Am I the only one who is bored of cooking dinner? I know I shouldn’t complain especially since I’m only cooking for two people and both of those people are pretty easy to feed, but still some days it feels daunting. In my next life I’m gonna be like Oprah and have a personal chef; where do I sign up for that?
But prepare meals I must; I had a pack of chicken tenderloins thawed out and decided to try and make some crispy tenders to place on top of a green salad. I’ve NEVER been successful in making crispy tenders without frying them and I’m NOT a fan of frying anything for a few reasons:
- The smell
- The mess
- someone in this house has to manage her cholesterol. I won’t mention any names, but she writes a blog about nothing and can’t get over the fact that she has to worry about cholesterol. (But, please ask her about her bone health!)
Wait; do you call them chicken tenders or do you call them chicken fingers?
The recipe that I used will make you want to call them Damn Delicious crispy chicken.
The trick is to crisp up your Panko BEFORE putting it on the chicken. Also, she uses a simple dredging of flour, egg, mustard, mayo and salt/pepper. I added garlic because it keeps the vampires away.…stay away Barnubus Collins.
Super easy and super good; fifteen minutes in the oven and CRISPY AS ALL GET-OUT!
I was amazed they tasted so good because I MADE THEM. You know how food tastes better if someone else makes it; even a simple turkey sammy is better if I don’t use my paws to create it.
I had ONE damn delicious tender on top of a salad with some roasted spare-grass. ONE and I was full. Please explain to me why I can’t lose weight? Effing mental-pause.
The Coach declared that we should have these once a week, but possibly on Tuesday so we can call it Tender Tuesday. And then he suggested that Monday should be Meatloaf Monday. Since when did I let him make any decisions? Kidding, he gets to decide at least 22 things.
If I keep up with this ‘creating good food’, things could get out of hand and I don’t want my people to have high expectations when it comes to me and the kitchen. Next thing you know The Food Network will be banging at my door asking for me to have my own show and I think we all know how I’d be when fame went to my head. *un-frickin-bearable*
Did you make anything surprisingly good lately?
XO
Busy Bee Suz 
Somewhere in my pile of upcoming posts I have mentioned wanting a personal chef specifically to make my Cobb salad every day at lunch. Such a pain, and tough to pull off while babysitting.
Those tenders look amazing. I feel like I eat pretty healthy and don’t overdo, but the scale disagrees. I have recently cut out protein bars and extra quinoa snack cups because why should eating be joyful?
My kids enjoy it when I serve tacos on Tuesdays so they can say Taco Tuesday, which I think is a phrase coined in the Lego movie.
I will tune in to your Food Network show.
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I think it’s essential to have a professional to make a Cobb salad. So.many.ingredients, but oh, so delicious!
I agree, why be joyful? there’s nothing to be happy about. KIDDING!
I believe Taco Tuesday has been around forever, even before the lego people tried to take credit. I’m not having it.
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First, we call them Chicken Tenders and I don’t like to fry anything either.
Second, fun fact, I saw Barnabas Collins aka Jonathan Frid, in a stage play and when he walked on stage everyone in the audience shouted “Barnabas” even though that wasn’t his character in the play. He politely bowed to the audience then got on with things.
Third, my latest good recipe, a work in process, is one for making vanilla creamer for coffee.
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I wonder if Barnabus is still with us? I mean, if he portrayed a vampire so well, he might live forever.
You make your own coffee creamer? GET OUT!
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I don’t know about Barnabus but I’m learning how to make my own creamer. Google it. There are recipes online.
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These look amazing. I love the idea of crisping the Panko.
I do love me Chicken tenders so I will have to make these since I can’t have the processed ones in the store.
Anna came home for the weekend, well she came home on a Sunday afternoon then went back on a Tuesday afternoon because….she had to get back for Taco Tuesday. My husband said to her…”you know there are other Tuesdays in the month, right?” Sigh.
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These are way better than processed, I pinky promise.
LOL’ing at Anna not missing Taco Tuesday. I like a girl with priorities.
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Lol I do love a good taco. The Apple didn’t fall far. 😊
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My grandma made the world’s most perfect fried, battered fish pieces. Grandpa did the fishing & messy fish prep. Grandma did everything else. We grandkids were stationed at the “cool enough to eat but don’t let them get cooler or they won’t taste as good” plate. I never learned the secret of it and now my comment is heading to bummer land/reality so let’s segue awkwardly to…
I would totally watch your Food show. The tasty food. Your gorgeous kitchen. The view of your lanai (?) / pool area. Your gorgeous kitchen. Bonus segments on food for butterflies and caterpillars. *squee*
I have not cooked anything fabulous lately but I have found the most amazing chocolate bar. Does not trigger migraines (in me). Low sugar. Ingredients healthy. Antioxidants intact! Breaks into tiny squares and after 2 or 4 squares your fingers magically stop reaching for more chocolate because you are satiated. I know! I could not believe it either! But my fingers just stop. My amygdala or maybe the pituitary gland is like: “Fingers? Hello? Don’t we want more?” But by then Fingers have folded up the chocolate bar foil and are impatiently drumming, awaiting next task.
So. This is what the pandemic has taught me: hold the people you love close (metaphorically), butterflies (wee form) love Pipeweed, clearly I want your kitchen, and right now the perfect chocolate bar exists.
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Maddie,
First: Thank you for such a great comment! This made my day. I think you should do some research and try to replicate that fish recipe because it sounds heavenly. And what a sweet memory to hold in your heart.
My food show would be off the air in a hot minute because as soon as I started acting like my silly/flaky self, people would be concerned. Plus, I cuss a lot while cooking. Do we need a Rated R cooking show? Possibly…
But, I do have a lovely kitchen; thank you for the compliment.
What kind of chocolate bar is this that you speak of? Amygdala. I learned of this a while ago…where did I learn of this? Possibly a tv show? I can’t recall, but the magic bar should be shared with the world.
I like what you’ve learned during this shit storm; I’m right there with you.
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I made my very first raisin pie a couple of weeks ago and it was wonderful — tasted just like I remembered from childhood. My Rare One and I were discussing that restaurants no longer feature raisin pie like they did 50 years ago. I guess tastes have changed.
Your new blog is in my blogroll but I realize now that I haven’t been receiving notifications of your new posts. I don’t know why. I’ll have to see if I can fix that.
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Had no idea where you went til just now! The tenders look good. Thanks for the recipe! xo
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I’ve missed you. I hope all is well. XO
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My MIL always makes my kids chicken strips in her deep fryer when we go to visit and I dread it because it makes the house smell so bad, and if you’re in the house, then YOU smell bad too. Like, it clings to hair and skin and clothes. Ugh. This is a much better idea.
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I don’t care for lingering food smells, but fried lingering smells are the worst.
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We love chicken tenders on salad here but I have to confess that I use banquet chicken tenders! My bad but those do sound good so I’ll save the recipe and see if I ever make thwm!
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No judging here!!
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