Chicken Nuggets that Feature... Chicken!

Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with me (or read my facebook), knows that, eventually, the conversation will probably revolve around something food-related.  One surprising topic that I discuss frequently (especially with teenagers and other moms) is that of chicken nuggets.  Many seem to believe that chicken nuggets are a childhood-making culinary delight.  When people find out that my son doesn't eat store-bought chicken nuggets (especially those from fast food resturants) they usually recoil with disgust and ask "why?" in a tone that can only suggest that they are really thinking, "I'm asking 'why' to be nice, but I really want to report you to CPS for your role as 'worst mother ever.'"

Growing up I ate a lot of chicken nuggets. In fact, I still do enjoy chicken strips from time to time, but there is a difference between a nugget and a strip.  While strips are deep fried and that's awful in its own right, nuggets are a creation that is almost not even a food product.  In order to create a nugget that can be mass-produced, manufacturers combine ground chicken parts with all sorts of chemicals and preservatives.  Some brands are better than others, but let's take McDonalds for example.  Here is the ingredient list from mcdonalds.com (compare and contrast to my recipe below):

Chicken, water, salt, modified corn starch, sodium phosphates, chicken broth powder (chicken broth, salt, and natural flavoring (chicken source)), seasoning (vegetable oil, extracts of rosemary, mono, di- and triglycerides, lecithin). Battered and breaded with water, enriched bleached wheat flour (niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, bleached wheat flour, modified corn starch, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, dried whey, corn starch. Batter set in vegetable shortening. Cooked in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, (may contain partially hydrogenated soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated corn oil and/or partially hydrogenated canola oil and/or cottonseed oil and/or sunflower oil and/or corn oil). TBHQ and citric acid added to help preserve freshness. Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an anti-foaming agent.

Here is a nice breakdown of icky stuff from from cheeseslave.com:

The most frightening of all is the tertiary butylhydroquinone, an antioxidant derived from petroleum that is either sprayed on the nugget or the inside of the box it comes in to help preserve freshness! TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone) is a form of butane (lighter fluid). The FDA allows processors to use it sparingly on food. Source: Chicken Nuggets, Twinkies and Candy… Do You Really Know What You’re Eating?

Needless to say, this is not food, folks. This is a bunch of petrochemicals, denatured flours, and rancid hydrogenated oils (trans fats). Not to mention GMOs.

In the very best scenario, the ground chicken in nuggets is mostly the dark meat and other poultry parts that are fatty, high in cholesterol, and not terribly nutritious.

So this week I am going to make some homemade nuggets, cook the, and freeze them so that we can enjoy them whenever we need a snack, but don't have to worry about GMO's, fillers, MSG, or gross, fatty mystery meat.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets Sans the Icky Stuff
1 lb organic ground turkey or chicken breast
Salt/Pepper (to taste)

1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning (to taste)
1 tsp garlic powder
Cooking Spray
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Bread crumbs
2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

In a bowl mix together the ground turkey/chicken breast with salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning.

Put the flour in one small bowl, the bread crumbs in another, and the the eggs in a third.  Wisk the eggs together with a little water (about a tablespoon).

Roll the turkey/chicken breast mixture into one-inch balls then dip in the flour, then in the egg wash, then in the bread crumbs before placing them on the greased cookie sheet. 

Use a fork (or your fingers!) to smoosh the balls down a bit, i.e. flatten them into nugget-like shapes. Give the nuggets one more spray of cooking spray.

Bake about 10 minutes.

Enjoy right away or let cool completely then freeze.