This weekend was our final weekend of Girl Scout Cookie Booths. Hallelujah. Two hours at a time, three times a week. With numerous five and six year olds. I am dangerously close to hating Girl Scout Cookies. And Girl Scouts. Although I still love the liquid versions we created a few weeks ago. Of the drinks, not the girls. 😉

The Cookie Booths have been interesting. You see a lot when you stand outside a store for hours staring at people as they go in and out.

The (incredibly hot) single dad who apparently goes to the store every night around five with his cute kid to buy food for that nights dinner. (Ladies, he likes to take the escalator for his child, so wait for him there).

The very irate couple who screamed at each other in Russian. Except when they yelled “fu@k you!” to each other in English. Apparently there is no Russian substitute for that.

That peoples groceries do not match their clothes. For example, the sixty-something year old lady who went shopping in leather leggings, see through blouse and lacy black bra was buying staples like flour, pasta and fruit. I was expecting wine and dreading whip cream. The thirtyish something girl in the flouncy, lacy black dress bought lunch items, and not a corsage from the flower department for the prom it seems like she wanted to go to. And the lady in work out clothes who only bought paper towels. A cart full of paper towels. I’m scared about that one.

The greatest thing we saw though, was how generous people were. People would hand over money to the girls, and say they just wanted to donate. One guy gave $20! One young girl who said she used to be a Girl Scout didn’t have enough money to buy a box, so she just gave the $2 she had. And we kept a lot of people’s change. Mainly because Averi refused to give it to them. If someone handed her $5 she would not offer the $1 back. Instead she would ask them to donate it to the military or other people who helped. And everyone but a few said yes. Our troop was able to give over 30 boxes of cookies to the coast guard, police department, fire department, librarians and crossing guards. Thanks people of Miami!

I wanted to say something snarky, like “Thanks people of Miami who don’t like to handle small bills so they gave them to us”, but it didn’t feel right since they had been nice to us. 😉

Now that cookie booths are done, my life is mine again with free afternoons. Which means time to cook dinners. I wanted to use the ginger that was left from the chow mein noodles I made the other day. So I decided to make the sticky honey lemon ginger chicken I found on Carlsbad Cravings.

And because I had the ginger, I actually had everything needed to make the recipe. And I’m glad, because it was delicious. Even without the sauce, the chicken was flavorful, and the baked/broiled breading provided a great crispy texture. Michael loved the sauce, though, especially with the addition of the sriracha.

So without the sauce, with the sriracha, no matter how you make this, you will like it. Especially since you won’t have to hear “Girl Scout Cookies! $4 a box!” before you sit down to enjoy this.

Honey Ginger Chicken with Lemon

2 -3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

2 eggs

2 tablespoons water

Chicken Breading

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Honey Ginger Sauce

1 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic

3 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

1/2 cup honey

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

lemon zest from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

sriracha

Preheat oven to 350

Mix eggs and water into a pie tin. Mix chicken breading in a second pie tin. Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture. Remove excess egg, then place chicken into second pie tin. Mix chicken in breading, making sure to coat all pieces equally.

Place coated chicken on a baking pan that has been covered in tin foil and sprayed with cooking oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Then switch oven to broil, raise baking pan so that it is 8-10 inches from broiler, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the chicken over, and broil for an additional 5 minutes.

While chicken is cooking, heat oil in small saucepan. Add garlic and ginger, and sauté around 30 seconds. Add remaining sauce ingredients, except the sriracha. Bring to boil, then let simmer a few minutes till it thickens.

You can either add sriracha at this point, or you can do as the husband did and just place a nice puddle of it on your plate to dip your chicken into, if you want to ensure real heat.

Whichever you decide, take the sauce and toss the chicken in it, coating well. Serve and enjoy!