Quarantine Blog #1

BY MAKINZI BURGS

Post 1: Cooking with Makinzi

While my family and I were in Alaska visiting my sister and her family, we had Raising Cane’s chicken fingers for the first time. After being home for about a week, I was craving Raising Canes again. So, I decided to look up a recipe and make a copycat version of the meal. 

For the Raising Cane’s chicken fingers sauce, the recipe is very simple. All you must do is take a mixing bowl and mix mayonnaise, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, garlic powder and Creole seasoning. Then, you should place it in the refrigerator for at least four to six hours. 

Next, to make the chicken, first you cut your chicken breast in half-inch pieces and place them in a gallon plastic bag. Next, you are going to take a bowl and you are going to mix in eggs, buttermilk and garlic powder. After that is all mixed up, you are going to pour that mixture into the plastic bag with the chicken and place it in the refrigerator for two to four hours. I left mine in for three hours.

In another gallon plastic bag, you are going to combine flour, breadcrumbs, salt and baking powder. After the chicken has sat in the buttermilk mixture for a couple hours, you are going to pour out the buttermilk mixture and place the chicken into the other bag with the dry ingredients. Then, you must close the bag and shake the bag until all the chicken is completely covered. In a large frying pan, heat vegetable oil to 375 degrees, and place the chicken into the hot oil. Fry until the chicken is golden brown and is fully cooked inside. Now that the recipe is complete, enjoy! 

Post 2: Netflix and Chill

Netflix offers many great shows, but I’m stuck on watching this one series titled “CHEER.” I have watched it two times already, and I am currently watching it right now for the third time. “CHEER” is a cheerleading documentary that takes place at Navarro College, which is in Corsicana, Texas. I have cheered and loved it since I was four years old, but every time I watch “CHEER,” it makes me love the sport so much more. 

The documentary takes you through the Navarro cheer teams’ whole season, starting with who makes mat, all the way leading up to the biggest college cheerleading competition that takes place in Daytona, Florida. Making mat means selecting each cheerleader that will be competing. Forty cheerleaders are on the team, but only twenty will make mat. Navarro College is one of the best colleges for competitive cheerleading with the best athletes, so making mat is very competitive. Being one of the best teams, it feels like Navarro College has a title that they must hold because they have won in many years past. The documentary on Navarro shows everything that happens, from all the crazy challenges they face to the great things they accomplish. But in the end, all the hard work pays off. 

Post 3: Time to work out

Today, after I finished my schoolwork, I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t want to just sit around doing nothing. After about twenty minutes, I decided I wanted to do an at-home workout since all the gyms are closed. For today’s workout, I decided to focus on my core. This exercise is going to be made up of 10 different exercises. Each exercise is going to be about 30 seconds each.  

The workout routine included opposite leg arm lifts, bicycle crunches, reverse crunches, rocking planks, Russian twists, Spiderman planks, planks with shoulder taps, side plank with hip lifts (both right and left sides) and full planks.  

Later in the day, I also decided to go on a little jog around the neighborhood for about one mile. Between each workout, it’s ideal to take a rest for about 10 to 15 seconds, so I did just that. I also made sure I was staying hydrated throughout the whole workout, something that’s really important. I really enjoyed working out today, and I will continue working out almost every day. 

Photos by Makinzi Burgs