Tried-It-Tuesday - Nugget Gobblers!

Link up or leave a comment on something new you've done, cooked or tried this past week!

This week, despite the snow, we had a little visitor visit us for several hours on Wednesday. One of my MOMS Club friends needed an emergency babysitter, so I gave it a shot! Luckily she had no food allergies, and only managed to put one small object in her mouth, but promptly spit it out when asked. I was warned that she didn't like meat much, so I put out snacks for the girls to graze on, so she wouldn't starve if she didn't like lunch.
I had originally planned to make Turkey Nuggets with my Kids Cooking Class on Tuesday, but we were snowed out. So I decided to use the thawed, cut turkey before it went bad! I found several recipes online, but grabbed this one when I was ready to actually make them. I was surprised that it didn't call for Panko breadcrumbs, as I could have sworn it did, and had had Unka Seesee pick some up when he bought the turkey. Turns out I had bookmarked two recipes, and was using the wrong one! Ah well. I ended up changing this one anyway.

Turkey Nugget Gobblers (My recipe)

Serves 4, or around 30 nuggets.
(Approx. nutrition info available through original recipe link. The different bread crumbs and seasonings I chose may change the nutrition content somewhat, but probably around 230 calories per serving, 5g fat, 33g protein, 11g carbs, 1g dietary fiber.)

1 pound boneless skinless turkey breast
1 egg
1/4 c milk [I used 2%]
1/4 c Parmesan cheese [I used the powdered kind]
1/2 c Panko bread crumbs
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
Olive oil, vegetable oil or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 450 F/Bake.

Step 1: Cut turkey into 1-inch cubes.
Unka Seesee ended up buying a regular turkey breast, since it was half the price. After I finished sulking and acting juvenile, it occurred to me that I could ask him to help [thus avoiding having to touch raw meat! Scooooore!] rather than gripe about him choosing the kind I didn't know how to cut. I documented the violation of that poor turkey breast, but can't find the pictures now. So either buy boneless skinless, or know what you're doing. (Or call Unka Seesee.)

Step 2: In a medium-to-large bowl, beat egg and milk lightly.

Step 3: Place turkey cubes in egg mixture and coat thoroughly.
You can dump all the nuggets in and mix them to coat, or, with a smaller bowl, put in several nuggets at a time and use tongs or a fork to coat both sides.

Step 4: In a separate bowl, mix together bread crumbs, cheese and spices.

Step 5: Roll or press turkey nuggets in crumb mixture to coat evenly.

It works better if you put in just a few nuggets at a time. You could also have crumb mixture and some nuggets in a plastic baggie and shake the coating on.

Step 6:  Place nuggets on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until turkey is no longer pink inside.

The bottoms turned out a little dark, but they tasted great. So great, in fact, that my husband ate everything the girls and I didn't eat, leaving none for Unka Seesee to try!

The nuggets were a big hit with the ladies too! Little Z ate 3 or 4, and Baby Weena (who doesn't usually like meat) ate 3! I wasn't sure if Weena could feed herself with a fork, or if she liked ketchup, but she did a great job and seemed to enjoy dipping her nugget bits (I cut hers into smaller pieces for her.) Little Z opted for ketchup and Ranch, plus honey when she saw me dipping mine. (I like honey best!) She mixed all her dips together though. Ew.