I love chicken wings almost as much as I love pizza. I found raw chicken wings on sale at Kroger the other week and so I decided to make our own at home.
My favorite chicken wings are the garlic Parmesan and chipolte BBQ dust from Buffalo Wild Wings and so I looked up a copycat recipes online. I could only find the garlic parm recipe, so that's what I went with. I didn't want to fry the wings to keep somewhat healthy and so I also found a recipe for baked chicken wings that are just as crispy at their fried counterparts.
They turned out so good!! Almost exactly like BW3s and a little better for you since they were baked :) Though it sounded really weird, the boiling the wings did make them nice and crispy in the oven.
BW3s Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings
Adapted from Fifteen Spatulas and Epic Porportions
Parmesan Garlic
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- See more at: http://www.epicportions.com/2009/02/25/buffalo-wild-wings-recipes/#sthash.U2dZZeQO.dpuf
1 to 2 lbs chicken wings
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
armesan Garlic
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- See more at: http://www.epicportions.com/2009/02/25/buffalo-wild-wings-recipes/#sthash.U2dZZeQO.dpuf
Heat up a big pot of boiling water. Season the water like you would for cooking pasta.
Boil the chicken wings for 7-8 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack so the excess water can drain off.
Let them drip dry a little bit, then dry them well with a paper towel.
Season the chicken wings lightly with salt (though if you salted the boiling water enough, it won't need much, if any). Place the chicken wings directly on a sheet pan. Bake the chicken wings for 30 minutes on one side, then flip the wings and bake for another 10 minutes on the other side.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a big bowl, add the cooked chicken wings and coat well. Serve immediately.
armesan Garlic
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- See more at: http://www.epicportions.com/2009/02/25/buffalo-wild-wings-recipes/#sthash.U2dZZeQO.dpuf
When I attended the Whole Foods tour several weeks back, the nutritionist mentioned making kale chips. I was intrigued, and a little skeptical, because she said her kiddos loved them and they tasted just like potato chips. Anyway, I picked some up at Kroger (I had to read all the labels in the general vicinity because I had no idea what kale looked like!). Just to clarify...it's a large, leafy, dark green lettuce looking plant...like this...
Take the kale and remove the leaves from the ribs. Place the leaves on a cookie sheet, coat well with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Bake 225 degrees for 20 minutes until the kale is crispy and brown.
I served the kale chips with chicken wings to try and counteract the badness of the wings :)
Conclusion...kale chips definitely do not taste like potato chips. I thought they were nice and crispy and had good flavor, but my family disagreed. Liesl turned hers over and over before taking a very tiny bite and declaring she didn't like it. Gavin just looked at his and threw it on the ground. So, our family is probably not a kale family. Let me know what your family thinks!
Another harvest from our garden...lots and lots of green beans! Instead
of canning, I decided to freeze them. I blanched them for 1-2 minutes,
then immediately put in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. After
draining well, I put the green beans in a freezer ziplock bag and put in
the freezer to enjoy all winter long :) Easy peasy!
First a story...when I was pregnant with Liesl, we went out to eat with Matt's coworkers to a really excellent Greek restaurant. The food was very authentic and super delicious. Unfortunately for me, I was 8 weeks preggers and super sick and the Greek food (damn you flaming cheese!) sent me over-the-edge sick. For a long time, I could not even think about Greek food, see someone cooking it on TV or drive by a Greek restaurant without wanting to vomit.
Slowly, I'm starting to enjoy Greek food again and recently tried Greek tortellini salad. It was so good and super easy to make. This would be a great dish to take to a picnic or dinner party because you make it ahead and you serve it cold.
Greek Tortellini Salad
From Two Peas and Their Pod
1 (20 ounce) package refrigerated cheese tortellini
1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 large cucumber, chopped
1 cup kalamata olives, pit removed and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
For the Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Drain the tortellini and rinse with cold water.
2. Place the tortellini in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, and feta cheese.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until salad is well coated. Serve immediately or place in the refrigerator.
Note-this salad will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Before I started the whole journey to eating clean, I did a 10-day Advocare Cleanse to clear out my system, so to speak. It did wonderful things for my energy levels and helped get my mindset into eating clean. Well, nine months later, I decided I needed another push of the reset button. I've been doing really well overall, but summer has been hard for overeating and not choosing good foods. So, I am doing another cleanse, but this time I am doing the Flat Belly Diet 4-day Anti-Bloat Cleanse.
I am not a fan of diets at all because I think they set you up for eating unrealistically and while you may have success at the beginning, it usually fades pretty quickly. I'm more for lifestyle changes that you can adopt for the rest of your life. I came across the Flat Belly Diet and was skeptical at first, but after reading through the book, I decided to try the cleanse and then adopt some of the diet. The diet is basically a 1600-calorie Mediterranean diet that includes a MUFA (monounsaturated fat) in every meal. You can read more about it here and here.
I'll talk more about the diet as I go along, but I wanted to tell you all about the cleanse. I definitely felt less bloated afterwards, but pretty hungry each day. I definitely did not consume enough calories for my 14k training and bonked on one of my runs. Overall, it was a great way to reset my appetite and I did lose a few pounds. I will continue to drink the Sassy Water because was very refreshing and suppressed my appetite.
Here's what was on the menu for each day (plus my modifications). I took some creative liberties and swapped out some of the sides and changed them between days:
Day 1
Breakfast
1 c unsweetened cornflakes
1 c skim milk
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce (I did not eat this...gross)
1/2 c raw or roasted sunflower seeds
1 glass sassy water
Lunch
4 oz turkey
1 light string cheese
1 pt fresh grape tomatoes
glass of sassy water
Smoothie: 1 c skim milk,1 c frozen blueberries blended then add 1 Tbsp cold pressed organic flaxseed oil (This can be eaten as a mid-morning, mid-afternoon or after dinner snack...whenever you need the pick-me-up)
Dinner
1 c fresh/frozen cooked green beans
4 oz grilled/cooked
tilapia
1/2 c roasted red potatoes drizzled with 1 tsp olive oil.
Day 2
Breakfast
1 c Rice Krisipies
1 c skim milk
1/4 c sunflower seeds
4
oz pineapple tidbits canned in juice (left this out...not a pineapple fan either)
glass of sassy water
Lunch
3 oz light tuna in water (I did turkey every day b/c I don't like tuna)
1 c steamed baby carrots (I used raw, regular carrots...too much sugar in the baby ones)
1 light
string cheese
Sassy water
Smoothie: 1 c skim milk, 4 oz canned pineapple
tidbits in juice in blender, stir in 1 tbsp flax oil
Dinner
1 c fresh crimini (bella) mushrooms sauteed in 1 tsp olive oil
3 oz grilled chicken breast
1/2 c brown rice
Sassy water
Day 3
Breakfast
Same as Day 1 except for 2 Tbsp raisins instead of applesauce
Lunch
Same as Day 1
Smoothie: use 1 c frozen peaches w/ 2 tsp flax oil
Dinner
Same as day 1 except for 3oz baked turkey cutlet instead of fish. (I did chicken again)
Day 4
Breakfast
1 pkg instant cream of wheat
1 c skim milk
1/4 c sunflower seed
2 dried plums
Lunch
Same as Day 1
Smoothie use 1 c frozen strawberries/2 tsp flax oil
Dinner
1 c fresh/frozen yellow squash sauteed in 1 tsp olive oil
3 oz grilled chicken breast
1/2 c brown rice
Sassy water
During 4 days you also must avoid coffee, any soft drink, sweeteners,
salt, excess carbs, bulky raw food, gassy foods, gum, fried foods, spicy
foods.
The Sassy Water Recipe
2 liters water (about 8 ½ cups)1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 medium cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium lemon, thinly sliced
12 small spearmint leaves.
Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher and let flavors blend overnight.
Drink the entire pitcher by the end of each day.
This is a Pinterest project I've had pinned for over a year, and finally
we had collected enough bits and pieces of old crayons. Whenever your
kiddos break a crayon or you get down to the stubbies, save those
pieces, peel off all the paper and put into silicon baking cups or
molds. Put in the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Take out of the
oven and let harden. Out comes fun-shaped, very colorful crayons!
We planted three different types of tomatoes in our garden--roma, cherry and Better Boy--and we have a bounty of all of them. There are only so many recipes and foods that we use cherry tomatoes for, so I decided to make pasta sauce from them. I didn't follow a recipe, I just kind of made it up as I went. I took chopped garlic and onion and sauteed in a big stock pot. I then took the cherry tomatoes (after removing the stems and washing them) and just threw them in the pot, added some salt, pepper and dried oregano and let it all cook down. After cooking for 20 minutes or so, I took a potato masher and mashed it all up into more of a sauce, let cook another 10 minutes and then canned the sauce.
Not only was this recipe low maintenance (no cutting or chopping!), it was delicious :) The sauce turns out a little thinner than typical pasta sauce, more like a marinara sauce, so if you like it thicker, add some tomato paste while cooking. We used the sauce as a pizza sauce too, which ended up great!
