Naturebox to the Rescue!

Hello internet. Today I'm going to tell you about this wonderful new subscription/product/thing that I've discovered in the recent months. It is probably the most amazing thing to ever happen to me, and I want to share it with you. Since one of my favorite things to do is eat, and snack, and that kind of stuff, I was on a mission to find healthy snacks that are also delicious. Like, who wants to eat kale chips? Those are so not delicious.So then one day, as I was exploring the internet, I found this thing called Naturebox. Naturebox is this wonderful beautiful amazing subscription that sends you bags of snacks once a month. They are so delicious, and they don't have any food coloring or artificial flavors or any weird chemicals, which is hard to find in this day in age. You pick the snacks that you want to get every month, and when you pick your snacks you can refine your search to things like gluten free, nut free, low sugar, non-GMO, less than 150 calories, and like 20 more. It's kind of amazing, and is my new favorite everything.

So far, I've gotten three boxes, a total of 15 different kinds of snacks. And, my favorite ones (so far) are. . .

Sea Salt Pop Pops- these are like popcorn, but 100 million times better. because it doesn't have any gross stuff like butter on it. Literally, the only ingredients are Whole Corn, Soybean or Sunflower Oil, and Sea Salt. Like, what even? How can something this delicious have practically nothing in it. I would recommend this snack a million times, but that would take to long and I have a 500 word limit. 

They come in the cutest little bags, too!

Pistachio Power Clusters- Holy lord these are delicious! They're little squares of nuts that are so yummy! Each bag comes with, like, eight squares, but one square is enough to fill you up for your entire life! These are super amazing, especially if you like nuts. It you are allergic to nuts, avoid this product. 

Uh, YUM. Courtesy of Happy Mothering

Something that I've learned from my Naturbox experience is that when you have a food that you like, and you are going to eat, you have to hide it from the rest of your family. I learned this the hard way when I came home and my brother and his girlfriend had eaten all of my Naturebox snacks! Like, come on guys, go buy your own food.

~Mia

Panko-Crusted Sesame Chicken is My New Life

In my mother's never ending battle to find fast, easy meals for her family, she has recently discovered a recipe for Panko-crusted Sesame Chicken. For possibly the first time ever, every single member of my family loved what she made for dinner. It's also super healthy, so I'm going to give you the recipe.

I want to eat it so badly. Courtesy of In Sock Monkey Slippers
P.S. I'm sorry I didn't take my own picture. 

Ingredients-

• 3 1/2 pounds chicken, cut in serving pieces - My mother used boneless, skinless chicken. She also advises to cut the chicken into "finger shapes," whatever that is.
• 1/2 cup corn starch
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup sugar - In my families never ending goal to be healthy (and skinny), my mom took the sugar completely out of the recipe. If that sounds like hell to you, just cut the sugar in half.
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 5 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions, including 3 inches of the green part
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup toasted white sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup safflower oil - My mom also decided to take this completely out of the recipe, because she thought that it would make it to oily. She was probably right.
• 2 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs) - The chef of this recipe (a.k.a my mom) advised me to tell you that you will need way more panko than that. She said that you should add about an extra 1 1/4 cups.
• Peanut oil for frying - Because peanut oil is horrible for you (I think), my mom used coconut oil instead. P.S. coconut oil is magic sauce, and it makes the chicken taste like coconuts.

Directions- 

1. Wash the chicken and pat dry.
2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the corn starch, flour, sugar (or no sugar), and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, soy sauce, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, and safflower oil (remember, no safflower oil if you want to be awesome).Whisk in the corn starch mixture.
4. Place the chicken pieces in a sealable plastic bag.
5. Pour in the batter and turn to coat. - basically "turn to coat" means to get the chicken covered in gross eggy stuff.
6. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or as long as overnight, turning the bag to keep the marinate combined. Overnight marinating enhances the flavor of the chicken.
7. Season the panko with the remaining salt and spread on a work surface. Remove the pieces of chicken from the bag, allowing the excess marinade to drip back into the bag. Roll the chicken in the panko, making sure each piece is well coated. - It is impertinent that the panko doesn't get wet, or else it all stick together. So, use one hand to grab the chicken and drip off the marinade, then use the other hand to roll it around in the panko. 
8. In a 12-14 inch skillet, heat the peanut oil (coconut oil) to 350 degrees. Fry the chicken until golden brown, turning frequently. The chicken is done when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a fork and the juices run clear. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm or at room temperature. - In order to fully cook the chicken and keep it warm well she was finishing frying the rest of the chicken, my mom would pop the pieces into the oven after she fried them, at about 300 degrees. 

Recipe courtesy of California Heritage Continues: A Cookbook

This chicken is literally the most amazing thing on the planet, and you should definitely make it. It makes amazing leftovers, and the day after my mom made it I had it for lunch, and was looking forward to coming home and eating more, but then it was all gone. I'm still kind of bummed that I didn't get more of it. So, the moral of the story is to make a double batch and eat as much of it as possible, before the rest of your family can get to it. 

~Mia