Fast-Food for Spoiled Brats

Insert Homer Simpson's Drooling Noise Here...

In two days, we will be a one-income household.  Scott is leaving his job waiting tables at a restaurant, taking a week off to get ready and starting TEACHERS' COLLEGE on the 31st!!!  I could not be happier for him, and despite worrying about my salary bearing the brunt of our expenses, I know we will get through it.


Growing up, I was lucky enough not to realize people worried about money.  My parents were careful not to discuss it in front of my sister and me, and we were comfortable.  When I first moved out of my house, I was lucky enough that my mom sent healthy food down every weekend with my then-boyfriend.  Furthermore, when I DID have to grocery shop, it was financed by my more-than-generous budget from home.  Am I telling you all this because I want to sound like a spoiled brat?  No.  I'm just saying that until a couple of years ago, I did not really know how much food cost.  By this I mean, the challenge of grocery shopping was not whether or not I was getting a bargain, but to find healthy, interesting options.


I remember distinctly having an argument with another boyfriend (we lived together) about how much I spent on groceries...  he told me I had purchased the most expensive cheese he'd ever seen, and how come I didn't get chicken when it was on sale?  My answer was, "Because I wanted THAT cheese and if we need chicken, we need chicken!"  Are you hating me yet?  I'm cringing now that I think about this!  Well.  Things.  Have.  Changed.  I am now able (thanks to Scott's help and growing the hell up) to guess our grocery bill within a couple of dollars, and I ONLY buy chicken breasts when they are on sale!


Oops.  All this lead to my actual reason for posting.  I had a huge bag of chicken breasts that I had gotten on sale, and I wanted to do something different with them.  I think a common misconception of eating the way I do is that I PREFER healthy choices to unhealthy ones.  While this is often true, sometimes I want fast food too!  I just usually prefer not to have the awful, cement in your stomach, food hangover that comes with it.  So I decided I would make chicken fingers.  Hmmm....  how do you make wheat, yeast, dairy-free batter?  Here's what I did:
Oregano
Cayenne
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Arrowroot Starch or Flour
A packet of Dairy-Free Organic Instant Oatmeal with Flax
An egg


I sliced up the chicken breasts on the bias (way easier if they are still a little frozen), dipped them in the egg and then coated them with the batter.  Then I used a little olive oil to grease a cookie sheet and threw them in the oven for about 40 minutes at 350.  Then, because I was also making sweet potato fries, I cranked the oven to 425, put them on the top rack and turned on the convection option on my oven for about another ten minutes  (I learned from a friend's husband that this makes oven fries crispy, and it did the same for the chicken fingers).


We had the chicken with tabasco-infused ketchup, a carrot-balsamic salad and the sweet potato fries.  I guess this was my version of chicken fingers, coleslaw and fries... and it was GOOD.  I've since used this batter recipe to coat salmon, I just replaced the egg with Dijon Mustard and the Oregano with Dill.  


Guys, I'll never be normal, and eat normal food.  But at least from time to time, I get to pretend!