Spicy Pepper Chicken Strips

Tonight was the night to use up what I had in the fridge before the weekend. I wanted to do something different with the chicken I had so I made something close to buffalo chicken tenders. They had a bit of the vinegar taste of buffalo chicken, but with a different kind of spicy flavor.

I took 1 pound of boneless chicken tenders and marinated them in some Jalapeno Red Pepper Sauce from Trader Joe's. When I was ready to cook, I dipped them in more of the sauce (instead of using egg to get them wet), and then coated them in a mixture of bread crumbs, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, and a touch of salt. They baked for about 7 minutes on each side, and then I turned the broiler on for the last 2 minutes. Jon wasn't sure about them when they were cooking, but they ended up tasting great!!

I got a few "good job, dear" comments during dinner, then at the end of dinner he said "you're a pretty good cook, dear." If anyone knows my husband, you know this is like getting an 11 out of 10 :)

I served the chicken with mac-n-cheese (cheese sauce made of onions and red pepper flakes sauteed in butter, add flour, then milk, then a mixture of asagio, Gruyere, cheddar, and pecorino-romano cheeses poured over elbow noodles and baked) and squash and zucchini sauteed in olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and red pepper flakes.

Comfort food with a twist!