Orange Chicken

During this semester, and particularly this course, Self Exploration, I have decided to tackle one of the things that I have never been good at... COOKING. And yes I know that it is just Crock Pot Cooking however, its more then I have ever really done. As an athlete growing up, I was used to meals on the go or meals that my mum or dad had prepared while I was at games or practice. Then as a division 2 athlete meals were provided for us during travel and via the schools cafeteria when we were on campus. I think this is where my relation to the continuum comes into play. Knowing that the continuum stems from both our own unique relation with the occupation and the cultural expectation of the meaning of the occupation, I am able to say that I am definitely far from standard or even comfortable with my occupation. Usually a women at the age of 23 would be able to prepare a decent amount of meals on her own, having learned from parents, grandparents, older siblings ect. However, I knew how to make two meals... scrambled eggs and boxed mac n cheese (kraft obviously). I really think that being an athlete effected this as well, and I think that other athletes may feel the same way ( I could be wrong though). But for now I am really sticking with the recipes I find online and not experimenting with them too much, however, I think that as I get more comfortable and expose myself to the world of cooking a little more I will begin to adjust the recipes and try new things. I just haven't reach the point on the continuum where I am comfortable adding my own individualism into the recipes yet.  Being as though I am not comfortable using my imagination and really imputing my own style on these recipes I think that my calculative thinking mode reside in the beginning stages of the integrative way. I think this is due to the fact that I am just beginning to cook, and don't know if I truly enjoy it yet. But, I do feel more independent and helpful now that I have actually cooked (attempted too), and hopeful that as I get better me and my boyfriend could split prepping meals for each other and start sharing the kitchen and hopefully cooking together. I think that with that to look forward to the intrinsic motivation of cooking will begin to form as I get more comfortable. 

 So when I chose to move across the country with my boyfriend, who is an awesome cook, I made the decision that I would try to help. However I haven’t truly been much help, until we were assigned this assignment to find a new occupation in our lives and try to do it frequently. Of course as a full time grad student time is key and Crock Pot Cooking seemed like the most time efficient option. So,  for my first meal I wanted to try something that I've had before, and know I like because who doesn't like Chinese food? So for my first Crock Pot meal I decided on Orange Chicken! After following the recipe I found online and posted below. I have completed my first meal, and while the flavor got a good rating from my boyfriend, the chicken itself was extremely dry. This really made me frustrated because you would think that chicken sitting in a liquid for four  hours would be nice a juicy and marinaded. NOPE... NOT MY CHICKEN. Even though my first meal didn't turn out the best, I am still more comfortable in the kitchen then I was before I tried it. So I'll see you next week for, hopefully a better meal! 

Recipe: 

Ingredients: 

• Chicken 
• 2 tbsp. Soy Sauce 
• 3/4 Cup of your favorite BBQ sauce 
• 3/4 Cup of Orange Marmalade 

Cooking Instructions: 

• Add all ingredients to the crock pot. 
• Cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4 hours.
• optional: Pull chicken apart with two forks.
• optional: Serve over rice 
• ENJOY!