Photo by Syed F Hashemi on Unsplash

It's no secret that inflation has crept into every facet of our life. From food items to household products, we find ourselves looking at budgets and holding back from unnecessary spending. One of my January things has been thinking about how I can make things at home that I'd normally order from a restaurant. Honestly, I'm not sure if it's any cheaper, but it is probably healthier!

Last week, I decided to utilize some chicken wings that were purchased on sale via a local butcher. I thought that I should try out my trusty air-fryer rather than pulling out the deep fryer with all the oil. Air Fryers are an extra accessory, yes, but I end up using mine a lot! This also means my food doesn't stay in the hot canola oil too long, but it gets just as crispy!

Have you ever made chicken wings and fries in your air fryer? I'm sure there are a myriad of ways, but here I go:

For potato fries, I sliced my potato into oval/round slices. . I did not slice the normal "french fry" way, but just rather small circles. After seasoning my potatoes, I threw them into the air fryer and hit the "fry" section. It's about 19 minutes on 390. Voilà, wonderful potatoes are done! Mine usually aren't sliced thin enough to be super crispy, but they come out how I like them. You will probably have to play around for your favorite settings. The thinner the slice, the crispier type of texture that will be created. 

Next, onto the chicken wings! First, I seasoned the wings with a mixture of hot and fried chicken spices I happen to have stored in the pantry. Use any spice you like- or just plain pepper and salt, but I do recommend seasoning first! I did google to figure out the settings, as I've never attempted this before.

My air fryer has a "chicken" option, but I wasn't sure if I should use that. At any rate, I ended up with a temp of 360 and cooked the wings for 12 minutes, flipped, then cooked for another 12 minutes. 

Afterward, I tossed them in my favorite sauce. I always doctor up store bought sauces to how I like them, but I'm not great at making my own sauces from scratch. Been there and it's not worked out well! At any rate, the store bought sauce had a little bit of honey, mustard, and ketchup added into it to give it a honey gold-ish type flavor I like on my wings. I try to use what I have in the house and didn't want to buy a specialty sauce, which means trying out different flavorings once in a while.  

This was a fabulous meal that probably took no more time than it would to order food at Buffalo Wild Wings, drive to the store, wait for pickup, and drive back home! I highly recommend you look into creating your favorite recipes at home. You might get creative AND have some great meals!