Life must be intentional at least some of the time. With my son’s diagnosis and physical ailments, he can no longer enjoy the spicy, hot, peppery foods he used to love. I’ve had to intentionally look for recipes that allow him to eat the things he loves, but in a less spicy manner. That boy is all things “chicken” but especially wings. Unfortunately, with the cost of wings being astronomical right now, he doesn’t get them often. Actually it seems all things chicken are astronomically expensive at the moment. Eggs, which used to go for $1.99 per dozen are now $8.99 per dozen and these aren’t even the Golden Eggs from Mother Goose’ fairtyales.
I set the 3# bag of wings to thaw and started perusing recipes. I settled on a garlic parmsean recipe and tweaked a few things to make it mine. These were garlicky but not so much so that you could fend off vampires from a 6 ft. distance.
1 3# bag of chicken wings (I used the bone-in wings from Aldi)
1/2 c. butter
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 t. black pepper
1 t. salt
2 t. smoked paprika
2 T. Italian seasoning
1 c. powdered Parmesan cheese
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse chicken wings individually and pat dry. In a large bowl combine the pepper, salt, smoked paprika, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add in the minced garlic and stir until fragrant. Turn heat to low. Line a baking sheet or 13 x 9 pan with foil. Using tongs, dip each individiual wing in the garlic butter, coating thoroughly. Then dip the buttered wing into the dry ingredients, covering the wing completely. Using the tongs, shake the excess seasoning off and place on the foil-lined pan. Bake for 1 hour and transfer to a serving platter covered in paper towels to absorb the grease.
Living life intentionally doesn’t just pertain to food. What do you want from your life? For your life? Where do you want to be in 3 years? 5 years? 10 years? You must live the life intentionally that will bring you to where you see yourself in the future. No one is suddenly going to knock on your door and hand you a magical key to a life of your dreams. That requires intenion, focus and hard work.
Are you setting boundaries with others? Are you going along with the desires of others because you don’t want to upset them or disappoint them? What if going along with others is upsetting or disappointing to you? It’s okay to make your wishes known. To define what actions you are and are not willing to take makes it easier for those around you to understand your stance. At my age (55), I don’t give two hoots about anyone’s approval. If they like me, they like me — if not, they don’t. I always safely assume no one likes me so I can be pleasantly surprised when they do. I no longer have anything to prove — I simply have a life to live and I want it to be filled with memories that I will cherish, not regrets that I didn’t speak up for myself more often.
The Road Back Home 