Well here I am once again writing about living Gluten Free. For those of you who read my entries and are living Gluten Free I hope you are enjoying my articles. If you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to make them. Mind you though, I can’t guarantee I’ll know the answers but will try.

Do any of you reading this ever get a craving for MacDonald’s Chicken Nuggets or even the frozen kind of Chicken Nuggets found in the freezer section of our grocery stores? I know I do so I decided to do something about my craving, I made up my own GF Chicken Nuggets which I am now going to share with you. Hope you enjoy them as much as my regular eating husband and I do!

GF Chicken Nuggets a la Karen

1 large skinless, boneless Chicken Breast 

½ cup GF Bread Crumbs (I buy mine but one of these days I plan on making my own which I will write about in another post)

1/8 cup Almond Flour (ground up almonds which is sometimes called almond meal and can be either bought or made yourself. I buy mine at either Bulk Barn or Root Cellar)

Approximately 20 g potato chips (baked would be the best choice)

1 generous teaspoon Chicken Seasoning (I used Mrs Dash’s which is salt free) or seasoning of your choice and in an amount to suit your tastes

¼ cup egg whites

¼ cup milk (skim, rice, soy etc - I used Buttermilk) 

½ Tblsp Dijon Mustard

About 3 or 4 turns of freshly ground pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) to spritz on top of nuggets

Method

Preheat oven to 425F

Wash chicken breast and dry with paper towel. I like to trim off any fat. Cut into chunks for your nuggets or you could slice into strips for chicken strips.

Mix egg whites, milk, Dijon mustard and ground pepper by whisking together.(I did this in a 1 cup measuring cup). Pour into dish that will hold your chicken. Add the chunked chicken breast pieces. Toss to coat well. Leave chicken soaking in this egg/milk mixture as you prepare coating. 

Combine the breadcrumbs, almond flour, potato chips and seasoning in bowl of food processor. Pulse until fine consistency and well combined. Put half of crumb mixture into bowl. Add several pieces of chicken breast, turning to coat evenly. Put coated nuggets onto an aluminum foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Continue coating nuggets, adding more of the crumb mixture as needed, until all are done and placed on cookie sheet. Spray top of each nugget with extra virgin olive oil if so desired. Put in preheated oven and cook for approximately 12 minutes then remove from oven and turn nuggets, spray with more EVOO if desired and return to oven. Cook about another 10 to 12 minutes till golden brown and chicken cooked. (cooking time varies as depends on size of your nuggets)

Whenever I use my oven to cook I like to make the best use of it by cooking most of the meal if not all of it in the oven. With my nuggets I decided to serve oven roasted fresh veggies. In the fridge I had yellow zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower and a few asparagus so this is what I roasted. Then, for my husband I also roasted several Red Fingerling Potatoes as he loves his potatoes, an Islander through and through!! Oven roasted veggies are so easy to do and taste so yummy. If you haven’t tried them you really should. I used to think it was just the Root veggies that were roasted but now I do all vegetables, even fresh green beans!! It only takes a very small amount of EVOO and seasonings of choice and at times I will also add a splash of Balsamic Vinegar as it is so good on vegetables!

Just a little information I recently learned, MacDonalds coat their fries in flour so even the fries are a bad choice for us who are GF! Now remember, being gluten free and going to MacDonald to eat is a No No so why not do it yourself. Hope you enjoyed this Blog entry and will try my GF Chicken Nuggets!! Till next time keep on enjoying your gluten free living, I know I do!!!

Karen Wood, Rachelle's gluten free mom