Fish Sticks And Tots

I wouldn't say that I grew up a picky eater. In fact, I really can't think of anything that I wouldn't eat.

Well, except for liver.

But liver is pretty disgusting even if it is disguised with caramelized onions.

We had a well balanced meal every night. I always remember a meat. A starch. A vegetable. A fruit. And a bread.

Oh. And we had to drink milk. And clean our plates.

My belly was always full.

But one of my absolute favorites was fish sticks and tater tots. ( with a side of peas and a bowl of pears). I just loved their fried crunchy goodness. And anything that can be dipped in ketchup is a forever friend of mine.

Which is why I married Kev.

The funny thing is that I wouldn't eat the fish sticks at school. Or I would NEVER order a filet-o-fish from McD's. I was scared of the "mystery meat". Which makes absolutely NO sense because just about every thing that was served to me in the school cafeteria was a mystery. And my all time FAVORITE thing from McD's is the chicken nuggets. I mean.. I could eat a 50 count tray if necessary. In a matter of seconds.

My decision making skills clearly aren't the best. Especially considering that I hope to never read the package that my Mom's frozen fish sticks came out of. Who knows what was in those delightful treats.

But eating fish made you smarter.

At least that is what I liked to tell myself.

I realize now that I shouldn't have put all my hopes in to processed fish parts for my intellect. And should have paid attention in class a little more.

The funny thing is that I stopped eating fish sticks the minute I graduated from high school. Suddenly I felt the need to care about what was inside them. As I was eating fast food by the bagfuls.

So, for the past eleventy years (since high school) I have either been eating fresh fish filets OR fresh fried fish. And really the only time I eat fried fish is when I am lucky enough to be invited to a fish fry.

Any event title that has food in the name is my kind of party.

But then I came across this recipe for HEALTHY fish sticks.

A dream come true.

One of my favorite childhood dishes turned in to something that I could feel good about eating again.

And another excuse to dip a lot of food in to ketchup.

I followed the recipe very closely. For the crust... panko, parm, salt, pepper


Until I got to the fish part. I bought fresh tilapia filets. Except for I forgot to write down how many I needed. (3) And since my mind panics in those types of situations over the idea that I will run out of food and Kev will run screaming from the house.. out in to the woods.. never to be heard from again... I bought EIGHT filets.

I eyeballed it. Which NEVER works for me.

So, I had to double the recipe. And probably should have tripled it.

Let's just say that I made a LOT of fish sticks...

They were super easy. The only thing that took some time was dipping the fish in to egg whites and rolling it in the crumb mixture.

Nothing that The Real Housewives of Atlanta can't fix.

Kev even had to remind me to "PAY ATTENTION TO THE KNIFE" as I was cutting the filets in to small pieces while staring at the television with glazed over eyes.

And I guess you are probably thinking that I'm also about to share with you a great healthy way to make tots. Except for I have NO idea. I just put it in the title because I cherish those little bites of potato heaven SO much.

So, instead of my beloved tots, I made parsnip fries. I just cut them up, tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them for 45 minutes. I made Kev some roasted potatoes... but they didn't turn out nearly as good as I hoped. They were still a little soft and not roasted.

And then I served it all with some Organic ketchup. Tastes just like the real stuff but better! :)

As you can see, my fish sticks don't really look like sticks. Which is proof I wasn't really paying attention while I was cutting them.

But they still tasted just as good.

And made me feel like a kid again.