Wednesday, May 20, 2009

New GFCF Chicken Nuggets!

Coming home and finding boxes on our doorstep is no big deal in our household. UPS brings me packages for work almost daily. But whenever there is one that doesn't have my company's return address on it, Andy gets excited and wants to know right away what is in it. Yesterday we got just such a box and he was right to be excited!

When we opened it, we found treasures inside:
It was from Applegate Farms. Not only did it contain 2 boxes of their new gluten free (and casein free) chicken nuggets, it also had DRY ICE! I really should have taken a picture of Andy playing with the dry ice - that provided over an hour of fun. I should mention that you should never let small children play with dry ice and even with older kids like Andy, you need to supervise them and make sure they know the dangers of dry ice.

We have been struggling to find a great tasting chicken nugget. We used to buy the Wellshire Kids/Garrett County Farms (Wellshire Kids brand is now used only at Whole Foods and Garrett County elsewhere). We used to buy a lot of their products. But ever since the Chicago Tribune exposed that their dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets tested high for gluten, we have crossed them off our list.

We love Ian's products. Andy especially loves their allergen free fish sticks. But he isn't a fan of their chicken nuggets. He reluctantly accepts them in his thermos in his lunch box and eats them, but he doesn't love them like he did the dinosaur ones.

So, I was excited to learn that Applegate Farms had come out with a gluten free chicken nugget. We LOVE Applegate Farm's products. Their chicken hot dogs are what I use to make my wonderful mini corn dogs. Applegate Farms is really a great all around company. I'm not going to bore you with all the details, you can go to their website and read all about it http://www.applegatefarms.com/ (and while you are there, read all about the future of our school lunches).

What I am going to tell you about is how great tasting these new nuggets were. I made one box of them for dinner last night and Andy was begging for more. Even Dan and I enjoyed the taste. They have a wonderful taste and texture. Andy likes that they are soft. Try them. They get two thumbs up from all 3 of us.

10 comments:

Shannon said...

Thanks for sharing this news. I went looking for them around me and found some. They are a bit pricey, I found them for over $6 a box and they only have a little more than 2 servings inside. But the look on my little guys face when I told him I had found chicken nuggets that were "all clear" was pricless. He is in heaven, but they are a splurge for sure.

I would love your recipe for corn dogs. have you posted about it?

Kathi said...

Shannon, I am so glad that your son also enjoyed these nuggets. They are pricey but so worth it for our kids.

I posted my corn dog recipe quite a while ago. Here is a link: http://kathi-gfcf.blogspot.com/2006/08/gfcf-mini-corn-dogs-recipe.html

Shannon said...

Thanks, I just emailed your post to myself so I can print out the recipe. It looks so easy, I can't wait to give it a try.

I have another question for you. Have you found any good cake recipes? I havn't tried any that actually come out like cake, they have all been really heavy and firm, not cakey. I have tried a few different mixes, but they seem extra extra sweet to me and I love to bake from scratch when I can.

Kathi said...

Shannon, what kind of cake are you looking for? If you search my blog you will find lots of cake recipes - but when it comes to a basic cake like yellow or white, you will find lots of failures (I like to blog the good with the bad).

I do have great recipes for a chocolate zucchini cake, apple spice cake and carrot cake.

I heard that Betty Crocker has come out with some gluten free mixes and I wrote to them on May 20to try and find out where I could get some - I haven't heard back.

I have a coupon for Cherrybrook Farms so I am going to pick up one of their mixes and try it for my husband's birthday next week. Of course I will blog the results.

I used to love Miss Roben's angel food cake mix, but alas - the link for them no longer works and the rumor is that they have gone out of business. I hang on to my link hoping it ain't so.......

Check out this blog for some pretty incredible creations - you might be able to find a cake recipe there: http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/

Carie said...

Hi, Where are you finding the chicken nuggets? I did not see them at whole foods, thanks.

Kathi said...

I haven't actually found them in the store yet. I did ask my food co-op if they would carry them. I would contact Applegate Farms - they are super helpful and see where they have them in your area. I would also talk to the manager of your local whole foods or wherever you shop and ask them to order them for you.

Robin said...

I have recently discovered Angel Food's Allergen free food. The food is distributed through local churches, google it and look if there are any near you. My boys love it.

Carie said...

Thanks all, I finally found the muggets and my child loves them, and he usually does not like any of the gluten free nuggets!

ChristinaL30 said...

I love these, too! And I have to agree with your son -- the Ian's chicken nuggets are too dry. (I understand they're trying to be more natural & healthy by not using skin as filler, but BLECH! Make them look & taste like conventional food!)

For those who can't find them, try your regular grocery stores. I get mine at Kroger, in the natural foods section. What tickles me no end is the GFCF nuggets are priced lower than the non-GFCF ones! YIPPEE!!!

Anonymous said...

My son tried these, didn't really care for them, and at $6 a box you might think it's "worth it for our kids" but the rest of the family would be stuck eating Ramen forever if we had to pay that price for something he won't even eat. They might be great (I didn't think so either) but shop around, I have found a cheaper alternative online.