Fish Sticks FTW!

Shockingly enough, I'm starting to get tired of the foods I've been consuming en mass -- like salad. I'm so over lettuce, I can't even begin to tell you. Which is a total bummer because it's a quick and easy side to go with anything but I just can't even stomach one more bite. Plus, while my proteins never change I'm getting bored of the way I've been cooking them. So it was time to get out my Cooking Light and Clean Eating magazines and start leafing through them.

Well, I got Tilapia out last night to have for dinner and while I was perusing Clean Eating (Recipes are also found online -- which is where I got this one) I saw a recipe for fish sticks that looked amazing. It was also served with "chips" and "slaw" but I didn't have the ingredients for those so I just did the fish and paired it with some broccoli. It was amazing  -- of course I tweaked it a bit which is par for the course with me and recipes I find.

Didn't they turn out AWESOME looking -- they tasted even better!

Ingredients:
1 slice of whole wheat Ezekiel bread (any slice of whole grain bread would do)
3 prepackaged boneless Tilapia filets (I have a huge bag of them from Costco)
1 egg
spice to taste: rosemary, garlic, sage, pepper, salt, parsley, and Old Bay Seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat oven with cookie sheet in it to 400 degrees
2. Using food processor (or some other machine that chops stuff up -- like a blender or something), grind up bread slice and set aside. 
3. Using food processor, grind up the three rinsed and dried filets
4. Beat egg and the seasonings together
5. Combine egg, fish, and 1/4 bread crumbs in a square 8x8 glass dish (any dish would work but I liked this cuz it was easier to do the next step. Use your hands or spatula to mix it together really well.
6. Divide into 8 equal sections (I just cut the square into 8 equal parts -- see? easier.)
7. Make into sticks
8. Put rest of the bread crumbs into a shallow dish and dredge the fish sticks through it.
9. Place on parchment paper -- when oven and cookie sheet are preheated put parchment paper on cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Then crank the oven to broil for 2 minutes (I did this to make sure they were crunchy)

The recipe on Clean Eating sauteed them in oil but that's like effort and I wanted to cut out the extra fat so I tweaked it and baked mine. They also didn't season up the fish. But I live for spices. So I did. They turned out awesome. It was a much needed change in what I'd been eating. Plus, because no one else wanted fish -- 4ft opted to eat Beef Pasta with his Dad -- I made all 8 and then I put 6 in the freezer BEFORE cooking them and only baked 2. That way I can have crunchy fish whenever. I think I'm going to throw a couple in the oven and have a crunchy fish sandwich for lunch. Mmmm.