Matt Christmas, Holidays, Japanese, Travel

Kentucky Christmas!

In spirit of our trip to Japan this year, our Christmas card is a spoof on the “Kentucky Christmas” in Japan.

KFC opened in Japan in the early 70s (if my sources are correct, KFC came to Japan before McDonald’s did). In 1974 they started the Kentucky For Christmas marketing campaign, and because of the success of this campaign, it has become a cultural phenomenon. Each year you can buy the Christmas set complete with a collector’s plate. Other stores have caught on to the popularity too and promote chicken dinners as well. Due to the influence of KFC, chicken dinners have become synonymous with Christmas. Talk about good marketing!

Continue reading “Kentucky Christmas!” →
Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Chicken Enchildas

2013_02_06This had a lot of steps, but it didn’t seem like that much work. There are probably ways you could do it quicker and easier, but I followed the directions as written. We really liked this one, however, it doesn’t reheat the best. It was really dry on the second day. I served it cilantro lime rice, and a salad.

RECIPES:

Chicken Enchiladas

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Creamy Chicken Pasta

2013_01_27The main ingredient in this is marscapone cheese (Or as I call it, Al Capone cheese). So if you don’t like some gangster cheese, you won’t like this. I was indifferent on this one. It was a simple tasty dish, but I was raving about it. Aya really liked it though and said it had a restaurant quality flavor to it. Ellie loved it and Aya loved it, so that makes me happy.

RECIPES:

Creamy Chicken Pasta

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Tortilla Chip Casserole

2013_01_22This was great! Aya even requested it for next week. It’s really nothing special, but it was just a nice solid meal. It was enough for a few days and it reheated well.

Just be sure to include the enchilada sauce. I totally forgot to add it with two kids fighting for my attention. I wondered why it seemed a little dry. But I added it for day two and it made all of the difference.

RECIPES:

Tortilla Chip Casserole

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Fast Chicken Chili

Bacon, tomato, and Swiss cheese sandwiches with fast chicken chili. Not only did Aya and I like this, but my mother-in-law from Japan loved this too! Quick, easy, and high powered flavor. You can’t go wrong. To make it a little less spicy for Ellie I used mild green chilies and lessened the amount of cayenne pepper. I didn’t have a lime of cilantro for garnish, but that would really have added a nice touch of flavor.

RECIPES:

Fast Chicken Chili