Comfort Food for Finals

Oh my!! Where has the time gone! I cannot keep making excuses for abandoning my blog and my precious readers.  We have been doing our darnedest to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. January has been cold and busy here on the prairies. I have kept up going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week and feel great!!

I miss Hawaii sooooooo much!

Unfortunately my sun kissed glow from my holiday trip to Hawaii has faded. The new freckles stayed though!  We have sort of settled in to a sort of winter routine here. The Boy is busy with all things studying, baseball, and now, drivers' education.  That's right. You heard me. The Boy is learning how to drive....ACK! I can't be old enough for this! He can't be old enough for this! Am I ready for this? I am going to have to be.
This past week was exam week at the high school and while he won't admit it, nerves played a role.  To help get him through,  I made a couple of the Boy's favourites for dinner.  Nothing like a little comfort food to get  you through!  Chicken Fingers and fries.  He asks for homemade chicken fingers every time I buy boneless chicken breasts!  Of course, this can be a messy undertaking because you need to dredge the chicken strips in flour, dip them in egg yolk, and then in the bread crumb mixture but it is so worth the effort!

First start your french fries!! Heat the oven to 400F and scrub 3 large russet potatoes. Line a baking sheet with a layer of tin foil or parchment paper. Cut the potatoes into fry size sticks.  Toss the fries with 2 tbsps oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt. Place the fries in the oven.

Chicken Fingers

• 3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 4 strips each
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 1 cup panko 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper

Take out 3 dishes or pie plates.
In the first dish, toss in the seasoned flour.

In the second dish, beat the eggs.

In the third dish, mix together the panko, Parmesan, garlic powder, onion powder, a big pinch of salt and a healthy grinding of pepper.

Get a baking sheet ready with either parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.

Now, first all of those strips of chicken need to be dredged in the flour and shaken off.

Next, plunge the flour coated chicken into the beaten eggs and let the excess drip off.

Plunk the drippy chicken into the panko mixture making sure to coat the entire piece of chicken in crumbly goodness.

Place the strips onto the prepared baking sheet and slide it all into the oven with the fries. You can flip the fries over if you want, I never do and things always seem to turn out just fine.

Once the chicken strips are in the oven, everything should be cooked in 25 to 30 minutes.

The fries and strips should both be golden brown when done.

Homemade honey mustard.

• 1/2 cup mayo
• 2 tsp mustard
• 2 tbsp honey

Mix all three ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.

Serve with chicken fingers.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

Not So Chilly Chili Cheese Fries

Well my friends, this will most likely be my last post....for a couple of weeks anyway.  Today I spent most of my day at a local theatre to start rehearsals for our school's production of Back to the 80s!!! We will be practicing all week long for our show's run so I am pretty darn sure I won't be having much time (or energy) for blogging.

So sad I know.  I figured I should get a post in today before I get too tired.  Last night using my new spices from Penzey's Spices I brewed up a large pot o' spicy chili!  Yum!!  Why not bake up a batch of seasoned french fries so I can have some chili cheese fries!!!

For Chili Cheese Fries you will need:

• 3 russet potatoes, scrubbed
• seasoning salt (I used Hy's Seasoning salt)
• olive oil
• your favourite chili, already made...spicy is nice! (Or try this one)
• shredded cheese of our choice (today I had sharp cheddar and mozzarella so I used that)
• green onions, chopped
• sour cream

Pre heat the oven to 400 F and scrub the potatoes and cut into fairly even fries.  Drizzle with a couple tbsp olive oil and stir to coat.  Shake on some seasoning salt.

Bake for 25 minutes, flip with your favourite flipper.

Vader loves chili cheese fries!!

Heat up your chili and shred your cheese!

 
Bake for another 20 minutes or until desired about of crispiness is achieved.  You can also use the broil element at the end to crisp up our fries.
 
Plate up you cheese chili fries....fries, chili, cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of green onions....that's it....yum!!

Let me tell you, these hit the spot after a long day of rehearsals!! Spicy, cheesy, baked potato goodnes all on one plate!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!