October.  We had already started school, obviously, together on our own.  He was required to start at the beginning of the school year.  So, he started the school year, with Connections Academy, behind.  Second thing; attendance.  In Texas, a home school is considered a private school, therefore has no attendance requirements.  Connections Academy is an online public school, so we had to record attendance.  Really, at first, it wasn't a big deal. Until February, when I received Kolby's progress report.  I'm not used to receiving progress reports for a child making all A's.  So, I read it.  It was telling me that Kolby was not on task to complete the 720 hours of school work needed.  What?!?  The whole time, they kept telling me 'as long as he completes 20 hours a week, he'll be just fine.'  Well that is what we did.  20+ hours a week. What they didn't take into account was the month and a half Kolby was 'late'.  So, toward the end of school, when we should have been winding down, we had to bump up to 40 hours a week of school.  Problem?  They didn't supply 40 hours worth of work.  We went back to making learning opportunities out of every situation.

But, we did it!  We completed the 720 required hours of attendance, all the required work and the state testing.  Kolby will be a middle grader next year.  Oh..and Riley will be in Kindergarten (I hope, but that is a different story).

Thanks for listening to me gripe.  You know, sometimes you just got to complain about something. ;)

On to the recipe.

Caribbean Chicken

 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

2 tablespoons rum ( I used Malibu Rum)

1 lime, juiced

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger

1 teaspoon Instant Coffee Granules

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

2 large cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Combine sugar blend, ketchup, rum, lime juice, butter, ginger, coffee granules and allspice in small saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil; stir until coffee and sugar blend are dissolved. Remove from heat; set aside.

Trim chicken of any visible fat. With sharp knife, make two diagonal slits about 1/2-inch deep on the top side of each breast.

Combine garlic, oil, salt and pepper in small bowl. Rub mixture all over chicken. Arrange chicken slit-side-up on rack in shallow baking pan. Brush chicken with glaze; reserve remaining glaze. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat broiler and broil chicken for 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; coat with reserved glaze. Broil for an additional 4 to 5 minutes. Turn chicken over again; coat with glaze. Broil for an additional 2 minutes or until tops are sizzling and brown.

After the chicken was done, I think I should have added more rum.  Maybe I needed some in a glass, but definitely needed more rum.  And, 2 teaspoons of ginger is a bit much.  The chicken was really good, but the ginger was prevalent.  Now, let's see if I remember that the next time I make it.