gluten free, dairy free, HOME made Chicken Nuggets

Gluten Free?

yes... 

makes things difficult

Dairy free

yes.. some of us (little man) are Casein free

yep 

that makes it MORE difficult 

but

we shall NOT be defeated

we WILL eat wonderful, nutritious, delicious foods!

To start

I got some eggs

I always save my shells,

my coffee grinds

my onion peels

potato peels

carrot peels

celery ends

etc

to go into my compost

I would LOVE a super cool compost bucket

like this neat one from OXO

or

like this one from RSVP

or

like this one from Le Chef

the French White Ceramic is darling

and it's being square is just

SO 

unique!

instead

for NOW

I am being very 

"Dave Ramsey" 

as we call it here at the farm

meaning 

Penurious.

what does "penurious" mean?

Adj.	1.	penurious - not having enough money to pay for necessities hard up, impecunious, in straitened circumstances, penniless, pinched poor - having little money or few possessions; "deplored the gap between rich and poor countries"; "the proverbial poor artist living in a garret"
	2.	penurious - excessively unwilling to spend; "parsimonious thrift relieved by few generous impulses"; "lived in a most penurious manner--denying himself every indulgence" parsimonious stingy, ungenerous - unwilling to spend; "she practices economy without being stingy"; "an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds

 you could also say cheap..

but penurious just SOUNDS nicer

but ..

really isn't

so we also say

"dave"

and I just use a bowl to put my kitchen compost in!
then I send out Buddy to dump it in the BIG compost

adding a little salt & pepper

I scrambled about 6 eggs  

in an ENTIRELY different bowl

cut up a bag (previously frozen)

of Chicken Breast

any meat works for this

chicken tenderloin, a WHOLE chicken

with bone

with out bone

really it's quite versatile 

yep

it's a super handy helper here at the farm

some day 

when I am not in construction zone

and I have a real kitchen again

I will be 100% 

(ok 95%)

Nourishing Traditions girl

making my own EVERYTHING

but for now

I need some healthy shortcuts

and Betty is THERE for me 

but as THERE for me as Betty is..

she's a bit bland

and THAT is ok

because I AM NOT!

I add a bit of 

Sea Salt

Mrs. Dash

Herbs de Provence

Garlic

Paprika

to her blend

I usually use a brown bag..

but improv is a good thing

and ALL I had was Ziploc

so 

Viva la Ziploc! 

I mix Betty's Blend

and MY spice blend together

by carefully CLOSING the bag

and shaking it a LOT

Buddy LOVES to do this part!

I just like to be the one who CLOSES the bag

because

well..

need I explain?

then I plug in and preheat my fancy dancy ELECTRIC skillet

I actually like this BETTER than any other way to cook it

I have had this for 14 years or so

it was my Tante Renate's before it was mine

I LOVE IT!

it has traveled ALL over the United States of America with us

that and my crockpots..

but to be frank, I am on like my 5th crockpot

and this thing is ONLY NOW

starting to show it's getting worn down..

I add my oil

now..

this is OLIVE OIL

yes

extra virgin 

yummy 

and all that.

(I get mine at Costco)

but it is again IMPROV of me to use it

because usually I use

cold pressed, organic (etc etc etc)

Coconut Oil

I get mine from Tropical Traditions...

but we ran out!

and Olive Oil is a plenty in our lives

(Costco is LOVED!)

so I will use it for this recipe

now to bread my chicken

I don't follow Betty's instructions EXACTLY

I drop my chicken in the GF mix

and then in the egg mix

and then BACK into the GF mix

shaking it well

and making sure it is evenly coated at each step

I do it all at once

as it is neater, cleaner and faster that way..

NOW I am ready for the cooking process

the THING about cooking in Olive oil is..

I won't get QUITE the same SEAR

as I would with Coconut oil

as the two oils have different smoke points

so I have a fan going

and my heat is a little less than is typical

see how nice it's starting to look..

cooking for a WHOLE crew

Machine Man

C.S.

Princess

Buddy

Little Man

Opa

and myself

means

a whole LOTTA chicken

so I grab a chair and a soda

(love coca cola)

and fry away..

putting the chicken between layers of paper towel to absorb the oils

it's the BEST!!!!

the breading LOCKS in the moisture making it hard to overcook 

(at least I think so)

so it ends up a crunchy nugget shell

with a moist piece of chicken inside

YUMMY!