When The Mustard Farts, Make A Marinade

Mustard is one of those items we tend to have in our refrigerators that is bursting with flavor and goes well with just about any kind of meat you might be cooking. Being one who likes to save every single penny I can, I cannot just simply take my farting mustard container and throw it into the garbage and call it done. Instead, when the mustard farts, I make a marinade.

Do you know that on average an "empty" mustard container contains about 2-3 teaspoons of mustard in it still? Imagine in a lifetime how much mustard you might be throwing away? And while you may not miss the pennies in the short term, over a lifetime you're basically tossing money right into the garbage bin.

Instead of tossing your empty mustard containers, why not rinse them into a marinade?

First, measure up a 1/2 cup of wine of choice. Bring out your "empty" mustard container and pour in a little bit of the wine. Close her up and shake. You'll bring out all of the residual mustard left in the container. Pour it into your mix. Voila! You've saved a few pennies rinsing your mustard out and you'll have a fantastic marinade to boot.

What you will need:

• An "empty" mustard container
• 1/2 cup wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 ounce apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ounce soy sauce

As I said, shake out the excess mustard and dump it into the mix. Add the other ingredients and whisk it all together. Add your meat and marinade. Trust me, you will save money and have a fantastic meal to boot.

Lemon & Pepper Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts

Just to get things started off right, the grilling season has begun anew, and nothing goes better with firing up the grill and tossing some meat onto the fire than an ice cold beer. I like to start my grilling off with something from the many options brewed by the last standing true American brewing company left, The Boston Beer Company and their fabulous Sam Adams beers.

Today I am cooking up my Lemon & Pepper Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts, which is delicious to say the least, and a breeze to whip together. No lemon and pepper seasoning required for this one. At least not the shakable kind.

For this recipe you will need:

• 2 large chicken breasts cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 ounce apple cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• Pinch of pepper

For the chicken breasts, try to find the largest ones you possibly can. If they are a smaller variety, just use more of them. But I always like to find the chicken breasts that seem like they have put the chickens on a full steroid diet. For whatever reason, there are times I buy chicken breasts from Walmart that I swear must be the size of turkeys before they reach the slaughterhouse.

Just saying.

For the marinade, simply whisk together the lemon juicer, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper, then add in the chicken breasts. Get those bad boys nice and coated, and I like to end the coating with the breasts top side down. Let them marinate for about 1-3 hours, turning the breasts often.

For the grill, simply fire it up, and of course crack open a Sam Adams beer, and keep the temperature somewhere between 350 degrees and 375 degrees, shooting for the low end of that spectrum. Season the breasts very nominally with just a little bit of Adobo seasoning (I like  Goya) and cook until done.

I served mine with a bit of my special potato salad which I may one day share, and some corn mixed with okra and diced tomatoes.


Most of all, simply enjoy the beer, enjoy the grilling process, and of course enjoy the great flavor cooked up into this chicken breast recipe. I like lemon and pepper seasoning, and so why not simply make a marinade out of this popular way to season chicken breasts? Want to try this recipe with other cuts of chicken? I say why not. I certainly will. I may even try this with some fish while we're at it.