I assumed that after graduation I would be searching for recipes to blog about in order to fill my empty schedule. Not quite the case. Between traveling, preparing for grad school, and painting, I am actually behind on posting about recipes that I have already made. In addition, I have recently become pretty infatuated with interior design. After moving back home, I decided it was time to completely make-over my bedroom. While I splurged on my Pottery Barn bedding and curtains, I have made a lot of my own decorations and found more frugal substitutes to designer inspirations. Since this sort of thing has absolutely nothing to do with nutrition, I am thinking of starting another blog to document my "do-it-yourself" home improvement projects along with "before and after" photography. Don't worry though, because this newly found interest will never compare to my passion for nutrition and development of healthy recipes.

The actual point of this post is to give you a very easy alternative to a popular fast food item. Fried chicken fingers are everywhere. From McDonald's to Zaxby's to O'Charley's, you can find chicken fingers in an assortment of restaurants. The amount of calories varies by place, but these are never a healthy option, especially considering that their typical accompaniment is french fries. While this is not actually a recipe, I want to share with you a great way to make crispy chicken fingers (or nuggets) at home in the oven. The key ingredient (besides chicken) is Shake N' Bake Extra Crispy seasoned coating mix. Not only is it healthier than frying your tenders, but much easier too. Just wash and trim your chicken. Drop it in the bag of mix. Shake. and Bake. I'm not saying that you could fool someone into believing these are fried but they are crispy and full of flavor. I like to serve them with my cauliflower casserole (recipe coming soon) and a green veggie for a healthy southern meal. There are also other flavors of Shake N Bake including Crispy Buffalo, Ranch and Herb Crusted, Hot & Spicy, BBQ glaze, and Parmesan (used for my Eggplant Parmesan and Chicken Parmesan recipes).

1. Place seasoning mix in the bag that comes with it. Drop chicken tenders into bag one or two at a time. Shake to coat.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and cooking spray (for easy clean-up). Spread coated chicken tenders out on sheet and bake for 25 minutes (The box says 20 minutes but I always do 25).