Not-Fried Chicken Strips

Still sad that my sister's basketball game was cancelled due to snow yesterday :( What snow?? It must have been bad in Iowa--that's where the other team was coming in from.

I did read a whole book this weekend (The Almost Archer Sisters...it was okay, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it), got a lot of school work done, and got my grocery lists together. Norris and I also spent a lot of time together, which was nice! We had friends over Friday night for smoked meats. Jason brought his smoker and a ton of ribs and jalapeno poppers. They were so good! I just made focaccia bread and fruit salad.

Chicken was on major sale, so we will be having that a lot in the weeks to come. I made a simple chicken strip recipe tonight, just playing around with some seasonings from the cabinet. The mustard makes it stick, gives it more flavor, and is better than adding another egg--try it! These are a little spicy (not toooo much) so cut back on the red pepper if you want (specifically meant for my dad:). Hope you try them--they're really good! No picture. Don't know why. I even sat down and said--I should take a picture. They have a nice crispy looking outside. Norris wants me to try the coating with fish fillets this summer--think that will be really good too!

It's the end of another weekend. Two weeks until spring break. I love my job, I really do, but I am also excited for spring break!

Tomorrow night, we are headed on a roundtrip to Baker and back for my sister's senior night. Unbelievable that is here!

Oh, if you try these with buffalo sauce, be careful not to itch your eye with that same hand afterward. I learned that the hard way tonight. Oops!

Not-Fried Chicken Strips

1/3 c cornmeal
1/3 c plain bread crumbs
¾ t paprika
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
½ t ground red pepper (control the spice here—less if you want)
1 t seasoned salt
1 whole egg, or 2 egg whites
2 T yellow mustard
8 chicken tenderloins (thawed)

Preheat oven to 375.
In a small bowl, combine paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper, and seasoned salt.
In a shallow dish, combine cornmeal and half of the seasoning mixture.
In a shallow dish, combine egg and mustard.
In a shallow dish, combine bread crumbs and half of the seasoning mixture.
Working with one piece of chicken at a time, dredge in cornmeal mixture, dip in egg/mustard mixture, then coat with breadcrumb mixture. Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat with all chicken pieces. Spray a light mist of cooking spray over the tops of the chicken pieces.
Bake in oven for 15 minutes, turning over halfway, and spraying the turned up side with cooking spray.
Serve with favorite sauce (we liked it with buffalo and with barbecue).