Chicken Mcnuggets – a childhood staple slathered in BBQ, sweet and sour or hot mustard sauce; it’s bouncy, chewy texture, no longer representing the strands of tough, dry chicken meat, a mysterious kind of meat. It never once occurred to me as something you can make at home, this special treat was only to be enjoyed at the fast food joint where more and more press tells you how bad the food is for your health, what kind of chemicals and processed plastics they’re adding to the meat.

Until one day my college friend told me how simple it was to make. Just blend chicken thighs, batter it up and fry it! SERIOUSLY?

I couldn’t wait to try it at home and I’ve never looked back since. It’s so close to the real thing that I guarantee you you won’t miss it. Ever.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Parsley Flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Pepper
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 1 cup Flour
• 1/2 cup Corn starch

Equipment: 

• Food processor
• Bowls
• Spoon or small ice cream scoop
• Frying pan and spatula

Step 1) Cut chicken into large chunks to fit into food processor. Put in all spices and blend until everything is mixed into a paste. (like second picture)

 

 

Step 2) Prepare your batter station in the following order: a) Meat mixture; b) corn starch; c) beaten eggs; d) flour.

Step 3) Spoon and roll one scoop of meat mixture into a bite size ball, gently dust in the corn starch. Drench into the beaten eggs, then roll in the flour, make sure the entire ball is lightly covered in flour, but don’t press too hard otherwise your batter will be too thick. Place the ball on a plate and gently flatten to form a nugget. Repeat until all mixture is used.

Step 4) Heat a pan and coat in oil for pan frying, medium heat. Prepare a plate with kitchen towels to place your cooked nuggets and to soak up the extra oil. Once the oil is hot, cook the nuggets on both sides until golden brown, 2-3 minutes each side.

Tip: You can choose to deep fry it by putting in more oil. Be careful that the oil can get too hot if constantly being heated, so move the pan away from the heat source or turn on/off the stove when you see fit. The best temperature to fry the chicken is around 350 degrees Farenheit.

 

Feel free to cut open one of them to ensure that it’s cooked through, especially when serving young children.

 

Serve with a side of salad and dipping sauce (we make our own siracha mayo or wasabi mayo dipping sauce), it’s a fun and delicious meal that your kids are bound to love!

 

 

 

 

You’ve heard of grilled cheese before. But have you ever thought of putting avocados with your grilled cheese??

I love avocados, so I’m down to put avocados on everything. It’s a great superfood, though a bit high in calories, but if you limit your intake it’s just so good for you! Besides it’s so versatile! You can mash it up to make creamy delicious guacamole, or simply cut it into cubes to put on top of salads or toast. Sandwiching avocados in grilled cheese not only enhances the flavor of the cheese, but creates additional depth, flavor and texture that is guaranteed to bring your grilled cheese to a whole new level.

You really don’t need a whole lot of ingredients to create this fantastic meal:

• two slices of bread (whole wheat or white is fine)
• shredded cheese (Gouda works well and melts great)
• 1 avocado, mashed and seasoned with salt and pepper
• a small knob of butter

1) Heat pan on low heat, melt a little butter into it.

2) An additonal step we take is before we assemble the sandwich, we’ll toast the INSIDES of the bread too. That way you’ll get addtional cruch as you bite into it, but it heats the toast up on the inside too so it’ll help melt the cheese!

3) Once one side of the bread is golden brown, remove and add additional butter to the pan. Once melted, place the UNTOASTED side of one piece of bread down (toasted side should face up). Add a handful of cheese, top with avocados then another layer of cheese.

*hint – we sometimes add a bit of reduced balsamic vinegar on top to cut down the richness of both the cheese and avocados.

4) Top off with the other slice of toast, but with toasted side facing down now. Flip the sandwich once the bottom is golden brown and add a little extra butter to grill the just flipped slice of bread to toast. Cover and let grill, checking constantly to make sure the toast is not burnt.

Remove from pan once ready and serve immediately while hot.

 She cooked!