Gluten Free Chicken Nuggets & Sweet Potato Fries, Dairy Free Milk Shake

Toss the store bought frozen Chicken nuggets and make these simple Organic Gluten-free Chicken Nuggets, with homemade style sweet potato fries. Homemade ketchup with no preservatives and no refined sugar.

And if your Brave this delicious Dairy Free Milkshake for your little ones.

It really is easy to just toss frozen chicken nuggets in the oven and call it a day. But the truth is they are filled with yucky ingredients you just don't want to feed your children. Besides the preservatives they are loaded with sodium. When we let convenience win over quality we start bad habits when it comes to how are children eat.

Trust me I am not trying to put anyone down for using frozen chicken nuggets, I am just trying to shed some light on the topic (which I am sure you already know), to share a new and simple way to make the foods our kids love to eat.

Everything you see above is gluten free, organic, and is baked. NO FRYING PLEASE~

When we fry food we are actually damaging cells inside our body. We are creating bad fat that the body hates, and simply can't process as well, and adding dozens of added calories from the oil. Not to mention that our brains will begin to suffer from the damage that fried foods cause, brain fog is not fun. We want our kids to be focused and healthy! To learn from the start how to eat yummy food!

These nuggets are perfectly crispy and delicious being baked, trust me!

If you have a gluten free kitchen then you will have most of these pantry items on hand already, which makes these an easy meal to prepare.

Here is what you will need to prepare the chicken nuggets:

*Double cutlet amount for 3+kids

1 large chicken cutlet cut through the center and divided into to medium thickness, then cut into cubes.

1 egg

1/2 cup -your choice gluten free breadcrumbs

1/3 cup hemp seeds

arrowroot flour (or any other gluten free flour).

Salt and Pepper.

How to prepare the Chicken Nuggets:

Once chicken is cubed, then put in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, (optional - but I like to add a touch of dried mustard powder). You don't have to over season, just lightly salt and pepper, as most kids don't like heavy seasoning.

With the chicken still in the bowl add the arrowroot flour and coat both sides of the nuggets.

Then coat the nuggets with the egg (make sure you beat the egg first).

In a separate dish add your hemp seeds and gluten -free bread crumbs and cover all sides.

Then place nuggets are a baking sheet and drizzle all with extra virgin olive oil, and bake at 325* until crisp and cooked on both sides. Roughly 20 minutes or so. Make sure to flip the nuggets half way through. ***And please note everyone's ovens are slightly different so please watch for timer as 20 minutes may be too long for some ovens.

If your wondering why I added Hemp Seeds to the mix here is why:

They have Omega-3 fatty acids which are essential fats that help reduce inflammation, and may reduce your risk of heart disease. They are also a rich source of essential minerals,like magnesium, phosphorus, iron and zinc.

And while they are a great source of vegetarian protein, I added them to the breadcrumbs because kids tend to love the bread layer and if I can sneak in a little protein into the bread layer then that is what we have to do as parents.

How to Prepare the Sweet Potato Fries:

I used two small to medium potato's and cut them into thick cut fries with a sharp knife. I first roughly peeled the skin off so they would have a homemade look to them, and we would benefit from the nutrient that the skin packs as well.

After you cut the fries toss them in a baking dish or on a baking sheet, and coat them with extra virgin olive oil, a little salt and pepper and roast them until golden brown!!

*Double potato amount for 3+kids

Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest foods, and are ranked as the top nutritional vegetable by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Sweet potato's with skin also have the essential nutrients, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate. A sweet potato has 29.51 milligrams of vitamin C , so trading up a regular ol'potato for a sweet potato is the way to go my friends, hands down the taste is 100x better!!

The white sweet potato fries(as shown) are are so delicious I promise your kids will gobble them up, by far Phoenix enjoyed these the most. I like white sweet potato's but you can use the regular orange ones too. The taste will be just an good.

How to Prepare the Homemade Ketchup:

Here is what you will need:

1tbs coconut oil

3 cups organic tomato Puree (28oz can)

1/2 yellow onion - halved

1 clove garlic crushed into paste

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon allspice

5 whole cloves

1/3 cup honey

1tbs coconut sugar

In a saucepan or deep skillet over medium heat add the coconut oil, onion and garlic and saute until fragrant.

Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered, until sauce thickens and reduces roughly 50 - 60 minutes.

Remove the onion and cloves.

Let cool before serving.

This will stay fresh if tightly sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, sometimes a few days longer. Store excess ketchup in the freezer.

Here is how to Prepare this Dairy Free Milkshake:

Please note: you will need a Vitamix or a strong blender to make this shake

This Dairy Free Milkshake is just the added treat to top this meal off! My daughter happens to love this milkshake, but I am sure that if your kids are not used to coconut cream and the taste of avocado they may not take to this very quickly. I encourage you to try a new version of this that suits your kids taste buds. The whole idea here is to hide some good healthy fat and nutrients into their bellies without them knowing! If you start this early in the life as soon as they begin eating food then it will be easy to feed them quality foods!

You will need:

1 ripe avocado

2 pitted dates

1/2 can full fat coconut milk (cream in a can) no sugar added

1 cup almond milk

heaping tbs raw honey

1 tsp vanilla powder - (I use Bulletproof Vanilla Powder) worth the money!

Place all ingredients into a freezer safe container for 1 hour ahead of meal time.

Once it begins to freeze take out and place all ingredients into the blender.

If you have the Magic bullet you can place all ingredients inside the detachable containers one of the large ones and place that into the freezer, then all you have to do is simply attach to the magic bullet and blend until smooth.

I would love to hear from you! If you were able to enjoy these meal ideas with your kids, even if you made some substitutes! Use hashtag #bewellwithdana on Instagram

Be Well,

Dana

#bulletproofvanilla #coconutmilkshake #ketchup #glutenfreechickennuggets #fries