Fried Chicken: 3 different meals

On Sunday Dave's speaking assignment took him up to Riggins. It's about 100 miles away, so we went as a family.  His speaking companion took his family too, and we planned a picnic in the park for afterwards. What's a picnic without fried chicken?? It's still a picnic, but cold fried chicken just somehow makes it better, right? Anyway, here's how it went down and how we got 3 meals out of it:

I had to cook the chicken on Saturday, so I made extra so we could have hot fried chicken for dinner with some side dishes.

Sunday we planned on a picnic lunch by the river, but after I had the chicken going, Dave found out that the Branch in Riggins was planning a potluck for us. We couldn't pass that up, but I packed up the chicken and cookies just in case we were still hungry afterwards :) Which we were, so it worked perfect to hang out at the park and eat some more before driving back home.

After that, we still had some leftover, so I had to get creative on how to eat it again. I dug through the fridge and found a green pepper, and some rice from a couple of nights earlier. Perfect ingredients for Sweet and Sour Chicken. Easy and Good.

So, there you have it. Cook up some fried chicken and you've got dinner for a few nights. I should mention that I used Chicken Tenders - because I had them, and because it is so much easier to eat it that way than off the bone - and just as good.

Now, the recipes:

Fried Chicken

Soak it in Buttermilk for 4-6 hours (as a brine)
Let it drain well in a colander while you get the station set up.
Turn on your oil (about an inch) to get good and hot
First stop: Flour, seasoned well with salt, pepper and paprika
Second stop: A mixture of egg and milk (sorry, I totally eye-ball it)
Third stop: Panko bread crumbs (some say to divide the flour in half, and then just dip in flour again, I like the crunchiness of Panko)
Fourth stop: Hot oil. Fry it good and brown on both sides - cut open one or two to make sure you are getting it good and cooked.
Let drain on a cooling rack (with a cookie sheet under it to catch the oil) then on a plate lined with paper towels. Before refridgerating, be sure it cools completely.



Sweet and Sour Chicken

I used this sauce recipe as a base, then added a whole bell pepper, diced into 1" cubes, a can of pineapple chunks, drained (using the juice instead of water in the recipe) then adding the leftover fried chicken, cut into cubes, at the end. Serve it over rice.  {Tip: when reheating rice, add water to it, then cover and simmer on low for a bit until it is heated through - tastes like it did after the first cooking if you do it right}

Recipe: Smoothies

Yes, we've talked about them before, and they really are a staple at our house.  My day just goes better when it starts out with one of these.  My top 5 tips have been requested, so here goes:

It's Dave's job to make them, (because when it's left up to me, it ususally doesn't get made before he leaves for work, so he doesn't get one until lunch), and according to Kelvin, he makes them better.  I'm happy to let him make them.  Here's what works for us.

1 - Grind your flaxseeds in a coffee grinder first.  It just makes for a smoother drink.  You can find them for under $20 at Wal-mart or Target.
2 - Ice - it's optional.  We use all frozen fruit (except for the banana) so I don't mind not having it in there, but some think it's a must. Try it and decide what you like best.
3 - When strawberries are cheap (like right now - there is an abundance of them on the market, so the price is good) I buy them fresh, then wash and freeze them myself.
4 - Yogurt - it works with out it, but it's oh so much better with it.  I like Vanilla best, but plain or strawberry is fine too.
5 - Protein Powder.  I've heard a lot of studies lately saying that soy protein is not as good for you as they once thought.  We like to use Whey protein.  You can get it in different flavors (keep in mind this also adds sugar) or get it plain.  I kind of like the vanilla flavored.  Sometimes we get a kind that is packed with other vitamins too.  Most health food stores will offer you all sorts of kinds.  Read labels, see what works for you.  And for our entire family (2 adult size portions and 2 childs portions - Mollie won't touch the stuff) we only do enough for one serving.  We aren't trying to bulk up or anything, we just want to have the added protein in our diet.  We also add a fiber powder to it.  Right now it's the Melaleuca one which uses psyllium husks for it's source.  It's a good one.

There's 5. I could probably list more, but there are my 2 bits.  If I were to add another optional one, it would be to get a good blender.  Frozen stuff, day after day, can be hard on some blenders.  Plus, ones I've had in the past tend to leave chunks of frozen fruit in it.  I've had my vita-mix for quite a few years now and haven't had a problem with it.  My mom (who made drinks and everything else with it) burned hers up after several years, so she got a blend-tech. So far she really likes it.

Bread

Since we've been talking a bit about bread lately, I thought I'd post the recipe I tried today.  I've always wanted to make Cinnamon Swirl bread, but never really knew how.  Then in my February issue of Martha Stewart Living, there was this plain white bread recipe that had some variations to it that looked so fun.  I finally made it today, only I didn't do plain white bread (that is just so boring to me for some reason, so I did 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat and it worked out perfectly).  I ended up omitting the raisins, because I didn't have any (they'd be tasty in it, but it was plenty good without).  I also doubled the batch to get the most out of my making of it.  I ended up with 6 small loaves and 1 big one.  And it was delicious.  I ended up giving 3 away and we ate 1 for dinner.  So much for my morning of bread making.  Oh well, it's good, and I'll definitely be making it again.  I'd like to try the multigrain and the rye next.

Recipes?

Sorry I've neglected my recipe posting.  It gets crazy and I forget to take pictures of our food, and I like pictures with the recipes.  I have been loving my Pioneer Woman cookbook lately, so here are a few things I've made most recently that I think you should try:.

Chicken Pot Pie (she calls it turkey, but in her cookbook it is chicken, but it's the same, and it's delicious!!)

Meatballs

Steak (simple, and perfect)

Enchiladas

Spaghetti & Meatballs (even my kids were begging for more meatballs!)

Mashed Potatoes

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Breakfast Puffs (except I only dip the top in the cinnamon mixture, otherwise it's way too sugary for me)

Cowboy Calzones (sorry, couldn't find this one on her website, but they are good)

 . . . . . and much, much, much more.  If you haven't purchased the cookbook already, you should.  It makes my mouth water just reading it.  Yum.  If you have, what's your favorite recipe??

April Fools Day

I'm a lousy April Fools Day mom, at least that's how I feel after reading about Design Mom's day and how clever her kids are.  Seriously.  They are hilarious.

All I did was this simple dinner, but we had fun with it.  Mollie also hid a plastic bug for Kelvin to find.  She didn't really get it, but it was fun anyway.

What did you do for this silly holiday?