GF/CF Friday - Cuz Kids Love Chicken Nuggets

Time for GF/CF Friday partnering with Three Channels blog.

This week, the all-time favorite kid cuisine Chicken Nuggets.

...Now, if you have all the time in the world (who does?) you can certainly bread your own chicken nuggets with gluten free flours. I can say that I've done this and my son refers to the result as "dirty chicken" and demands that I serve him "new chicken". He even did this when his grandmother made him nuggets from scratch (that were awesome, I might add).. and I was mortified.

"New chicken" of course refers to chicken out of the frozen bag or nuggets like you might get in a Kids Meal (gone are those days). Here's our adventure with Gluten Free/Casein Free nuggets...

One of the first ones we tried was from Ian's Natural Foods - from their wheat free/gluten free line. A small box of these, which my son can eat in a single sitting costs $6.99. My son will eat the Ian's Nuggets when I buy them, but they aren't our favorite. First of all, they aren't 'nuggets' - they are more like chicken balls and they are mostly breading (corn) - the chicken consistency inside doesn't seem like chicken at all. My husband and I both tasted these and concluded that they are dreadful. My 3 year old daughter concurs because she won't even touch Ian's nuggets - let alone put one in her mouth and actually chew and swallow. I'm actually surprised my son will eat them -he does seem to like them. I knew there had to be better.

Then, I found Chicken Bites from Wellshire Kids. These have the bonus in that they are shaped like dinosaurs much like the big bagged chicken he was used to (from Tyson or Perdue). Chicken Bites are extremely flavorful and they look right - this makes a huge difference. Both of my children love them. Once again.. a small bag of these (just like 2 servings, maybe 3) costs $7 at my local health food store. I previously used to be able to find these at Wegman's for a bit less but they seem to have stopped carrying them... WAaaah!!! So, I went online and found that I can order these online for a way better price straight from Wellshire Farms. When you buy a case of 20 - it breaks down to just over $3 a bag. If you buy a case of 10, it is still under $5 a bag - a significant savings from the health food stores. The problem is shipping which adds up and since this is a perishable you need quick shipping. I haven't felt good about ordering these online over the summer even though we are in the zone for next day shipment so until the temperature drops there's no dinos to be found in my freezer.

Update: In November 2008 these nuggets and a few other Wellshire Kids products were "exposed" as containing gluten. We no longer buy these favored chicken bites, tasty as they were - the hidden gluten and questionable labeling has crossed them off of our list.

Which brings me to our chicken nugget of choice and the subject of this GF/CF Friday Review... Allergy Free Foods brand Chicken Breast Nuggets. I found these by accident one day at my local Stop & Shop (or as we affectionately call it.. Stop & Rob). Well, there they were right in the frozen freezer section next to meatballs. Great Big Bags that say in green lettering across the top "Allergy Free Foods"

Gluten Free (wheat, oats, rye, malt & barley)

Soy Free

Peanut Free

Tree nut Free (walnut, cashew, almond, etc..)

Egg Free

Milk Free (casein, etc)

The best part.... $4.99! For a great big bag of frozen chicken.. why that is even cheaper than the 'regular' tainted kind. Yipee!!!! A bit of a bummer... the great big resealable white bag is decieving - it is only 1.5 pounds worth and has a smaller bag inside of it that actually has the chicken in it. Still - its more product than other brands and at the best price. Even better for me is that it is right in my local grocer and I don't have to drive a gazillion miles!

The directions state that the recommended cooking method for these is to fry them in Canola oil, or you can cook them in the oven. We usually do the oven route since I'm not a fan of frying things. I usually cook them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees on my medium bar pan - they come out perfect. For comparison - here are these allergy free nuggets cooked side by side with Tyson nuggets. You can see that they obviously have much less breading and are paler in color. If you fry them, they do take on more of the golden color you'd expect but my kids don't like "dirty" chicken, hence the oven cook.

The verdict:

These are absolutely my son's favorite Chicken Nugget that is gf/cf - as well as everything else-f (soy, nut, dairy, egg). Lunch, Dinner, Afternoon snack? All of the above... You can always find a bag of these in my freezer!