Nuggets

Ah the delight that is the chicken nugget.  B is the fussy sort and doesn't really like shop bought nuggets.  Breaded chicken strips are another matter - he would eat these all day.  I don’t like to fry food so this is the compromise.  

This recipe uses minced/ground meat but you can follow the batter and freeze portion of this with sliced breast or thigh to create strips.  They cook in about the same time period 

Equipment:

Bowls

Grater if using veg too

oven trays

3 containers

Kid safe activities (if you want your kiddo to participate)

Passing items 

Mixing 

Ingredients

1lb ground chicken

¼ cup old-fashioned oats

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Salt

seasoning of choice - I use Italian seasoning 

Breading 

3/4 cup breadcrumbs

Eggs

flour

Method:
Mix together evening except for bread crumbs and egg in a bowl - again its kind of a use your hands deal

In a separate dish put out your flour, in another your egg whisked up and in the last breadcrumbs - put a greased foil lined tray at the end

Take a dollop of mixture -  what ever size works for you and make it into a shape  - i just do roughly nugget shaped - you can use cookie cutters to make shapes but I fail epically at this

Dip into the flour mix and lightly coat all over - brush off any excess - this helps the batter stick

Dip into the egg mix to coat lightly and then drop into breadcrumb mix and coat evenly.  

When coated pop onto the lightly greased tin foil 

I make all the nuggets up and then put the trays with uncooked nuggets into the freezer for about 5 hours, at this point you will be able to take them off the tray and stick them in a ziplock to be cooked as you need them

To cook heat oven to 375F (190C) and place on a foil lied backing sheet - I pop a little spray oil on in first and bake for 20-25 minutes turning them over once - they don’t go super brown because they are not fried

If you are cooking from unfrozen use the same temp but they probably only need 10 - 20 mins

I often add carrot or other firm veg to these - I grate it first

Mini Quiche/Pies

Tell either male in this household that it is quiche for a meal and they will wrinkle up their nose.  Pies however are acceptable.  These mini ones are made in muffin tins.  You can also use mini muffin tins for smaller ones and I would think it would work well as a single large one

Equipement:

Muffin tin/pie tin

Whisk

Grater

Kid safe activities (if you want your kiddo to participate)

Cutting the puff pastry and putting it in the tin

Putting non wet ingredients into the tin

Ingredients

1 x pack of shop bought puff pastry

4 x eggs (you may need more)

1/4 cup of milk

1 cup of tasty cheese

meat of your choice

veg of your choice (I usually use 1 carrot or some spinach)

 Method

Heat  your oven to 180C and get a muffin tin (like we used for the meatloaf)

Cut circles from your puff pastry to go into each muffin cup.  Generally you need a cutter thats slightly larger in size than the top of the hole

Put the pastry into each muffin cup (you don’t need to grease before doing this)

Add your meat, veg and cheese into each cup.  Sometimes we don’t do meat but chicken, hot dog, meatballs etc all work well Beck loves Bacon in his - just a sprinkle of pre cooked rasher works well

Whisk the milk and eggs and some seasoning together in a jug and pour the egg mixture slowly into each case to just below the top - I always make a mess but they still taste ok

Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden

The can be eaten hot or cold if you want them warm just micro for 30 seconds

If you want to make these for smaller appetites I use a mini muffin tin which makes bite size ones.  Depending on your filling you may need to make up more egg mixture

Mini Meatloaf

Meatloaf is a nice quick meal to make and it freezes really well.  This recipe can be used to make big meatloaf if you want but you may need to cook for up to 20 minutes longer if you do that.

This is one of our freezer staples,  the veg list tends to vary each time I make them as you can also use what ever you have to hand.  The only things I have found that don't work well in this are corn, peas and beans.  I think it is due to their thicker skins

Freezing tip:  There are a lot of these.  If you are going to freeze then it works best if you put each mini loaf into a muffin/cupcake case.  This stops them from sticking together

Equipment:

Muffin tin 

Grater

Bowls

Scales

Muffin/cupcake cases

Kid safe activities (if you want your kiddo to participate)

Helping weigh and measure ingredients

Passing items

Mixing 

Scooping

Ingredients

 
500g beef mince (I use 80/20 as it seems to work best but isn’t super fatty)
1 egg
1/2 cup cheese, grated (I use cheddar as for B the parmesan is a bit salty)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 zucchinni, grated
100g (approx. 2 cups) mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Method

• Heat your oven to 200C

• Sauté the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes and then add the other veg and cook it for a bit to soften it down.  Don’t use too much oil as the other ingredients are moist

• In a fairly large bowl add all the other ingredients and the veg and mix it all together.  It needs to be well combined and you want to make sure that the veg is as incorporated as evenly as it can be.  It sounds gross I know but I use my hands

• Get a muffin tin and put a little spray oil in each cup bit and then use about a 1/4 cup measure amount of mix.  You basically want each cup to be filled close to the top but not to be over the top 

• Chuck it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes

• When the 20 minutes is up - take the tray out and leave it to cool.  When the wee loaves are cooled you can take them out of the tin (if you try before they fall apart)  If you are going to freeze which I do pop each one into a paper cup cake case and then into a box/zip lock.  The cup cake case stops them from sticking and then you can just reach in and grab what ever you need

• To reheat - micro for 2 bursts of 30 seconds, checking between.  For dinner I serve with veggies and a hidden veg tomato sauce, for lunch just as it with fruit