More Veggies PLEASE!!!

I am a fan of veggies.  I prefer them cooked over raw but for some reason when I go to the kitchen for something to eat.... I don't choose veggies.  Those cookies and chocolate bars always just jump in my mouth.  I was excited to try this recipe because when I do make veggies its either roasted with salt and pepper or boiled/stemmed.  I don't mind that flavor but my kids including Symon feel that they need to add butter, ranch, or mayo to make the veggies taste better.  This recipe takes a side of veggies to a whole other flavor and makes veggies exciting.  This could be done with any left over veggies.  It calls for 2 carrots and 1 medium size zucchini.  

I started by cutting the veggies into matchstick size.  

While heating up a saute pan (or large frying pan if you don't have a fancy one yet like me) I placed oil (canola) in it then added minced garlic and ginger.

After about 1-2 minutes I placed the carrots in.  Make sure you pay attention because garlic burns super easily and it tastes nasty!

After 5-7 minutes and added the zucchini.

After the zucchini was added I placed the lid on the pan because the carrots were still too firm for my liking.  After all the veggies were soft I sprinkled it with salt, pepper, mint, toasted sesame seeds, and a splash of rice wine vinegar and then removed from the heat.

I served it with some chicken sausage. I thought the veggies turned out nice but I little bit on the oily side.   I attribute this to not using a large enough pan.  Because I used a small bottom pan, the veggies were sitting in the oil and not evenly spread out.

I really enjoyed this recipe because it reminded me that veggies can be exciting.  Don't just steam them with salt and pepper.  Get creative and look in your pantry for fun things to spice them up.  Parsley or rosemary could be substituted for mint.  There are also a lot of different kinds of vinegar that could be interchanged.  Play with your veggies to make them fun and hopefully you and your kids can start to enjoy them more.  Who knows, they might even jump into your mouth instead of that cookie! 

Fried chicken? Healthy version

Fried chicken is a staple in America.  The famous white bearded man made the "quick" version even more famous.  People eat fried chicken with biscuits and gravy and even sometimes with waffles (which I still think is weird).  To me chicken is more of a healthy protein and therefore should not be fried.  I was interested is finding chicken in the "frying" application in this cookbook but glad it was under the saute' section.  I was hoping it would be a healthier version.  Come to find out it was better than any fried chicken I ever had.  This chicken is called, "Chicken in Garlic and Shallots".  Is your mouth watering yet?  I know mine was.  The protein calls for either 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces or 10 chicken thighs.  I was not able to try to disassemble a bird so I went with the chicken thighs.  Here you can see them.  (yes I know there is 9) 

First up of course was to salt and pepper the thighs and remember chicken needs lots of salt to make sure it stays moist.  (Sorry blood pressure)

2 Tablespoons of canola oil into a hot pan and then the chicken thighs into the oil.  I find that this is kind of like creating a sear on the chicken but moreover to create a crispy skin.  Is anything better than crispy chicken skin?  Come on,  I know you all have taken a piece of turkey skin on Thanksgiving right... right?  No?  Only me?  Ok then.....

Look at that pretty golden brown color!!!!

After the chicken skin is crispy and golden brown I then removed the chicken and placed it into a ovenproof pot.  It would be nice if I had a ovenproof skillet with a top but Santa hasn't gone to Sur La Table' lately!  HINT HINT!!!!  After the chicken was put into the pot.  I poured the left over oil and then added garlic, shallots and herbs.  The herbs I used was parsley, thyme and rosemary.  You could also substitute sage but Fry's grocery store was out of course.

I then covered my pot and into to oven at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.  I know that was a long time for chicken but it was so worth it.  It smelt AMAZING!!!  Even though it was 115 degrees outside and then I had the oven running for  that long the house was even hotter the smell was worth it!  I served it with a biscuit and salad.  This picture does not do the chicken justice.  It was sooooo good.

The chicken was really moist, full of flavor with the herbs and so easy.  The best part was that I was able to use all of the left over chicken and made Chicken Broccoli the next day.  It was one of the best chicken broccoli I have made in a long time.  

I really loved this recipe because not only did it make a yummy chicken dinner which was a nice change to the boring chicken breast that we all eat so much.  The other nice thing was that it could be made with 1-100 pieces of chicken depending on the size you desire.  I was able to use 10 thighs and make 3-4 different dinners and lunches throughout the week from chicken burritos to chicken salad sandwiches.  

How do you prefer your chicken, fried, broiled, boiled, or sauted.  I choose saute'.  It seems like the best of all.

Potato chips... Homemade style

My family loves chips.  Any kind including tortilla, potato, veggie and even pitas are a huge hit here.  Since I have become more aware of what we have been eating, chips are rarely in our house and if they are I can guarantee I was not the one who bought them.  (The kids love when Symon brings some chips home)  I'm not going to lie,  I LOVE CHIPS!!  My problem is two fold,  

#1  I love salt and can't stop eating them once I start

 #2  I eat them straight out of the bag

Therefore I was excited that I HAD to make chips.  :)  I started by getting set up with my frying station.  On the left is my draining rig, middle is oil, and the right is ice water in a salad spinner.  

I took one large russet potato and used a veggie peeler to make strips.  I placed the strips immediately into the ice water bath.  After I had 15 strips, I drained the water and then ran them through the salad spinner.

Once the oil was hot to 350 degrees in goes the potato strips

I gently used a spider (as seen next to the fryer) to pull apart the strips that are sticking together.  After about 1-2 minutes I removed them and placed them on the draining rig.  :)  Don't forget salt and pepper.  Yummy.

One potato filled up a Tupperware with chips and they were gone within 24 hours.  And by the way, I only had about 5 chips thanks to Ryan and Symon.  (Reagan was not a fan at all)  She is such a werido.  :)

These chips tasted really amazing.  Fresh and not heavy at all.  I felt like even though they were fried, it didn't have all of the chemicals that commercial companies use to keep their chips fresh while sitting on a shelf.  After making this I would love to try it again with different kinds of seasoning right after you take them out of the oil.  Maybe chili powder or lime juice/ zest.  The possibilities are endless.   I encourage you to try these and try a different spice.  I know I will.  

This is the end of the section about deep frying and next up saute'.  :)  A healthier way to cook finally.