Oven Fried Rosemary Chicken Nuggets

Finally! It's about time I shared another recipe here. I mean, it IS a food blog after all. Tiny confession: I have one more blogpost for our trip to Italy. I have to share the rest of our trip, some photos of what we saw, and my sweet, sweet nephew (let's be real, the best part is pictures of him!). But in the meantime, I thought I'd share this with you.  

I found this recipe several years ago and tweaked it for my dad who is gluten free. You are more than welcome to use bread crumbs, but I've only ever made it with rice chex, and have loved it every time. I made it for a dinner party once and got rave reviews. 

I've got to be honest for a second. I'm terrible at cooking chicken. I pride myself in being a pretty decent cook, but along with trying to fold fitted sheets, I fall short every time. I've tried multiple "tried and true" methods and even use a meat thermometer, and yet somehow ruin it every time. Poor Isaac. His favorite meat is chicken and I always end up making it tough and dry. How is that possible? 

But wait! Somehow this chicken turns out super tender and juicy! Why? I don't know--and I'm not going to question it. All I know is that this oven fried chicken is super flavorful from the spicy mustard and fresh rosemary and that it doesn't end up tough and dry. And then it's got walnuts and parmigiano reggianno, which happens to be my current obsession right now. 

The original recipe is for whole chicken breasts, but I thought I would turn them into chicken nuggets for this post because anything miniature is super cute. Show me small bowls, spoons, cups, etc and I automatically want them. Dolls houses? They are the CUTEST!!...Depending on the occasion, you can choose which version you would prefer to make/eat. 

I'd love for you to make them and let me know what you think! 

Ranch Turkey Burgers

Raise your hand if you like a good burger! *Insert girl raising her hand emoji here* If only I could use emoji's on this blog. They are so wonderful at capturing my emotions. Well, most of the time. 

Growing up, my family had burgers every Saturday. Every. Single. Week. I know that sounds like bliss for some of you, but I got really tired of beef burgers. And then in high school I went through this phase where I didn't eat beef at all. I convinced myself it was because I didn't like beef (which was partly true), but really it was because of silly food rules I had made for myself.  

These days, I really do enjoy a good burger. But it's gotta be a good burger. None of those pre-made freezer patties. Don't feed me a burger if it's well done. Don't even try to convince me it's worth eating if it doesn't have avocado and tomato on it...and a fried egg. Yeah, I'm pretty picky when it comes to burgers. 

However, I absolutely LOVE these turkey burgers. I came up with them the first summer Isaac and I were married. I wanted to give them some pep (it was my first attempt at burgers as a wife) and I threw a few random ingredients together. The result? Super moist and flavorful burgers! Aaand, the first time I made them we had them on pretzel buns. PRETZEL BUNS! I about died. I was planning on serving them on pretzel buns for this post, but I couldn't find them anywhere. So I settled for cheddar onion buns. They were good, but come on. Pretzel buns...

I know cottage cheese seems like a strange ingredient, but it really lends to a moist and flavorful burger. Don't skip it even if you dislike cottage cheese. You can't distinguish it from the turkey once it cooked. The ranch seasoning really kicks up the flavor. I use ranch seasoning for quite a bit of things (veggies, chicken, etc.). I'm not super comfortable with the ingredient list, so I'm gonna give this homemade ranch seasoning recipe a try. I'll let you know what I think. 

So there you have it, dinner for this upcoming weekend. Or week day. That's what we did. 

Oh, and don't forget to serve it with a side of sweet potato waffle fries <3

A Taste of My Tuesday

If you’re a food blog follower, you’re probably familiar with “What I Ate Wednesday” blog posts in which the blogger posts about what they have been eating. I know I really enjoy reading those posts because it gives me an idea of how other people eat and it also sparks ideas for my own meals. I’ve decided I want to do my own version of these posts titled “A Taste of My Tuesday.” As a disclaimer, I most likely eat more than what is pictured here because I tend to take bites of things as I cook or as I’m finishing up a meal. This actually might help me clean up my own eating habits!! These posts will hopefully give you a good look into what a dietitian realistically eats as well as give you some meal/snack ideas. And it will be a whole lot easier for me to share simple recipes with you without having to make a whole blog post on it. I doubt you want to read an entire post on my roasted broccoli (okay, I am dedicating a post to my broccoli, but there are a few other recipes that are going to be included in that one).

So here’s to my first Taste of My Tuesday blog post.

Breakfast: Breakfast Cookie Dough--I know I probably shouldn’t eat the same breakfast everyday, but homegirl can’t stop! Seriously, I probably eat it 4 days a week. I just mix it up the night before and leave it in a bowl overnight in the fridge. Mash ½ a banana and add in 1 Tbsp plain protein powder, 1 Tbsp peanut flour (PB2), ½ Tbsp peanut butter and 1/3 cup oats. Then add in about 2 Tbsp milk of choice and leave uncovered in a bowl or plate. In the morning, top with chopped walnuts and dig in.

Cold brew coffee. I can’t start my day without it....

Lunch: Brussels sprouts hash with an over easy egg + handful of homemade snack mix (air popped popcorn, chex, pretzels). Saute sweet potatoes in olive oil and then add onions, garlic, and any other veggies (I added cauliflower this time, but bell peppers and mushrooms would be good) with garlic salt and any additional seasonings of choice. Add chopped ham (or any other meat) and a little bit of gouda cheese just to warm it up. Top with an over easy egg and enjoy! 

Snack: I found this coconut flour cake today and wanted to give it a try. I've tried a lot of "lighter" single-serving cakes that really aren't that good. Not so with this one! I'll definitely be making it regularly! Side note: I added 1/2 Tbsp dark chocolate chips instead of 1 Tbsp regular chocolate chips. 

Dinner: Homemade corn chowder + dark chocolate and a mint. It lacked a whole lot of flavor on its own, so we topped it with chopped bacon, avocado, black beans, and cilantro. Not too shabby... 

Evening Snack: 3 cups of skinny pop 

And that was what a normal day of food looks like for me! Like I said, I tend to grab bites of food here and there, a habit I need to work on. What have you been eating lately? 

P.S. Check back later this week for a new breakfast recipe!!