Fried Chicken Stips & Garlic Mashed Potatoes

I missed my first post yesterday....I have a good reason though.  I was doing our taxes....ugh.  It would be a lot more simple if I'd be a lot more organized.

Just to let you know. I know how to be organized.  I even like to be organized.  You should have seen my room my senior year in high school when I finally had my own room: everything had it's place and it stayed in it's place. (I shared a room with my sis all 17 years prior to this - she's 5 years younger and had a creative streak much like my lil' Reagan - who always has her creative stuff everywhere :D  I love ya, Katrina!)  BUT then I had 3 kids and I've lost my organization somewhere...it's probably under the boys' bed...yikes!

So back to my taxes....I started gathering the paperwork around 2:30pm and finally finished up at 10:45pm.  I stopped only long enough to fix dinner: Fried Chicken Strips, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, gravy, and carrots.  Crazy - I know.  Especially on the day I decide to do taxes, but I'd already promised Mike I'd make this before I got the motivation to do our taxes.

Fried Chicken Strips
3 skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
30 saltines, crushed finely (or your favorite cracker!)
1/4 c instant potato flakes
2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp Shara's House Seasoning
1/4 c flour
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
oil for frying


Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Combine saltines, potato flakes, 2 Tbsp flour, and house seasoning in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, beat eggs and milk.  In another small bowl, add the 1/4 cup of flour.  First, dip the strips in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the saltine mixture.  Fry each batch for about 8-9 minutes - turning once - until chicken is cooked through and the outside coating is golden brown.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes
3-4 large potatoes
1 stick of butter (1/2 c)
2 tsp Shara's House Seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
5 Tbsp Romano or parmesan cheese


Clean and dice the potatoes.  Cover with water and bring to a boil.  Boil until potatoes become fork-tender - about 30 minutes.  Drain off water.  Place all the ingredients in your mixer and mix well.

It was all worth it though!  Mike did the dishes :D  I love him.

Chicken Fajitas

Although I dread Mondays, I always look forward to Mexican Night.  I think this is why I subconsciously picked Mondays to be Mexican Night :D  Not only is Mexican food my favorite, it's also very easy to throw together!  Tonight we had Chicken Fajitas...mmmmmm!

Chicken Fajitas

3 uncooked skinless chicken breasts, sliced thin

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp vinegar

1 Tbsp Fajita Seasoning (see recipe below)

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, sliced thin

1 green pepper, slice thin

Combine worcestershire sauce, soy, vinegar, and fajita seasoning.  Stir well and add chicken.  Marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or cover and marinate in refrigerator for several hours.  Heat oil over high heat.  Add chicken strips and saute for 5 minutes.  Add onions and peppers and saute another 3 minutes.  Be careful to not overcook or chicken will be dry! Remove from heat and sprinkle with lime juice.  Serve with warm flour tortillas and favorite toppings.

Fajita Seasoning

5 Tbsp cumin

4 tsp oregano, crushed

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper (or more if you like it spicier)

2 tsp pepper

4 tsp garlic powder

4 tsp onion powder

Stir together and keep in air tight container.  Makes about 2/3 c of seasoning - enough for about 10 batches of fajitas.

Potato Wedges

We finally had the pulled pork barbeque sandwiches tonight!  We were supposed to have them Wednesday, but well, that didn't happen.  I served them with pasta salad and potato wedges.  Mike told me tonight that everything was really good, but the potatoes were "the money" (in the words of Guy Fieri - Food Network chef with crazy white pointy hair and host of one of our fav shows, Diner's Drive-Ins, & Dives).  So, I decided to put up this recipe tonight.


Potato Wedges
3 medium potatoes
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp Shara's House Seasoning (see below for recipe)
2 Tbsp dry ranch mix (or half a package)


Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Wash and cut potatoes into desired length and thickness (I cut mine about 2 inches in length by about 1/2 in thick, but there was no real measurement!!  I didn't get my ruler out or anything...lol).  In a medium bowl, mix the oil, house seasoning, and ranch.  Add potatoes and stir to coat.  Dump potatoes onto baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 25-35 minutes (stirring every 15 minutes) or until fork tender.  If potatoes are not browned and crispy, switch oven to Broil and bake until desired crispiness.


Shara's House Seasoning
1/2 c salt
2 Tbsp black pepper
3 Tbsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp onion powder


Mix well and use in place of regular salt & pepper :D

I also baked up a few Oatmeal Cookies because our dear friend, Chuck and his lovely new bride, Andrea, came over for a short visit after dinner.  Chuck said, "I always make room for Shara's Cookies!"  He got "brownie" points for that!