Gluten Free eggplant, and chicken parmesan

I was never a big fan of chicken parmesan as a kid. In fact looking back I don't think I was ever made chicken parm outside of school. the only way I had this dish before the age of 27 was was in a school cafeteria. If you never had chicken parmesan from a public school cafeteria  then count yourself lucky. The sauce was bland and water down tomato, with this rubbery disk on top that they claimed was chicken, the chicken was coated in some sort of cross between sand and shake n bake, and half the time they would forget the cheese on top.

Needles to say as an adult, I never had any want to learn how to make this dish, that was until I visit a friend who made this meal with real ingredients. We also had a vegetarian there so she made some eggplant parmesan as a chicken replacement for the vegetarian. Well I suddenly understood why this was a staple meal in so many homes. This is definitely a meal I enjoyed.

I try and make sure there is a vegetable in at least two meals a day, so when I was looking into making this for my family I decided why not keep the eggplant and do chicken as well. This way I get both meat and vegetables in the same dish. and don't have to worry about making a side.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1/2 an eggplant ( cut into 6 slices)
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose GF flour
• 1 1/2 cups of cornmeal
• 2 cups shredded parmesan
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 jar of homemade spaghetti sauce ( or one from the store)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 4 1/2 inch slices of mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350 F. Take your sauce and pour onto the bottom of a casserole dish. Now in one bowl whisk together the heavy whipping cream and eggs, in another bowl mix together the GF flour, cornmeal, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of shredded parmesan. Pour some oil into a frying pan and let heat up on  the stove at medium heat.

Take the eggplant and dip in the egg mixture, let excess drip off then coat with the flour mixture, fry and place ontop of the sauce. When all 6 slices are in take a 1/4 cup of the shredded parmesan and sprinkle on top.

Next dip the chicken breast the same way you did the eggplant and cook in hot oil for 6 minutes on each side. Place the chicken on top of the eggplant (about 1.5 eggplant slices per chicken breast). Sprinkle the last of the parmesan on the chicken, and place the mozzarella slices on as well. Bake until the chickens internal temp hits 165 F and the cheese is golden. Let sit for 15 minutes and enjoy!

Shameless plug

I try really hard to keep Crunchy Lifestyle organic. I don't pay for ads or promotions on facebook, I don't post clickbait, I don't advertise anything that I don't believe in nor do I advertise things that are irrelevant. I try and keep my adsense ads minimal and non intrusive on both mobile and desktop version.

Would I like to make money doing this? Of course! But it is more important to me to have a safe place for me to explore, and focus on some things I found I am passionate about despite the sometimes controversial reaction. It's important to me to create a safe place for people who are also excited about the same things. So if you like my my post please comment, like, share. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and on Blogger. The more interactions I get the more people I reach.

That wasn't my shameless plug though, My husband works hard at a job he is great at, he brings in decent money, and I am able to stay at home with my kids and work towards becoming a doula. In the past couple years he has realized he doesn't enjoy his job. He isn't sure what he wants to do for a living anymore. Watching someone come to the realization that they years of hard work they put into something in the end didn't make them happy is rough. Not only is it rough it's heartbreaking. This man has supported me in my dreams, and I can't support him in his dreams in the same way. We are dependent on his income.

He has been exploring his dreams in his spare time, and currently he has really gotten into writing. He is not sure if this is the new career for him, but he is certain he is enjoying  it. He has been doing a bit of writing for over a year now. He even wrote a small book with a friend of his. He typically really gets into writing epic fantasy, but occasionally he will write a snarky, yet humorous short story. So if that sounds interesting to you at all please go support him on Patreon.

So There is my shameless plug. I love my husband and I will support him anyway I can.

Strawberry matcha sorbet popsicle

It's been really hot these last two weeks for most people. My kids are getting cranky because going outside to play in the sprinkler is still too hot. Luckily we have our AC (even if it can't maintain it's programmed temperature if it's over 95F) So in attempt to keep my kids cool and hydrated I made popsicles. My daughter is over the moon for them.

First you are going to make sure you have popsicle mold. I love the silicone ice pop mold in comparison to the the the Popsicle stick molds. I feel as though they are more secure and less likely to spill. 

The recipe was really easy.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of frozen strawberries ( You can use fresh, but i would still freeze them before hand to make sure you get the right consistency)
• 3 cups of unsweetened vanilla coconut milk (You can sub some for water for a less coconut flavor
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon of matcha tea powder
• Sweetened with local honey to taste ( I used 2 tablespoons, but will probably use less next time) 

Blend coconut milk and strawberries first, then mix in the rest of the ingredients. It's definitely more of a sorbet than anything else. You can pour it into a tupperware and just scoop out a little bowl for a late night snack. Yumm :D

The kids love having something they can take outside and run with so I pour the sorbet into the molds. If you use frozen strawberries I would freeze for about 3 hours before eating, longer if your strawberries weren't frozen.

Chicken Makhani

My husband and I both love Indian food, but it tends to be more pricey, and harder to find in our neighborhood. We ended up only being able to go out for indian for really special occasions, and we found ourselves wanting to enjoy one dish more than the others, Butter Makhani, or more commonly known as Butter Chicken.

This dish has a rich and creamy based sauce, with those great indian spices packing it full of flavor. A couple of the ingredients can be harder to find in your local grocery store, so try and find a Indian grocer near you. I will post links to Amazon products incase you still can't find them.  

(Note: I seem to have lost my photos for this meal. I will update with photos in the future.)

The night before you need to marinade 2 Large chicken breast or 3 small ones. Chop the chicken into 1 inch cubes before adding to the marinade.

Marinade:

• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1.5 teaspoons kasuri methi
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1.5 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste

In a large skillet start making the sauce. Start by slowly sauteeing your spices to really bring out their flavors.

The sauce/Makhani Masala:

Sautee

• 5 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2-4 fresh green chili pepper, slit
• 4 green cardamom pods (or 2/3 tsp cardamom powder )
• 1.5 – 2 inch cinnamon sticks (or 1/8-1/2 tsp cinnamon powder)
• 2 cloves
• 1 black cardamom pod
• 1/2 -3/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 10 almonds, soaked, peeled and made into a paste
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon kasuri methi

Now that your spices are all in turn down to a low simmer. In another pan cook your chicken with your marinade. Once fully cooked add just the chicken (not the marinade) to your your spices.

Finish the sauce

• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 can Tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon honey

Mix in last on reduced heat

• 3/4 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

Now serve over basmati rice and Enjoy! :D

DIY Coconut aloe lotion (And how to harvest aloe)

I have this aloe plant that was given to me as a housewarming gift from my sister in law 5 years ago. I struggle with using it enough, so I decided to look into making a really hydrating lotion.

Aloe is known for it's healing properties when it comes to skin it does good against sun burns and small wounds. Aloe is also a anti-inflammatory and moisture rich without being oily. I knew I wanted to use coconut oil for it's antibacterial and an smooth consistency so finding other ingredients that weren't  overly oily were a must.

This is my aloe plant, I should probably move the poor thing to a bigger pot, but I like having it on my window sill. If you don't have an aloe plant you can get one here or you may be able to get away using aloe vera gel from the store.

To harvest the aloe I cut off 3 of the leaves that were about 5 inches long. I cut the thorny sides off each leaf first. Then using a knife I peeled the top and bottom off of the leave leaving as much meat as possible. It's a bit of a messy process but I ended up with with these clear gels strips that I blended down into a gel. you should get about 1/4 cup of aloe gel.

Now onto the lotion.

Ingredients

1/4 oz (2.5 teaspoons) beeswax

1/4 cup coconut oil

1 teaspoon of grapeseed oil

1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil

1/4 cup aloe gel

10 drops of essential oils ( I used 2 drops tea tree, 3 drops jasmine, 5 drops lavender

Melt down the beeswax on the stove top. When it is melted add it to coconut and grapeseed oil and mix using a blender. Once it's blended smoothly add vitamin E and aloe gel, again blend till smooth. Wait till everything has cooled a bit before mixing in the essential oils. 

What should my next post be?

Now that I got instagram working again it's time to focus on my blog. I have a few unfulfilled promises. I promised roller bottles recipes, I promised lotion recipes, I promised a blog article. So I'm asking you what you want to see first, or you can ask for something else entirely.

Instagram update

After a few months of not being able to access my instagram profile and settings I decided to create a new account today. It didn't work yesterday but today it does. Instagram is something I use frequently so expect to see a lot more of me!

If you haven't already followed me on instagram you can find me here 

Essential oil roller bottle for menstrual cramps

I always have awful cramps during the first 24 hours of menstrual bleeding every month. This month I gave this a try and what a difference it made.

Apply this to your lower abdomen where the cramps hurt the most. Then apply to the inside and outside of your right ankle, these are vita flex points for your reproductive organs. Using a heating pad can help release these oils into your body, especially the peppermint.

In a 10ml roller bottle added the following

• 15 drops of lavender essential oil

     Lavender is known for having calming and sedative qualities Source for lavender

• 10 drops of peppermint essential oil

     Peppermint is known for its cooling properties than helps with soothing aches as well as works similarly to acetaminophen (Tylenol) for headaches  Source for peppermint

• 5 drops of rosemary essential oils

Rosemary is great at reliving muscle pain and encouraging circulation 

Source for rosemary

• 5 drops of thyme essential oil

Thyme is better at dealing with with menstruation cramps then ibuprofen  Source for thyme

Fill the rest of the bottle with carrier oil ( I used grapeseed oil)