Homemade Chicken Nuggets - Part 1

My children don't eat vegetables, and it makes me crazy.

I shared this with my brother, sister and father the other night and they looked at me like I was nuts. "Gee, I wonder where they get that from?" my brother uttered with enough sarcasm to cause flashbacks to my own childhood.

I think he's right. I hated vegetables as a kid, and never ate them. But I also think, in general, our food supply was safer then than it is now. Fewer chemicals, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, etc., You get the point.

But that doesn't stop me from wanting to sneak some vegetables into my kids' food. I do have one chance; one of my sons loves smoothies, and I could stick some vegetables in there without him knowing.

But I wanted something bigger and bolder. I wanted to usurp their favorite food, chicken nuggets, and sneak some really healthy things into them.

So today's experiment was the breading. I tried three different types of breading, all basically using the same technique:

• Cut chicken into similar size pieces/strips (so they cook at the same rate)
• Coat with flour
• Dip in egg mixture
• Dredge in breading
• Deep-fry in vegetable oil

But what would the breading be? And what else did I learn? I tried three different types of breading: Traditional bread crumbs, crushed Cheerios, and crushed croutons. Why? Because my kids love Cheerios and they love croutons, and every recipe called for bread crumbs.

And the verdict? Lower the oil so it isn't too hot (you don't want to burn the coating) and CRUSHED CROUTONS were awesome. Specifically Edward & Sons Italian Herbs Organic Croutons. They didn't brown as darkly (which is good), and they tasted great. Granted, my palate is different than my kids, but I think these will appeal to them.

Today I used Kosher organic chicken breasts. I also have some dark meat to try, as well as a blend of the two, based on my ability to use a meat grinder. Then the fun part; sneaking in some vegetables and coloring them accordingly. I have no idea how I'm going to do that. Cauliflower is an easy option, but I really want some of the green vegetables.

Oh, and shapes. I'm going to go to the store later to get some cookie cutters that I can use for chicken nuggets. I think half of this battle will be in the presentation. I think once I put the meat through the grinder, I will be able to shape it well, although I might have to freeze it a little to retain the shape. We'll see. That'll be the update later or tomorrow...