So healthy chicken nuggets ... it's possible! And the results are so yummy it's untrue!
You need:
Chicken breast, sliced in half and then into bitesize pieces (1 breast did 5 nuggets per child and 4 for me, so 24 nuggets in total)
Breadcrumbs (2 tblsp) (either the one's you've forgotten about in your freezer or the ones that you can buy in a tube from the shop)
Grated parmesan cheese (2 tblsp)
Flavouring of your choice, I threw in some oregano, but I've read about making them with paprika which would be delicious!
Olive oil (you have to give the chicken a coating of it for the breadcrumb mixture to stick.)
Method:
1) Coat the chicken in olive oil
2) Mix together the breadcrumbs, cheese and flavouring.
3) Coat both sides of the chicken pieces in the breadcrumb mix
4) Pop each bit of chicken on a baking sheet (I lined mine to avoid anything sticking)
5) Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all the chicken pieces are coated in breadcrumbs and are on the baking sheet.
6) Bake the nuggets at about 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes on each side until they're cooked through (white all the way though)
7) Serve with homemade chips (the recipe's coming!) and homemade mushy peas (keep readin and you'll find out how to make them!) and loads of Heinz (or any other brand) tomato ketchup!
Homemade Chips.
They're more wedge like actually, but we'll call them chips!
You need:
A load of potatoes! (do about 1 and a half pots per person) These need to be chopped into wedges. Or chips (fries for American readers).
Olive oil (Love olive oil!!! If you're watching the calories then the best thing to do is buy a spray bottle for olive oil, like this one, it reduces the amount of oil you use, genius!!)
Salt (I know, salt's bad right?! Well, not always! You need a bit of salt in your diet, and if you're like me and generally eat very little salt, which is one of the major advantages of cooking everything from scratch, a little salt on your chips isn't going to do you any harm!)
Method:
1) Pop the wedges in a microwave-proof bowl with some water and cover with a plate (let's not waste cling-film!) and blast on full power for about 10 mins. You could just as easily pop them on the hob and boil them until they're cooked.
2) Drain the wedges and spread out on a baking sheet
3) Spray/drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
4) Throw them in the oven (with the chicken nuggets) until they're lovely and browned.
Homemade Mushy Peas.
I don't know if anyone outside of England will know what mushy peas are ... but you all should! They're yummy! Generally made with Marrowfat peas they are often served with fish and chips (yum! I miss fish and chips!!!!) or on Bonfire Night with mint sauce. Yum yum! This version was thought up because the kids I look after HATE peas and broad beans. Even though I've used these you could pop in any green bean-like veggies that your kids (or you) dislike.
You need:
Peas, about 100g
Broad Beans, about 100g (if you can shell them first the texture is so much better!
A food processor (or a fork and some elbow grease!)
Method:
1) Boil the peas and beans until they're slightly over cooked.
2) Drain all but the dregs of the water and blitz in the food processor (the water loosens up the mixture which is great!)
3) Pop back into the pan to gently reheat, you can add a bit more water at this point if you think it's too stiff. You could also add some mint sauce for some extra flavour.
Serve all three together with a dollop of ketchup and the kids/better half/housemates will never know it's healthy as well as tasty!
Now all this may seem fiddly and time-consuming, so here's how I did it in 30 minutes with 4 children in the house.
12pm - get home from school. Put the twins to bed for a rest (Tell them a quick made up story to satisfy any requests for stories) and set the other 2 onto their homework
12.05pm - Chop the potatoes into wedges and throw in the microwave
12.08 pm - Set the oven to 180 and put peas and beans onto boil
12.09 pm - Chop the chicken into bitesize pieces and drizzle with olive oil.
12.11 pm - Mix the breadcrumbs and coat the chicken. Pop chicken onto baking sheet.
12.15 pm - Get wedges out of the microwave, drain, season and pop in the oven (whilst in the oven turn the nuggets)
12.18pm - Drain peas and beans and blitz in the food processor, return to pan
12.20pm - Put the kettle on to make a cup of tea.
12.22pm - Whilst tea is brewing turn the nuggets again
12.23pm - Set the table
12.25 pm - Serve up the food and put on the table
12.27pm - Wake up twins and get boys from their bedrooms.
12.30pm - Eat and be merry :) (Don't let your tea go cold!)
