Baked chicken teriyaki was the happy result of my husband accidentally picking up 2 packs of boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts by mistake when I asked him to bring some chicken on his way back from work. Chicken thighs are sadly not very popular in my house, I am the only one who eats them, so when I was faced with cooking a meal based on chicken thighs it had to be good or no one will eat it. I googled chicken thighs and Chicken teriyaki kept popping up. After reading a dozen different recipes I thought why not! and ended up using this recipe I found on All recipes.

The modifications I made were to reduce the sugar in half and use 8 thighs instead of 12 (if you want to use 12 you may want to double the recipe).

I served the chicken teriyaki with stir fried vegetables, grilled pineapples and rice.

I used the reserved marinade(what was left in the pan after baking the chicken) to cook the stir fried vegetables in and it gave them AMAZING flavor.

For the Grilled pineapples, I had some fresh pineapple that I dusted with sugar and cinnamon the day before as a dessert , I grilled the left over and served them with the chicken teriyaki.The meal was a hit and got thumps up from the entire family .

Baked chicken teriyaki

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon cold water

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

8 skinless chicken thighs

sesame seed for garnishing

Directions

1. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the cornstarch, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish.Pour the marinade over the chicken.
4. Bake in the preheated oven
5. Paste the chicken with the sauce every 10 minutes.
6. Turn pieces over half way through cooking
7. Bake until no longer pink and juices run clear.

Stir fried vegetables

2 carrots cut into strips

2 small zucchini cut into strips (I usually cut the central seed area and discard it because it makes the zucchini soggy)

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

Reserved marinade

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Grilled pineapples

Cut the pineapples into cubes.

Spray a pan with some oil and arrange the pineapples in it.

Cook on medium heat until the pineapples are golden brown, flip and repeat

Heat the oil in a pot, add the vegetables and stir for 2-5 minutes.

Add the marinade and continue stirring for 5-10 more minutes. (I like my vegetables to be a little crunchy but if you like them to be soft cook them the whole 10 minutes)

 

When my brother went away to college he proudly refused mum’s offer to teach him a few quick and easy recipes claiming that there were too many restaurants 5 minutes away from his flat and he did not need to bother with cooking. Two months later he came home begging mum to write down as many easy recipes as possible because he has had enough of fast food, food poisoning and meals that are overcooked, undercooked, under-seasoned, over-seasoned and anything in between .

 At first mum would send him away with half prepared meals like frozen soups, meatballs, sauces and pies along with the recipes to prepare them. He has had his share of funny accidents that are now stories remembered fondly.The first time mum sent him away with kataif (a dessert of dough stuffed in nuts, sugar and cinnamon that is fried then dipped in syrup) with two bottles, one with vegetable oil and the other syrup and the instructions to fry the kataif in oil then dip them in the syrup, he mixed up the bottles and attempted to fry the kataif in hot syrup and ended up burning the pan along with the katif 🙂

Those stories are ones I am sure anyone who studied away from home can relate to. Menus of Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches or in my case cream cheese and cucumbers come to mind only too vividly when someone mentions college. That is why I was really excited when Albertson‘ contacted me about hosting a gift card giveaway because of their “Easy and Affordable Meals for College Students”. Not only do they offer ingredients, easy and quick recipes that are wonderful for someone who wants to plan a healthy meal on a tight budget but also the website offers printable shopping lists to make your life easier.

Albertson is kindly offering you an opportunity to win the gift cards (two $25 gift cards) and keep for yourselves, or send to someone you know who is just starting out at college.

For a chance to win one of the gift cards you can do one of the following:

1.leave a comment on this post telling us about the memories you or someone you know had in college related to preparing food 🙂

2. Follow Chef in disguise on Facebook and leave a comment saying so.

This giveaway will be open until October 2nd midnight GMT. The winners will be chosen from the comments randomly and announced October 3rd. Good luck 🙂