Homemade chicken nuggets

My kids are pretty good eaters. They go through phases but other times they out eat me. Lee often prefers quantity of food over quality so when he compliments one of my meals I know it is good. Recently, all three of them have raved over a new recipe I tried…chicken nuggets.




This is a breeze. I have a few chicken recipes that Lee has liked (and he does not really like chicken) but he prefers this hands down. He gives me a hard time if I fix it on a night he is not there to enjoy it. My kids clean their plates!



Cut up 2-3 chicken breasts into bite size pieces (2 should be plenty but I feel like I feed an army and need 3 to have any leftovers. I use a pair of kitchen sheers to speed it up).

Melt 1 TBS butter for every chicken breast you use

Coat the chicken pieces with the melted butter

Mix 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, and 1 tsp garlic salt

Coat the chicken with the bread/cheese mixture

Place chicken pieces on a baking sheet (they can be pretty close together)

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min



*I like 409 brand bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. The cheese has no fillers or binders (ala Kraft) and the bread crumbs were the least processed that I could find at my chain grocery store.

Coconut macaroons!!!



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I am sooooo making these this weekend.  Usually I like to make things before I post them but I am gladly making an exception.  These look amazing.  If you like Amazon, look for their organic coconut flakes to go on sale and get a discount and free shipping with subscribe and save.  You can spread shipments out up to 6 months and you can cancel at any time.  Why organic coconut?  Look at the list of inactive ingredients and preservatives on a bag of sweetened coconut.  Organic cocnut also tastes amazing to say the least.  Lee and I usually get sick eating it by the cup when we open a fresh bag. 

Most macaroon recipes also use condensed milk and white sugar.  These ingredients are so much healthier!  Here's the recipe from Jordan Rubin's Extraordinary Health website:

Coco Macaroons

Makes about 4-5 dozen

Ingredients:

7 cups of dried coconut flakes

2 cups Rapadura or raw honey

6 Tablespoons extra virgin coconut oil

1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract



Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, mix the Rapadura or raw honey with the coconut oil and vanilla extract until well mixed. Slowly add the coconut flakes. Blend together well or knead with your hands if necessary. Drop mixture by the tablespoons onto baking sheets. Place in the oven with just the oven light and let them set for 24 hours or you may use a dehydrator set on 105 degrees Fahrenheit for 24 hours. Serve. Store the remaining macaroons.



Recipes courtesy of Extraordinary Health team

Oatmeal

Just saw a great tip on oatmeal.  Do you like your oatmeal sweetened but without the sugar and calories?  Right before it is ready to come off the stove (yes, I am talking about the slow cook oats you actually have to cook), mash up a banana and stir it in.  I have not personally tried this, and I do like to try what I recommend first.  However, I thought that sounded like a really good idea.  We have switched to old fashioned oatmeal for awhile now.  All it took was reading the list of ingredients on the instant oatmeal to realize how many teaspoons of sugar you were getting.  I do admit to sprinkling just a *little* brown sugar on top, which is why I think a banana would be perfect.  Thanks, Maryea! 

Visit Maryea’s blog at http://happyhealthymama.com.

Grilled vegetables packets

I mentioned a long time ago that we had joined a local growers group. It is different from a CSA (community supported agriculture group). You select only the foods that you want vs. getting a basket of someone else’s choosing. It is amazing!! This is our first truly cold week but up until now we have had a large variety of produce. One of the items that has been on the list for weeks now is butternut squash. You really cannot go wrong with this recipe. Even though my kids are crazy about butternut squash I can almost always get them to eat at least a few bites!



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Cut butternut squash into pieces. I usually cut it into circles horizontally, slice off the skin in a hexagon shape and then dice into pieces. Divide in to two batches. Place each batch on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle organic maple syrup over the squash. Fold the tin foil in thirds lengthwise (center the squash, fold one side over, then the other). Then fold the edges horizontally until you have a packet. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 min.

Variation: this can be done with any vegetables. You can also substitute olive oil. My dad is famous for cutting up sweet potatoes, asparagus, squash, and peppers and then grilling the packet. Oh, mmmmm!









Coconut oil frosting recipe

For Caitlin's birthday, I made her a cake. Yes, I let her have real cake. Yes, it was the first time I think she had dessert. Babysteps, remember? When trying to find a recipe for more "natural" frostings, I wondered if there was a recipe using coconut oil as the base. I knew I did not want to use Crisco, splenda, or even some of the "healthy" alternatives like agave nectar. I wanted basic ingredients, healthy as possible, but tasty. I stumbled across this amazing recipe for frosting. The only downside is that it makes a very small quantity but I kept adding powdered sugar until I had a good consistency and amount.

Here is the recipe from My Petite Chefs:

¼ cup organic, virgin, unprocessed coconut oil (I like Nutiva)

16 oz powdered sugar

½ cup cocoa powder (I substituted more sugar because I needed white frosting)

1 tsp vanilla extract (I used very non-organic clear vanilla extract again so it was white)

¼ cup cream (added 1-2 TBS at a time)

Cream coconut oil. Add powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder to coconut oil. Slowly add cream to coconut oil mixture.

Happy Birthday, little man!

Homemade ginger snap cookies

These cookies are fantastic and Kai LOVED making them with me. He got to dip the balls in the sugar and put them on the cookie sheet. I think a few of the balls of dough never made it onto the cookie sheet.


• 3/4 cup coconut oil, solid state

• 3/4 – 1 cup sucanat/rapadura

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

• 2 cups whole wheat flour, sprouted is preferred (or replace 1 cup with unbleached white flour for a higher rise)

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon ground ginger

Directions

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.

2. In a large bowl, cream the coconut oil and sucanat/rapadura.

3. Add the egg, and whisk until incorporated and somewhat light and fluffy. Pour in the molasses.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Add to the liquid mixture and stir until combined.

5. Scoop by tablespoon into small 1 inch balls. Dip each ball into additional sucanat/rapadura if desired.

6. Place on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until cookies have spread and tops have cracked.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.


Oh, and DEFINITELY dip them in the sucanat or brown sugar!!!