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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Homemade Spaghetti Sauce. . . . super easy!

I wanted to have this recipe posted ages ago....but then life happened!  While you may not have an abundance of fresh tomatoes right now, you are still able to get fresh ingredients at a supermarket or farmer's market and make you own sauce....

This recipe is very easy!!  I use whatever fresh vegetables that I can get my hands on....


For this batch, I used red peppers, green papers, garlic, onions, zucchini, carrots, and tomatoes...

Not all my veggies were completely fresh either....our country store often has a table of not-so-fresh food for pennies and I usually grab those to cook with!


My recipe is from a friend in Germany and I've had it for about 7 years!

My husband took me to Germany for my birthday one year....yes! He's awesome!  I'll have to write a post sometime about that trip and how we travel so inexpensively!


We stayed with friends and Sabine was making this amazing spaghetti sauce.  Everything she made was homemade!  She had also worked a deal with a friend and they would get the leftover produce from the local supermarket.  Instead of the store throwing away the fruits and veggies, Sabine and her friend would get to use them....for FREE!....talk about a deal!

First you want to chop your veggies.....notice.....I didn't even chop them up into small pieces!

Throw them into a large pot....I have a huge pot.  I think that it's called a stock pot and it holds cups of soup, stew, sauce....




Add about 6 cubes of chicken bouillon.  You can also add vegetable bouillon, just add something that will add some flavor...
   

Next, just start shaking on the spices.  I'm a little curious as to why I have dill weed in the pile??  I think that I meant to grab basil for the photo....oops!

You can see from my photo that I didn't measure anything....I just shook various spices on.  You can always add more later depending on how it tastes. Also, you will want to add salt and pepper to your liking.

Next, you just put it on medium-low heat and walk away!  Truly....go make a craft while the wonderful smell of simmering vegetables fills your house!


It will start to look like this.....and I did not add any water to the veggies!

After it has cooked for a couple of hours and your veggies are very tender, you want to either run it through your blender or food processor.  I have a hand blender that enables me to just blend it in the pot....it's SO easy to use!


After blending the veggies, mine was still too watery so I just keep cooking it until enough water evaporated....


I also discovered that sometimes your sauce can taste a bit acidic.  If it has that sharp taste to it, just add some sugar.  Add by the teaspoonful until you get the taste that you like.

I froze most of my sauce in freezer bags so that I can use it this winter.
  
*Did you know that if you fill your freezer bags and then stack them flat on a cookie tray to freeze that they will then store very nicely in your freezer?


I did use some of the sauce to make some homemade pizza....

We use frozen bread dough, homemade sauce, and the toppings of our choice!

Enjoy!

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Southwestern Salad

My hubby always feeds his 40 some leaders on a Wednesday night before youth group and quite frankly, you get sick of pizza rather quickly!  So his administrative assistant threw together this salad one night and it was a HUGE hit!  So thanks, Janice, for the inspiration!

You will need sharp cheddar cheese, black beans, tortilla chips and some type of ranch dressing.

Be sure to give your beans a good rinse....otherwise, they are a bit gooey!

I prefer the corn (orangish) tortilla chips better with this, but I didn't have any.  Just crumble them over top of the salad.

Top with the beans and cheese and your favorite ranch dressing.  I used a three-cheese version from Kraft.

My hubby and I have been "dieting".......just trying to up our protein and down our carbs....this salad is a delicious healthy lunch option!

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The easiest sweet rolls.....ever!

If you've been reading my blog, then you know that I am a self-professed poor baker.  Baking is just not my thing although I continue to try.  So, "made-from-scratch" sweet rolls are just not happening in my house!


But.....I can make "homemade" sweet rolls by using my "secret" ingredient.....

Frozen bread dough!!!  

I use it as a base for SO many meals!!

Let your bread dough un-thaw.  If you forget (like me!) and don't put it out early enough, you can microwave it on Power Level 1 for intervals of 10 minutes.  Just don't let it get hard and crusty on the ends!

Grab some brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and butter.....Oops! I forgot to show the butter!


Melt about 1/2 stick butter (or margarine) over low heat until completely melted.  Brush it onto your bread dough.  I just roll the dough out into a rectangle shape.  If I am trying to "stretch" the recipe, then I s-t-r-e-t-c-h the dough!

Sorry, but I don't measure for the next part.  I probably add about 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of sugar and then just sprinkle the cinnamon on top.  If you add too much sugar and butter, then it all oozes out and makes a big gooey mess in  your pan!

Roll your dough into a long tube....rolling on the longest side.

You will have multiple layers of yummy goodness!!

Place in your greased pan leaving space between the rolls.  They will expand!  At this point (if you are not rushing through the recipe!), you can throw a dishtowel over your pan and let the rolls rise (raise?!) a little.  


I was rushing....it was 10:00 at night and I was making these for my son's birthday breakfast....I just wanted to get to bed!


I bake my rolls at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Because I vary the size of my rolls, I usually have to watch them instead of setting a timer!

To make the icing, I just put powdered sugar in a cup and add small amounts of water to make a paste.  Then, I just spoon it over the cooled rolls!


You must allow the rolls to cool completely before adding the icing....otherwise, it just melts away into nothing on the bottom of your pan!

They were gone in 1 meal!

What are your shortcuts?

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Yummy Zucchini Bread

The one plant that I just can't manage to kill or destroy is a zucchini plant....

These plants are quite amazing how quickly they grow and how HUGE they get!  My children have enjoyed watching how one plant has produced MANY 5 pound zucchinis!

Here is one of my family's favorite zucchini recipes....well, honestly....this is the only way that they will eat zucchini!

Beat 3 eggs until they are frothy....frothy to me is yellow and bubbly...or the allotted time that it takes me to go and braid my daughter's hair while the mixer is going.....

Add 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of vegetable (or canola) oil.

Add 2 Tablespoons of vanilla and beat until thick and lemony....

Stir in 2 cups of grated zucchini....I just dumped it into my mixer because I was multi-tasking at this point!

Add 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon.....and yes, that mixer made me zucchini bread as a child...it's an antique!

Add 2 cups of flour, 2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder....if you so desire, sift the dry ingredients and then add....I never have time to sift!

Be sure to grease your pans and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  This recipe should make about 2 pans of bread!

I doubled my batch and after just 2 days....this tiny little scrap was all that was left!  I had to add the flower so that the plate didn't look too empty!

Enjoy!

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