RECIPE - Super Crunch Chicken Fingers (with Kale)

Happy Meals got nothing on this! This is one of the juiciest, crunchiest, and cheapest meals you can make! It's even got some healthy greens in there.

To prove it to you, next to each ingredient (not including spices, you should have those!) I put about how much it costs. I'd estimate this meal can feed 4-6 people, and it costs $10. No joke.

If that wasn't enough, take a look at these crunchy strips of Happy:

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips ($5)
3/4 cup cornstarch ($1)
1 cup milk
1 cup cornmeal ($1)
1/2 cup GF puffed rice cereal (box costs $4, so ~$1)
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
salt and ground black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying

For the kale:
1 bunch kale, thoroughly washed and roughly chopped ($2)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, whole but smashed
salt and ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Pour the cornstarch into a Ziploc bag. Add chicken and shake until chicken is coated. Remove chicken onto a paper plate. Discard extra cornstarch.
2. In the same bag, add the cornmeal and spices.
3. Pour milk into a bowl, and add chicken in batches. Coat the chicken, shake off excess, and place into bag with cornmeal and spices.
4. Fry the chicken in batches in a saute pan with about 1/2 inch vegetable oil. Cook on medium-high heat until chicken is golden brown, about 3 minutes per side (this will vary depending on how thick the chicken is).
5. For the kale, heat the olive oil in a pan, and add garlic. Saute garlic for a minute or two until it starts to turn brown. Remove garlic and add kale. Saute kale until fully wilted, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve super crunchy chicken fingers with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce!

RECIPE - GF Pasta a la Meatballs

I've been working on this pasta recipe for a while now, and I think it's pretty close to perfect! There's a few secrets and tricks I use in this recipe, like using rice cereal in the meatballs (instead of breadcrumbs), using ground turkey instead of beef (makes it lighter), and adding oil to the pasta water (prevents the pasta from sticking together.

This recipe would go great with the GF Focaccia I reviewed earlier this week

Try it and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey or beef
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt + black pepper
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup crushed GF puffed rice cereal
2 tbsp olive oil

For the pasta:
1 lb GF spaghetti (TJ rice pasta is just fine...and cheap)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp salt

For the sauce:
1 jar/can crushed tomatoes (I like the TJ plain marinara sauce)
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt + black pepper

Directions:
1. To make the meatballs, mix together ground meet, seasonings, milk and crushed rice cereal. Crush the rice cereal pretty fine, either in your hand or in a plastic bag. Once combined, roll meatballs into ping pong ball-size balls.
2. Fry meatballs in a pan in 2 tbsp olive oil (if using beef, you can use less or no olive oil). Turn meatballs occasionally until browned on all sides. Drain excess oil.
3. Transfer meatballs into a pot. Add tomato sauce ingredients, including garlic, tomatoes, and spices. Cook sauce over low heat, stirring gently every few minutes.

4. To make the pasta, heat a lot of water in a large pot. Once boiling, add 2 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp olive oil and GF spaghetti. The olive oil will help prevent the pasta from sticking together after it is cooked. Stir often until pasta is just cooked through. Drain pasta and return to large pot.
5. Pour meatballs and sauce into pot with cooked pasta. Stir and and heat on medium for about 2 minutes, until sauce boils and the pasta absorbs some of the sauce. Serve with parmesan cheese or parsley.