What’s for Dinner? Raiding the Pantry

I am not proud of this picture. But it was all I could muster, what with a crying baby, meowing cat, cranky children and thus a late dinner. Oh, and also because I haven’t been ‘allowed’ to sleep past 5:00am for the past 3 days. But I’m not cranky about it. ;)

Today was one of those days that I just couldn’t seem to come up with an idea for dinner. I scoured my cookbooks and recipe cards, all to no avail. I raided my freezer and my pantry more than once, just to make sure something delicious and ready to eat wasn’t hiding in there. There wasn’t. But I had crackers, parmesan cheese, frozen chicken, buttermilk, and a bag of sprouting potatoes. Doesn’t sound too appetizing does it? But suddenly I saw the makings of a dinner! Chicken strips and fries it was!

My kids love ‘chicken nuggets’ from you-know-where, but I just can’t think about what’s in them. Did you watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? The episode where he made the chicken part. Ew. Gross me out. Even my husband was repulsed. After that, we vowed never to eat fake nuggets again! So here is a recipe for homemade Chicken Strips, that uses chicken breast and real ingredients. Real food is good.

Homemade Chicken Strips

3-4 chicken breasts
buttermilk (enough to cover the chicken)
1-2 cups crushed crackers, or bread crumbs, or cornflakes (I used Breton crackers)
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
pepper

Slice chicken into strips, and marinate in buttermilk for at least one hour, and up to 24 hours (the buttermilk makes the most unbelievably moist chicken evah!)
In a ziplock bag crush the crackers (or whatever you are using), until fairly fine, then add parmesan and pepper. You can use a rolling pin to do this.
Transfer dry mix to a shallow dish or plate.
Dredge your chicken in the cracker mixture until well coated.
You can either bake them in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes (turn halfway through), or fry them in a pan with oil.

Serve with my homemade fries.

Yum!