periwink1's Journal, 02 February 2019

If you have an air fryer (or are willing to heat up your oven for a fairly quick snack), try parsnips. I cut them into french fry shapes, spray no-calorie cooking spray on them with salt and pepper, and put them on 400 degrees (200 in non-freedom units) for 7 or so minutes, shaking them halfway through. They are an awesome snack and only 25 calories for a small parsnip. I like 'em anyway :) 

hey that sounds pretty good. While we're at it ...Compared to deep fry fries, how does an air fryer measure up...what do you think? 

There are numbers out there, you can do a little google search and find out. I'm totally going to buy one as soon as I have money again! And parsnips are super sweet and yummy! Better than carrots and about the same as sweet potatoes in terms of sweetness and adding a little sea salt just ups the deliciousness factor to the nth degree!! 

I love the air fryer. Deep fat fries are... completely awesome, but I really can't have them anymore. The air fryer is really just a tiny, concentrated, convection oven. It bakes things really fast, giving them the "roasted" taste that an oven would give you, but in less than half the time. I've made chimichangas in it and they turned out awesome. My husband is partial to sweet potato fries. For him, I just cut up a whole sweet potato, roll the fries in a like a teaspoon of olive oil and salt, and put 'em in the air fryer for 12-15 minutes and I have a side dish for him that I can't have, but he loves, with little effort. The air fryer is a god send during the summer when you don't want to heat up the oven and you're too lazy to start the grill. It does, however, take up a lot of counter space if you have a one-butt kitchen. 

Homemade popcorn is a good snack to make. You can flavor it with different spices, and it’s a good source of fiber.  

Lately I’ve been snacking on a couple tablespoons of roasted pumpkin seeds Pepitas. Sweet for every day is strawberries and blueberries or oranges and apples. Sometimes I will snack with 1or 2 tbsps of almond butter on a juicy Gala apple. 

Slice up zuccini thin, brush with a dab of oil, put on a microwave safe place in a single lay and nuc on each side on high for about 2 minutes. Watch closely. Turn out really crispy. They don’t keep well and are a little tedious to make but have great flavor and hit that crunchy chip spot.  

I love Fuji apples, but apples are just too carby for me right now. Eventually, I may be able to add them back. For now, I stick to berries. 

Slice a squash thin, spray or dab with olive oil. Place on baking sheet in one layer. Sprinkle each one with REAL parm chz. Put in hot oven until chz is golden brown. Salt if you like, but I don't. Yummy! :)  

Those squash thins sound like an easy sub for tomorrows "build your own pizza " with 4 of my 6 grandchildren. They can build pizzas I can build squash (parsnips?) Thank you all again, so much. 

Air fryer vs traditional fries, no comparison; HOWEVER, they are amazing in their own right. You feel so much better during and after eating them and can have a little extra without the guilt. I slice mine up like fries (skin on but off is fine too) and spray a little EVOO and add some paprika/salt/pepper/garlic powder. Toss to coat and air fry at 400 for 15-20 minutes. Shaking once or twice during. AMAZING. I also love pretzel thins with hummus. If you don’t love traditional hummus flavors, Trader Joe’s makes a tomato basil version that is lower in fat and awesome. 

Newgrl l I am laughing hysterically. A one butt kitchen. !!! So funny. That’s my issue, I cook a lot and have so much stuff. But I use it all. If I ever Win the lottery I am going to have one room with shelves just for my cooking stuff. 

A "one-butt kitchen"?! I can name that tune in one note! My studio apartment in Woodhaven Queens (New York), where I lived from 03/1980-10/1982, had exactly ONE INCH of "counter space" between the apartment-size stove and apartment-size refrigerator! That was an improvement over my first studio apartment in Buffalo, where I lived for all of 1979, that didn't even have that -- and the "freezer door" inside the old one-door refrigerator was a piece of Styrofoam! My little kitchen now has eight feet of counter space -- in separate two-foot sections! I have a set of open shelves 72" high, 30" wide, 18" deep, in the garage) right outside the kitchen door. Yes, when I win the lottery, I'm going to have an indoor lap pool (or at least an "Eternity" pool), a good-sized fenced yard for "Handsome" (not my husband, my cockapoo), and a luxury I once saw in a "spec house": an undercounter icemaker the size of a dishwasher! (I'd never use that much ice, but I just want to say I have one!!)  

I actually have a nicely sized kitchen now, but growing up (many many years ago....around 1976-79 or so), all 5 of us lived for a few years in a 2 bedroom, one bath (with a stand up shower and an RV-type "tiny" sink), and NO OVEN in the kitchen, house. Now THAT was a one-butt kitchen. And that's where I picked up the term "one-butt kitchen. Mom would say, "This is a one-butt kitchen, get out of here while I'm cooking." a lot. Then I spent all of my twenties in a 450 sq foot cabin on the lake where I lived. I loved that house, but the kitchen was also tiny. My cabinets now may be too dark and the flooring may need to be replaced pretty badly, but at least I don't have to go to the living room to cut up veggies and I can leave my air fryer out on the counter.