Zippy Garlic Bites

Here's what you"ll need for some super-easy, super-flavorful little bites of bread that are a snap to put together and easy to adjust the seasonings for your family.

1 tube of refrigerated bisuits
3 tablespoons of butter, melted
Grated Parmesan Cheese
onion powder
garlic powder
parsley flakes

In the bowl you melted your butter, add the other ingredients, except the biscuits. Amounts depend on your families preferences. I don't even measure,  I give one shake of onion powder, 2 or 3 shakes of garlic powder, a good pinch of parsley flakes and a couple generous shakes from the Parmesan cheese. Change it up to meet your needs.

Stir it all together...

On a cutting board, cut your biscuits into quarters...

Drop the biscuits in the bowl and roll them around to coat them thoroughly.

 Then place them on a lightly sprayed baking sheet or break the rules and use a cast iron skillet.

Bake at 350* for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve them up with your favorite Italian dish....and watch 'em disappear.

I found this recipe years ago in a Quick Cooking or Taste of Home magazine. It has evolved over the years and I'm not even sure how close it is to the original recipe!

Homemade Chicken Strips

 

If you know me at all you know that I don't fry very much of our food at home. I have no problem letting the boys order fried food when we eat out, but at home, I just can't do it. However, I do believe if you are going to have something fried it would be better for you cooked at home. So I have added a few (really, very few) fried items to our menus. I got this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, and she just might be an expert on frying! But her family is WAY more active than mine and they probably work it all off before dawn!

Here's what you need to make them at home:

6 to 8 chicken tenders cut into strips, I just cut mine down the middle
Buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
2-3 teaspoons seasoned salt
Vegetable Oil, I only had Canola so that's what I used

Place chicken strips in a bowl and cover with buttermilk, let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Next, mix together flour and season salt.

Drizzle about 1/4 cup buttermilk into flour mixture. Stir with a fork while you pour, this will create little clumps of the flour mixture that will stick to the chicken and create yummy little "crunchies" on your chicken strips.

Heat about an inch of oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Remove a few of the buttermilk-soaked strips and place them in the flour mixture, turning them over to coat them thoroughly. Place them on a plate. Continue coating chicken strips until they are all ready to cook.
 
When the oil is heated, begin cooking the strips a few at a time. Cook them for about a minute and a half or so on each side. When golden and crispy, remove them to a paper towel-lined plate.

I kept mine warm in a 200* oven while I cooked the rest.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

Don't have buttermilk on hand? Try this trick from The Pioneer Woman:
pour just under 1/2 cup regular milk into the measuring cup, then add enough regular vinegar to the milk to bring the quantity up to 1/2 cup. Within seconds, it turns into buttermilk and works perfectly. Try it sometime!

These are really tasty, and all the boys like them (even the big boy!). 

They are forever trying to get me to fry more meals! 

Maybe someday they will thank me!

Menu

New feature today on my little ole' blog....weekly menus. I have wanted to do this for a very long time, but didn't have the discipline to sit down and "just do it". So I came up the the idea to post after the week is done rather than before. Kinda lame I know, but at least I will have some weekly menu plans to go back to in the future.

One thing I really struggle with is side dishes, so I am including those as well. 

Here's what we had this week:

Monday:
Monterey Chicken
Hash Brown Casserole
Green Salad

Tuesday:
Homemade Chicken Strips
Pasta Salad
Jello Bananas

Wednesday:
Meatballs (part turkey & beef)
Mashed Potatoes
7 Up Biscuits
Grapes

Thursday: (Game day-can be made in advance and everyone eats when they have time)
Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwiches
Ramen Noodle Slaw
Fresh Corn on the Cob

Friday:
Steak on the grill
Leftover Slaw
Watermelon  Had Doug's mom's potato salad instead...she was kind enough to share with us!
(Need to start No Knead Bread for tomorrow)

Saturday:
Lasange (Made with Turkey Sausage)
Green Salad
No Knead Bread
Fresh Fruit Bowl

Sunday:
Tomato Soup
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches