Wednesday, September 17, 2008

By Request...

I completely spaced on "Make a Meal Monday"!! Not that I've been super committed to it. I've done a few. But a friend of mine over at Lundgrenville was curious what I made for dinner on Monday, and since I actually did fix something super yummy that night, I will post about it. Sadly though, I didn't get any pictures. I SO wish I had though! I considered "borrowing" a picture from google, but the ones I found just didn't look anything like what mine and I didn't want to give any false impressions. Sooo...you'll just have to read how I made it and see if it sounds good enough to try.

Monday I made Fried Chicken. *Sidenote-This was supposed to be Sunday's lunch/dinner, except when I opened the drumsticks to start preparing them, I was blown away by this awful smell. It literally smelled like it had been drenched in gasoline. Totally gross. I had just bought it a few days before at Albertsons. I had bought some boneless, skinless chicken breasts the same day at Bashas' and was going to be fixing some of those also, so I got them out and smelled them. They smelled perfect...well, as perfect as raw chicken can smell... Honestly, compared to the drumsticks, they had no scent that I could detect. I had bought 2 things of the chicken at Albertsons...I decided to open the other one and see if it smelled the same. It did. It was about $11.00 worth of chicken, not on sale...I wasn't just going to let it go. I called them up and explained that I bought some bad chicken from them and what should I do? They said to bring it in to the butcher's block and they'd replace it for free. So I did just that. I did notice that the "sell by" date on the chicken was Sept 12th and I bought it on the 11th. Usually it is good in the fridge for a few days with no worries of it going bad. The guy was very nice and grabbed me some new chicken. The "sell by" date on it was the 18th...still several days out, so I'm wondering if that was the deal. I think I'll pay a little closer attention next time. Anyway, the kids were "starving" before I even left to Albertsons, so I just had Josiah pop a pizza in the oven. Lame Sunday meal, but what could I do? I had a meeting at 6:30 that evening for Cub Scouts, so I wasn't going to have time to fix it for dinner. So Monday's meal it was. (sorry about that long sidenote)

At my grandmother's funeral, it was mentioned that she was a great cook. "She made the best fried chicken..." is what we were told. Now I don't remember if I ever had any of my grandmother's fried chicken, but I know that my mother's fried chicken was ALWAYS very good. I always had made it differently than the way I knew my mom had made it, but only because I like to try different things. Not because it was not good. Anyway, after her funeral, I was very curious to try it that way, so I asked my mom for EXACTLY how it was supposed to be cooked. Here is the recipe for delicious, crisp, chicken...

Chicken, skinned and rinsed
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Crisco Shortening

I don't have an exact amount for any of these. Mostly I just made sure I had enough flour to go through all the chicken. My mom always put it in a ziplock bag, I used a rectangle Tupperware dish and tongs to cover the chicken in flour.

Add enough salt & pepper to taste....I would say a good tsp to cup of flour. (Mom, do you have a better idea? I never saw you measuring either, but you've been making it forever so maybe you could help me out here?) Mix Flour, salt & pepper well.

Melt shortening over medium heat until hot. (You'll know it's ready when water flicked onto it, pops.

If you're using a ziplock bag, add several pieces of chicken to the flour mixture, zip the bag and shake til nice and coated. If you're using a dish, use tongs to turn the chicken a few times til it's nice and covered. Add chicken 1 piece at a time to hot shortening. Cover with lid, while heat is still on medium, cook on each side for 5 minutes. (Boneless chicken won't take as long as chicken on the bone) After both sides have cooked, turn the heat to high and cook chicken for 2 more minutes per side. This will give it the nice crispiness that is so desired about fried chicken.

I also made mashed potatoes to go along with the chicken. We loaded them w/butter, cheese, and bacon bits. So yummy!

Anyway, I wish I had thought to take a picture, but I think my brain was lost in thoughts of preschool for the week.

The good news is, preschool is over for the week. I don't have to teach again for another 5 weeks. Although it was not that bad. I was not nearly as prepared for Monday as I should have been, but it turned out ok. I did a much better job today. We discussed our senses, and favorites/preferences. The kids had fun smelling cotton balls that I'd sprayed some yummy smelling bath and body works shimmer mist spray on, and tasting a lemon...I squeezed it right onto their tongues from the peel. Some were a little hesitant at first, but after seeing the others taste it first, they all wanted to. I went around the table about 5 times. Funny kids. They got to feel a velvety soft fabric which covers a heart shaped box that I have...which worked perfectly for this week because the shape that we learned about was hearts. Although, I think all kids by the age of 2 knows what a heart looks like, so we didn't have to do much discussing on that.

Anyway, tomorrow I have a busy day lined up. Going to hang out w/my sil for some lunch and then a trip to Hobby Lobby.

I've been volunteering at the school this year, in the Library on Thursdays, putting books away. I'm very happy to help. The feeling of knowing I am helping the librarian is, surprisingly, very rewarding for me.

Pick up the kids from school, head to Costco for a few things, come home for a few minutes so the girls can get in one last practice on the piano before taking them to their lesson, pick up Josiah from work, come back and pick up the girls, come home and fix dinner....something terrific, I'm sure, then maybe dive into Eclipse and get that all finished off so my goal of finishing it by this Sunday night can be achieved! YAY! For goals!

Anyway, I'm off to continue my quest of having a beautifully organized scrapbooking area. I found/bought something last night that I'm super excited about, which will help with some of the organizing...but I'll wait and share it when it's filled! I know, the anticipation is going to drive you all insane!!

In the meantime....

Where have all my babies gone?!...

7 comments:

scrappiemom said...

I don't put the salt and pepper in the bag of flour. I salt and pepper each individual piece of chicken. That's how my mother did it, that's how I do it. I sounds yummy! Too bad I don't have any. You still have your babies. They are just a little bigger. Just wait until they are as big as MY babies! Love you, baby of mine.

Leslie said...

Maybe there is more babies still to come!!

I was watching a Steak cook off on the food network the other night..and one of the guys put it like this..."all steaks are good, some are just better then others."

Well that may not be totally true but the point is...it never hurts to try something new even if you have the best recipe. Which is what I think you did so I am just going to be quite now.

YogaNana said...

I agree with your mom -- they're still your babies, just ... taller. :o)

lundgrenville said...

Sarah...Sarah....Sarah...
Thanks for the yummy recipe!! Im excited about it!!
I like to change things up a bit. Im gonna bring you some awesome zuchini bread. Hopefully you like zuchini bread....however I have some freshly made. I cook my zuchini and put it in a blender before I add it to the bread mix....Its killer & taste so yummy!
And as to your cute kiddos!! They are darn cute. I was watching them on Sunday...and thinking how cute they are!!! Love the pix!!
Maybe there is one more :)

Jenna said...

Yeah, make more babies.

I'll tell you what, losing weight at your house would be even harder than trying to lose weight at mine! Everything you make sounds so delicious!

Good for you for volunteering. You're amazing with all you do.

Heidi A. said...

Cute blog. I had to laugh. We all share such experiences.
My 11 yr. old daughter was fixing steak tonight and said 'there was some blood on one of the small pieces -- so, I threw it away. :)
I had to laugh -- without letting her know. :)

I've started a new blog LIST for Mormon Moms who blog and would love to have you join! It's http://MormonMomsWhoBlog.blogspot.com
If you leave a comment and your site name we'll add you to the list! We'd LOVE to have you on!

nutmeg said...

You make gorgeous kids too!