Chicken Nuggets

Home cooked meals are very easy to make and honestly nothing beats the satisfaction of knowing your loved ones are having the best there is in terms of nutrition and at the same time enjoys the meals as much you enjoy making them. And these days although fast food is very convenient for a busy family, sometimes having them too often can be quite harmful to one’s health. Ashley loves those meals that comes with a toy and I decided to cut down on her intake and make my own nuggets instead. At least I know what’s goes into her tummy and she wouldn’t even know the difference. So here’s one of the many ‘fast food’ you can make at home.

You Need
2 skinless and boneless chicken  breasts, cleaned and fat trimmed
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup *breadcrumbs (or you can get it from supermarket)
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
1 tablespoon of dried Italian herbs (you may use chopped fresh basil or parsley or dried mixed herbs)
4 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of plain flour
oil for frying

Breadcrumbs
1.You need half a loaf of stale bread (you may also use any kind of bread, white, brown, baguette, whatever you have on hand)
2. Break it up into pieces and place it in food processor. Process until fine crumbs form.
3. Transfer and use according to recipe
4. Generally half a loaf (8-9 slices) will make about 3 cups so you may keep the remaining of the breadcrumbs in sealed bag or container in the freezer until the next time you need to use breadcrumbs.  

How To
1. After cleaning the chicken, pat dry and cut into chunks. Place them in the food processor and pulse the chicken until roughly chopped.
2. Add in half of the dried herbs, black pepper and salt and blend with the chicken. At this point the chicken should be well mixed with the herbs and seasoning.
3. Rub your hand with some flour to avoid having a sticky hand when you roll and shape the chicken mixture. Take some chicken mixture and roll it on your palm to form a ball shape about the size of a ping pong ball.
4. Once the chicken mixture has been all rolled and shaped up, prepare the coating. Mix the breadcrumbs with the Parmesan cheese, seasoning set aside. Line flour, egg and lastly breadcrumbs. Take the nuggets and roll it in the flour, shake excessive flour and next roll it in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs.
5. Gently press down the nuggets with your thumb or with the back of a knife.
6. Heat up oil in a non stick frying pan. Make sure the oil is hot and not smoking, otherwise your nuggets will burn. Place the nuggets onto the pan and cook about 5-6 minutes on both side.
7. Drain the nuggets on kitchen paper towel.
8. Serve and enjoy!  

Variations
You may add in some chopped vegetables such as carrot, celery into the chicken mixture for the added crunch and plus that way your kid if a picky eater like Ashley gets their vegetables as well  

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