Celebrating the Movies with Healthy Alternatives

A few weeks ago we celebrated watching the Academy Awards. At my house we just love Oscar night, the pre-game show is probably the best! (well this year it was). Brent makes us print ballots and we make our own picks, and of course... he wins every year!!!

This year, we had healthy alternatives to the usual junk food we would usually have eaten in the past. You know, we eat with our eyes, so I made a Spring Mix salad with colourful berries.

I also made the most amazing, kid and husband friendly recipe. Chicken tenders, but not the frozen processed kind, the homemade kind that are full of great wholesome ingredients.

I would say that since I started this blog, this has to be the most family loved recipe I have made. Here's the recipe. They can get messy with all the breading and the BBQ sauce, but use tongs and let me tell you... it'll all be worth it.

BBQ Chicken Tenders  (adapted from  http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/.html_3)

About 24 tenders

Ingredients

    1 cup prepared barbecue sauce

    2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

    2 tablespoons honey

    1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders (see Note)

    1/2 cup all-purpose flour

    1/2 teaspoon salt

    1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

    2 large eggs

    1 3/4 cups coarse dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat

    1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (my addition and it made them so crunchy)

    Olive oil or canola oil cooking spray (PAM)

Preparation

    Combine barbecue sauce, mustard and honey in a large bowl. Set aside 1/2 cup of the sauce in a small bowl. Cut any large chicken tenders in half lengthwise, then add all the tenders to the large bowl with the remaining sauce; stir to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

    Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

    Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Lightly beat eggs in another shallow dish. Place breadcrumbs in a third shallow dish. Coat each tender in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip in egg and let any excess drip off. Then roll in the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess. Place the tenders on the prepared baking sheet. Generously coat both sides of each tender with cooking spray.

    Bake for 10 minutes. Turn each tender over and continue baking until the outside is crisp and the tenders are cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Serve with the reserved sauce for dipping.

Nutrition Per tender : 67 Calories; 0 g Fat; 8 g Carbohydrates; 8 g Protein; 1 g Fiber

I served them with another healthy alternative, 'Sweet Potatoe' fries, although they weren't home made, they were still better than white potatos!