Bacon Chicken Tenders & Oatmeal Honey Smoothie

Well the boys were bustin at the seams and ready to start kookin today! We decided on two recipes that included a number of our favorite ingredients including BACON! Of course, these recipes came in second to cupcakes, pies and candy recipes...we'll save those for another time.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders serves 4

Ingredients:
1 package of skinless chicken breasts
1 package of thinly sliced bacon
2 tb honey
2 tb jelly or jam of your choice
1 tb grainy mustard

Always remember to keep your kids hands and surfaces clean when working with meat by washing hands and items with soap and water. Also remember to be careful with kids working near ovens when hot.

A lot of my cooking and recipes come from flying off the seat of my pants, rummaging through cupboards and being creative. I like to try new things, I love fusing flavors and introducing my kids to things I hope they will also love.

First, take your chicken breasts and slice them into tender pieces (about 1 inch thick). Teo was a little grossed out by the chickens "squishyness", so Taj took control of the bawker meat.
Next, wrap each tender with a piece of bacon. I only used half a slice of bacon per tender. I also suggest using thin sliced bacon for this recipe because it wraps much better, but we only had thick sliced and as you can see, it works just as good. Teo surprised me with his bacon wrapping skills.

We lined a baking dish with foil to make clean up easier and used a rack so that the tenders would'nt be sitting in bacon grease as they bake, but you can bake them however works best for you.

Next mix the jelly (we used guava jelly; the only kind we ever have on hand), the honey and mustard together.

Brush each bacon wrapped tender on top with the mixture enough to coat it for flavor. The boys can be finicky at times, and when Teo saw the grainy mustard he said "ewww I am NOT eating that!" I knew this was a lie. Put into the oven at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until just brown. You do not want to over cook them and have dry chicken. And that would be a big no no. No need to preheat the oven.

Once the bacon has started to brown, remove from oven and turn each tender over using tongs. Beware of the hot baking dish and bacon grease!

Brush tops again with the remaining mixture and return to the oven for final bake.

Remove after another 10-15 minutes or until brown. Let cool, then enjoy your simple, savory and kid approved dish! Even Teo forgot all about the grainy mustard in the sauce until I reminded him and he still agreed, they were delicious!
Oatmeal Honey Smoothie serves 4

Ingedients:
3 cups rice milk
3 cups ice
2 packages of instant oatmeal
2 tb honey
2 tb amazing meal
1 tsp cinnamon
Cinnamon sticks for garnish

Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Teo loves the smell of amazing meal (weirdo). You can find it at your local natural grocer or whole foods or forgo it altogether. Just something I grabbed from the pantry and added at the last minute.

Garnish and enjoy!