DIY Buffalo Chicken Strips....

I love Buffalo Chicken Strips.....the only problem is that you pay $8-10 for a bag of them and you might get 8-10 pieces in that bag!  My boys can inhale the bag in 30 seconds and then will say, "Now, what's for dinner?"

As I was planning fun snack ideas for the end of football season, I started to think.....it can't be that hard to make the buffalo strips homemade.....but will they taste as good??

As I was walking through the grocery store, I had a brainstorm and it involved my Healthy Chicken finger recipe....

and this....

What if I combined them???

The result was amazing.....definitely a new family favorite!

Just in time for a Superbowl appetizer!!

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Healthy Homemade Chicken Fingers

We try to eat healthy....my husband is the driving force behind this and I

really appreciate his support (and sometimes nagging) in this area!

We rarely eat fast food.....it's expensive and my kids all realize its

lack of nutritional substance!

But they do love chicken fingers.....so my hubby devised a way to make

chicken fingers healthy and delicious!

I start with Panko bread crumbs.....I didn't know what Panko was until

about a year ago....Panko adds such yummy flavor! 
You can find it in your grocery aisle with the other bread crumbs...usually next to the bread.

I apologize that I don't have pictures of this next part, but I 

take my piece of trimmed chicken and roll it in flour.....sometimes I will use

wheat flour or even oat flour.....the Panko disguises the taste of this healthier option for flour!

Next, I dip the flour-coated chicken in a bowl of egg whites....and then I roll it in 

the Panko breadcrumbs....

The unhealthiest part of chicken finger is frying.....I don't fry them in a "depth" of oil...

Instead, I pour about 3-4 Tablespoons of olive oil to coat my pan and fry them

in the olive oil.....the olive oil gives it such a better flavor!

If I am frying a lot of chicken, I will need to keep refreshing the oil in my

skillet, but I only ever put enough oil to coat the bottom....

For a dipping sauce, we usually use a healthy option of 

Honey Mustard salad dressing.

I love to serve these with a big salad and fresh pineapple...

What types of healthy meals do you feed your family?

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Hot Chocolate Bar

My husband has an amazing job and works with a wonderful staff of people....

I look forward to every December when staff and spouses gather together with Jason and Jenny.

Jenny is a true Southern gal and knows how to host an awesome party!

This year she outdid herself with a hot chocolate bar....

Her whole party had a sheet music theme...

Jenny had all types of fun mix-ins to add to the hot chocolate....

Look carefully at the labels for the mix-ins......they've all been switched!

And that's why they're youth pastors!

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Quesadillas. . . .

My kids LOVE this meal and it's super quick and easy to make!

I take flour tortillas and top them with taco-seasoned chicken and cheese for the kids.

For the adults, I add any combination of black beans, chilies, refried beans.....whatever I have in my pantry!

The key to crispy tortillas.....spray the tops with cooking spray!

Bake the quesadillas at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes....keeping an eye on them!

We like to make our Sunday dinners special.....so adding fruit whips or chocolate shakes always makes the dinner extra special!

Fruit Whips:

1 bag of frozen raspberries

2 bananas

3 Tab. sugar

1 container yogurt (vanilla, plain or raspberry)

1-2 cups crushed ice

water as needed

My kids devoured the quesadillas so quickly that I didn't even have time to take any "after" pictures!

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Menu Planner. . . .

I have been so bad about menu planning the past year......blogging may or may not have something to do with that??


I've been finding, though, that my grocery bill is spiraling out-of-control!  Not only are food prices skyrocketing, but my lack of planning has caused impulsive purchasing at the grocery store.....


I buy things that I "think" I might need and then never have all the ingredients that I need for a meal......translation:  my hubby is getting really tired of tacos because those are the ingredients that I always have in my fridge.

Last weekend, I decided to haul out the recipe books and get planning....

I don't know why I was avoiding making a menu.....it really only took about 1 hour of my time to plan meals for one whole month.....so, I have decided to share with you my next 5 weeks of meals in hopes of helping you make a plan and save money!

So, here's my menu for the week.....

Monday:  Homemade Macaroni and Cheese and Stromboli 

I just make a basic white sauce with butter, flour and milk and then add sharp cheddar cheese. 

I mix in multi-grain pasta and top with cheddar cheese and paprika.  You could also top with croutons, bread crumbs, bacon bits.....endless ideas!


To make homemade stromboli, I use frozen bread dough.  After it unthaws there are endless possibilities for filling. I made one filled with pepperoni and mozzarella and one with ham and cheddar cheese.

Tuesday:  Restaurant Style Fajitas

This is definitely one of my families favorite meals!  It's also easy to throw together!  You can find the recipe HERE.

Wednesday:  Hot dogs and french french fries.

Wednesday's we don't eat together as a family.  My hubby is a youth pastor, so he eats with his volunteer staff and it's usually pizza.....so Wednesdays are my "throw-away" meals....chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and box mac-and-cheese.

Thursday:  Chicken Stir Fry

I buy a bag of oriental vegetables in the frozen food aisle and add chicken.  To make a marinade, I add soy sauce, chicken broth, and lemon juice to taste and then thicken it with cornstarch.

Friday:  Homemade Sausage Turnovers and applesauce

This is a new recipe that I just tried.  Let's just say I made a double batch to freeze some and there wasn't a crumb left!  My family ate TWO batches in ONE meal!  

Saturday:  Homemade chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese

We actually put food together with our neighbors and had a wonderful meal! This is a great way to say money. When we lived in Wisconsin, we did this regularly with our neighbor friends......we would take turns bringing parts of the meal!

Sunday:  Breakfast for dinner!

I was shocked by how much money I saved when I had a plan.....somehow I had forgotten that!  Right now, I have about $575 to shop for my family of 5 for a month.  This includes all fresh fruit, meat, snacks, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and toiletries.....everything!  I am not a big coupon-user.  Frankly, I just don't have the time that needs to be invested to make couponing work.  


I also don't go to discount grocery stores.....when I factor in the gas that it costs to drive to those stores (at least $10) and the fact that I usually end up buying things that I don't really need because they are so "cheap", I end up spending more money at those places.

I'd love to hear how you save money feeding your families!

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Sausage Turnovers. . . .

My family went crazy for this meal!  It is one of my friend Cheryl's recipes.....she is an amazing cook and baker!  My son had these at her house one night for dinner and came home begging me to get the recipe.


You start with a homemade crust.....let me just preface with I am NOT good at making homemade bread, but this recipe is very hard to ruin....in fact, I lost track of how many cups of flour I had added and I still didn't mess it up!

Pizza Crust  (Yields 3 crusts or 16 calzones)

Dissolve:

2 T. yeast in 2 1/2 c. warm water

Add:

3 T. sugar

2 T. oil

2 t. salt

7-8 c. flour

Knead.

I used my mixer....you have a hook attachment that comes with your electric mixer.  This is what you use to knead.  At first I thought that I was going to blow up my mixer.....I told you, I'm not good at making bread!

Cover and let rise for about 20 minutes.
(Mine sat for longer while I folded laundry, vacuumed and dusted.  This doesn't have to be exact!)

Punch down and divide into 16 pieces.

Roll each piece into a 6 inch circle.

Top the one side with sausage, mozzarella and Parmesan.  I just used Bob Evans regular sausage.

Fold-over the top side....I folded it slightly short of the bottom...

Fold the bottom layer over the top layer and press and seal with a fork....brush with butter and bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees.


We served ours with tomato sauce.

Don't count on any leftovers!

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Pumpkin Roll . . . .

I've mentioned before on this blog that when it comes to baking.....I'm just not often successful!  In fact, I have never...ever.....tried a recipe with the word "roll" in it.....as in "jelly roll"!


So when I saw recipes for pumpkin roll floating around the blog world, I was envious.....it looked so good, but could I pull off a recipe like that???

But guess what.....I DID it!!  And it actually tasted good!!

Two things have always hindered me from making "roll" recipes.....I don't know what a "jelly roll pan" is and I didn't know what parchment paper was.

This is parchment paper....

You find it the same place you buy aluminum foil and your other wraps.

I still am not sure what a "jelly roll pan" is, but I just used my normal cookie sheet and it worked fine!


To prep your baking sheet....I sprayed the pan with oil (maybe that was overkill??) and then I sprayed the parchment paper with oil.  


I was using 2 different recipes for guidance and each one gave different directions.....does that drive you crazy??? I get overwhelmed by the choice...which way is correct??  So....I merged the 2 recipes and it all worked out!

The pumpkin roll part...

I added 1 cup of sugar to 3 eggs...

And then mixed in 2/3 cup of pumpkin...

I then added 1 tsp. of baking soda, 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon and 1 tsp. salt and mixed those in...

Then, I added 3/4 cup of flour and thoroughly mixed.

I spread the pumpkin mixture on my greased parchment paper and baked it at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes.  You want to bake it until you can press your finger into the pumpkin and it "springs" back.

Meanwhile......while your pumpkin roll is baking, you want to take a dish towel and cover it in powdered sugar....

I used a bit too much powdered sugar!

When your pumpkin roll is finished, remove it from the oven and turn it onto your powdered towel.....it should easily come off the parchment paper.  

Right away, while it's hot, roll it up in the powdered sugar towel...

Really....it's in there somewhere!

The cream cheese filling.....

Mix together 2 Tab. butter

1 package of softened cream cheese 

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup of powdered sugar

Unroll your roll and spread the filling to the edges.....and then roll it back up!

And that....was...it!!  I DID it!!  


My first "roll" dessert!!

I was amazed by how simple it was to make, yet how "fancy" it looked!  I ended up cutting mine it half so that I had two nights of dessert!

Happy baking!

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