I'll admit- I was late to the air fryer party. I don't know why. We eat a fair amount of baked fries here and make fried chicken "fingers" at least once a month from scratch. We'd finally gotten used to our Instant Pot, so the thought of another large appliance in our kitchen wasn't enticing.

This past weekend, my husband and I found ourselves in a Home Buys store. If you've never been in one, it's a combo platter of Big Lots and Home Goods. You'll find anything from appliances to wine there and the prices tend to be pretty good.

We found a section of appliances including instant pots, coffee makers and air fryers. The idea of lower fat frying in less 'thyme' got to me. What's one more appliance?There were a few brands and sizes of air fryers and we opted for the 7-quart by Power XL.

According to their web site, it's the "best selling" air fryer in the US. The model we bought retails for $130 and we got ours for $69.99.The first thing we made was dehydrated apple chips. Don't ask me why this was our first try, but I did the same thing with the Instant Pot.

Somehow apples have become my maiden appliance voyage. The apple chips came out just like apple chips you'd find in the store- sweet and chewy!We also tried French fries over the weekend. I was surprised how good they were! Granted, they weren't greasy- but the taste and texture were excellent. After the French fry experiment, I wanted to try a "meal".

For some reason, chicken parmesan came to mind.I found a recipe online that had a handful of spices to be added to breadcrumbs. I had seasoned breadcrumbs in my pantry and opted to use these. This was one of the easiest, most delicious dishes I've ever made. If you don't have an air fryer but love fried food- consider adding this to your appliance arsenal.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken breasts- split into cutlets

2 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees for 3 minutes.

2. Combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl and set aside.

3. Spray the air fryer basket with non-stick spray.

4. Dredge the chicken pieces in the eggs, then coat each piece with breadcrumbs.

5. Place the chicken in the air fryer and "fry" for 6 minutes. The chicken pieces should not be touching each other.

6. While the chicken cooks, prepare the tomato sauce in a small sauce pan by combining the tomato sauce with Italian seasoning and garlic salt. Simmer the sauce for 3 to 4 minutes on medium heat.

7. After the chicken has been cooked, add 2 Tbsp. of tomato sauce to each piece of chicken and sprinkle them with mozzarella cheese.

8. Cook in the airy fryer another 5 minutes on 375 degrees.

9. Serve hot with your favorite vegetables or side of pasta.

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 236 calories, 9 grams fat, 3.7 grams saturated fat, 27 grams protein, 11 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber, 119 mg cholesterol, 607 mg sodium