Chicken In The Sun!

Apologies for not updating so much

Well, spring is well and truly here. The weather is brighting up and we can finally come out of our caves, and enjoy ourselves!
So I think I shall start with chicken in the park.

Ingredients:

Picnic blanket
Chicken nuggets
Chips
Copious amounts of sunlight!

1) Cook the chicken nuggets in the fryer for 3 minutes. I have perfected the timing, and 3 minutes seems to make perfect crispy nuggets everytime. Failing this, wait for them to float, and when they do they're ready!
2) Grab your favourite chips from the chippie! Or if you're on a budget, crisps will do!
3) Place picnic blanket in a nice, quiet, sunny spot, with little wind. 
4) Sit on blanket, and set up feast!
5) Enjoy your chicken in the park!


I speak from experience that taking lunch outside in the sun is an amazing thing to do, and chicken nuggets are great as they can be eaten cold or warm, so it's perfect for a packed lunch or just a trip out to the back garden!

Also, hopefully I should update with a few recipes, watch this space!

Thanks for reading! 

KFC Bargain Bucket Review!

Well, it appears I have been let out of the house... Let's go get some KFC!
KFC is a, if not the, major fast-food chicken place around here, so there is really no comparative other than to those lovely pieces of chicken-ey goodness you make at home. However, sometimes it's nice to sit back and look at what you eat before you eat it... 

For my meal I got a 10 piece bargain bucket with a large gravy on the side. I did share this between a friend and my sister, honest... The chicken was lovely, crispy and warm, and I was over the moon as we got three drumsticks. I felt like I'd hit the poultry jackpot! I do feel rather guilty though, looking back, as I just indulged and didn't even look at the nutritional information... So it's time to review!

I had 4 pieces of chicken, 1 and a half bags of chips and 1/3 of a large gravy, along with a lemonade. 
I didn't even think about what I was eating, I just thought 'I'm hungry, and KFC is over there... It smells so good... *drools*'. Before I knew it I had 10 pieces of chicken and a sorry feeling in my thighs...
According to the website, I consumed 990 calories in the space of 30 mins, with 610kal of it coming from the chicken alone! That is 30% of a persons daily calorie intake... This is assuming the bucket was shared equally between 4 people and is a based on a person needing 2000 calories a day. 
If you think that's bad, then look at the fat content. One person's serving in a 10 piece bucket is 35g of fat. In other words half of your daily fat intake. That is without chips, drink and sides. Just for the chicken. Half your day's worth of fat...  
It really makes you think about what you're eating, especially fast food. You don't know what goes into it most of the time, so how can you be sure what you're told you're eating is what you're actually eating... It's very scary at times...
Then again, chicken is amazing, and as long as you have everything in moderation it's okay. I made myself feel better by going on a walk after my meal, it doesn't seem so bad eating a small portion of lard after that. 

Now for the actual chicken, this is where I sing KFC's praises I suppose, as I usually cannot fault their food. The chips are sometimes cold, but... I'm only in it for the chicken. All my chicken was on the bone, and tasted like it had been out for a bit, as it was rather crispy. But, it was still beautiful, especially with a side of 'finger lickin' gravy. I really do recommend KFC, but maybe next time I'll go for some popcorn chicken instead of all on the bone... Have a bit of variety, and go a bit mad! 
Or maybe I should just go get a nice side salad... Sorry thighs. 

Hope I made you all hungry! 

Thanks for reading! 

SFC Chicken Nuggets Review

Sorry this is a bit late! Work took over for a few days there, but chicken consumption resumes!

SFC, frozen chicken you can buy in a box or in a bucket, the choice is yours! 

For this review I have chosen the SFC Battered Chicken Nuggets. You get 400g for £1 which is pretty good value, it'll feed you for a few days. 

As for taste, I like them, they're moist and once deep fried the batter is lovely! However,  I do find them to have air in them and the colour in the middle isn't the nicest. They do taste like rather cheap nuggets, but they crisp up beautifully! 

As for nutrition... there is actually nothing on the packet. Nothing at all... Oh dear. There is either a lot of rubbish in them, or they're 99% air, 0.5% chicken, the rest a mix of seasoning and batter... We will never know!

For taste I give these 3/5.

For customer service I give them a 1/5...

That gives these nuggets an over all rating of 4/10!

Note: These nuggets are forever in my heart as they come in boot shape and remind me of McDolands... I am not bias at all!

Thanks for reading! 

Asda 'Chosen By You' Chicken Nuggets Review

So, I thought to myself, 'I need to broaden my chicken horizons!' I usually stick to the same brand of nuggets, I even buy the same size pack every time. Force of habit I suppose. So I'm going to test a number of different brands of nugget from different stores starting with the ASDA own brand 'Chosen By You' breaded chicken nuggets. 

Firstly, for £1 they are pretty good value, you get 12 and they are not inedible. 
They taste fairly plain, but this could be due to them being breaded. They were very moist however, and not dry at all.
In general, I prefer battered nuggets, deep fried. Not the best for your health, but nice for a treat! 
To cook these nuggets I deep fried them for about 3 minutes and let the fat drain off in some kitchen roll, they are much less greasy if you can withstand the wait. 
They cook nicely, the breading goes a nice golden colour, and the chicken inside is white, very ascethically pleasing compared to other lower value nuggets. 
4 nuggets is 200calories, 9.1g of fat and 1.1g of salt, which is quite high for just four nuggets, however if these are going to be a treat, it isn't too bad. 

Overall I would give them a 2/5.

Special guest review!
Today's special guest is my father, Marko McNuggets.
'Bread crumbs not too good, but the chicken was moist. Much improved with salad cream... 2.5/5.' 

That gives these nuggets 4.5/10!

Thanks for reading! 
Please recommend your favourite nuggets in the comments!

The meaning of the word 'nugget'

So, I have been asked to clarify something...
'Chicken nugget' is a fairly broad term used to describe a breaded or battered piece of chicken (or chicken like product in vegetarian cases), in a variety of shapes, most notably:

• The dipper

• The boot

• The ball

• The goujon

• Popcorn chicken (some argue this isn't a nugget, I prefer to call it a 'nugglette')

Thus, I will use all of these terms to mean chicken nuggets, specifically 'dipper' as these are my preferred type of nugget!

Thanks for reading! 

Chicken nuggets can make you fat?! Who knew?!

Chicken nuggets are a good source of protein and energy, and of course amazingly delicious, however just how good for your health are these little balls of poultry heaven? 

From the nutritional information on the back of the packet you can get a fairly good idea of the calories, fat content and other useful information. Let's compare some popular brand chicken nuggets in terms of nutritional value.

Note: portion size varies between packaging! When just looking at the diagram on the pack please be aware of this!

Birds Eye Crispy Chicken dippers (70g/4 dippers) 

• calories

  175,9%of your GDA

• Sugar

  1g,< 1%of your GDA

• Fat

  9g,13%of your GDA

• Saturates

  2g,8%of your GDA

• Salt

  0.7g,12%

Beautiful and crispy, these dippers seem to be not too bad with regards of calories and saturates content. The fat and salt content, however is quite high, considering 4 nuggets is no where near enough for an adult, or greedy teenager like myself.

Tesco Ultimate Breaded Chicken Nuggets (100g)

• Calories

  240,12%of your GDA

• Sugar

  1g,1%of your GDA

• Fat

  10g,14%of your GDA

• Saturates

  1g,6%of your GDA

• Salt

  0.9g,15%

These breaded nuggets are slightly high in calorie, fat and salt content, however have very little sugar and saturates. Breaded nuggets, in my personal opinion, also taste better cooked in the over rather than the fryer, making them a slightly healthier option if you're still craving some nuggets on your diet!




Asda Frozen Nuggets (4 nuggets, oven baked)

• calories

  200,10%of your GDA

• Sugar

  1.1g,< 1%of your GDA

• Fat

  9.1g,13%of your GDA

• Saturates

  1.3g,7%of your GDA

• Salt

  1.1g,18%

Asda nuggets contain quite a lot of salt for just four, however the calories and saturate content is fairly good. The fat content could be better, especially since these are oven baked, and so this must be watched if you're planning on indulging! 

Birds Eye Breaded Chicken Nuggets (4 nuggets)

• Calories

  195,10%of your GDA

• Sugar

  Trace,< 1%of your GDA

• Fat

  9g,13%of your GDA

• Saturates

  2g,8%of your GDA

• Salt

  0.8g,13%

Compared to their crispy, battered bretherin, these Birds Eye breaded nuggets are higher in calories and salt content, however are more or less the same with regards to fat, saturates and sugars. I suppose it's a personal preference between breaded and battered that will help you decided which nugget is best!

This is just the basics for chicken comparisons, but hopefully you get the idea of it. Make sure you take care to read the nutritional information before you buy anything, as you don't want to end up eating your whole allowance for salt in one sitting! It also doesn't hurt to go for a run once or twice between meals, you know, for health and the added benefit of seeing the sights makes it all better!

Thanks for reading! 

Chicken Nugget Quesedilla Recipe

Ingredients
First thing's first, get your nugget right!
For this dish I will be using:

• Birds Eye Crispy Chicken Dippers. 
• Old El Paso Guacamole
• Old El Paso mild, chunky salsa
• 100g cheese (pick your favourite hard/semi-hard cheese, I personally like cheddar, but for this I'm using gouda)
• Plain tortilla wraps
• Iceburg Lettuce (optional, I prefer putting it on the side, as warm lettuce isn't so good...)

I'm cheating a bit here as I'm not making my own tortillas, chicken nuggets or dips, however this is for quesedilla technique more than anything. 

Utensils

• Frying pan or toastie maker/Breville 

I'm going to show you how to make quesedillas in both a toastie maker and in the frying pan. Personally I think making them in the frying pan makes them taste nicer, but if you're in a hurry then Breville all the way!

Get 4 nuggets and deep fry them for about 3 minutes. Place them in a bowl, with kitchen roll, to drain off the fat whilst you prep the rest of the quesedilla. 
Grate all the cheese, you will need to use this as adhesive as well as for flavour! 
To fry:
Heat a frying pan on a medium heat and place your wrap in the frying pan once fairly warm. You can add a smidgen of oil if your pan sticks, other wise leave it. 
Place your chicken nuggets on one side of the the tortilla and add 2 table spoons of salsa and three of guacamole. Sprinkle 3/4 of the cheese all over the wrap. Add the rest along the edge before you fold it over to make sure it sticks together. 
Fold over the quesedilla and fry for 3 minutes on each side. 

To make in a toastie maker:
Prep the tortilla before you place it on the toastie maker, same as in the frying pan, place the chicken and dips on one side of the wrap, sprinkle with cheese, making sure to add more along the edge where you are folding it. Place on the toastie maker and cook for 3 minutes (or until golden) on both sides. 

If you want to be healthy you can add some lettuce to the mix or your favourite salad! 
Serve with some nachos and your favourite cocktail, preferably a mojito!

Thanks for reading!