Chicken Strips

This is a recipe I found in Food & Wine magazine.  I've made it twice now and I must say that these are the best chicken strips ever.  They're really easy to make and best of all, they're baked, not fried.  The original recipe called for chicken wings and drumettes but those are too much work for the little meat you get so I opted to chop up a chicken breast.

The base recipe consists of:
2 tbs flour
1 tsp salt

Put this in one medium bowl.

I was making 3 flavors tonight so I had 3 bowls.

The recipe is enough for 1 chicken breast so multiply it as needed.
Cut the breasts into even strips (emphasis on the "even" so that it cooks evenly and everything stays nice and juicy.).  Mix the flour with the salt.  Add the chicken and toss to coat.

Preheat the oven to 500°.  Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray with oil.  Arrange the chicken on the baking sheet and spray again with oil.  Roast for 15 minutes, turning once or twice until brown and crispy.

In another medium bowl:
2 1/2 tbs Frank’s Red Hot
2 tbs melted butter

When the chicken is done, toss it with the hot sauce and butter until evenly coated.

From left to right:  Jamaican Jerk, Mango Curry, Sweet and Sticky

These are variations on the base recipe:


Ginger-Honey

To the flour and salt, add:
1 tsp ground Szechuan peppercorns and 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
 
To the hot sauce and butter:
1/2 tbs soy sauce and 2 tbs each of honey, minced ginger and scallions
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Jamaican Jerk
To the flour and salt, add:

1/2 tsp each of dried garlic, thyme, and onion

To the hot sauce and butter:
1 tsp jerk paste.  Garnish with fresh thyme leaves.
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Mango Curry
To the flour and salt, add:
2 tsp hot Madras curry powder

To the hot sauce and butter:
2 tbs mango-ginger chutney. Garnish with chopped pistachios
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Maple Chipotle
To the flour and salt, add:
1 tsp dried sage

To the hot sauce and butter:
1 minced canned chipotle and 2 tbs maple syrup
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Old Bay
To the flour and salt, add:
1 tbs Old Bay seasoning

To the hot sauce and butter:
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
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Sweet and Sticky
To the flour, add:   (don't put salt in this one, the chili garlic paste has enough)
1 tsp dried garlic, 1 tsp paprika

To the hot sauce and butter:
1 tsp chili garlic paste, 1 tbs Thai sweet chili sauce
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Thai Green Curry
To the flour and salt, add:
1 tsp ground coriander

To the hot sauce and butter:
2 1/2 tbs green hot sauce (instead of the red), 1/2 tbs fish sauce, 1 tsp thai green curry paste, 2 tbs chopped cilantro
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My favorite flavor is the Mango Curry flavor.  Maybe because it uses mango-ginger chutney and I'm a huge fan of the Trader Joe's variety.  After moving from Atlanta (a TJ's rich locale) to Louisiana (a TJ's deficient locale), I was so upset that I went and bought literally 15 jars of the stuff so I would be sure to have enough should I not get back to Georgia for awhile.

Mmmmm...run along and make this tonight.  You know you want to.

Party Mix

This is based on the party mix recipe by Crispix.  My mom has been making this one since I can remember too.  She put pretzels in it but they have a ridiculously high glycemic index so I left them out.  She also uses Cheerios and honey roasted peanuts, which are awesome so I kept those.  I have a hard time keeping this stuff around.  Josh doesn't actually eat it but I always grab a handful when I walk by the storage jar so it's gone before I know it.  Oh well.  It's great fiber.

6 c Crispix cereal
1 c plain Cheerios
1 c wheat Chex
1 c honey roasted peanuts
3 tbs margarine
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp lemon juice
4 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Mix cereal, nuts, and pretzels in a bowl.  Mix remaining ingredients in another bowl, pour over cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated.

Spread thinly on a baking sheet and bake at 250° for 45 min, stirring every 15 min.

Spread on paper towels to cool.

You can add other things to this.  It's a pretty forgiving recipe.  My grandma uses mixed nuts and pretzels instead of Cheerios and honey roasted peanuts.  Just don't use anything that's already seasoned, like Gardetto's.  I've had that and it's just too much.

Our Wedding

Josh and I have been together since January 2005.  We got married in September 2009 at the Montaluce Winery in north Georgia and if I do say so myself, it was the most beautiful wedding ever!  Since I'm a designer, I refused to have/pay for a planner so I did it all myself.  The winery has a restaurant and beautiful vineyards so the location and food was taken care of.  I was set on simple and outdoor elegant so to save money on those ridiculous flowers, I planted herbs in our yard and put them in simple recycled glass vases right before ceremony and it was gorgeous.  The tables smelled good too! 

You must see this place if you're ever in Dahlonega, GA

 The tables I designed

 Most perfect kiss ever

I was also crazy enough to make my own cake (I'll post that recipe and tutorial at some point).  I watch a lot of Food Network competitions and thought "I can do that" so I found some recipes, tried them, and practiced rolling fondant.  The end result was great. I made a 3 tiered white cake painted with the black swirl design I designed for our invitations. The flavors were white chocolate raspberry (with fresh raspberries), butter pecan peach (with fresh GA peaches), and creme de menthe chocolate.  They were all delicious and I was quite proud.  I enjoyed it so much that I'd love to go to pastry school if I ever get the chance.

Yep, I made that...all by myself with no formal education

Basil Pasta

Note:  This little chicken+garlic+jalapeno+red sauce+fresh chopped basil combo is a favorite of mine for a quick dinner.   It's great with any whole grain pasta, even if it isn't homemade.  

I found this recipe on a website (I can't remember which one, sorry) when I was looking for homemade pasta recipes.  I bought a pasta machine online while in Oklahoma City because as usual, I wanted to try making something that wasn't already prepared in a box.  Oh yeah, and I love basil and the color green so green noodles sounded fun.  It isn't as hard as you might think.  It's harder without a pasta machine because you'd have to use a rolling pin but if that's the case, just flour a smooth surface and roll out half the dough at a time to about 1/8" thick.

3/4 c chopped fresh basil
1 1/2 c flour
1 egg
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbs water

Using a food processor, process basil leaves until chopped very fine.   Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and pulse two or three times, or until combined. Add egg, 1 teaspoon oil, and the water until dough looks crumbly and sticks in a tight ball when pressed in your hand. If dough seems dry, add a bit more water.   Wrap dough in a piece of plastic wrap which has been coated in a few drops of olive oil. Refrigerate dough for 2 hours.  Run dough through pasta machine, or roll with rolling pin to 1/8" thick.  Use additional flour to coat pasta while rolling.  Fold pasta in half lengthwise a few times, flouring between each layer, and cut into strips.   Allow pasta to dry for one hour prior to cooking.  Cook in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. This should take only a 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pasta.

This pasta tastes best with a marinara sauce.  I tried it last night with just some tomatoes and oil and garlic but it was a little bland.  Cooking the basil like this takes away most of the freshness that I love about basil.  Adding a sauce like Newman's Own Sockarooni brings it back out.  I also added 1 diced chicken breast, 1 garlic clove, and 1 jalapeno.  Cook the chicken in a skillet with the minced peppers until almost done.  Then add teh garlic and sauce and simmer over medium heat for a couple minutes until the sauce is warmed through.

Bran Muffins

My mom has been making these since I can remember.  I loved them as a kid and I'm so glad my husband loves them now because they're really easy to make and are great for a quick breakfast.  My mom and I have collaborated recently to make the muffins a little healthier by reducing the sugar and substituting whole wheat flour.   

1/2 c agave nectar
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c oil
2 eggs
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 c fat-free buttermilk
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In another bowl:
Pour 1 cup boiling water onto 3 cups All Bran cereal

Mix first set of ingredients well.  Mix in moistened bran cereal until incorporated.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes.

I love these silicone baking cups.  Just spray a little oil in them before filling and you get perfect muffins every time without the paper mess.  No cleaning messy muffin tine either. Yay!

Oklahoma City

It was during this time living in a hotel that we started experimenting with our diet.  I've never been overweight, I've always been very athletic.  After college, though I wasn't as active and I was on some medicine that caused me to gain about 30 lbs and I was having trouble losing it.  I read Making the Cut by Jillian Michaels and Food Rules by Michael Pollan and it gave me some ideas for changes.  We decided to follow Jillian's 30-day diet and cut out alcohol altogether, cut down on the salt, cut down on the carbs, ate very little pork or beef, and I ate salads for every lunch.  On top of that, I used Livestrong.com to count calories and we did Jillian's circuit training workout for 45 minutes 5 times a week.  After the first week, I lost almost 4lbs but it plateaued after that.  We took before and after pictures and even though I felt a little better, the photos showed no difference and we were very discouraged.  This made me mad because we thought we were literally working our asses off.  On the brighter side, it meant that I was ok to have my wine back because it didn't really matter if I drank it anyway.  Either way, we decided to just change a few little things at a time until we find something that works for us.