Homemade Chicken Fingers

Deceptive photo, they weren't burnt or dry.

My senior mom has become a very picky eater. The supermarkets where I shop don't carry Tyson's Chicken Tenders, meat in a form she'll eat, so I bought 2 huge chicken breasts (nearly 3 pounds at $1.99 per pound = $5.49), cut them into pieces with my trusty meat shears, and made homemade chicken fingers for the 1st time ever in my life. How hard could it be? Not hard at all as it turns out. So crispy, tender and delicious, I'll post my easy-breezy recipe below (so I too can make it again):

Debbie's Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts - I had 2.76 pounds.

For the crust:

1 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup dried parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon homemade saltless creole seasoning (I now made it without salt and add salt or bouillion cubes in recipes.)

1  1/2 teaspoons Himalayan pink salt (It's what I had.)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons dried garlic

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1) Cut the chicken breasts into chunks or thick strips.

 

2) Into a food processor add the oatmeal flakes, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic, and creole seasoning. Pulse until finely ground and pour into a mixing bowl.

3) Spray an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet with cooking spray or grease lightly with butter.

4) Wet the chicken pieces with drops of milk and drop them into the dry oatmeal mixture. You need about 1/2 cup of milk to sprinkle on the chicken pieces.

5) Arrange the coated chicken fingers on a greased or sprayed baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400-degree F oven until brown. The chicken meat will turn from pink to white in about 20 minutes.

Chicken fingers (the whole breast) or tenders (the pectoralis minor part of the chicken) are about the only way my mom will eat chicken nowadays. She ate them, so tonight we got the job done.

Freeze the leftovers. 

A side dish: Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

3 potatoes, unpeeled and cubed

1 small onion, diced

olive oil

garlic powder

parsley 

tarragon

1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun or steak mix seasoning

A few turns of the peppermill

Directions:

1) Wash, slice or cube unpeeled potatoes (any variety) and onions.  

2) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the seasonings.

3) Transfer to an olive oiled, foil-lined baking tray.

Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 25 - 30 minutes.

Another side: BBQ Beans

Bon Appètit!

You may also enjoy:

Skillet Bruschetta

Chicken Noodle Soup

All Beef Salisbury Steak

Stovetop Chicken With Gravy