Cooking because that's all the fun I can have

 So I was gifted extra foodstuffs for the holiday and now have a 20# turkey in the freezer. That will be for later as it takes about 4 or 5 days to thaw in the fridge. We have chiken galore and hamburger to last until we get food money on the weekend. So first off I present, 'Poor Man's Salisbury Steak'.

Mushrooms and gravy mix from the food gift and potatoes from our cupboard. That was a lot more involved than it would seem, since I can only cook on one burner at a time when I have the big pan out. Salt and peppered four hamburger patties and fried those up, then boiled the potato bits (I over boiled them and were a bit watery but still good), then fried up the mushrooms in the pan the burgers cooked in, saucepan for the gravy and tossed those in, voila! Yummy dinner. Vanilla ice cream for desert as well.

Oh and phone still has no internet on it's own right now, I'm restarting it just now to see if that connects with Cricket. If not, will have to drive over to the store. Which I hate doing.

Now I have posted pictures about the chicken fingers I have made in the past and this was a slightly different take on it since I don't have eggs at the moment. Hmmmmmm.....

Here's the recipe:

Cut 2 chicken breasts into strips and pieces as you see fit. No longer than 3 inches and if they are too thick slice them so they're about a half inch thick. 

Whatever seasoning you want to use on them is variable, I have a 'Country Chicken' seasoning that is salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder and paprika. Thoroughly coated the pieces in that in a large zip bag then put it in the fridge for about an hour.

Meanwhile, do some other things but also mix: 

1/2 cup each Bisquick and AP flour

1/2 tsp each baking soda and baking powder

1 tsp Cajun seasoning

1tsp salt.

Mix well in a small rectangle baking dish or whatever you have that's convenient to give enough depth for dredging.

I don't have an expansive kitchen so I used two of my baking sheets to put the pieces on after dredging them. I think I ended up with almost two dozen pieces big and small for the chicken. Dredge in the flour mix then lay them in a single layer. When you finish with them all the way through, heat up about two inches of oil in the dutch oven or pot (if you are lucky enough to have a deep fryer, go for it as per directions for that). While that is heating, dredge the pieces again, patting them a bit with tongs or a back of a fork to set the flower and shake off excess to put them back on the sheet. 

 

The oil is about 3 inches deep, probably about a cup and a half or 2 of oil. Heat oil on medium high heat (again, no thermometer to check temp, medium high for me is about 7 on the dial) if you have some tiny bits of chicken drop them in the oil, if they start bubbling immediately, the oil is ready.  Cook the chicken until lightly golden and set on paper towels or a rack to drain. Serve with Ranch dressing and a side salad. Lunch is served! Normally I would have an Italian dressing for the salad but we ran out so Ranch dressing was it.

I have also marinated the chicken in Italian dressing which turns out excellent as well. The breading on this version is light but fluffy considering the extra 'floof powder' that I put in. Wonderfully light and filling, I was also tempted to try my hand at frying some potatoes but that was an extra step I didn't feel up to.

So that's what I've been doing, not much else really. Conserving gas this week since the boys have the week off from school, turkey day is Thursday and we should get our monthly money early (possibly Thursday or Friday) since the first is on Sunday. The cycle continues. Will be attempting to pay for car registration this month or at least save out half to pay it at the beginning of January.  So many things that are needed this month and next, new bras, some non food stuffs for the kitchen and an oil change (although the car functioned fine with having a year between oil changes). We will survive eating fewer times out. 

Yay for cooking!