Round of 16, Day 4 - USA, Belgium, and Tears - World Cup Eating Challenge

As soon as it was announced that Belgium and the USA would be playing each other, Dan sent me a message asking if we could have Chicken and Waffles again. I realized I'd done Switzerland and I really wanted to save Argentina for as long as possible.. that left Belgium and the US again. I tossed it to Facebook and mostly it was Dan still saying he wanted waffles and a couple of people agreeing with him. Ok boyfriend - you get your waffles.

The biggest thing for me is to try new things. Luckily, I'd just gotten a couple of new cookbooks and there were three new waffle recipes! Three!

I decided to go with the Pumpkin Waffles in The Paleo Kitchen. One of the authors is PaleOMG where I got the other waffle recipe so I knew it would be tasty while still being different. The only small issue with the recipe is that it uses a ton of eggs and we had 3 left so I sent Dan to the store while I started the chicken. 

I wanted to treat the chicken differently too. I thought I'd go for more of a "grilled" style. I seasoned the chicken with paprika, garlic salt, pepper, chipotle pepper, and garlic powder and cooked a few pieces at a time in bacon fat. 

Once I got my eggs, I mixed everything together and started making the waffles. 

Waffles are a pretty slow process so there was a lot of downtime during this breakfast prep...

...which is good because despite the way it might seem, I do have a job. I was able to work just a couple of feet away from my waffles and take them out as they were ready. This is probably multitasking at it's finest. 

In the end, it all came together beautifully. The pumpkin waffles were amazing. I like them better than the chocolate waffles although I think they'd be even better with a handful of Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I also added a side of bacon because bacon makes everything better (and it gave me the bacon fat I used to cook my chicken). 

One thing I have to say about paleo waffles - they are super filling. I can barely eat a whole one. Granted, these are Belgium size waffles but I keep making extra mix so we have waffles for like a week. I mean, they're awesome, but it's a lot of waffle. 

At the end of the day, when work was done and the USA had lost despite some badass goal tending, I decided to enjoy a drink. I couldn't think of a better thing to do then open some bubbles and celebrate the USA's amazing run at the World Cup by mixing it with my leftover agua fresca.

In '98, I spent a Summer in Brazil during the World Cup. It didn't take place there but they made it to the finals and lost. Afterwards, they threw a party. I asked why they were celebrating when they lost and they told me that losing isn't a good reason to not have a party. The sentiment was lost on 12 year old me but I never forgot the words and I've since learn to appreciate celebrating despite a loss. Celebrating the US making it further in than World Cup than anyone thought they would (except Americans chanting "I believe that we will win") seemed completely appropriate. Days like that make me really proud to be American and Brazilian and I love sharing the idea of one culture with another.