Sharing the Love - Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Tenders

I typically try my hand at at least one new recipe per week. Here's a snap shot of last week's new recipe success:

Behold, Double Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Strips! Major, major success with the hubby. The recipe is from the famed Rachael Ray. Her recipe is actually for peanut and pretzel-crusted chicken, but we wanted to see if we liked the original first so I omitted the peanuts. And, because I'm too latin to leave things plain, I also took the liberty of adding a couple of extra spices, including some oregano and Adobo seasoning. Finally, instead of pan-frying the chicken in EVOO, I used Smart Balance oil - a healthy blend of canola, vegetable, and soy oils. I served these up alongside my oven-baked wedges, a healthy alternative to french fries, and Ken's Honey Mustard Dressing - which my husband believes was created by the angels in Heaven specifically to be served with chicken tenders.

This week, my mind has turned towards Easter dinner. Unfortunately, Adam's test schedule and the chaos of moving at the end of the month won't allow us to drive home to spend the holiday with our parents, so we'll be missing out on the delectable full-blown spread of the traditional Easter Sunday dinner. Very sad to be spending one of the three major family-oriented holidays of the year by ourselves, but alas... Why can't we bring the things and people we love with us wherever we go for the rest of our lives?

It's up to me now to devise a compact 2-person Easter dinner reminiscent of home and family. So far I'm thinking ham, oven roasted potatoes, green bean casserole (gotta have the green bean casserole!), and - because I had an abrupt craving for deviled eggs earlier this week, which I've strangely never been particularly fond of - bacon cheddar deviled eggs. Maybe mashed cauliflower faux-tatoes, too...if the trial run goes well next week.

And such will be my valiant effort to memorialize Easter this year. ... Actually, since we've already taken the dining room table apart and started piling boxes up in there, our Easter feast will be eaten on the couch in the living room - also cluttered with bags, packaging materials, and picture frames leaning against the walls instead of hanging on them. We'll probably flip hopelessly through every channel we have trying to find something even remotely interesting to watch and end up watching old re-runs of something. How sad is that? Hmm...on second thought, maybe we should just go out, even if it means driving 45 minutes away from this tiny town to find a good restaurant. We'll see. Even so, I still want my deviled eggs...and, no, I'm not pregnant!