One Last Hoorah...

So these past few weeks have been an absolute blast, cooking all kinds and types of food that we've never done before.  Unfortunately they have not been so much fun for our waistlines! So starting today, we're going to try to eat healthy, or at least healthier than we have been.  We decided to go out with a bang of sorts last night for dinner.  

During the day yesterday we got to spend some time with family from out of town (and family that lives in town) and it was really nice to see them and introduce Carter to more family members.  For dinner we were inspired by a sense of family and made one of Ryan's mom's classic dishes: fried chicken cutlets and rice.  We also had apple crisp for dessert (I'm sure this was a nutritionist nightmare of a dish).  While it was not the most vegetable-filled (okay, there were none!) dinner, it reminded us of family and made for a nice comfort meal on a rainy Sunday evening.  

Ingredients for the Chicken Cutlets:

1 package (about a pound) of chicken cutlets

1 large egg

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 cup flour

2 cups (plus more if needed) of seasoned panko breadcrumbs

Salt & pepper

Olive oil for frying

In a shallow bowl, beat the egg with a splash of water and the garlic salt.  On one plate, add the flour and season with salt and pepper.  On a different plate, add the breadcrumbs.  This will be your dredging station.  Pat dry with a paper towel your cutlets and then begin coating them: first with the flour, then dip in the egg mixture, and finally the breadcrumbs.  Place on a separate plate when coated.  Repeat this process until all the chicken pieces have been breaded.  You can cook them immediately after breading, but they taste better and the coating adheres better if you let them sit in the fridge for at least an hour.  When you're ready to cook, add olive oil to a large frying pan (enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan) and heat on medium-high.  When oil is ready, add the chicken pieces (probably will have to do two batches).  Cook on the first side for about 5 minutes or until golden brown, and then turn the heat down to medium and cook on the other side for another 3 minutes or so.  When they're done frying, place on a paper-towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt.  Serve with some buttered rice and you have the most delicious, comfort food ever!

Chicken cutlets frying in olive oil

Ingredients for Apple Crisp:

For apple mixture-

 

4 granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup of flour

1/4 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and then pour into a baking dish or a ceramic pie dish.

For crisp-

1 cup of flour

1 1/2 cup of quick cooking oats

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter, chopped into small pieces

Mix all these ingredients in bowl with your hands until butter has been completely incorporated (should look like wet sand).  Place on top of apple mixture.

Bake crisp at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until apples are bubbly and crisp is crispy!  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, or in our case if you forgot to buy any of these, just a cold class of milk.

Apple Crisp