Chicken Wing Bites & Life updates

I've been absent the past few weeks. I apologize for that. Work has seemingly taken up more of my time than I was aiming for with this transition I am making in my life. Unfortunately, the stress has me in a bad head space, and I've had very little time to think. The one thing that has been weighing on my mind is how easy it would be for me to just throw in the towel right now, and quit. That's my normal go to when things become overwhelming and stressful. But, even though I've stumbled the past few weeks, I've not given up. I've still gone to the gym. I'm still eating (relatively) healthy (with the exception of a couple days where I had the "fuck it's").

The thing about stress, and not sleeping, and nightmares is that all that cortisol is building up and building up and storing everything as fat. So while I haven't lost any weight in the past few weeks - I (thankfully) really haven't gained, either.

So, I would have to say I'm blessed. I have a very hard time digging myself out of slumps when I feel like I'm losing my way - but am working hard at not letting the negativity rule every aspect of my life. The past two weeks have been trying, and I haven't been perfect in keeping my cool. But, I am blessed. And those blessing are what I need to keep focused on while traveling this road. I have no pain in my knees since losing some weight and going to the gym. I am blessed. I wake up every day to a loving husband, soft fur baby kitties and bunnies that love me and depend on me. I am blessed. I have a job when so many are without an income. I am blessed. I have made friends that I can truly depend on and lean on when I feel myself spiraling out of control. I am blessed. I have a family that supports me and loves me, despite my faults. I am blessed. I love in an area with such visual beauty in the mountains and the rivers. I am blessed. I have food to eat, a bed to sleep in, and clothes on my back. I am blessed.

With all these things - why do I let the few negative moments that happen rule my mood? That is a question I am still trying to answer - but am slowly learning how to (better) manager my emotions. I have never really had the best coping skills.

BJ and I are going to take a "mini vacation" at the end of October for our anniversary. I'm looking forward to that. I would love to get some good photographs of the foliage in the mountains here in Pennsylvania. This time of year makes me long for home - Vermont. Some of the best memories I have are during the fall, with my friends, at the fall foliage parade in Groton - the end of summer parties, and bon fires, and ghost stories. When I look at my life in pieces - despite the few fragmented parts that were negative - my life has had plenty of blessings.

This is the time of year where I would normally bake lots of fall treats, warm comforting foods that fill our bellies and warm our souls. Bj and I have been trying to experiment as much as we can on weekends inventing recipes of favorite foods so we can still feel that same comfort we would eating the things that got us to where we are - but with much healthier versions.

One of which is wing bites. It's foot ball season, it's fall, you want something snacky on the weekends. There is a place down the road called Nina's and they have *** the best wing bites ever ***. But... they are dusted in flour, then fried in vegetable or corn oil. Not so healthy. We found a low carb gluten free version that is the bomb! And so few ingredients.

Here is BJ cooking up some low carb gluten free wing bites. Awww!

First, what we did was take chicken breasts and trim them of fat and what not as well as we could. Then with kitchen sheers, we snipped the chicken into bite size pieces. In a bowl, we combined 1 jar of Parmesan cheese, and 1 bag of pork rinds (crushed into crumbs) and mixed together. In a separate bowl, we broke some eggs, and mixed with a little water. Dip chicken bites into egg, then into the Parmesan and pork rind mixture, back into egg, then back into Parmesan & pork rind mix. This is a double dredge technique. It makes the chicken *** super *** crispy and oh so good.

I am super terrified of deep frying things. I hate working with oils and have a fear of getting grease burns. So we did small batch pan frying using coconut oil in a deep small pot. We filled the pot maybe 1/2" with coconut oil.

These are what the chicken bites look like right out of the coconut oil. Yum!

We love Nina's wings so much, we decided to just buy a container of their buffalo sauce - which is nearly zero carb. This makes the perfect weekend snack, especially for those of us who watch football.

So in the midst of the craziness that is life, counting my blessings, and reaching towards my goal - we find time to create comforting food that reminds us why being healthy isn't just a diet, it's a way to live.