Temporarily Closing the Kitchen

The processed kitchen is going to be temporarily closed for a few weeks.  My oldest mini will be having surgery next week and we have been blessed with wonderful friends that have set up a meal train for us.  It is typically very unusual for me to ask or accept for help (or to relinquish control over what my family eats), but how could I say no to dinner being delivered to my family every night for a few weeks?  

In the past, I have blogged about the surgeries my oldest mini has been through.  I will not be doing that this time.  He is about to begin an amazing chapter in the already-incredible book of his life.  He is old enough now, that he is journaling himself now.  And I have decided that this is going to be his story to tell.  

But, please hold my oldest mini in your thoughts and prayers.  We are praying for minimal amounts of pain and for him to emotionally adjust to all the changes he will be going through over the next few months.

And, PLEASE, remember.....the unprocessed kitchen is not closing, just taking a little break.  If you sign up to follow my blog (on the right hand side of the screen), you can get email notifications of when I return.  Or, leave a comment or email me, and I will make sure to let you know when I am back up and running.

Chicken Nuggets and Ranch

My middle mini lost another tooth last week, which lead to the inevitable tooth fairy drama from my tiny mini.  Full out panic, complete with terror-filled screams.  So, once again, we agreed to leave the tooth outside the house, so the evil, scary, creepy tooth fairy wouldn't need to come in our home.

I also recently discovered this website, where you can get pictures like this made for your own child.

I'm considering having one made for my tiny mini.  Her therapist will get a kick out of it one day when she's an adult.

So, anyway....I was feeling all bad because my middle mini was getting totally screwed out of the whole childhood rite-of-passage of leaving your tooth under your pillow for the tooth fairy.  So I decided to make it up to him by making him his favorite dinner of all time.  Chicken nuggets with Ranch.  

Nutritionally, this meal is sort of a epic fail.  But, I paired it with homemade juice and tons of raw veggies.  Which made me feel better, so it should make you feel better too.

Ingredients 
(for dry dressing mix)

• 1/8 cup Black Pepper
• 3/4 cup Parsley Flakes 
• 1/4 cup Garlic Salt
• 1 tbsp Kosher Salt
• 1/8 cup Granulated Garlic
• 1/3 cup + 1 tsp Granulated Onion 
• 1 tbsp Dill Weed

Ingredients

(to mix with dry dressing mix)

• 1 cup of mayo
• 1 cup of buttermilk
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1. Combine all ingredients, store in an airtight container. 

2.  Combine your mayo, buttermilk, sour cream, and lemon juice.  Whisk until smooth.  Add ONE TABLESPOON of the dry mix and stir.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours before eating.

Get all your dry ingredients combined.

 I am storing them in a baggie in the pantry.  This mix will last me until I land in a retirement home.

Combine your wet ingredients.  Whisk until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir.

Store in the fridge.  Not sure how long this will keep.  I probably should know that.

OK, let me just say this about this dressing.  It rocks!  Heids McGhee was doing a serious happy dance when I tasted it.  And I sort of felt guilty about that because, like I said, this is not a nutritionally stellar dressing.  That's probably why it tastes so good.

I made chicken nuggets to go with my ranch.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Chicken Breast (Boneless, Skinless, Cubed)
• 1 cup Flour
• 1 1/2 cups Cracker Meal (which is crushed saltine crackers)
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
• 2 cups Water
• 2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
• 1 1/4 tsp Lowry's seasoning salt
• 1 1/4 tsp McCormick's Chicken Seasoning

1.  Place cool water in bowl add 1/8 teaspoon seasoning salt and 1/8 tsp chicken seasoning.  Dissolve bouillon cubes in mixture. 

2.  Place cubed chicken in water, mix, cover and place in refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

3.  Mix flour, cracker meal, 1 teaspoon season salt, 1 tsp chicken seasoning, and paprika in bowl. 

4.  Heat oil for deep frying.  I put about 3/4 of an inch of canola oil in a pan and made sure not to heat it up too hot.

5.  Drain chicken. Coat nuggets in flour, cracker mixture and fry until golden. 

Here is the seasonings I used.

After soaking the chicken all day, mix the dry ingredients together.  Coat each chicken piece in the dry mixture.

Fry in oil.  Be careful not to get the oil too hot or your chicken will burn.  And your minis will be angry.

 Fry until golden brown.

These chicken nuggets were a hit.  A HUGE hit.  Like, I couldn't stop eating them, and neither could Mr. McGhee and the minis.  I have to say, these will definitely be making a regular appearance in the McGhee household.  Hopefully, a more regular appearance than the dreaded tooth fairy.