Now that I have a Toddler boy (15 month old) I am trying so hard to bring him up with many healthy food options and buying as much organic products as I can for him. Let's just say my husband isn't thrilled with our grocery bill these days haha. Lately I have been buying my little guy Matteo these shaped veggie nuggets for a quick go to lunch to send with him in the day and thought I could easily replicate this with ground meat and some hidden veggies of course. I've tried making this once before and I found the ground chicken to be so wet and gooey, but after playing around with this I finally got it right! The secret is freezing the chicken flat and then using the cookie cutters to cut out and bread the chicken while the meat is frozen! I use the left over scraps to make a chicken burgers for myself...win win and so good!
GENIUS right??!!
Ingredients for mixture:
*1 Large Egg
*1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce
* 1 small/med zucchini shredded and liquid squeezes out (about 3/4 -1 cup) Ingredients for Breading:
*2 Large Eggs
*Unseasoned Breadcrumbs
*Salt and garlic powder to season (optional)
Procedure:
*In a bowl combine: Ground Chicken, 1 Large Egg, shredded Zucchini, apple sauce, and salt to season.
~*~ this mixture will feel very soft and gooey~*~
*Place wax paper on a baking tray and with another piece of waxed paper spread chicken mixture to desired thickness. This will make it so the chicken does not stick to your fingers and you’ll get a nice smooth surface.
~*~Mine were about about a little less than 1/4 inch thick~*~
*Place in the freezer for a few hours until it is completely frozen.
~*~This is a very important stuff because if it’s not fully frozen it will be too soft to cut into shapes~*~
*Once the chicken is completely frozen you are ready to cut it into fun shapes! I just use whatever cookie cutters I had on hand. 2-3 inch cookie cutters work best!
*Place frozen chicken nuggets back on the baking tray to get ready for breading.
*If the nuggets are defrosting then just put them back in the freezer.
~*~Make chicken burgers out of the scraps!~*~
*Dip the frozen chicken nuggets in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs and place them back onto the baking tray.
*When you would like to bake them simply preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, take out the amount of chicken nuggets you want, brush both side of the chicken with Olive Oil and bake them for about 8 minutes or so on each side until fully cooked and lightly golden brown in a cooking dish or baking sheet.
