Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets

My son (and usually my daughter too) miss out on a few things that most kids take for granted...being able to stop in at (gag) McDonalds and have a happy meal, or even just being able to have chicken nuggets on a whim at home. I try my best to make sure if we go somewhere where other kids will be eating something (usually pizza at Christmas parties!), I bring 'exactly' the same thing for him to eat so he feels included, otherwise I don't usually let either kid have anything. They are too young to understand why one gets to eat something yummy in front of the other (I don't have any either if that's the case!). 

I've been kind of stumped on what to do for the inevitable McDonalds birthday parties. In fact, we went to 1/2 a birthday party earlier this year just to avoid such a problem (we played and had cake (the mom was nice enough to make a gf one!!!), and gave presents, but then we left when everyone else headed to McDonalds). Today I finally solved that problem!! I made some amazing (if I do say so myself) chicken nuggets. They were easy to make, freeze well uncooked and fry up in a matter of minutes. Don't look at me like that, yes, I deep fry things for my kids occasionally. Due to the high heat used and the minimal time immersed, I really do think they absorb less oil then if I pan fried them in 1/2" of oil. But I digress...I'm sure these would be tasty pan fried, or even baked. At least now I have an option that I could cook at home, bring to the party and let him eat along with everyone else. Yay!

I hesitate to call this a recipe, but here goes:

Ingredients
1-2 Cups Corn Flake Crumbs (GF)
2-4 Tbsp. Oil
4-6 Chicken Breasts
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Milk (If you need dairy free, I'm pretty sure water would substitute here just fine!)

Place Corn Flake Crumbs in a shallow dish and sprinkle 2 Tbsp. of oil over them for every 1 cup used. Mix up crumbs. Corn does not absorb liquid as wheat does, so this seems to be a necessary step to make it 'sticky'. (Although this may be a gf specific step, I'm really not sure...experiment!) Chop chicken breasts into nugget size pieces or strips. Mix together egg and milk in a bowl. Dip chicken pieces into milk/egg mixture, then roll in corn flake crumbs. Place on a baking sheet. When the baking sheet is full, place in the freezer.

NOTE: If you are making these from previously frozen chicken, you must cook all of the pieces once re-frozen to avoid becoming ill, if you are making these from fresh chicken then the freezer life (I think) would be the same as if you just froze the chicken.

When you are ready to cook, either bake in the oven (from frozen) at 425F for 20-30 minutes (I'm guessing here since I fried them!), or pan fry until cooked through. For deep frying, set your fryer to 375F and when the oil is up to temperature, place a single layer of frozen nuggets in the basket. Fry for 3-5 minutes (depending on size). When the oil stops making a lot of noise, generally whatever food is in there is done! That's my rule of thumb :)

I have not tried to freeze these after cooking. I have some leftovers in the fridge that I intend to re-heat in the oven tomorrow, but I think they would freeze ok.

In the words of my 3.5 year old "These are AWESOME Mommy!". I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did! :)

Note: I purchased my corn flake crumbs (see picture below) from amazon.com, and had them delivered in the states and had someone pick them up because I needed gluten free, however if you do not need gluten free Kellogg's has a corn flakes product that is available at any grocery store. It contains barley malt, so it's a no no in our house!

Ooey Gooey Mozza Sticks

The yummiest mozza sticks I have EVER tasted and they are gluten free!
Hubby and I ate these for 3 nights in a row. We still have some in the freezer (I made 2 batches!) and I have a seriously hard time not cooking them up everytime I see them in there! Dip them in Marinara Sauce and its a little slice of paradise:) The original recipe is HERE. I made some minor changes

Ingredients
Mozza Cheese Sticks or just cut Mozza Cheese into 1.5-2" long and .5" wide. ( I made 48 at a time!)
2 eggs
1/4 water
GF Bread crumbs or frozen GF Bread ground up in the food processor
1/3 Cup Corn Starch
2/3 Cup GF All Purpose Flour
Garlic Powder or Granulated Garlic
Parmesan Cheese (Powder)
Oil, for deep frying

Bowl 1: Corn starch and flour, mixed
Bowl 2: Eggs and water, well beaten
Bowl 3: Breadcrumbs, sprinkle some garlic powder and parmesan cheese and mix.
(Note for the crumbs: I did my own with frozen bread. Mix your spices into the crumbs, in the bowl, and then use another bowl for breading. Put a bit at a time in this bowl and use until gone. This keeps your crumbs from retaining moisture and becoming useless as far as bread crumbs go!)

(You may need more egg/water mixture as you go and the bread crumb mix amount depends on how many you do.)

Cut your cheese into proper size. Too big and it wont cook properly, too small and you will be doing this forever! (I never buy cheese sticks because it's so much cheaper to buy a block of cheese. And it really didn't take long to cut it either, but if you do buy the cheese sticks cut them in half and you will have the proper size.)
Roll cheese in flour mix. Dip in egg mix. Roll in bread crumbs.
Place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Continue until all the pieces are done.
NOW, start at the first piece and RE egg and RE bread each piece. Seems redundant but trust me its worth it!
Place back on wax paper and freeze until completely frozen.
Heat oil to 375°F. Place a few at a time (my fryer handles about a dozen, but it's a big fryer. Don't put too many in or the oil will cool off too much) in the oil. Fry for 1-2 minutes or until outside is brown and they are soft. But get them out before you lose all the cheese! The re breading and the freezing is what makes these fry so well.
Serve hot with Marinara Sauce and be prepared for a scramble over the last one lol!

I dont think I will ever look at another mozza stick after this. Im sure they wont meet the new standard these set!

I'm thinking of adaptations for next time, perhaps some cayenne pepper in the breading? Maybe some hot sauce in the egg mix? Cheddar sticks? Mmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about them!

Onion Rings

Mmmm so good!
I love a crispy onion ring with just the right amount of batter and these are, in my opinion, perfect!!

Ingredients
1 Large Onion
1 Cup Flour
1 Egg
1 Cup Cold Water
Oil, For Frying

Preheat oil to 375 F.
Peel and then slice onion into rings.
Mix together flour egg and water.
Dip slices in the batter and place into hot oil. I use a fork to drop them in because the oil tends to spatter a lot with this recipe...a lesson learned after a few small but painful burns!
Fry until golden brown.
Flip at least once during frying. Be careful they can go from not quite done to burned very quickly!
Put on paper towels to drain and keep warm until they are all done cooking.

These are great weekend movie watching food or lately I have been making a half batch to put on our hamburgers!

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Everybody Loves Doughnuts!

If you have played the video game 'Splosion Man, then you will understand the title, if you haven't played it, you are missing out and you should play it sometime!! (Yes I am a bit of a geek, this is one of my favourite games!)


Either way, most people love doughnuts! The other night I wanted to deep fry a dessert, and my husband laughingly suggested crullers. I, of course, jumped at the challenge immediately! I'm so glad I did, they turned out perfect! I have already made them twice :)
This is a Food Network recipe.

They barely lasted long enough to get a picture!

Ingredients
Crullers: 
1 Cup Water
8 Tbsp. Butter
1/2 Tsp. Salt (Adjust this if you use salted butter)
1 Cup Flour
3-4 Eggs
Oil, for frying


Glaze:
2 Cups Icing Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk


 Combine the water, butter, sugar and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. 
Remove from heat and add the flour all at once. 
Stir hard with a wooden spoon until incorporated. 
Return to heat and cook about 2 minutes (until some moisture has evaporated), while stirring constantly.
Move mixture to a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (you can use a hand mixer or mix it by hand too), turn it on to medium speed and add 1 egg at a time while mixing. 
Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. 
The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when lifted from the bowl. If the dough doesn't do this, add the 4th egg and mix again. I made the mistake of thinking I needed a 4th egg the first time, and it was really runny. The next time I used only 3 and it was perfect!
Line a baking sheet with wax paper/parchment paper. 
Using a pastry bag (icing bag works fine!) fitted with a star tip (a large one) pipe the dough onto the pan in rows of 2 1/2 inch rings. 
Freeze for at least an hour to make them easier to pick up. (Almost frozen solid works best. If not frozen they will still taste fine, and cook fine, but they will be messy to get into the oil and will lose their 'cruller' shape).
Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. 
Lift the dough circles off the pan and carefully slip into the oil. 
Fry turning once until lightly browned. 
Drain the crullers on a cooling rack (make sure you put paper towel or something underneath!). Dip them completely in the glaze. 
Let the crullers cool and set before serving (if you can resist!!).

I think these are definitely going to be on the 'most requested' list in our house! We live within walking distance of Tim Hortons, and I would prefer to patiently wait for them in the freezer and then cook them rather then eating one of their crullers!!
I think I might double the recipe next time and let some freeze solid in the freezer. If left to thaw for 10-15 minutes before frying, I think they would defrost nicely and taste just as good and be more of an 'instant' treat!

Easy Pizza Dough

I can't remember the last time I bought a frozen pizza. This recipe makes pizza making so simple that it's easier to throw together then it is to run to the store for a cardboard crust :)
Recipe originally from Recipezaar
(This is for a double recipe because one recipe just usually doesn't cut it for a full size pizza)

4 Cups Flour
2 Tbsp. Yeast
Pinch of Salt
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1-2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning (Optional)
11/3 Cups Lukewarm Water

Mix 1/2 of the flour with all other ingredients. Gradually add the rest of the flour until it forms a ball. Knead with your hands.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes in a bowl covered with a towel to keep it warm. Spread into greased pan and top with your favourite toppings.
Bake at 375 F for approx. 12 minutes. Enjoy!

Experiment! This recipe makes an excellent stuffed crust pizza, or mix all your ingredients into the pizza dough and form it into balls and deep fry at highest setting possible. Dip in warm Marinara sauce and enjoy! Or wrap the dough around chunks of cheese and deep fry and serve as with the pizza balls. So tasty for a movie night!

If you would like to make a whole wheat version, I would suggest starting with a 50/50 mix first. It will take more flour to get a good dough together.

Recipe for homemade pizza sauce to come soon!