Pumpkin Spice Whole Wheat Pop Tarts

I've made pop tarts at home before. I used store made crust and unsweetened jam. As long as I iced it with something, my kids were all over it, and I felt better about it being less processed with fewer questionable ingredients, not to mention the fact that my little guy with the allergies could have them. However, I'm trying to add more whole grain to the mix these days, and with my 5lb bag of whole wheat pastry flour, I decided to try my hand at whole grain pie crust. Right there on the bag of Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is a recipe for whole wheat pie crust. Only I didn't follow the directions exactly (you know me). I incorporated the chilled butter and ice water into the flour using my food processor, and I chilled it a little longer before rolling it out on my granite counters. I've heard that temperature (i.e. COLD) is as much a secret to good pie crusts as any ingredient. Since I'm not an expert, I'll just take their word for it.

Here's the recipe.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) organic unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
5-8 Tbsp ice water

Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. (It IS important that you sift the flour.) Cut butter into 12 pieces and rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles a course meal with some pea-size pieces. (This is where I used my food processor, and I also cut my butter cubes much smaller, like 1/4 inch cubes). Sprinkle water over the mixture, one tablespoon at a time and knead lightly just until a dough forms. Form dough into a ball. Cut in half and press each into a disc shape. Wrap each disc in waxed paper or plastic wrap (I used wax paper and formed the 'disc' into a square so when I rolled it out for my rectangular shaped pastries, there would be less waste) and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling. (I chilled them for longer, about 45 minutes to an hour, I can never tell when I'm chasing kids.) Yield: 2-9" single pie crusts or 1-9" double pie crust (or 6 3x5 inch homemade pop tarts). Crust will bake alone with the filling for the pie or pre-bake at 375° F for 25-30 minutes. (We'll get to the oven temp and duration in a minute.)

Note: Now, I know this recipe calls for a lot of butter, but it's kind of a 'choose your poison' kind of thing for me. If you take both the fat AND the sugar out of a pop tart, you are left with cardboard. That's just all there is to it. Besides I agree with Michael Pollan that natural fats are not all bad. Our brains are made up of mostly fat, and our neurons are coated in the stuff. I have super active skinny kids. A little extra butter here and there, is not a problem in my book. Back to the recipe....

Now for the filling. I thought about using my breakfast roll filling which is essentially unsweetened apple butter, but I was feeling a little over all this Summer heat and thought something 'Fallish' would be good. So, I decided to use pumpkin for the filling.

1 15oz can pumpkin (not the pie filling, just the pumpkin)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients until well incorporated.

Here's the fun part. Assembling the pop tarts. I took pictures, but it was dark and as awesome as the lighting in my kitchen is, I couldn't get a good shot. So, you're just going to have to use your imagination.

Before you roll out the dough, heat your oven to 375 degrees F.

Generously flour your work surface. I used my granite counter because the stone is nice and cold, but you could use a cutting board or kitchen table. You will need a fairly large area to work, and don't skimp on the dusting flour. You don't want your pastries to stick and fall apart before you can get them in the oven. Roll the 'discs' into large squares about 1/8 to 1/16 inch thick. I have this handy little toaster pastry press from Williams-Sonoma (LOVE that place) that my mother-in-law gave me a while back, and it's just awesome for this. However, I did just fine with a knife and my fingers before. So, you can decide if you want to cut your pastries out first and then press them closed or if you're good at uniformity and proportioning, dollop your filling on one sheet and lay the other one on top before you cut and press. I cut them out first. Scooped a heaping teaspoon of pumpkin filling onto the bottom layer, covered each pastry and then pressed the sides together.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or one of those cool reusable baking liners (I don't have one yet). Lay each pastry on the sheet with a little breathing room. Don't panic if they're a little tight, they shouldn't spread. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges. Lay out on a wire rack to cool (I don't have one of those either. I just lift them by the aluminum foil and lay them straight on my granite counter). They'll be fine if they cool in the pan on the range.

Now for the icing. I got this off the Bob's Red Mill package, too. It was just easier than pulling out my go-to cream cheese icing recipe and down sizing it for this project. This one seemed small enough to use for this, and I'm actually confused as to how the proportions of this recipe could possibly cover the carrot cake in the recipe right above it....moving on. I did not use Margarine like the recipe called for, yuck! And, I warmed the butter and cream cheese until nearly melted before I added the sugar.

3 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp Margarine, softened (I used organic butter)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 to 1/3 cup powdered sugar (I use Whole Foods brand organic powdered sugar because they don't use corn starch as their anti-caking agent)

Using a wooden spoon (or a whisk like I did), whip the cream cheese, margarine (yuck, I used butter) and vanilla until smooth. Sift in powdered sugar (it IS important that you sift the sugar, especially if you are using a brand that uses a different anti-caking agent, the lumps are hard and plenteous, and they make for a lumpy ugly frosting), 1 Tablespoon at a time, and stir until a creamy smooth frosting is achieved. (Again, I melted the butter and cream cheese to make it more like cookie icing.)

After the pastries have completely cooled, spread the icing over the top. Allow the icing to set. It won't completely harden like if you were using a high sugar icing, but it does firm up after it cools. And, enjoy! I'm telling you these things were so good, I almost didn't want to share them with my kids, and they were the whole reason I was attempting this recipe.

So, there you go. A much healthier, tastier option for that American breakfast staple.

Staring at the Barn Gate

I grew up with animals. Some of my fondest and most vivid childhood memories are of my horses, sheep, dogs, cats, chickens, geese, ducks and whatever poor struggling animal I felt the need to rescue, the uglier and more helpless the better. If it needed me (and even if its need was all in my head), I had to take care of it. I rescued baby birds from my cats and fed them to death. Who knew you aren't supposed to feed them every time they chirp? I rescued other things from my cats, too, things like lizards and frogs. I also thought it would be cool to see if I could get baby frogs by keeping them in a bucket with a little terrarium for them to lay their eggs. Who knew frogs are cannibalistic? I used to come back and wonder how in the world one or more of them got out of my enclosure without any sign of escape, and it took me a very long time to figure out that the fat happy frog that didn't seem to want to escape was eating the others. I learned a lot about animals and how the natural world works in my simple happy childhood. There were plenty of life lessons learned from observing God's amazing creation up close (like how you should leave frog mating up to the Big Guy) and from connecting the dots between scriptural comparisons of sheep and God's people. Sometimes, the comparison was encouraging, other times embarrassing, and I'm finding myself thinking about one of those traits I noticed so long ago.

I'm not exactly sure how sheep are supposed to survive in the wild. I don't know that there are really any 'wild' sheep anywhere. I might have to look that up. Generally though, when you think about sheep you assume there is a shepherd leading and protecting them. So, being good shepherds, during the cold months when nothing much was growing, we kept our sheep close to the barn or enclosure and fed them grain and hay. They would spend their days snuggled up together and enjoying the trough side service. Every Spring, when we would open the gate to let them out to roam and enjoy natures fresh salad bar, it would always take them a little while to get through that gate. They would often stand there and stare at it. I have no idea what or IF sheep think, but I used to imagine their minds wandering. "Can we go? Should we go? Is it safe to leave the trough? What if we can't get back? Is it a trick? Is she going to be waiting on the other side to catch us and shear us, or worse, de-worm us? Is it a mirage?" Now, sometimes all it took was me catching one and leading them out. Sometimes I wanted to just wait and see if they would trust me. Other times I didn't have any patience and I chased them out. (I know children can be cruel.) It happened the same every year. Stare at the gate until one brave sheep broke from the group and ventured through. Then it was all you can eat until Fall settled in again. The reverse would happen as well. Once all the green had faded to brown and the trees were bare, they would still wait by the gate like we were cruel to keep them shut in. It always took them a while to settle back into the changes each season brought.

I've looked forward to all three of my children being in school on two days every week this entire Summer. I have ALL kinds of plans and visions of a spotless house and finally finished projects. So what did I do with my first day of freedom? Besides having Starbucks with a friend and running a few errands, nothing much at all. I spent the rest of the day almost paralyzed with indecision. I just couldn't get anything done. It was like I was staring at that barn gate and the freedom beyond but not quite sure how to get through it. "Can I do this? Should I do this? Is it safe? Will my kids be ok? Is it a trick? Will I start too many things and be in a bigger mess than before? What if it's all an illusion?" Crazy, huh? I'm thinking I will eventually figure it out. Well, when my daughter's immune system gets up and fighting, that is. She's been sick the last two school days. I want so much to get all the tough stuff done on those days when I'm alone. It's crazy how much you can get done when you don't have a three year old under your feet ALL day. My vision is to have all the busy work done those days so that I can actually enjoy the days and evenings when they're home with me again. It's been so long since I've been able to sit back and marvel at the beautiful people they're becoming. My mind is so preoccupied with all I've NOT done or am NOT doing. I'm in constant survival and failure mode lately, and I'm hoping to use this new freedom to accomplish those things so my mind can rest and my hands are free to play. We'll see. Right now, I'm still staring at that barn gate. Maybe the next school day, I'll be ready to feast on all this new season has to offer. Then again, maybe I'll just sleep.

Dutch Oven Bread

Do any of you remember that artisan bread article that got passed around a while back (like 2007), the one about baking bread in your dutch oven? It was a New York Times article originally, before it went viral. Well, that was before I was interested in baking any kind of bread much less something in my dutch oven, but a few months ago, my mother gave me a black and white photo copy of the article from The Mother Earth News Guide To Fresh Food All Year. It seemed interesting, but I wasn't quite ready to tackle it then. Well, I decided recently it was time to try it.

Easy, No Knead Crusty Bread

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting.
You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two. [I used whole wheat pastry flour.]
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting [I just used my flour.]

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature about 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. The dough is ready when it's surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it's ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least 20 minutes before dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6 to 8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that's OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don't worry if it's not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.

5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread form the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Yield: One 1 1/2 pound loaf.
Adapted from The New York Times


I was skeptical of the recipe, and leery of cooking bread in my dutch oven. However, I'm skeptical no longer. It had a hard crunchy crust and a super soft texture. The flavor was plain, but when the recipe only calls for yeast, water, flour and salt, plain is how it turns out. And, plain isn't always a bad thing.

I think next time I'll experiment with herbs and flavorings, but this is perfect to go with soup or chili (especially since corn bread doesn't work for my allergic little guy). Or, honestly, it's great spread with some butter and enjoyed on its own.

I linked to the Mother Earth article above, but here's the link again. It's very interesting, and contains more info about how this method works.

PB&J and Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil?

In a perfect world, where I have enough hours in the day to tend to my children's needs AND get the laundry done, I would make my own peanut butter, fruit preserves and whole wheat bread. However, since a PB&J sandwich is my new idea of fast food, it's important to have those things on hand in my pantry. I understand that store bought bread (the kind from the bread shelf not the bakery) is going to have to have some kind of preservative in it. Otherwise it's going to spoil pretty fast. And, I understand that for good preserves and peanut butter, you're going to need a good sweetener. However, reading the ingredient labels for these childhood staples is surprising to say the least.

Here's the list for Nature's Own Whitewheat bread (one of the few store shelf breads Jackson can have):

Unbleached enriched wheat flour [flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid (A B vitamin)], water, sugar, fiber (soy fiber and/or cottonseed fiber), wheat gluten, yeast, contains 2% or less of each of the following: calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, vegetable oil (soybean oil or canola oil), salt, soy flour, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, calcium stearoyl-2-lactylate, monoglycerides, calcium iodate, ethoxylated mono and diglycerides, calcium peroxide, datem azodicarbonamide), cultured wheat flour, guar gum, vinegar, ferrous sulfate, thiamin hydrochloride, monocalcium phosphate, yeast food (ammonium sulfate), soy lecithin, 050710

What happened to flour, water and yeast? Yes, that's all you really need for good bread; well, that and a $10,000 professional baker's oven, and a whole lot of time on your hands (i.e. waking up before the roosters). I have a bread machine and a dutch oven, and they serve our purposes just fine. I do not however have enough time (or appropriate morning personality) to bake enough bread to satisfy all of our cinnamon honey toast and pb&j sandwich needs.

Here's the list for regular Skippy peanut butter:

Roasted peanuts, sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oils (cottonseed, soybean and rapeseed) to prevent separation, salt

Now, this fits in with my new love for anything with five ingredients or less, and it's corn free. However, hydrogenated anything isn't good. The funny thing is that this is our favorite peanut butter brand, and it has a natural version that we LOVE. It tastes the same. Seriously. So, why can't they just go all natural? Get rid of the hydrogenated junk.

On to the J's. Here's the list for Smucker's Concord Grape Jelly (what I used to buy before food allergies and HFCS awareness invaded my life):

Concord grape juice, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, fruit pectin, citric acid, sodium citrate

High fructose corn syrup isn't really a surprise ingredient in this list. However, the main ingredient is, at least to me. The main ingredient in this jelly isn't the fruit it's labeled after, but the juice. So, there's even less nutritional quality to this jelly than you would think from the label.

Now, just switching to organic or 'natural' isn't enough. Most of the preserves and jellies that I've looked at, even the organic ones, list sugar or fruit syrup as the main ingredient. I would personally rather see actual fruit as the main ingredient since that is how I would do it if I made my own. I've got to be careful with all that, though, because Jackson has texture issues with berry seeds or skins.

Organic peanut butter has, up until recently, been something you had to refrigerate and stir (two things that do not go well together), and the flavor just wasn't the same. However, now, there are some really great brands with yummy flavors that provide comforting labels for the ingredient conscious. One of Jackson's favorites is Peanut Butter & Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl (I know, he can handle raisins in his peanut butter but not seeds in his jelly. Crazy, right?).

The bread is the tough part. Yes. There are whole wheat versions out there that will have whole wheat flour as the first ingredient, but you're likely still going to see things like sodium stearol lactylate (a dough conditioner) and calcium propionate (a preservative).

Our favorite sandwich bread, Martin's 100% Whole Wheat Potato Bread, has some things in it that I would rather not be there, like soybean oil and those pesky dough conditioners and preservatives. However, it really is the best tasting whole wheat bread out of all those plastic wrapped mass produced loaves. Like 'my kids never noticed when I switched to wheat bread' tasting. So, for now, it's the best option for us. That is unless a bakery decides to open near us or I decide to start waking before dawn and dedicate an entire day to bread production only to watch it mold by the end of the week.

So, this is how we do PB&J in our house. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter, Welch's Natural Spread, and Martin's 100% Whole Wheat Potato Bread.

Happy New Year!

Good morning. How are those New Year's resolutions coming? Have you managed to work in more quality time for the family? Got your home organized? Stuck to that diet plan? Kept up with the exercise program? Made a dent in your debt to income ratio? Me? Well, I've fallen behind. Like, so far behind, I'm lost and will likely never be found again. Sometime in January my badly weathered person will muster enough breath to resolve never to resolve again before collapsing on the heap of unmet goals.

Let's evaluate the pile.

Resolution #1: Read through the Bible twice. Ha. I've been 3 days from the end of the first go round for about a month now. I keep readjusting the time frame (if you have a Bible app, I've hit 'catch me up' more times than I can count).

Resolution #2: Blog at least once a week. Hmmmm. That would mean I should have about 30 posts. That number at the bottom of this blog says 23 (well, after I post this one, it will say 24), and that is after I re-blogged two of my favorite recipes from a while back. I'm not sure those count.

Resolution #3: Write in my journal at least once a day. Hahahahaha! We're not even going to go there. Let's just say that voice you hear in your head when you're reading things, you know the one that goes along with what you're reading (well, at least there's a voice in my head when I read, maybe that explains more about me than I should be sharing, but anyway....), that voice went from super cool and totally awesome (obviously) to the most boring monotone Ben Stein-ish narration to my totally unexciting life. Well, that or a whiny Fran Drescher complaining about her totally unexciting life. I got tired of the voices in my head and the writer's cramp in my hand, and decided to concentrate on my blog. Ha. That went well.

Resolution #4: Yoga three times a week. Once again I'm lol-ing while I type. I will say however, we did get a treadmill (so I can't use the kids as an excuse not to run), and I learned about strength training at home. Right now, I'm running about 3 miles per session (when I'm not nursing an injury), and I did my first 5k race just a couple of weeks ago. However, I will NOT be posting the time. When I reach my goal of a 22 minute 5k, I'll post that time for sure.

Resolution #5: Finish my masters. I'm currently 2 classes away from finishing. The problem is, that's the same distance away from graduating I was when this year started.

Resolution #6: Potty train my 3 year old. Now, this one makes me laugh the most because in this process I've discovered that I must be the most incompetent potty trainer this world has ever seen. I mean, really! How hard is it to teach an intelligent capable child to stop messing in their pants? Apparently something a man with a doctorate and a woman with a (almost) graduate degree can't figure out. It's like this child has been trained in military level resistance and diversion tactics. I've nearly resolved (hahaha, there's that word again) to resign this process to her (not yet registered and school starts Wednesday) new preschool teacher and friends in class this year.

Resolution #7 and 8: These are private and no where near completion. If I accomplish them, you'll know, trust me.

Resolution #9: Play my piano every day. This is by far one of the most relaxing things for me. I can go from completely tense and good for nothing frustrated to calm and focused in just 15 minutes. Unfortunately, my keyboard (Korg Concert XC 2000, which I got for a birthday present when I was 17) isn't working. A couple of the keys stick or don't make a sound, and the pedals no longer work. Can't afford a new one, and the nearest place to have it fixed is about an hour away. I miss it. A LOT.

Resolution #10: Live more purposefully. I'm a planner at heart. I like things to go the way I've decided they should go, but I'm obviously still floundering around allowing life to dictate where I'm headed rather than me or my God. This just adds to my frustration and causes me to want to crawl in bed with a half gallon of rocky road ice cream and refuse to emerge until the lactose forces me out. Actually, this was the main reason I made resolutions this year. Because I wanted to set goals and see them accomplished, on purpose, not because the stars aligned and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

At the very bottom of my resolution entry in my journal, this is what I wrote:

"May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." 

2 Thes. 3:5

"My hope for this year is to be directed by God to His love and steadfastness. To finally learn to trust Him and to believe that He does love me. He is good, and He really does work all things for my good."

Where's that carton of rocky road?

Once again, I'm facing the beginning of another year, the school year. I'm going to have 3 kids in 3 different schools (well, that is if I can get my daughter registered and IF they still have an opening). One in a home school parent lead education program, one in public school and special education program, and one in preschool. If I ever needed to be organized and goal oriented, now is the time, but it just seems like the harder I work, the less I get done. We have hamsters (adorable, smelly little creatures that like to poop as soon as you pull them out of their cages), and they LOVE their wheels, especially at about 3-4am, but that's another topic. I often find myself feeling like I'm stuck on that darn wheel, running until I can't run anymore, eventually collapsing in the same place I started. There has to be a better way.

For what am I striving, exactly? Perfection? I think so, and I think my head and heart must have missed the memo telling all of us humans that perfection isn't possible in this life. I'm starting to think I might need to scrap all these resolutions and concentrate on that last line in my journal. "To finally trust Him and to believe that He does love me. He is good, and He really does work all things for my good."

So, here's to another school year! Maybe we should toast with juice boxes and throw confetti in the air. No, wait, I'll have to clean that up. Let's just stick to the juice. May I trust my God with my harried life, my children and my goals, and allow Him to make it all good.

Happy New Year!

Better Than Bojangles Biscuits

Light, fluffy and melt in your mouth good.

I originally posted this recipe a couple of years ago. It is in my opinion absolutely the best biscuit recipe there is, and good enough to please my biscuit snob husband. There are only a handful of things I can cook as good or better than his mama or grandmama, and this would be one of those things. My food allergic son has only had mine and his Nonna's biscuits, but my non-food allergic son will often remark while eating a biscuit from Cracker Barrel or Bojangles and tell me, "Mommy, yours are better." After which he can have pretty much anything he wants. He knows just how to butter up his mommy, tell her she's pretty and/or compliment her cooking. :-)

Anyway, these freeze well. When school starts I'll have a dozen or so of these little suckers frozen with chicken nuggets or sausage patties to use for quick homemade breakfast when I don't have time for homemade. I've also found they do just fine swapping out some of the flour for whole wheat pastry flour. I usually go half and half. Now, my husband noticed immediately that I had switched things around telling me not to mess with a Southern man's biscuit, but my kids eat them just as well as with the white flour. So, that's the way they will be getting their school breakfast biscuits. The thing you don't want to skimp on with biscuits like this would be the fat. That's what makes a southern melt in your mouth biscuit do just that.

I found the original recipe in Natalie Dupree's Southern Memories cookbook listed as the closest to the perfect biscuit recipe as she's ever found. I altered it to fit my son's food allergies and made it my own, but it is still pretty close to perfect.
To make it dairy free, you can use palm oil shortening in stead of butter and almond, soy or rice milk in stead of the buttermilk. You will just need to reduce the liquid and increase the fat you choose to keep the same consistency.

1 1/2 C Self-Rising Flour, natural and unbleached
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
3 Tbsp Butter, plus 2 Tbsp melted for brushing
3/4 C Whole Buttermilk, maybe a little more depending on the consistency

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Grease an iron skillet or 8-inch round cake pan. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, soda, salt and sugar. Work in the butter with your fingers or pastry cutter until there are no lumps larger than a small pea. (You can put this mixture in an air tight container and keep in the refrigerator for a week or two, then just add your buttermilk, shape and bake.) Stir in the buttermilk and let the dough stand for a couple minutes. The mixture will be wet.

Pour about a cup of flour onto a plate or cutting board. Flour your hands well and spoon biscuit sized lumps of wet dough onto the plate of flour (I use an ice cream scoop).

Coat lumps with flour and work back and forth with your hands to shake off excess flour. As you shape each biscuit, place onto the skillet or cake pan placing the biscuits together so they rise against each other. Too much room will make them spread out.

Melt about 2 Tbsp butter and brush the biscuits. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 450 degrees F, or until lightly browned.

Makes about 6 biscuits.

Homemade Nuggets

 

Chicken nuggets are a staple in most kids' diets. If you've got a food allergic kid, though, it can be tough to find any that are both safe and tasty. I gave up on that whole idea and figured out how to just do it myself. Now, even my non-allergic kids prefer my nuggets to Chick-Fil-A's. I've found that the key to good nuggets is buttermilk.

You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts, thighs or tenders. Cut them into about 1 inch chunks (I use scissors for that, makes it much more precise). Then place them in buttermilk to soak for at least 30 minutes (in the fridge). If you're cooking a pound of chicken and using a pretty good size bowl, you shouldn't need more than a cup or so of buttermilk. You can use soy milk to go dairy free, or even mix up a vinegar/salt brine to soak them in (just like your Holiday bird). You'll get the same effect just a little different flavor. While they're soaking, mix up your flour and seasoning.

For a pound of chicken, put about a cup of flour into a ziploc bag or bowl. Use self-rising flour (always natural and unbleached) for the 'extra crispy' crust, and all-purpose for the 'original' crust. You can go gluten-free and use rice flour, too (add a tsp of baking powder to the mix for more of an 'extra crispy' like crust). Add about a teaspoon of seasoning (recipe below), close the bag and shake well, or if you're using a bowl, whisk well to evenly distribute seasoning.

Start heating your oil to about 375 degrees F. You don't have to have a fryer to do this, and since I hate to reuse the oil when I fry meat, I usually fry these in my iron skillet anyway. You want to put enough oil to fill the pan about a half an inch or so deep. You can test the temp with a fry thermometer or wet your fingers and sprinkle some water in the pan. When it bubbles and sizzles you're ready.

Once your nuggets have soaked a little while, take them out of the buttermilk and put them dripping wet into the bag or bowl with the flour mixture. Shake them up or toss them well to get an even coating.

Once your oil is hot, drop the nuggets in one at a time, if you're frying in a skillet. You don't want to over crowd them. They'll make the temp drop in your oil a little, and if you put too many in at once, they'll stick together and end up greasy.

Let them cook for about 2-5 minutes on each side. Until you get used to frying, you'll need a meat thermometer to make sure they're done (about 165 degrees F). It is especially hard to tell when you go gluten free because the rice flour doesn't brown like wheat flour. Try this a few times, though, and you won't need the thermometer anymore.

Let them cool completely, but don't let them sit too long (they'll get soggy). Place them in a freezer bag and place in your freezer. When you're ready for a quick nugget meal, pull what you need out of the freezer and cook them in your oven. 400 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes or until heated through.

Seasoning

We like it spicy, and the more 'red' you put in the flour (especially if you're going gluten free), the more yummy your final product will look. You can add a little extra paprika and leave out the cayenne if you're worried about it being too spicy.

2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine all the spices in a ziploc bag or tupperware container. Mix well. Store for up to 3 months or so.