complete meal

Oven Fried Chicken

June 23, 2014 by Dana

I’ll be the first to admit.. I LOVE fried chicken. Have you ever met anyone who doesn’t though?

When I was younger, I remember my parents taking me to Hardee’s after church. Remember Hardee’s? Apparently they are still around. Who knew?!?! I totally thought Wendy’s would have taken them down by now. At that time (20 some years ago) everyone was lovin’ the fried chicken at Hardee’s. You know, because it was the 90’s and people were snackin’ on SnackWells and Rice Cakes…then having some fried chicken. Not exactly how you remember your childhood? That’s probably a good thing! *face palm for SnackWells*

I always got the same thing at Hardee’s. If it was breakfast I would get the biscuits and sausage gravy, and if it was lunch I would get friend chicken. I know, I know, WHHHYYY!?!?! I was a kid though and had no idea this stuff was horrible. Now don’t get me wrong, a piece of fried chicken every once in a while isn’t going to kill anyone, but now-a-days I realize the oil they fry the chicken in is likely GMO and may even contain some preservatives and trans fats. Trans fats = deadly. Enough said!

Then one day a light-bulb went off above my head. How about I make my own chicken in the oven. It will be crispy, juicy, and delicious. No deep-fryer, no GMO oils, no trans fats. Just chicken, butter, spices, and whole wheat flour. Yes, it is THAT easy. And yes, this is one of those times I wish I would have realized this sooner.

For this Oven-Fried Chicken I first marinate the chicken in buttermilk, then pat it dry. After that I season the chicken GENEROUSLY with kosher/pink Himalayan salt, and pepper. I mix the spices together, season each piece, then dredge it in flour. I bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, then give each piece a nice rub of butter, to ensure the skin cooks up crispy and golden. How easy is that?

Not only do I love this meal because it is extremely delicious, it is also really inexpensive to put together, as chicken leg quarters don’t cost as much as breasts, or boneless chicken meat. I served this Oven Fried Chicken with a baked sweet potato and asparagus to add a ton of extra nutrition to this meal. Take a look. 🙂

Complete Meal Monday: Tomato & Basil Quiche with Garlic, Shallot, and Lemon Butter Asparagus, and Tomato Mozzarella Salad

June 18, 2014 by Dana

This is one veggie packed dinner! I love eating meals that leave me feeling good about what I just ate, and this meal is a great example of just that. In the summer I like to mix a ton of different cold salads together which makes meal prep pretty easy. Here are the recipes and instructions for this meal.

Tomato & Basil Quiche

1/2 recipe Whole Wheat Pie Crust
12 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
7 egg yolks + 2 whole eggs or 5 whole eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan or Kosher salt
fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions: Roll out whole wheat crust and put into a butter & floured tart pan or pie pan. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and finely chop fresh basil. Whisk together eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture into tart shell, then add cheeses, tomatoes, and basil. Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. This recipe makes one quiche, which serves about 4. *If you’d like a richer quiche, use 7 yolks+2 whole eggs. If not, use 5 whole eggs.

Garlic, Shallot, and Lemon Butter Asparagus

15-20 asparagus spears
1 Tablespoon salted butter
1 clove garlic
1/4 shallot
1-2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
pink Himalayan or Kosher salt to taste
freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions: Steam or boil asparagus. In a separate, small sauté pan melt butter, garlic, and shallot together. Allow garlic and shallot to cook over low-medium heat. Once tender, add lemon juice, salt, and black pepper.

Tomato, Cucumber, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad

1 recipe Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette
1 container cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber
1/2 shallot or red onion
3-4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese

Instructions: Halve cherry tomatoes and slice cucumbers. If you want to get really fancy, take a peeler and peel sections of cucumber to make them look nicer before slicing. Finely dice shallot. Cut mozzarella into small chunks, and mix with all other ingredients. Add desired amount of dressing. If you don’t want any extra dressing, only make a 1/2 batch of the homemade red wine vinaigrette.

Complete Meal Monday: Garlic, Shallot, and White Wine Flounder with Spinach, Watercress, and Strawberry Salad

June 10, 2014 by Dana

At times it is easier to find inspiration when you have the whole meal in front of you! I decided to start doing complete meal inspiration to help viewers visualize what unprocessed and real dinners look like. I get a lot of questions about what we eat, and while some of the recipes give a little insight, this lays out exactly what we eat in a meal. I’m not able to attach two recipes to one post, so for the red wine vinaigrette for the salad click here.

The Fish

We love fish, especially Flounder (sorry I know I need to mix up my fish recipes!). I think part of eating unprocessed foods is using different ingredients and keeping it fresh. My husband and I were both thinking about shallots for some reason so he picked up a few at the grocery store, and BAM! I have a brand new recipe to share. He tends to get random things at the grocery store which is awesome because so many new recipes of mine come from him picking up unexpected items each week. If you are just getting into eating unprocessed foods one of the best things to do is try new things, and fill your refrigerator with fresh produce and herbs. I made a nice white wine sauce to bake over this flounder, which included butter, shallots, garlic, lemon, white wine, and fresh parsley. Not only is it beautiful, it tastes amazing!

The Salad

I can’t stress this enough.. making your own dressings is an essential part of eating unprocessed foods because store bought dressings are some of the worst products on grocery store shelves. It gets even worse because almost all of the companies making bottled dressings use unethical labeling to trick consumers into thinking they are getting a quality product. In reality 95% of bottled dressings are made of soybean oil, MSG, preservatives, and unlabeled ingredients under the “natural flavors” loophole. I’ve talked about Hidden Valley Ranch, so I won’t go over that again. However, sometimes vinaigrettes slip through the cracks because people assume they are just oil and vinegar. Here are the ingredients in WishBone’s Balsamic Breeze Salad Spritzer (I couldn’t find the Red Wine one online, hopefully they don’t make it anymore):

Ingredients: Water, Balsamic Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Soybean Oil, Salt, Distilled Vinegar, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Onion Juice, Garlic Juice, Xanthan Gum, Natural Flavors (Soy), (Sorbic Acid, Calcium Disodium EDTA) Used To Protect Quality, Wine, Sulfur Dioxide (Used To Protect Quality).

These ingredients just make me sad. I would honestly look at this product and think it was a healthier alternative to regular bottled dressing because you just spray it on. The only ingredients this product should have are olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and spices. I have NO idea where the high fructose corn syrup, EDTA, or emulsifiers came from. Shame on WishBone for tricking consumers like this!

With that being said, this salad is one of my favorites! I’m a feta lover, and the saltiness of feta cheese pairs perfectly with strawberries. I also threw in some walnuts, spinach, and watercress and had a delicious salad loaded with tons nutrition. I mentioned previously, I can’t attach two recipes to one post, so if you want the dressing recipe click here. To make this salad just desired amount of ingredients with a small amount of dressing and enjoy! A little bit of this dressing goes a long way!

Oven Fried Chicken