Fried Chicken! Yes I can!

If you are a Trim Healthy Mama then you will not be horrified when you see that we can eat "Fried Chicken" and still lose weight... you know that being on this plan "anything is possible". Now... even as a Trim Healthy Mama you might still be surprised at the thought of having "breaded chicken" ... but today I was feeling adventurous in the kitchen and I was really craving some "breaded chicken strips" so I went to my "THM pantry" (oh yes! If you ever join Trim Healthy Mama you know that by now your whole pantry has changed and a big bucket of Extra virgin olive oil is KING in that pantry!) and I grabbed the things that I thought I would need to satisfy my craving and stay on plan!

Here's what I did:

Almond Crusted Chicken Strips (or just call it fried chicken!)
Yield: 4 generous servings (about 4 strips per person)



"Fried chicken" with "cauliflower rice"

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (skinless/boneless) cut in strips (about 4-5 strips out of each breast)
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 cups (or more) of almond meal (it's basically just ground almonds, I bought a good sized one at Trader Joe's for a great price)
salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning (about 1 tbsp.)
4 eggs
Oil to pan-fry (extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil or a mix of the two)

Directions
Season the chicken strips with salt and pepper, transfer to a plastic bag and add the coconut flour, shake to coat all the strips evenly.

On a separate dish whisk the eggs and on a large dish (can use a baking dish or a pan) mix the almond meal and Italian seasoning together and add some salt as well (about a teaspoon). Now pass each coconut flour coated chicken strip through the egg and then through the almond meal, set aside.

In a large skillet pour all of your oil necessary to pan-fry your chicken (not too much that the chicken would be swimming or completely covered), turn your heat to medium-high and let it warm up until it's hot enough to fry (very, very hot!), now pass your "breaded" chicken strips to your skillet (carefully, don't just drop them or the oil will splash and burn you) and cook them for about 3 minutes on each side -or more if necessary- but be careful, the strips are not too thick and they cook (and dry) quickly.

When they're ready transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to remove excess of oil and serve! You can serve it next to some buttered vegetables (or cauliflower mash) ... Butter? Don't be scared! It's OK!!! If you've been on THM for a while you now confidently add more butter to your veggies and you know you're doing a big favor to your health and heart!

My girlies topped their chicken strips with ketchup and devoured them, I was a good THM so I used some Ranch dressing on mine! YUM!

You are not a THM yet? Sounds too good to be true? Well... it is true though! Those THM ladies are losing weight almost like they're getting paid to do so! And they're doing so by enjoying life and great food!

This recipe is low carb, it's an S meal in the THM plan and also paleo friendly, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Quick update: A fellow THM (Marilyn) just said (on the THM Facebook Page) that she used this recipe to coat pork cutlets.... she said: "it is awesome"(her exact words). That was so encouraging, thanks Marilyn!

Hope you will try it and love it too!

Paloma.