Winner Winner, Chicken (with Penne Pasta) Dinner!

Yesterday started like any normal lazy Sunday, with a good lie-in til the sun was well past the midday mark, but don't tell my mother that! It ended with my husband dancing in the street and us staying up til 1am and beyond like naughty children because we were way too buzzed to go to sleep.

In case you're wondering what all the fuss was about, the All Blacks smashed the Wallabies in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup. 

It was like Christmas Eve when you’re 5, only you don’t drink two more Dark & Stormies just to calm your nerves when you’re a yay-high. The productivity level of New Zealand will be at an all-time low this week, I’m predicting. At least it will be in our pod at the office coz the rugby is all we can talk about!

Here’s a little taste of last night’s celebrations:



Lightning-fast arms of joy!



The cider and the beer may be gone, but there was still some rum to calm the nerves post-game!

Before all that happened though, there was a brilliant dinner (if I do say so myself). This comes straight from The Pioneer Woman’s blog, which I love and can't get through the day without reading, otherwise I might melt. This dish was freakin’ easy – about 15 minutes of prep time, then 1.5 hours in the oven and boom! – and so tasty you’d think it took a lot more work than it does. It also doesn’t take many ingredients, which our bank account rather appreciates as the cost of food continues to climb.  Serve with some broccoli or other neutral green vegetable, you don't want to take the spotlight off this chicken.  Crusty bread is also recommended for cleaning your plate of sauce.  No dish soap necessary!

I wanted to take a bath in that sauce.

Penne with Chicken Thighs
from The Pioneer Woman, original blog post here, with step-by-step photo instructions,  witty commentary and a printable (and more precise than I can be bothered with) recipe

All it takes is some chicken thighs, some bottled marinara sauce of your choosing, onions, garlic, and some penne pasta. 

• Season chicken thighs, then brown in a little bit of oil in a large skillet (oven proof!) or Dutch oven, a few minutes per side.  Set aside on a plate.
• Chop up an onion or two and a couple cloves of garlic.  Saute the onion for a few minutes, then add the garlic and let the wonderful aromas waft through your house. 
• Add bottled (or your own homemade) marinara sauce to the pan and then reintroduce the chicken.  Pour the juice that may have accumulated on the plate into that pan too, you'll thank me later.
• Cover and pop into a 180C oven for 1 to 1.5 hours.  Go put your feet up, or if you're like me, decided that it's time to rearrange the pictures on your walls.
• About 10 minutes before the chicken is done, pop some penne into boiling water and cook as per directions on the packet.
• Plate it up and try not to burn your tongue on the hot chicken!

And go the All Blacks!