Oven-Roasted Potatoes with Italian Herbs

​Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 4

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 91.7

 

 

 

Introduction

This is a low-fat alternative to french fries

 

Minutes to Prepare: 10

Minutes to Cook: 30

Number of Servings: 4

 

Ingredients

3 cups diced red skin or Yukon gold potatoes

1 tbsp dried basil

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp paprika

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Olive Oil Cooking Spray

 

 

Directions

 

Heat oven to 400* F. Wash and cube raw potatoes. I prefer either red skin or yukon gold and leave the skin on for additional fiber. Place potatoes in a single layer in a 9x13 cake pan (I use the kind that has a plastic lid to cover.) Spray potatoes with olive oil cooking spray for about 3 seconds. Sprinkle potatoes with dried basil and oregano, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Place plastic lid over baking pan and shake vigorously to evenly distribute herbs and spices (holding the lid in place, just in case!) Remove the lid and place in hot oven until slightly browned.

 

I serve these alone or with ketchup and both kids and adults love them. They take away the fat and fuss of french fries and are a tasty alternative that will "trick" those who think anything healthy is bland. The cooking spray helps the browning process, adds a little "crunch" and holds the herbs and spices to the potatoes.

Simple Airfryer Chicken

a very simple recipe we tried last night.  Chicken came out moist and juicy.  Definitely a keeper when you don't want to turn on the oven or grill.

2 medium size skinless, boneless chicken breasts.

Spray with Olive Oil, season to taste (I used season salt, garlic salt and onion salt).

Cook at 365 degrees for approx 20 minutes, turning halfway. 

AirFryer Panko Pork Chops

I have been looking at Air Fryers for well over a year but wouldn't pull out the cash until I saw a really good deal as I personally think the regular prices are way too high.  When I saw that Amazon Prime Day's had a special on the GoWise Fryer I went ahead and ordered it.  

I am usually not intimidated by kitchen appliances but for some reason this one I was/am so it actually sat unopened for over a week until this past weekend when I seasoned it and tried frozen french fries in it.  They were very hot and very crunchy, not anywhere as good as what comes out of the oven, but we rarely eat them so that was not a great test of the fryer.  Last night was :)  I had seen the recipe below in a FB Airfryer group and decided this would be a great test.  I can never seem to get dredged meats to look all brown, crispy an appealing like I see others post (thus the reason I don't ever make Fried Chicken).

The recipe was simple

2 thick boneless porkchops
1-2 cups of seasoned Panko crumbs
1-2 eggs 
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil (in a spray or mister)

Rinse each pork chop in water, then cover in egg bath, dredge in Panko crumbs, repeat egg bath and crumbs.
place on plate in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, longer is better.  This firms up the egg/panko mixture.

Turn air fryer on, setting it at 400 degrees
Place pork chops in basket, salt and pepper to taste and spray will olive oil.
Cook 12-20 minutes (depends on thickness) turning over at the half way point, spraying the flip side with olive oil as well.

My chops were very thick and took about 30 minutes actually.  I added a bit more salt and pepper to my serving as did Guy.

These were cooked better than anytime I have ever cooked pork chops.  Crunchy outside, moist and perfectly cooked inside. We will definitely be cooking them this way for now on.

Apple Pie Shortcake

When we were in Destin my brother made Old Fashion Strawberry Shortcake using the recipe on the Bisquick box. Guy hadn't stopped talking about them and since I don't eat strawberries I decided to have a try at them with my own twist. Instead of strawberries I used apple pie filling.  The turned out really yummy and I will make them again.

I just followed the shortcake portion of the recipe, sliced them, added warmed up apple pie filling, sprinkled with cinnamon in the middle. I did one scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and a small drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Philly Cheesesteak Foil Packs

Saw this recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Foil Packs on Facebook and it looked interesting. Since we are always looking for new meals for when we go camping we decided to try it out at home this past weekend.Overall it was really good, I would definitely cut back on the Italian seasoning as we both thought it was too strong. We ate it without bread but toasted sub rolls would have been great. There was more than enough for the two of us, we even had some leftovers.Recipe:

• 1 lb. flank steak, thinly sliced
• 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 slices provolone
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. Heat grill to medium-high. In a large bowl, toss together steak, peppers, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Place steak mixture in foil packs. Fold up packs and grill, 10 minutes.
3. Open packs, top with provolone, and cover grill to melt, 2 minutes.
4. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Sausage and Ranch Quiche

Saw the latest post from “Plain Chicken” website in FB for Sausage and Ranch Quiche and I knew we had to try it.  This site always has the best, simple, real recipes so I visit if often for ideas. Anything I hav ever tried always turns out great.  We loved it and since I had a second pie crust I went ahead and made a 2nd one and froze it.  Looking forward to seeing how that turns out from frozen state.

I did change it up a little by using Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage crumbles and low fat heavy cream.  Neither change made any difference in my opinion and saved us a few calories 🙂  If you use the Turkey crumbles frozen like I did you will need to add about 5-10 minutes to cooking time.Recipe:

• 1 (9-inch) frozen deep dish pie crust
• 8-oz sausage (Jimmy Dean or Tennessee Pride)
• 1/2 cup prepared Ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream or milk
• dash black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a skillet, cook sausage until no longer pink. Drain fat. Combine cooked sausage and Ranch dressing. Drop crumbles of sausage mixture in bottom of pie crust. Top with shredded cheddar cheese.
3. Whisk together eggs, pepper and cream. Pour egg mixture over sausage and cheese mixture in pie crust.
4. Bake 1 hour. Allow quiche to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.