Homemade Chicken Nuggets

January 29, 2014

Last night for dinner we made homemade chicken nuggets. No more processed, frozen nuggets for this family. These turned out so good. They were crispy and flavorful. I served them with a side of homemade BBQ sauce and roasted asparagus.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

First, cube your chicken up into chunks

Put the cubed chicken into a bowl and squirt some mustard on them. I used French’s Spicy Mustard as it doesn’t contain any sugar. Toss the chicken pieces until they are well coated.

I used some Wasa Crackers (3 of them because I was making three batches of 4oz of chicken) and put them into my blender and blended on high to make them into a crumb. If you’re not following the hcg diet, you could use panko or regular bread crumbs.

Put the bread crumbs on a plate and dredge each piece of mustard chicken in the cracker crumbs.

Pop them on a baking sheet (I always line mine with aluminum foil)

Bake in a 400 degree, pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes. I did not turn my over half through and they came out with just the amount of crisp on them.

Kale Pesto

September 23, 2013

Today was my birthday. The big 45. My husband has off every Monday so I took the day off from work and we drove through the “notch” in Stowe, VT. Stopped at a local bar and grille for lunch, where I enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich and a side salad with their homemade garlic vinaigrette. It was delish, although I was really full and only ate 1/2 the sandwich.

On our ride home we stopped at Cold Hollow Cider Mill to pick up some cider donuts. It’s a yearly tradition that we continue to do even though we are “eating clean”. If you’re ever in Vermont and driving up to Stowe (excellent skiiling by the way), make sure you add a stop to Cold Hollow to your list.

After our drive through the mountains to see the leaves changing on the trees, we stopped at Costco to pick up this week’s produce. I love buying produce from there because it’s so much cheaper than my local store.

To make room for all of this in the refrigerator, which is always a challenge, I decided to use up 1/2 a large bag of kale I had. I looked on Pinterest for some inspiration and decided to go ahead and make Kale Pesto.

Ingredients

8oz Kale, stems removed, chopped

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic

juice of 1/2 lemon

4-6 T olive oil

1 Jalepeno, seeds removed

Directions

Boil a pot of water with the kale for 3-4 minutes or until the kale is bright green.

Drain and add to a food process with the rest of the ingredients

Process until well mixed. Our family loves spicy food so I decided to add a jalapeno to the mix.

Freshly picked from the garden

Sample the mix to see if you’d prefer more garlic or more cheese

Tonight I served the Kale Pesto over ravioli. I have quite a bit of the pesto left over and we’ll use it this week on sandwiches.

Do you like Kale? If so, what is your favorite way to enjoy it? Kale Chips? As a Salad?

Black Bean Hummus & Chicken Wraps

September 14, 2013

Black Bean Hummus

Ingredients

1 clove garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans; drain and rinse
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions

Mince garlic (or use 1 T of already minced garlic) and add to the food processor. You can use the food processor to mince it also.
Add black beans, lemon juice, tahini, cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper; process until smooth. Scrape sides, if needed.

Great served with Baked Pita Chips.

The Hummus also works great as a substitute for mayonnaise on your wraps.

I used a whole grain wrap, spread the black bean hummus on the wrap, layered on lettuce, red onions, cucumbers and chicken. Roll up and enjoy!