Chicken Nuggets

Remember that time {a month ago} when we lived on a diet of chicken everything because Ryan's gallbladder just up and quit on us? Nothing will spur the desperation of finding new ways to eat chicken like being forced to eat chicken at e.v.e.r.y. s.i.n.g.l.e. m.e.a.l.

Not only that, but we couldn't eat any form of spicy chicken. The chicken tacos made him sick. The chicken tortilla soup made him sick. We didn't even attempt buffalo chicken. Nothing good could come from that.

So I was a wife on a mission to find healthy, bland, non-fattening, non-threatening ways to cook chicken.

Thank goodness my mom had gifted us with a "Healthy Choices" cookbook for Christmas! Like a good old-fashioned, spiral-bound cookbook with recipes that avoided sugar, white flour and artificial everything. Ryan begged me to get it out right away and hunt for things to make. Don't have to ask me twice! I was as sick of chicken noodle soup as he was! {Although I did find a recipe in this cookbook for homemade chicken noodle soup that was quite yummy!}

I stumbled upon a recipe for homemade chicken nuggets, and decided to give it a whirl. He loved it. And I learned post-surgery that he didn't just love it because it was a different way to eat chicken. He actually genuinely loved the flavor. WIN! And I loved knowing we were eating real chicken {I'm still scarred by the pink whatever videos from years gone by that showed the not real chicken in various nuggets} and knowing what was in the breading. And speaking of breading, I loved that it's not a heavy, fried, breadish breading. AND it's a pretty quick and easy thing to make. So I think now we're up to WIN WIN WIN WIN or something like that.

I've modified the recipe to fit what we had on hand, and here you go! Homemade chicken nuggets that are flavorful, easy to make, and not bad for you!

Chicken Nuggets

* 1/2 cup wheat flour
* 4 teaspoons seasoned salt
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
* 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts or tenders {fresh or defrosted}

Combine the flour, seasoned salt, paprika, and poultry seasoning in a gallon size bag, close tightly, and shake/knead to combine well. Cut the chicken into nugget size pieces and dump in the bag with the seasoning. Close tightly and shake until meat is well coated. Generously spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook chicken on medium heat until cooked all the way through. Serve with dipping sauce if desired.

A Few Tips

* I make my own seasoned salt, and the recipe is here. If you don't want quite so much salt, you could cut down the amount you use.

* Keeping your nuggets smaller will allow them to cook faster, if you (or your kids) are in a hurry to eat.

* Spray the pan well and don't cook on high heat. I've messed up in both those areas and lost half my coating on the bottom of the pan. AND it was super fun to wash later. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

* I use tongs to turn the meat, and I tried to turn it fairly often to keep it from sticking to the pan.

* If you're making a large batch of this and have a big pancake griddle, you can cook it faster.

* This does reheat very well. It never gets super crispy like heavily breaded nuggets, so you don't have to worry about sacrificing the crisp in the reheat.

* Ryan always dips his nuggets in sauce if he gets them at a restaurant, but he doesn't dip these. He likes the flavor just plain.

* We serve these with green beans or asparagus to keep the meal cleaner, but you could easily serve it with whatever side (to make it fancier or more casual).

* To give credit where credit is due, this recipe in its original form was submitted to the cookbook by Lucia Lapp from Benton, IL.