Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Yummy Oven Fries

How do you get your kids to eat their veggies?  Surprisingly veggies are the one thing that every member of my family will eat.  I saw the idea for these chicken nuggets here and have just wanted to make them so badly.  They call for ground chicken (they also call for veggies ....eeeeh!).  So, I was thinking that I could just go into the store and get some ground chicken.  WRONG!! I have spent two weeks asking butchers to grind me chicken just to be turned down, looking in the frozen section for the little pound tubes of ground chicken (you know... like ground turkey comes in), and I finally learned that I would obviously just be better off grinding my own chicken.  Problem... I don't have a meat grinder!  Well, my sweet grandma has one and she was kind enough to let me borrow it for a few hours.  I went to the local butcher and bought a bag containing almost 10 pounds of chicken.  I trimmed all the fat off of it.  Then cut it into 2 inch pieces and ground it.  I then measured it out and placed a pound of ground chicken into quart sized freezer bags.  (When you do this, make sure to get all the excess air out of the bags to prevent freezer burn.)  I ended up getting 6 1/2 lbs of ground chicken.  My sweet little girl labeled the freezer bags neatly, however as much as we enjoyed these, those 6 pounds aren't going to last too long.  (grinding this meat took about 45 minutes from start to finish) 

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

original recipe from Cheeky Kitchen

adapted by From Cupboard to Cupboard

Printable Recipes

1 16-oz pkg frozen California-style veggies, thawed out

1 1/2 lbs ground chicken

1 tsp onion salt

Crispy Coating Mix (recipe to follow)

Thaw out your package of California-style veggies and blend in your blender.  Mix veggies, chicken and onion salt together.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Grease your cookie sheet.  Prepare your crispy coating:

note my little helper's beautiful hands... I love her helpful hands in the kitchen.

Crispy Coating Mix

recipe from More Make-A-Mix Cookery

3 cups corn flake crumbs

1 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup sesame seeds

4 teaspoons dried parley leaves, crushed

1 tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon onion salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Stir with a wire whisk until evenly distributed.  Pour into a 5-cup container with a tight-fitting lid.  Seal container.  Label with date and contents.  Store in a cool dry place.  Use within 2 months or freeze.  Makes about 4 1/2 cups crispy coating mix...

NOW:

So there are bunches of ways you could do this!  This is the way we chose to do it:

First, put a layer of crumb mixture on the countertop or cutting board.  Then, grab a handful of the chicken/veggie mixture and press it down onto the crumb mixture.  Then sprinkle the chicken with more crumbs and press down into the meat to coat it.  We used a pizza cutter to just cut bite-size squares (My mom and I didn't figure my dad would be impressed by fun shapes :) ) You could just make single chicken nuggets and press them each into the crumb mixture, or your could cut them into shapes with cookie cutters.  Just do as you please! Now place the chicken nuggets on the prepared cookie sheet and bake them for 14-16 minutes in your preheated oven. 



so they weren't all the same size, but they were DELICIOUS!



For the Yummy Oven Fries:

Scrub 1 potato per person being served.  Wedge the potatoes lengthwise.  In a large (gallon-size) ziploc bag, add some olive oil.  Place the wedged potatoes in the bag and seal the bag.  Shake well to coat all the potatoes with olive oil.  You can either add your seasoning to the bag at this point, like ranch dressing mix, salt and pepper, etc.  We just added salt and pepper and shook well making sure each potato has been seasoned well.  Place them on a cookie sheet (no need to grease) and bake in your 400 degree oven.  They should bake for nearly an hour.  So place them in the oven approximately 45 minutes before your plan on placing your chicken nuggets in the oven.  Then simply place your chicken nuggets on the lower rack when  there is approximately 15 minutes of cook-time left on your potatoes.

Serve with bbq sauce, ranch dressing, & fry sauce.  And remember, no need for adding veggies, as you already did!

Happy Cooking!

Teauna

F.C.t.C. Weekend Challenge #2

This is one of my favorite dinners ever!  I don't use my slow-cooker (crock pot) alot.  It's not that I don't like the meals, I just never think about it!  My mom used to make this often for us growing up.  Of course, there was no recipe involved, just a variety of ingredients from the cupboard and fridge.  This is truly one of those dishes that when I have no time {or energy}, it's simple and I always have the ingredients on hand.  There are so many changes and options that could be made to your liking.  If you haven't already figured it out, my family is slightly picky and choosy about what they eat.  So I keep these extremely simple.  But they are good that way!  So for this weekend's challenge, just do what you like!  Switch it up as much as you like and post it to your blog!  Let us know what you changed, didn't change, or would change next time. There are endless options! Grab my Weekend Challenge button on the right side of my blog and add it to your blog to show people where to enter the From Cupboard to Cupboard Weekend Challenge!

My Mom's Crock Pot Potato Dinner
recipe from my mom
Adapted by From Cupboard to Cupboard
printable recipe here

8 medium potatoes, scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 lb {or so} thinly slice deli ham, cubed
2 cups shredded cheese {I like monterey jack}
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 can water

Mix together in a medium bowl, the soup and the water.
In a 4 qt crock pot, layer ingredients: 4 potatoes, sliced, salt & pepper to season, soup mixture, ham, cheese, 4 sliced potatoes, salt & pepper to season, soup mixture, ham, cheese...
Cook on high until potatoes are cooked thru. {Every crock pot is different, but mine took 2 1/2 hours} Of course, you could cook them on low for longer.  Whatever tickles your fancy!

Here are some of the add-ins you could consider:
* sliced onions
*cooked and crumbled bacon
*browned, seasoned, & drained hamburger or turkey burger
* sliced carrots
* frozen peas
* try cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom
*add your favorite herbs like basil, parley, chives, etc.
* sprinkle garlic salt {I like the California Style} instead of plain salt
* use Velveeta for a creamier texture sauce

I tell ya!  The options are endless and I can't wait to see what you guys come up with! 

Happy Cooking!
Teauna

**Don't forget to go HERE to enter the drawing for a CSN Gift Certificate!**

MASHED POTATO CASSEROLE

So, one of my family's favorite side dishes is "Mashed Potato Casserole". It is soooo yummy. But better yet, it is sooooo simple! This dish goes great with any main dish. Now I have tried using potato flakes and even real mashed potatoes and even tho they work, they still don't have the same taste and texture as the potato pearls. If you have never used potato pearls, you can find them at the Family Home Storage Center. They are located on 165 East 2200 North in North Logan. They sell them in a case of 12 28-ozpackages. They have a great shelf life and are a wonderful food storage item. If you don't want that many, get a few friends together and go in on the case. They are well worth the $43.10 you'll spend on the case.

In a bowl, combine:

4 cups potato pearls

8 cups HOT water

MIX WELL!

Add:

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup grated cheese

*I use whatever cheese I have available. I used grated parmesan and medium cheddar tonight!*

PLACE IN A 9X13 CASSEROLE DISH.

Sprinkle with garlic salt.

<---My favorite garlic salt is the "California Style" variety.

Sprinkle with shredded cheese, however much you desire. :-)

*Now it's optional to top with french fried onions. My family doesn't particularly care for them and they're just an added expense, but they do look nice and there are many people that do like them. Of course, if I take this dish somewhere or to someone I do put the onions on top. They just look pretty :-)*

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Happy Cooking!

*Teauna*