Nuggets!

I think one of the number one foods that come to mind when I think of toddlers, is chicken nuggets.  I can't tell you how many of my friends always have them stocked in their freezer.  They're quick, simple, and yes, toddlers love foods that they can dip.  Here's my only issue with the premade ones- they aren't always chicken breast (sometimes they are chicken parts- EW), and they are packed with salt.

Laela is a chicken nugget lover.  She loves them grilled, baked, fried, spicy or sweet.  She'll eat them cold or hot.  This nugget recipe is such a hit, even my husband will take them into work and eat them cold for lunch.  They're also great tossed into a salad, or stuffed into a wrap.

The best part?  They're simple to make, easy to freeze, and taste great reheated in the oven- just like the premade ones.

Chicken Nuggets
makes about 50 nuggets

You'll need:

• 2 large chicken breasts
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk (any type is fine)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 Sprigs rosemary, chopped
• 2 Sprigs thyme (leaves only)
• Olive oil

Instructions:

• In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the egg and milk, with a dash of salt and pepper.
• In another medium sized bowl, stir the breadcrumbs, rosemary, thyme, with a dash of salt and pepper.
• Place a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter.  After cutting off all of the fat from the chicken, place the chicken on the plastic wrap.
• Place another piece of plastic wrap on top of the chicken breast.
• Pound the chicken breast with a meat tenderizer until about 1/4 inch thick.
• Using scissors, cut the breast into 3-4 long strips, about 2 inches wide.  Then, cut each strip into nuggets, making them about 1-2 inches long, depending on how big you want to make them.
• Preheat a medium skillet to medium heat.  Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the bottom of the pan.
• Dip the nuggets first into the egg mixture, then into the breadcrumbs.  Make sure the nuggets are well coated in bread crumbs.
• Place the breaded nuggets into the hot skillet.  Cook for 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, or until the breading looks crisped on each side.
• Place on a paper towel to soak the oil.
• **If you make these in batches, make sure to keep adding a bit more oil to the pan.
• If you are planning to freeze these, let them cool in the fridge first.  Then, wrap them in batches (I wrap them by serving, so I can just pull them out as I need them) using aluminum foil or plastic wrap. (I prefer aluminum foil, so that I can just unwrap it, then bake them off using that foil if it didn't get ripped up when I unwrapped it.)
• **To reheat after frozen:  You can do this one of two ways.  1.  Let the nuggets defrost overnight, then bake them in an oven at 350-degrees for about 5 minutes, or until crispy.  2.  Take them directly out of the freezer, and bake them in a preheated 350-degree oven for 20-25 minutes, or until crispy.
• These can freeze in a standard freezer for 3 months.

Springy French Toast

Like many little girls, my daughter loves butterflies!  Since it's officially spring, I thought it would be fun to break out the cookie cutters, and make her some fluttering little french toasts.  I used my vanilla french toast recipe. 

While one side of the french toast cooked, I sprinkled on some pink organic sprinkles (you can use whatever color or type of crystalized sprinkles you'd like), then flipped it over and let them melt into the french toast while the french toast cooked on the opposite side.

When the french toast was done, I used to metal cookie cutters to cut the butterfly shapes out of the cooked french toast. This recipe is pretty sweet, so you really don't need to use syrup or powdered sugar. (Let's face it, this is a special dessert breakfast- not something you should be feeding your adorable little monkey everyday!)

Enjoy!  And be sure to try this with different colors, cookie cutters, or even different textured sprinkles!  When I nannied, I made french toast trucks using blue and green sprinkles, and they came out awesome!