Paleo Coconut Chicken Nuggets

My mission is to get Avery Paleo-ish.  She loves chicken nuggets, so I figure I have nothing to lose by starting there.  Store bought chicken nuggets are questionable at their best.    So far she has only eaten one, but she is in one of those moods where she really inst eating anything.  At least she ate one, and asked for more when I gave her a bite.  Oh, and I wanted to add some veggies to her diet, so I shredded some zucchini and mixed it in.  Zucchini is pretty tasteless without help, so it is a great addition that kids don't always notice!!  I think they are quite tasty, and would be happy to have a meal out of them myself!

When coating the nuggets in the flour/coconut mixture I found that it wasn't sticking, so I cracked and wisked up an egg.  Dip the nuggets in the egg, then the flour mixture.... WAY better.  It tells you to fry them, then bake them... you could just bake them. I would just bake the ones I wanted to put away for another day, then fry them up to crispy them at the time of eating.

Paleo Coconut Chicken Nuggets with Honey and Coconut Oil Carrots

INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 pound ground chicken  - I used ground turkey
2. 1 egg yolk
3. 1 teaspoon onion powder
4. ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
5. ¼ cup + ½ cup almond flour
6. ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
7. ½ cup coconut oil
8. Salt & Pepper
9. Cinnamon
10. Zucchini 

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a bowl combine ¼ cup almond flour, ½ cup coconut and salt & pepper.  Mix to combine.  I added a little cinnamon to this step
3. In a separate bowl, combine the ground chicken, ½ cup almond flour, onion powder, garlic powder, egg yolk and salt & pepper.  Mix well until everything is incorporated. this is where I pooped in the zucchini.  Be sure to pat it in some paper towels to take out some of the excess water, or you will have soggy nuggets.
4. In a sauté pan, melt coconut oil on medium heat.  Take about 2 tablespoons worth of the chicken mixture and roll into a ball and then coat with the coconut and almond mixture.  I dipped in egg before dipping into the flour mixture.  I found it help the coating much better.
5.  Repeat with the remaining chicken.  You should make about 15 to 18 chicken nugget/balls.
6. In small batches place nuggets into heated coconut oil and cook on each side for about 3 to 4 minutes.  mine needed a little longer than this...
7. Transfer balls to a parchment lined bake pan and place in oven for 4 to 5 minutes to allow the chicken to cook through.  Repeat with the remaining chicken nuggets.  I also cooked them a little longer in the over, but I did not keep track of the time.  You will know when they are ready!

Original Recipe:http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2011/09/coconut-chicken-nuggets-with-paleo-bbq-sauce/

I hope these work as well for you, as they did for me on the one nugget Avery ate ;-) I'm pretty sure she will love them when she gets her appitite back (poor muffin has a sore throat and hoarse voice)

Happy Cooking, and tricking your kiddos into eating veggies!!

JoJo!!