Charm City Moms: Chicken tenders baked with potato chips - Parents: Help on child care, juggling work and family life

chicken%20tenders%20s1.jpg How could my kids -- or yours, for that matter -- resist chicken coated with potato chips and baked?

Answer: If you tell them there are potato chips on the outside and act like it's going to be the world's biggest treat. Then they are obligated to pick at their dinner out of spite.

Lesson learned!

I think the kids would have liked these little chicken poppers, adapted from the book "The $7 a Meal Healthy Cookbook," fine without their mother's buildup. Although I did wish the potato-chip exterior had gotten crispier. I didn't want to bake these a lot longer than the allotted 25 minutes, for fear of drying them out....

Maybe a higher temperature would help next time?

Still, the meat was wonderfully moist, and the potato-chip coating added a little pizazz. And they were better than store-bought chicken nuggets, for sure.

I modified the spices a bit. Here's how to make my version:

Potato-Chip Crusted Chicken Tenders
Serves 4

6 ounces potato chips
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped (optional)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound chicken tenders, cut into cubes
2/3 cup sour cream

In a food processor, chop potato chips until you have 1 cup crumbs. Mix crumbs together with pepper, chives and thyme.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat baking dish with butter or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Lay chicken in dish and coat with sour cream, then sprinkle with potatos chip mixture. Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until browned and crispy.

Adapted from "The $7 a Meal Healthy Cookbook" by Chef Susan Irby

Per serving: 648 calories, 22 grams protein, 45 grams fat, 14 grams saturated fat, 43 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber, 67 milligrams cholesterol, 762 milligrams sodium. Analysis by registered dietitian Jodie Shield.

Photo by me