Homemade Baked Chicken Nuggets

Good evening! I can't wait to share this recipe with you tonight! My daughter is about 13 1/2 months old and she's eating more and more regular food every day. She is a pretty amazing eater and mostly loves whatever we are eating rather than us making something special for her. She loves chicken, and has had her fair share of frozen chicken nuggets, so for awhile I've been wanting to try a homemade recipe to see if they come out good, as I've tried a few times before and haven't been happy with the results. I'm excited to say that these came out perfect! I finally feel like I have a great go-to chicken nugget recipe where I can control what goes into making them. Now I just need to try freezing them and seeing how well they reheat. If any of you give that a try before I do, please let me know how it goes, and until then..enjoy these yummy nuggets and have a great week!

Ingredients:
3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs total)
2 Cups Panko Breadcrumbs
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
3/4 Cup All-Purpose Flour
3 Large Eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Seasoned Salt (I used Lawry's seasoned salt, you can use regular salt if preferred)
Cooking Spray

Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spread your panko on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, about 6-8 minutes *NOTE: Carefully pay attention to your panko the entire time, as it can go from light to dark very quickly, I left my oven door open a crack so I could keep an eye on it. Once that is done, pour it into a shallow dish and add your salt, pepper and oil and mix until the oil is incorporated into the panko; set aside. Keep the now empty foil lined cookie sheet (which should be pretty spotless) and place a wire cooling rack on it and spray with cooking spray, this is what you will cook your nuggets on. If you don't have a cooling rack, you can just spray the cookie sheet directly and bake your nuggets on that. Wash your chicken and trim it, getting rid of any excess fat. Cut into 2-inch cubes. Lay out 2 more dishes in addition to your dish that has the panko in it, 1 for your eggs and the other for the flour. In batches, coat the chicken in flour, shaking off excess, dip into egg, then coat with the panko, pressing it to stick. Place on rack and bake until chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes depending on your oven. You can flip them halfway through, but I didn't find this step necessary.

Source:
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Bowtie Skillet Lasagna

Hey there! I hope you are all having a great week so far! I have a super easy and delicious meal to share with you tonight. I love that all you need to do is boil some pasta and do everything else in 1 pan! It makes for a quick weeknight meal that everyone will love!

Ingredients:
12 oz Box Bowtie (farfalle) Pasta
1 Pound Ground Beef
1 Jar Marinara Sauce (or homemade, find mine HERE)
3/4 Cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
8 oz Block Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Parsley
Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Directions:
In a oven-safe skillet (if you don't have one you can just use a regular skillet, when you add the cheese at the end you can just cover it with a lid to melt it, it just won't brown like it would in the oven) brown your ground beef until it is cooked through, then drain off any excess fat. Season with your desired amount of salt & pepper. Pour in your marinara sauce and stir it into the beef. Add your ricotta cheese and mix it in thoroughly. Turn the heat down to and let the mixture simmer while you boil the pasta in a separate pot. Once the pasta is done, add it to the meat sauce and mix everything together evenly. Turn off the heat and sprinkle your parmesan and mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and then sprinkle with the parsley. Place your skillet in the oven with it set to broil and leave it in until the cheese starts to get golden brown, making sure to keep a close eye on it so that it does not burn.

Creamy Crockpot Chicken and Broccoli

I don't know why I only think of my crockpot as something to use in the Fall/Winter months, because it is such a great thing to use during these scorching Summer months to keep the house cool rather than turning the oven on. I'm not sure how hot it is where you're at, but here in Texas it's been in the 100's all week and it's miserable! HOT HOT HOT. I'm so ready for Fall, how about you? Keep cool and give this crockpot recipe a try soon, it's easy and super delicious!

Ingredients:
3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1 14.5 oz Can Chicken Broth
1  10.5 oz Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 10 3/4 oz Can Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
6 Cups Broccoli Florets, steamed (I always buy the bag you can steam in the microwave)
Cooked Rice or Egg Noodles, to serve it over (I love the boil-in-bag kind of rice for quick meals, it makes it so fast & easy)

Directions:
As always, wash & trim your chicken of any excess fat. Add your soups, chicken broth and seasonings to your crockpot and mix until everything is combined. Place the chicken in the mixture, pushing it to the bottom so the liquid covers most of it. Place the cover on your crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. When the cooking time is over and the chicken is cooked through, remove the chicken and shred it into bite sized pieces using 2 forks. Stir in the broccoli and sour cream. Serve over your rice, egg noodles or whatever you prefer (this would probably make a great topping for a baked potato) and sprinkle with shredded cheese.

4-6 Servings

Source:
Recipe very slightly adapted from Picky Palate

Classic Guacamole

Knock knock, is anybody still out there? I wouldn't be surprised if all of my followers have stopped coming, I can't believe it's been close to 10 months since my last post. My baby girl (who turned 1 on June 27th!) has kept me a lot busier than I ever imagined, and my blog just got put on the back burner. Now that she's becoming more content and playing on her own more I thought it was time to start getting back to some things that make ME happy, my blog being one of them :) Get ready for some yummy recipes rolling out weekly! I'm going to start off with a classic guacamole recipe, I've really grown to love guacamole and this recipe is just how I like it, simple and delicious..enjoy!

Ingredients:
3 Ripe Avocados
1 Roma Tomato
1/4 Cup Red Onion, finely diced
1 Teaspoon Lime Juice (fresh is always best, the bottled stuff was all my store had in stock)
1/8 Teaspoon Cheyenne Pepper (add more if you like, I prefer mine very mild)
1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Directions:
Run a sharp knife along the whole outside of your avocado and take both sides and turn it and then pull them apart. I like to stick my knife a little ways through the pit and then turn my knife and the pit usually comes right out. Score the avocado halves and then slide a spoon around the edge and your avocado chunks should fall right out into your bowl. I like to use a potato masher to break up my avocados before I add anything to them (you don't want to mash up your onion and tomatoes), mash it up depending on how you like your guacamole, I like mine slightly chunky. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly, then cover tightly with plastic wrap, make sure you press the plastic wrap directly down onto the guacamole to prevent it from browning. Chill at least 2 hours.

A recent picture of my pretty girl, Kayleigh (13 months old - taken today), for you all to see! :)