Chicken Nuggets, a Family Favorite

It's not often that my children enjoy a meal of chicken nuggets. It's not by their choice, but by my choice. No matter how great the convenience of purchasing processed chicken nuggets in the bag, I find the unreadable ingredient list and unnecessary ingredient items a major reason for not purchasing my chicken nuggets from the frozen food section. I instead make my family's chicken nuggets from scratch and to be honest, I find the recipe easy. I don't really measure, just a shake from the seasoning container, so a tablespoon in the in the ingredient list is approximate.

Ingredients:
2 lbs local or organic boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 eggs
2 TBSP milk
2 cups whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1 TBSP paprika
1/2 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP onion powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, I make a bread crumb coating from homemade croutons using a three day old loaf of whole wheat bread.  Add the croutons to a food processor. Then, add the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Pulse until the croutons are finely chopped.

Cut approximately three chicken breasts into small one inch pieces. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non stick cook spray.

I use two small bowls for dreading and breading the chicken. One bowl has two eggs slightly beaten with milk. The second bowls has the processed breadcrumbs with seasonings.  I throw four or five pieces of chicken into the egg mixture, then drain and add to the breadcrumbs. Make sure the chicken is coated evenly and place on the aluminum foil covered cookie sheet.

Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes until done completely through. We served with a romaine lettuce salad and ranch or barbeque sauce.

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken with Garlic and Lemon

This delicious and easy recipe is inspired by the Harcombe Diet cookbook. For any of you who are not familiar with the Harcombe Diet, it's established by the experiences and research of Zoe Harcombe, a nutritionist from the UK.  She is an author, obesity researcher and nutritionist graduated from Cambridge University. This is what I take most from her books and diet research; eat a clean diet by limiting processed foods, sugar, and carbs, exactly what I want my family to experience.

This is one of my favorite recipes from her Harcombe Diet recipe book. I have tweaked it to fit my busy lifestyle, by transferring the cooking process from the oven to the slow cooker. My family enjoys this recipe, too! Another great perk about this recipe; it's simple and so are the ingredients.

Ingredients:
one whole chicken
6-8 cloves garlic
2 whole lemons
salt and black pepper
Olive oil
2 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth

Add two cups of chicken stock to your slow cooker. After removing giblets, stuff 1/2 the garlic cloves and lemons inside the chicken. My bird is from a local producer, Maxwell Colony. I feel the quality of these birds is exceptional! 

 

I place the bird in the slow cooker upside down so the juices can penetrate the breast meat. To add more flavor to the meat, I drizzle olive oil on top of the skin and in between the skin and meat.as well as half of the garlic cloves. 

 

Season with salt and pepper. Cook on low heat all day (8-9 hours) or on high heat for 5-6 hours until the bird is cooked thoroughly. I usually serve with vegetables. This particular meal I served with steamed organic carrots from Azure Standard.

My take on chicken, beef, or vegetable Stock and broth, if you can't understand the ingredient list, don't buy it. I like buying most organic brands because when I read the ingredient list, I can understand every ingredient. When I look at a brand like Swanson's, I find autolyzed yeast extract. What is that? Well, after further research, it turns out to be monosodium Glutamate (MSG). MSG is a form of concentrated salt. Because the kind of MSG we find at the store is processed, it can cause many adverse reactions, including skin rashes, itching, hives, nausea, vomiting, migraine headaches, asthma, heart irregularities, depression and even seizures. Since MSG has gained a bad rap because of its ability to cause headaches and migraines, the food market changes MSG's name. Other names used to disguise MSG include autolyzed yeast, yeast extract, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed protein, sodium caseinate, mono-potassium glutamate, and textured protein. (www.naturalnews.com)


I once thought that Rachel Ray's broth was safe to use and maybe even healthy for me, until I read about MSG and its other names and forms. Why would food companies choose to use these ingredients? Because MSG can enhance the flavor of low quality foods and reduce production costs. Natural flavoring such as "natural chicken flavoring" is another ingredient I try to avoid. What is that exactly? The Sweet Beet wrote a great article about this same topic and I found it very enlightening. If you have time, hop over to read it.

Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pasta with Chicken

I have tried this recipe once before as a vegetarian option, but this time decided to add some protein in the form of chicken...I am surprised at how much my kids like this meal even though it has red peppers in it (they are not fans except my youngest dear son who eats anything). I also thought I would try roasting my own peppers since I have a few in stock in the fridge. Check out this section of my blog to find out how I roasted the red peppers I had on hand...


INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cloves garlic (sometimes I add more, my family loves garlic!)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1 to 2 inch square block of Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup roasted red bell pepper (fresh or jarred)
• 3 TBSP dried basil
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. pasta of your choice (I choose 100% whole wheat pasta, usually spaghetti) cooked according to directions
• 1 cup reserved pasta water after cooking
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half (I was out of heavy cream and half and half so I replaced with a can of evaporated milk 1/2 cup, could probably use skim milk, too)
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (I was also out of ricotta cheese so I replaced with a 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese shredded)
• 1 cup cooked diced chicken breast (I always have some frozen diced chicken breast or you could use rotisserie or leftovers from another chicken meal)

Place garlic, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese in a food processor.  Pulse until finely chopped. 

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Before draining, remove 1 cup of the starchy cooking water from the pot with a coffee cup or measuring cup. A little trick I learned from Rachael Ray, by saving the starchy cooking water, it helps bring the sauce together to make it creamier. 

While the pasta is cooking, dice your cooked chicken breast and red roasted peppers.

Drain the pasta and return to the pot.  Add the garlic-parmesan-walnut pesto mix to the pasta and stir to combine.  Add the roasted red pepper and diced chicken, basil, salt and pepper.  Add olive oil and mix well. Stir in heavy cream and ricotta cheese for a creamier sauce. Add small amounts of the starchy cooking water to the creamy pasta until you feel you have a good sauce and moves easily. Heat until warmed through.  

Serve immediately with a side salad and garlic bread. Today, I served it with apple slices for the kids.

Everyone loved it, except Dear Daughter and she is NOT my pickiest eater...Even my pickiest eater ate every last bite!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• the bones, neck, and clinging meat of one whole baked chicken, plus one small piece of the chicken that was not eaten, a leg, thigh, or a breast *
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup white wine (Chicken Broth)
• water to cover
• 1 small sweet onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 6 oz egg noodles
• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation Instructions:

1. After a baked chicken meal, save the neck (from the giblet packet) and all bones with clinging meat still attached. Save also one small piece of the chicken that was not eaten, a leg, thigh, or a breast. (Freeze all of this if the chicken meal is more than a day before you make this soup).
2. In a large soup pot, place all of the bones with clinging meat and the neck of the chicken. (Reserve the one piece with meat still on it for later). Add a bay leaf. Add a cup of white wine or chicken broth and then cover with water and bring to a boil.
3. When the chicken pot has come to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low. Allow to simmer for two hours. Or, alternately, transfer the contents of the pot to an already-warmed crock pot and allow to simmer on low all day.
4. An hour before meal time, skin a sweet onion and chop it coarsely. Wash and chop the carrots and celery stalk.
5. Strain the contents of the pot to remove the bones. Return liquid to pot. Add the meat from the reserved piece of chicken (cut into small pieces). If you are patient, you can pick through the bones to remove the clinging meat and add it as well. Add the chopped onion, carrots, and celery. Cook over medium at a high simmer for half an hour.
6. Twenty minutes before serving time, add the egg noodles, chopped parsley, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

Chicken Stir Fry

With husband on the Harcombe diet again, I needed to make a Harcombe friendly meal. This meets the standards for phase one except for the sauce which could easily be eliminated. Very healthy and tasty meal whether you are on the Harcombe diet or not, unfortunately the kids did not enjoy it as much as the adults...Gabe ate every bite, Allie picked out her favorites and left the onions, celery, garlic and green peppers, Josh only liked the chicken, rice and carrots....maybe not a great meal for the kids. I better stick to hiding the vegetables minced in things like meatloaf.
Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
1-2 lbs chicken breast
salt and pepper to season
3-4 cloves garlic sliced
3-4 carrots sliced
4-5 stalks celery
1 green pepper diced
1 large onion sliced

Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
a little under 1/4 cup water
1 heaping TBSP of corn starch
 Whisk sauce ingredients together.

While the olive oil is heating in a pan on the stove on medium high heat, I diced the chicken breast into 1 inch pieces and added to the hot oil. after chicken is cooked thoroughly, I threw in my vegetables. After stirring veggies and chicken for one minute, I added the sauce and it didn't take long for it to thicken, stir into the veggies and chicken for another minute. Dinner is ready! Serve with brown rice.

Mexican Chicken in the slow cooker

Yesterday was a busy day, so I quickly threw together my Mexican Chicken in the slow cooker, so it was ready at supper time. I have a slow cooker with the flat base heating element and a rectangle pan with glass lid that sits on top. It heats high and fast and usually chicken will be fully cooked after 2 hours. My family really enjoys this recipe, even my children! and it is so healthy and low carb.

Ingredients
1-2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 cup onion diced
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 to 1 cup mild salsa
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 bag frozen corn
1 TBSP oregano
1 TBSP italian seasoning
1 tsp thyme
sea Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

At the bottom of the slow cooker, drizzle the olive oil, add the minced garlic and onions. Place chicken breasts on top of onions and garlic. Pour the salsa, tomatoes and green chilies, seasonings, and corn over chicken. Cook for 2 hours on high and turn down to low for last 1 hour of cooking. Cook until chicken is so tender it will shred easily. Before serving, I shredded the chicken in the slow cooker and mixed with all ingredients. This recipe is so easy and so healthy. It tastes great too. I hope you enjoy it too!