healthy starts at home, vol. 2: cornflake chicken

      $7.09.
     That is how much one measly box of cornflake crumbs cost at the grocery store.
     Given my penchant for a bargain, I refused to buy it. Instead, I marched back to the cereal aisle and got a box of cornflakes. How hard is to crunch up a bunch of cornflakes?

     The recipe I used came from "What Hawaii Likes to Eat," and is attributed to Side Street Inn. Some modifications I made are to add a generous squirt of Dijonnaise to the light mayo I used, and throw in Emeril's Essence seasoning and garlic salt along with the parmesan cheese.

In the oven

      The recipe is also posted here. The suggestion to use a rack instead of a pan to develop an all-around crunchy coating is a good one that I'll try next time. My favorite thing about this version is that many of the people posting comments are literally appalled by the recipe's use of mayonnaise. I don't think people realize that mayo is a quintessentially local condiment. I'm not crazy about it myself, but I've heard of people topping off a bowl of chili rice with mayo ...

     I realized that every dish I've posted features meat (sorry, vegetarian readers!) I was vegetarian for several years in my 20s, and enjoyed exploring the wide world of veggie cuisine. However, when you have a nonagenerian and a carnivorous mom to cook for, there isn't much call for veggie dishes. However, mom was asking about artichoke hearts and what they tasted like, and I have a vegetarian recipe for pasta with artichoke hearts. That might be the way to sneak a veggie meal into my home-cooked meals lineup ...

healthy starts at home, vol. 1: weeks 2 and 3

    I'm happy to report that three weeks into 2012, I am maintaining my goal to provide my family with one home-cooked meal a week.
    Last week I experimented with cooking barley in a hearty beef and barley soup. I based my soup on this recipe from Cooking Light, although I did make a few modifications because I used a slow cooker vs. the stovetop. Also, I subbed in stew meat, but this wasn't a problem because the slow cooker worked its magic on that cheap, tough cut and yielded tender goodness.

    On Tuesday, we needed a fast and simple dinner, so I pulled out my standby salmon cakes recipe. I cobbled it together after looking at a bunch of recipes. It calls for 2 cans of salmon, 2 eggs, a generous amount of mashed potato flakes to serve as a binder, and whatever spices/flavors strike my fancy. I decided to tinker with a classic, and added a dollop of light mayonnaise for moistness, some jarred minced garlic, a heavy sprinkle of parmesan, and lemon pepper. Mom thought this version was more flavorful and moist than the original. I'm sure you could dress this up with a fancy sauce and sides, but we just like ours with a liberal drizzle of shoyu, and rice on the side.