doubling down (and not even in vegas)

so the hub and i saw a commercial for KFC's new "double down" sandwich the other night. he was completely horrified (especially since we've been avid watchers of jamie oliver's "food revolution"), and at first i shared his disgust. i mean, come on - it's two chicken breasts with cheese, bacon, and some sort of secret sauce sandwiched in between. sounds gnasty, right?

but as i thought about it, and participated in a few online discussions about the damn thing, i just got more and more curious. after all, it's really not much different from a stuffed chicken breast - and dudes, it's got bacon in it. how could it be that bad? and after checking out the nutrition facts (the fried chicken version has 540 calories in it, and the healthier, grilled option is 460), i decided it wouldn't kill me to give it a shot at least once. heh.

the KFC on my way home is apparently behind the times and doesn't yet offer grilled chicken. bastards. but i was all set to sample this concoction, and so i went ahead and picked up the fried double down. you know you want to hear all about it...

inside this innocent-looking box:

was this tasty treat (and even after the drive home, the warning was valid - the sandwich was still pretty hot when i opened the box):

i'd been warned that the cheese was slightly plasticky. there are two kinds here - monterey and pepper jack. and it sure didn't look very appealing.

photo shoot done, i was finally ready to dig in. i sank my toofers into it:

and found that yes, it was definitely on the salty side. but KFC always is anyway, so i wasn't too surprised. the cheese and sauce had a little bit of a kick to it, and the bacon added a nice little something extra. the chicken itself was quite tender, and i decided that while i wouldn't necessarily go looking for this thing, it wasn't awful. not at all.

by the time the bean and MIL got home, i was all done with my sodium-laden, controversial lunch. they'd been to target for some essentials, and the bean was all excited to show me all of the things they'd brought home. she hadn't yet taken a nap, and although we could tell that she needed it, she fought it valiantly for hours. it got so late that i figured it was going to be one of those rare napless days - but around 5:30, when she sat down to eat some crackers with ham and cheese, i turned around to see this:

dang. the teen plucked her out and tucked her into bed, where she continued to snooze peacefully while i got dinner ready. i'd been perusing the food network website for recipe ideas, and decided to try this one for french cut steak, from the $10 dinners section. i gathered the spices and mixed them up to rub on the meat:

then i got to work on the spinach and citrus salad with sweet and spicy pecans:

it smelled quite lovely, as the rosemary hit the pan and the aroma was released by the heat.

ever supremed an orange? neither had i, until last night. i didn't even know what the hell it meant till i googled for instructions.

see how pretty the assembled salad was with my carefully supremed oranges that i wouldn't eat?

for the non-steak-eating teen, i put together this easy recipe for crispy open-faced quesadillas. it's drizzled with a yummy sour cream sauce with cumin and fresh lime. she liked it so much, i used it in her wrap for today's lunch.

i'd decided to add sliced mushrooms to the caramelized onion sauce for the steak, which turned out really well. the hub and i both really enjoyed it, and i'll have to make it again. letting the rub sit on the meat for a longer period of time was a good call. well, and it wasn't actually up to me, since i was scurrying around trying to make three different things at the same time. but it was all good.

the bean ended up waking up right as we sat down to eat. she didn't want to join us in our eating extravaganza, and was cranky and grumpy for the next several hours. with the late hour-plus nap she'd just taken, she was all out of sorts and wanted to play, "watch gwee?" and run around. oy vey.

and before we knew it, it was well after midnight - hence this morning's large iced coffee for me.