cdkitchen > cooking experts > pamela chester
It was just a typical Wednesday evening in my household getting ready for dinner, cooking with my boys. I have had to improvise to get any cooking done lately, though, since my newborn pretty much flat out refuses to nap anywhere during the day but with me – in fact he’s snoozing away right here with me as I type one handed. The front pack baby carrier has become my new best friend.
Usually I like to do all my dinner prep work before we spend a little time outside with our dog and then all come in for dinner. Therefore simple recipes with minimal cleanup are what works right now. If I time everything exactly right, the little guy gets a good hour to hour and a half nap while we cook and throw dinner into the oven, play or take a walk outside, feed the doggie and then eat together.
So the seven week old baby was in his usual napping spot in the baby carrier, and my two year old guy was parked in his usual spot, standing on a chair he had pushed up against the kitchen island to watch and help with dinner. On the menu that night? Crispy oven baked chicken drumsticks with sweet potato fries. Real simple stuff.
I had bought a bulk pack of naturally raised chicken drumsticks on a whim, remembering how this was my favorite part of the chicken as a kid. Plus they were on sale. Then I also remembered how much I used to love shake and bake, so we bought a canister of cornmeal to improvise a homemade version.
At home I mixed all the shake and bake ingredients – cornmeal, flour, and some dried herbs – together in a gallon sized bag, and soaked the chicken in a mix of milk and egg. My son was so proud to help shake the chicken in the bag to get it evenly coated (it was just like the commercial – “and I helped!”). Then we laid the chicken pieces on a rack placed on a tray, drizzled with butter, and baked in the oven for about 45 minutes, along with the sweet potatoes.
You can do the same at home – improvise your own personalized shake and bake with a variety of ingredients and seasonings. It’s more economical, and better than store bought chicken nuggets, too. One of my favorites for shake and bake would be cornflake crumbs (just like my pop-pop used to use for his fish frys); you can also use all-purpose or whole wheat flour, Italian breadcrumbs, or cornmeal, as in the recipe below. For flavor, you can use grated cheese, Italian seasoning, Old Bay, season salt, or any other spice you like. You can even increase the recipe and make a bunch to have on hand for when the urge strikes (just portion out what you need for each meal). Swap out the chicken for pork or fish, for even greater versatility.
Now we ended up saving about half of the drumsticks for leftovers in the fridge. But the bulk pack got me thinking about how much our two boys are going to eat when they get older. Growing up with my older brother, I know how much food growing boys can go through. So buying and cooking in bulk is something I’ll be doing more of in the future!
Please feel free to share your own easy recipes that can be put together in a couple steps and that are good for a growing family.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1048-shake-and-bake/
First You Shake It, Then You Bake It
It was just a typical Wednesday evening in my household getting ready for dinner, cooking with my boys. I have had to improvise to get any cooking done lately, though, since my newborn pretty much flat out refuses to nap anywhere during the day but with me – in fact he’s snoozing away right here with me as I type one handed. The front pack baby carrier has become my new best friend.
Usually I like to do all my dinner prep work before we spend a little time outside with our dog and then all come in for dinner. Therefore simple recipes with minimal cleanup are what works right now. If I time everything exactly right, the little guy gets a good hour to hour and a half nap while we cook and throw dinner into the oven, play or take a walk outside, feed the doggie and then eat together.
So the seven week old baby was in his usual napping spot in the baby carrier, and my two year old guy was parked in his usual spot, standing on a chair he had pushed up against the kitchen island to watch and help with dinner. On the menu that night? Crispy oven baked chicken drumsticks with sweet potato fries. Real simple stuff.
I had bought a bulk pack of naturally raised chicken drumsticks on a whim, remembering how this was my favorite part of the chicken as a kid. Plus they were on sale. Then I also remembered how much I used to love shake and bake, so we bought a canister of cornmeal to improvise a homemade version.
At home I mixed all the shake and bake ingredients – cornmeal, flour, and some dried herbs – together in a gallon sized bag, and soaked the chicken in a mix of milk and egg. My son was so proud to help shake the chicken in the bag to get it evenly coated (it was just like the commercial – “and I helped!”). Then we laid the chicken pieces on a rack placed on a tray, drizzled with butter, and baked in the oven for about 45 minutes, along with the sweet potatoes.
You can do the same at home – improvise your own personalized shake and bake with a variety of ingredients and seasonings. It’s more economical, and better than store bought chicken nuggets, too. One of my favorites for shake and bake would be cornflake crumbs (just like my pop-pop used to use for his fish frys); you can also use all-purpose or whole wheat flour, Italian breadcrumbs, or cornmeal, as in the recipe below. For flavor, you can use grated cheese, Italian seasoning, Old Bay, season salt, or any other spice you like. You can even increase the recipe and make a bunch to have on hand for when the urge strikes (just portion out what you need for each meal). Swap out the chicken for pork or fish, for even greater versatility.
Now we ended up saving about half of the drumsticks for leftovers in the fridge. But the bulk pack got me thinking about how much our two boys are going to eat when they get older. Growing up with my older brother, I know how much food growing boys can go through. So buying and cooking in bulk is something I’ll be doing more of in the future!
Please feel free to share your own easy recipes that can be put together in a couple steps and that are good for a growing family.
Crispy Oven Baked Chicken
Made with black pepper, salt, milk, egg, cornmeal, all-purpose flour, Parmesan cheese, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder
Made with black pepper, salt, milk, egg, cornmeal, all-purpose flour, Parmesan cheese, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder
Serves/Makes: 4
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 pounds skinless chicken pieces
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine the milk and egg in a shallow bowl and mix well with a whisk.
Combine the cornmeal, flour, Parmesan, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a plastic zip-top bag.
Dip the chicken in the egg mixture to coat thoroughly then add, one piece at a time, to the flour mixture in the bag and shake well to coat completely. Repeat with remaining chicken pieces.
Place the chicken on a rack set on top of a sheet pan or in a shallow baking dish. Brush the pieces with the melted butter.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a knife.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/pamela-chester/1048-shake-and-bake/