Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Down Home Done Light

Mindy here and last week I had two glorious days all to myself. My men were off to scout camp and my daughter was visiting friends. So what's a girl to do--especially one on Weight Watchers--when she starts craving fried chicken? And not just any fried chicken, but homemade fried chicken.

Well, one thing that really helps me on WW is knowing what I want and then figuring out how I can satisfy that desire without falling off the wagon. So I decided I was going to make my own version of oven-fried chicken, complete with my lite and creamy mashed potatoes.

First, the chicken.

I thawed out a boneless, skinless chicken breast, then soaked it in low-fat buttermilk for an hour. The acidity in buttermilk acts as a tenderizer and, I think, gives it a little extra moisture.

While it was soaking, I set up my prep area. I lined my baking pan with foil that I sprayed lightly with olive oil. Then, in a small bowl, I seasoned about a cup of flour (you could get away with less) with seasoned salt, salt, and pepper.


In another bowl, I poured about half a cup of egg beaters (you can also use and egg and milk mixture). Mind you, I'm only cooking for one this night.

In the next bowl, is the secret to making my chicken nice and crispy--Panko bread crumbs. These can be found with traditional bread crumbs or in the Asian section of your supermarket. I seasoned those the same way as the flour.

Now we're ready to go.

First, I dip my chicken, still wet with buttermilk, into the flour mixture.


Then it goes into the egg wash.


Then the Panko bread crumbs.

Next it goes onto my prepared pan, and I mist the top of the chicken with olive oil.



Then it goes into a 375 degree oven for approx. 30 minutes.

For the mashed potatoes, I boiled one large potato, skin on, until tender. Mashed it then added a tablespoon of light butter/margarine and approx. 1/3 cup of fat free half and half. Seasoned with salt and pepper and voila! Rich and creamy mashed potatoes without all the fat and calories.

Throw in some steamed broccoli and I was one happy camper.

I know this looks like a lot of food, which was exactly what I wanted to achieve when I used a salad plate. The chicken was crispy on the outside, moist and juicy on the inside.

Of course, when my guys heard about my oven fried chicken, they wanted to try it too.


This was Sunday night's dinner. I skinned the drumsticks before soaking in the buttermilk. And it was more like two and a half cups of flour, a 16 oz container of egg beaters, and almost and entire bag of Panko bread crumbs. Then baked for about 40 minutes.

But it was SO good. And when losing weight, satisfaction is the name of the game.

How do you satisfy your cravings without breaking the calorie bank?

17 comments:

  1. Tex, this looks delicious! And I love coating chicken and oven roasting it.

    When I'm alone, though, I don't cook. Ever. That's my present to myself. That's when I write. After I happy dance because I'm never alone around here. My house draws folks like flies to honey and to be alone for an evening????

    Smile...... BIG SMILE...... If I'm too tired to write anything decent, I paint. Or pull weeds. I can pray in a garden, or while painting. But on those nights what I wouldn't give for a Chick Fil A in our area. Folks who live near them don't know how lucky they are!

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    1. Ruthy, normally I don't cook when I'm alone either, but I just didn't feel like going anywhere. I WAS painting! And even though I love Chick fil a and have one right down the road, these last eight pounds dictate I stay away and on course. Actually, my son found a recipe for Chick fil a's seasoning and has been bugging me to try it. I forgot, but I'll have to give it a whirl. If it's half as good, I'll share it one week.

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    2. I have chick fil a right down the street - and it's tough money-wise and points-wise - I fit it in 4 times one week after day shift and had a low loss even though I was tracking - I think fried stuff varies too much! I figured I spent over $25 there that week too! yikes!
      Susanna

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    3. You're right, Susanna, it is pricey. Especially when you have two teenage boys. Oy! So I usually have to sneak over there by myself. Still, until I reach my goal, I need to hold off.

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  2. Mindy, this looks so good! I haven't made oven baked chicken in ages. And I've never tried soaking in buttermilk first. Will definitely do it soon!

    My problem is I never have buttermilk when I need it. But I remember once finding a powdered buttermilk. You could keep it in the pantry and mix up however much you need. I'll have to look for that again.

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    1. Missy, in a pinch, you can also add a tablespoon of lemon juice to a cup of regular milk and let it set about five minutes and you'll have buttermilk.

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    2. I've done that as well, Mindy! :)

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  3. This looks awesome.

    Two-thirds of our family is watching weight/calories, etc. ...but then those younger boys are skinny as rails. Between the ROTC guy keeping in shape this summer by running and the youngest working at a ranch supply store, they're buff.

    But what we all have in common is a love of protein. So grilled chicken, steak and burgers are always a favorite. I add some roasted potatoes, grilled zucchini or steamed broccoli, and some fresh fruit and we're good.

    This is definitely going on next week's menu :) It fits right in.


    And Ruthy, when I'm alone I don't cook, either. That's what Lean Cuisine is there for, right? Or PB&J?

    And, of course, some Ghiradelli 60% for dessert. 16 chips = one serving.

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    1. Jan, what I wouldn't give for the metabolism of those kids. Of course, I wouldn't want to do the military workouts though. Ugh!

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  4. I tried soaking my chicken in buttermilk for the first time a few days ago. I soaked it for about 8 hours, seasoned it and grilled it on low. It was very moist, I couldn't believe the difference. My grilled chicken is usually pretty dry. I'll have to try this next.

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    1. You know, Donna, I bet soaking chicken in buttermilk is one of those things that dates way back to when they made their own butter. Those pioneers may not have had all of our modern conveniences, but they sure knew how to cook:-)

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  5. this recipe sounds good! never tried buttermilk - I"vd baked 'fried' chicken using corn flakes and was surprised how good it came out (forgot to spray the baking dish so that wasn't fun). work project took us out to saltgrass steakhouse(if ya'll don't have one and are watching calories pray you never get one)but I wanted steak so I decided since it'd be a long dinner(was even longer than I thought-they're in no hurry when the bar is kept hopping and they were definitely hopping with the group I work with)so I wanted something to keep me busy and decided on a steak salad. it was huge and had at least 304 oz steak on it. I hate bleu cheese and had them leave it off and got the dressing on teh side (not sure what the dressing was but it tasted and looked like A1 which is my fave but said balsamic so maybe they mixed the 2?!) anyways with the few potatoes, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, boiled egg slices(ditched the yolks) I was fine. I do that at home too - stretch the fattening part out in a salad or wrap - little bit of sausage with mostly egg. full fat ice cream I still can't deal with though - moderation goes out the window.

    Susanna

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    1. I'm with you on the ice cream. No moderation. My favorite is Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. I recently discovered they had a light version and, would you believe, it tasted exactly like the full fat version? I was shocked. And a bit dismayed, as well. That meant I could have my ice cream and eat it too. Boy, am I in trouble.

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  6. Chick-fil-a isn't that bad on points if you ask them to hold off on the butter (on the bun). I used to go once a week after my WW meeting! LOL

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    1. once a week isn't bad but I had trouble losing the week I went 4 times! speaking of which my darn car pulled into the drive thru again tonight :-( and I had the fries- needed it - tried my 2nd zumba class and did 35 min out of the hour - wasn't enjoying it like I did saturday's class - the music was blech and I could hardly move if I wanted to with the people all crammed in there and the moves were dancier than saturday's - ok ok I had a book waiting to read which is where I'm headed now!
      Susanna

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  7. Mindy, were you reading my mind?

    My husband asked for fried chicken last night and as I was making it, I was wondering about dipping in buttermilk. I never thought of soaking it. Will have to try that next time.


    As for ice cream, we have a local place that makes it with milk from grass fed cows. The vanilla is so creamy and rich that I can't even look at other ice cream (except for Cherry Garcia).

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