Hard Days and Delicious Chicken

Our day was spent sans Daddy which is always extra tough. Hockey season is about to be in full swing so we’ll have days like this every once in a while where our favorite man has to go right from work to coaching his ice hockey team without stopping in for kisses. Add to that not having the car for 24 hours (we’re a one car family) and well… you can probably feel the stir crazyness brewin’ ’round here.

 We’ll get used to it… maybe. (Someday?)

But in the spirit of trying to salvage what felt like one epic morning-long tantrum, I dragged the hay bail onto a tarp for the girls to paint pumpkins in the driveway.

In my HEAD this was going to be so much fun- messy, seasonally appropriate, art-time in the sunshiney, happy, good weather.  And it was, for all of three and a half minutes.

After that, there were worms (WORMS) in the way of Lilly’s walking, bugs crawling on Lilly’s pumpkins, wetness ruining Lilly’s swing set, paint MESSING UP Lilly’s beautiful dress, a little sister stealing Lilly’s tricycles, and well… you get the picture. It was THAT kind of day. All day.

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After nap time, we tried again to start over, cooking dinner together which actually went really well. We made these super awesome chicken tenders (chicken nuggets?) that have been deemed “best dinner ever” by my little ones. Not that they are that picky- but I’ll vouch for how delicious they were.  Breading them in crushed stuffing mix (the kind in that plastic bag that you usually get at Thanksgiving) really adding an amazing punch of flavor and the most crispy crust ever created on an OVEN BAKED (not fried) piece of chicken.

Here’s the recipe:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2 eggs

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1 tsp each garlic powder, salt and pepper

1 Cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp. paprika

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp, each garlic powder, salt and pepper

2 cups crushed stuffing mix (the little cubes that come in a plastic bag- whatever flavor you like)

1lb. Chicken tenderloins, trimmed of fat/white bits, and cut in half

Spray olive oil/vegetable oil (like PAM)

3 Gallon Ziplock bags (if you want to be a little bit more eco friendly, just use deep dishes for the next step)

1. In first ziplock bag, combine eggs, dijon and seasoning. Hand bag to your child and let them squish it up to combine.

2. In next ziplock bag, combine flour and seasonings.  Hand this bag to your other child and ask them to shake it up.

3. In last ziplock bag, add crushed stuffing mix. If there are still large chunks of cubed bread, use a meat mallet or other wide kitchen utensil (end of a wooden spoon etc. etc.) to crush them into a more bread crumb like texture. Little chunks are ok. You just want the pieces to be able to stick to the chicken.

4. Add chicken pieces to the ziplock bag with the flour. Shake it up with your kids making sure all surfaces of the chicken are covered in flour.

5. Using a fork, remove chicken pieces one by one (shaking off excess flour) and drop them into the bag with the egg mixture. Add a few pieces at a time, then transfer them to the bag with the crushed stuffing.

6. Once chicken is in crushed stuffing bag shake it around and pat the crumbs into the chicken pieces to make sure they are sticking.

7. Gently remove the chicken to your prepared pan trying to keep as many bread crumbs stuck to the chicken as possible.

8. Spray both sides of all the chicken with your cooking spray.

9. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and coating is golden brown.

Serve with ketchup, honey mustard, BBQ sauce or whatever else your kids like!

I hope you and your kids like this recipe as much as we did. I’m going to experiment a little bit and see if I could freeze these and reheat them just like we do with store bought chicken nuggets. If that works I’ll be sure to let you know 😉

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Despite all the chaos, I am still so very…

Happy hump day!

-J