I've made chicken nuggets at home before, but ended up having to use the food processor to make them and today, out of sheer laziness, I really didn't want to take it out and have to wash it, so I decided to devise another way of doing things.  Okay, I didn't really devise it but it was a pretty good dinner and wee man loved it, so all in all it was a win.

Chicken Nuggets with Corn, Black Bean and Avocado Salad

• 2 Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 cup Egg Whites
• 1.5 cup Whole Wheat Panko Crumbs
• Salt & Pepper 
• 1 cup Frozen Corn Kernels, thawed and drained
• 1 can Black Beans
• 1 Avocado, diced
• Olive Oil

ONE: Preheat Oven to 375*.  Cut up chicken breasts into chunks.  I'm not picky, or precise - whatever works for you and your family is fine!

TWO: Set up your breading station.  Egg Whites in a bowl and panko crumbs on a plate.  Season panko with salt and pepper.

THREE: Put your chicken chunks in the egg whites and then bread with panko crumbs.

FOUR:  Heat up olive oil in a large, ovenproof pan (I used cast iron and about 2 Tbsp of oil).

FIVE:  When oil is shimmering, add chicken and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown, then cook on the other side for the same amount of time.

SIX: When nuggets are brown, put the pan in the heated oven for about 7-8 minutes.

SEVEN:  While nuggets are in the oven, add your corn kernels to a warm pan.  Saute until golden brown.  Add the black beans and cook until warm.  Stir in the diced avocado.

Enjoy!  He sure did!

Okay, we're back from vacation, so no more slacking on blogging or clean eating.  I have to admit, I did indulge in a Philly Cheese Steak while we were away.


On Tuesday night I decided I wanted to do a meatless meal since I had taken the The New Moosewood Cookbook out from the library.


I decided on Scheherazade Casserole and was not disappointed!
Here's my version of the casserole

• 1 cup bulgur wheat 
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cups onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp basil
• black pepper (to taste)
• cayenne pepper (to taste)
• 1 large bell pepper, diced
• 2  cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained
• 1 (28oz) can whole tomatoes, drained
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley, minced
• 1.5 cups Feta Cheese (I only used 1/2cup since that's all I had on hand)

ONE: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

TWO: Lightly oil a 9×13 baking pan. Set aside.

THREE: Place bulgur in a small bowl with the boiling water. Cover and let stand for at least 15 minutes.

FOUR: Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the onion, garlic, salt and seasonings over medium heat for 5-8 minutes. Add pepper and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

FIVE: Place beans in a blender with 1 cup of fresh water. Grind until it resembles a coarse batter.  I would start with 1/2 cup of water and add more gradually, since mine was so watery from adding the entire cup first.

SIX: In a large bowl, combine bean puree with the soaked bulgur and sauteed veggies. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley and 1 cup of feta. Mix well.

SEVEN: Spread the mixture into the baking pan. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

EIGHT: Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes, uncovered, at 350 degrees. 

This isn't my photo - I found it elsewhere on the WWW, since the casserole was so delish that we ate it all before photos!  oops!!!

I really strive to eat well when I'm working.  It's hard because it's such a high stress environment and there's always junk laying around.  The other night there were two bags of chips, two boxes of danishes and a box of timbits.  I did break down and have one or two plain timbits, but at least they were plain and not sugar coated.

This morning I was trying to meal plan for tomorrow at work and realized that I don't have a ton of stuff, so was trying to figure out what I could possibly pull together with what we had laying around.  What I came up with was so incredibly delicious.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Crustless Quiche

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup of Sunflower Greens (this is just what I had, you could easily sub spinach, kale, chard or even broccoli)
• 3 Artichoke Hearts, quartered
• 1/4c. Feta Cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1c. Skim Milk
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

ONE: Preheat oven to 400*.  In a heavy pan (I used cast iron), heat the olive oil on medium until shimmering.  Add onions and cook for 3-4 minutes and then decrease heat to low.  Cook onions for approx 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Add in the artichoke hearts and greens.  Saute until the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes.

TWO: In a bowl, whisk together the egg, egg whites, cayenne and salt and pepper.

THREE:  Spray pie plate with cooking spray.  Add the cooked veggies and feta to the sprayed plate.  Pour in the egg mixture.  Try to make sure that everything is covered by the eggs so it doesn't burn.

I made these Oatmeal Pancakes this morning from the first Eat Clean Diet cookbook.  yum.  They had the right amount of sweet in them, and rather than use syrup I topped them with Applesauce.  I did enjoy that unlike most Oatmeal pancakes there weren't giant chunks of oatmeal all the way through.

Oatmeal Pancakes from The Eat-Clean Diet

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups dry rolled oats
• 6 egg whites (just over 1/2 cup if you're using liquid whites)
• 1 cup milk of your choice (I used Unsweetened Almond Milk)
• 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed 
• 1 Tbsp safflower oil (I used Sunflower)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• Cooking spray

Instructions:

ONE: Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend the mixture for 20 seconds. The resulting mixture should be smooth. Spray a griddle or skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium heat. Pour 1/4 cup of pancake mixture on the hot surface. Cook until the panckes are dry and bubbly on the edges. Bubbles should appear on top, as well. Turn and brown the other side.

Even the cat wanted in on the delicious action: