I like meat, but it is so expensive and such a hassle to prepare that I always joke that I am becoming an accidental vegetarian. But for some strange reason, I have just been craving protein this week!

I didn’t want to spend any more money this week on food, so that nixed buying some from Popeyes or buying proper ingredients.

So last night, I decided to attempt homemade fried chicken without making a trip to Kroger.

I have never made fried chicken before. I don’t think my mom has ever made it (well, at least not that I can remember). I didn’t have a recipe. I knew that any recipes I found online would include ingredients that I didn’t have. I just decided to start with what I had and see what happened…

I thawed some chicken tenderloins that have been hiding in my freezer.

I mixed together some flour, salt, pepper, and paprika.

I didn’t have any eggs, so I decided to use Italian salad dressing.

I heated up some oil.

So…after dipping the chicken in the salad dressing, then the flour mixture, and putting it in the frying pan, I had some fried chicken! And it was actually tasty! I liked the subtle Italian taste, so if I ever do this again, I will use Italian dressing even if I do have eggs. I ate my chicken with a side of snap peas to appease my guilty conscience, which actually complimented the meal well. Best of all, I didn’t have to buy anything to make this meal.

I would say that this cooking adventure was a success!

Today is Cinco de Mayo.

I have been craving some kind of meal made out of fresh stuff only.

As a result of these coinciding phenomena, I made this super yummy festive dish:

Corn and Black Bean Salad with Basil-Lime Vinaigrette from Giada de Laurentiis.

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and diced

1 mango, peeled, seeded, and diced

Dressing:

2 limes, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup chopped basil leaves

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together, refrigerate, and eat. YUM.

Chicken pot pie is one of my very favorite foods. I used to eat them for breakfast.

So I went on a mission to invent my own chicken pot pie recipe that involved no measuring, which is my preferred method of cooking.

After one failed attempt (way too dry), I have successfully made a chicken pot pie that was delicious and involved NO measuring!

Here it is:

Start with 2 Pillsbury pie crusts. I don’t waste my time making homemade crusts because these are SO yummy and take 0 seconds and involve no measuring. Boo measuring!

Boil 5 chicken tenderloins until they are cooked through, then dice.

Microwave 2 bags of  SteamFresh Mixed Veggies. These have corn, peas, green beans, and carrots.

Mix the chicken and veggies into a bowl with one can of cream of broccoli soup and one small (the smallest, I believe) tub of sour cream. And LOTS of cracked pepper. Stir it all up…

Pour it into the pie crust, top with the second pie crust, pinch the edges (I press with a fork), trim, poke 4 slits. The mixture fits into the pie crust PERFECTLY. You will have a perfectly flat pot pie in the end.

Put it in the oven for 30 minutes, let it cool, and then eat it!

NO measuring involved, isn’t that great??

I recently bought Mrs. Renfro’s Mango Habanero Salsa.

It sets my mouth on fire.

It makes me cry.

It empties my sinus cavity.

It makes me run to the fridge for a glass of milk.

I realize that all that stuff sounds bad…but I can’t help it…I am smitten! No other salsa will ever compare!

It is just sweet enough, that no matter how much pain it inflicts upon my tongue, I always want just one more bite.

Yum to death!

A while back I bought a bag of split peas. I have NO idea why; it was an impulse buy. (Who buys split peas on an impulse? Weird.) I have been staring at them in my pantry ever since, wondering what in the world I was thinking. Saturday, I finally put them to use!

I found a recipe online for split pea soup, and I already had all the ingredients at home, which is a miracle, considering I have not been grocery shopping in a month!

It is delicious, healthy, cheap, easy, needs only 6 ingredients, and you only have to measure 1 thing! Does cooking get any better than that???

A recipe like this must be shared!

Split Pea Soup

• 1 lb bag of split peas – soak over night (or for 4 hours in the AM like I did)
• 2 quarts of water (I just taught this to my kids…1 quart=4 cups)
• 1 lb kielbasa (Polish sausage – my favorite!) in 1/8 inch slices or bacon (but trust me, kielbasa is the mack daddy of meat)
• a sprinkle of garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in a crock pot for 3-5 hours on high – my crock pot was exactly 4 hours. Stir occasionally. It’s good with a dollop of sour cream on top.

YUM!