Chicken Nuggets and French Fries

(Right off the bat I must apologize for the pictures, it was late and we were hungry, and I burnt the french fries, so obviously I didn't take any pictures of those.  But the nuggets tasted awesome and were super easy to make too)

So we never eat fast food. Well not never, but rarely.  Just because we don't eat it, doesn't mean that I wouldn't want to eat it.  Who doesn't love those delicious hot crunchy greasy salty french fries? ::drool::  Anyway, having it once in a while is ok, but not all the time.  So that's why you can do it at home and know EXACTLY what parts of the chicken are becoming a "nugget" and save yourself from about a days worth of fat and calories.

I've heard so many moms say "Oh, my kids will only eat chicken nuggets".  First of all, I am not a mother, so I can imagine that nothing with kids is as easy as it seems, but I would like to think that if your child(ren) got involved in the cooking process then maybe they would be interested in eating other things and broadening their pallet horizons.  Believe me, my mom had to do the "yea, it's chicken" thing for everything that wasn't chicken for us, but that's because the pork chops were like chewing on a leather shoe, and veggies were boring (and gross).  So you have to make food interesting and fun for kids- why do you think they love nuggets and food on sticks?

Anyway, regardless of your child's eating habits, I think everyone loves chicken nuggets and french fries! This recipe will make it easier for you to let them to have seconds and the sauces to go with them are endless.  Anything on your fridge door- ketchup, honey mustard (honey + Dijon mustard), BBQ sauce, hot sauce, ranch dressing etc.  You can also add veggies into the chicken nugget mix- just make sure they are neutral color so the inside still looks white like chicken.

Also, these are perfect for freezing too.  Make 2 batches and eat one tonight for dinner and freeze the other for the next time- just gotta pop in the oven!

Ingredients 
(This will make around 21 nuggets)

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• couple grinds of fresh black pepper
• 1 egg
• panko bread crumbs (1-3 cups)
• non stick spray

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Combine first five ingredients in a food processor along with a handful of breadcrumbs. Cut chicken into chunks to make it easier to grind.
3. Blend until it is all ground up and incorporated.
4. Remove from food processor and put in a bowl.  If the mixture is too wet just add more breadcrumbs and mix together in the bowl. (This is why I can't tell you exactly how much breadcrumbs your going to need- it varies)
5. Take the remaining bread crumbs and pour into a separate bowl.
6. Time to form nuggets.  I'm pretty sure we all know what a nugget looks like so shape into little disks and coat with bread crumbs and lay on a sheet tray or baking rack.
7. When all are done, spray with non-stick spray and cook in the oven until golden brown and crispy. 
8. Cooking time will vary, but I think I cooked mine for about 20-30 mins.
9. To freeze left overs, just put into a ziplock and pop in the freezer.  Just be gently, you don't want all the breadcrumbs to fall off.

 

FRENCH FRIES
Which should more appropriately be named oven fries, but just be careful not to burn them like I did.  Making your own fries is awesome too, because you can flavor them anyway you want.  Any spice that you like- garlic, onion, cayenne, chili, rosemary, etc - can be added to this recipe.

Ingredients

• About 2-3 large Russet baking potatoes
• Oil, salt and pepper

Directions

1. First clean your potatoes.  I like to leave the skins on, but you can most certainly peel yours.
2. I used a mandoline with the french fry cutting blade, but if you don't have one you can always just cut them into french fries with a knife. 
3. Spray the baking sheet with non stick spray and lay all your fries down in a single layer.
4. Coat in oil, salt and pepper (and any other spice you like). Toss to coat everything.
5. Put in the oven along with your nuggets.  Check on them, because honestly every time I cook them it's different.  30 minutes is the about time they will cook.  (So figure the nuggets and fries will be done around the same time) I've also tried flipping them half way, if they come off the sheet pan easy- flip them, if not let them cook a bit longer then try again.  Otherwise they will break and smear and be a big mess and burn on the pan.  But there has been times when I didn't flip them and they came out fine too.