Recipes for normal people??

THEREALDINANE, that sounds good!

I find when I was your age I started to grow herbs, just so I could change things up because I was tired of boring... and I didn't want to buy half the spice department on my tiny budget.

Just a suggestion, but for less then $10 you could have a little herb garden in your kitchen. :)

As for tofu, its just cooked down to nothing soy beans, then they mash 'em up.... then pull as much moisture back out to make a brick. So basically, its a bunch of tasteless bean stuff.

I like to make dips and stuff to change up my chicken. So its not the same chicken every other day. Like tonight I made pesto. Basil, garlic, parmasean cheese and olive oil in the food processor. A little bit on my chicken, and little on some plane whole grain pasta as a side... yum!

.~.Better-For-You Fried Chicken.~.

Servings

4

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco
- 2 1/2-3 pounds chicken legs, skin removed, trimmed and cut into thighs and drumsticks
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste
- cooking spray (olive oil preferred)

Directions

1) Mix buttermilk, mustard, garlic and hot sauce in a shallow glass dish until well blended. Add chicken and turn to coat.

2) Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour or for up to 8 hours.

3) Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Coat it with cooking spray.

4) Mix flour, sesame seeds, paprika, thyme, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Place the mixture in a paper bag or large plastic bag. Shaking off excess marinade, place one or two pieces of chicken at a time in the bag and shake to coat. Shake off excess flour and place chicken on the prepared rack. (Discard any leftover flour mixture and marinade.) Spray chicken pieces with cooking spray.

5) Bake the chicken thoroughly for 40 to 50 minutes.

I have more recipes at yumrecipes.webs.com . Feel free to check it out! Keep in mind that it's still under construction!

Edited by: SUPERSYLPH at: 10/2/2010 (07:10)

that stir fry recipe looks really good.

Thank you all for the help. You were all very helpful to me

I like to thaw a meat from the freezer and then look on SparkRecipes.com by searching for the meat (turkey, chicken, steak, burger, etc). And I think that the key is using what you have. Don't be afraid to substitute or add extras in. If you are missing something see what you can add in it's place.

Happy cooking!

Since you are used to fried foods since childhood, rinse chicken breast under water, coat with bread crumbs and place on cookie sheet (with sides) or oven proof cookware sprayed with cooking spray. Spray top of breast lightly with cooking spray, add whatever favorite no salt spices, and bake until done. If you have potatoes, clean a skin on potato, cut into 1/4's or 1/8's depending on size, rinse under water, In a baggie, add about 2tbs flour and favorite no salt spices -I like cinnamon or chili- shake potatoes in bag until coated. Place on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking oil then spray tops of potatoes. Place in oven, turn over when halfway done. I use a 400 degree oven, for about 35-45 minutes, depending on quanity baked. You may enjoy the "Oven Fried" in place of Deep Fried. For a real fast meal. Cut chicken breast into strips, put in hot pan turning once in about 5-7 minutes, use for chicken wrap sandwich with lettuce, tomato onion-whatever you like. When you have some time, bake a few breasts, cool in fridge, and freeze! Just microwave until hot when you are ready to use them!

Edited by: BLUEJEANGRL58 at: 9/25/2010 (18:32)

It is very easy to have a set of go-to chicken meals. Grilled chicken can be augmented with any spice you are familiar with, without adding calories. And steaming veggies in the microwave is super easy - it just takes some time to learn what takes how long. But basically, microwave veggies with just a couple tablespoons of water in the bottom of a bowl and plastic wrap covering most of the top (leave a vent to prevent explosions). You can add garlic powder or onion powder to kick up the flavor.

Here is a pretty basic recipe for stir-fry that I make all the time. It makes two servings.

2 chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
1 cup sugar snap peas
1/2 cup carrots, sliced into circles
2-3 scallions, sliced into circles
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup pineapple juice (or you can use low sodium chicken broth if you don't like pineapple or don't have any juice on hand)

Mix the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and juice (or broth). Pour half over the chicken as a marinade for about 1/2 hour. Heat up a large frying pan. Spray with cooking oil. Add carrots and cook until starting to get brown edges. Push the carrots to the side of the pan. Drain the chicken, and add it to the pan. Stir-fry until cooked most of the way through. Add the peas and scallions and the other half of the marinade (the part that hasn't touched the chicken). Stir and cook until the veggies are as you like them.

If your diet allows, you can serve over brown rice cooked to the package directions.

To me a simple recipe is something like a fish such as tilapia which is common in FL with some salt, pepper, lemon juice, maybe a little olive oil and some chopped green onions on top and then broiled for 15 minutes. Add a side of sauté broccoli, green beans, zucchini...anything like that. You have a healthy meal done in no time. No fish? Chicken breast with some garlic, lemon juice, thyme.

I highly recommend checking out Cooking Light magazine; check out their website for recipes if you don't want to invest in a subscription. They have everything from 20-30 minute meals to more time consuming things. They list the nutrition breakdown for every recipe as well so you can keep track of your food easily. A lot of their recipes are just as simple as adding some spices you wouldn't have thought about before to chicken breast.

look at some of the recipes on sparkrecipe... you can find plenty using chicken, beans, pork, steak... anything that you normally have in your kitchen. you don't have to use ingredients that you aren't familiar with.

I am looking for recipes for ingredients you would normally have in your home. I am 23 yrs old and was raised in Central Florida. My family fries everything. I have gotten out of that and am trying to eat healthy. I want to make something that tastes good and is good for me. I do not know what half the ingredients are in most healthy recipes I find. I do not know what tofu is. I have gone this far without it I do not need to know. I always have chicken breast and normal spices in my home. I guess I have simple things. Does anyone have a simple recipe for my simple things?