Apron Strings

Thursday’s toddler lunch

Today's toddler lunch

Today’s toddler lunch was a total hit for dinner last night, so I know he’s going to be pleased to see these chicken fingers again for lunch today.  Last night I whipped up a batch of chicken fingers using organic chicken thighs and a completely improvised coating recipe.  Alden inisted on helping at the counter so I supplied him with spoons, bowls and flour to make his own mix.  Suffice to say, it got messy.  Really messy.  It is very hard to cook dinner with a two year old… frankly, they are terrible sous chefs!

The coating consisted of corn meal, spelt flour, chili powder, thyme, oregano, salt and pepper.  I dipped the chicken pieces in rice milk, then the coating and placed them on a baking sheet.  Before putting them in the oven, I drizzled a bit of olive oil on the top to make sure they baked up nice and crispy.  And crispy they were!  In fact, they’re on the menu again tonight.

So, today’s toddler lunch is:

  • Snack #1: crackers and Sunbutter, banana
  • Lunch: chicken fingers, rice, corn and peas (and the last raspberries from the garden – sad face)
  • Snack #2: carrot sticks and mini muffin

(Note: all of my reusable food mats were in the wash, hence the plastic bags.  Sigh.  Guilt.)

6 comments

1 Tiana { 09.03.10 at 5:53 am }

Were the chicken thighs boned? I always only see them bone-in and the hassle OH THE HASSLE!

2 Lana { 09.03.10 at 7:56 am }

Yup. These are the PC "free from" thighs. No one needs hassle making dinner at 5pm with a two year old "helping".

3 Liisa { 09.06.10 at 4:20 am }

Great ideas. Question: where do u find the Sunbutter? I can't seem to find it at the RCSuperstore…

4 Lana { 09.06.10 at 4:44 am }

Hi Liisa,

I've found Sunbutter at Hartmans and the Woodroffe Loblaws in the organic section. I think some of the health food shops like the Herb & Spice may carry it too, but I'm not sure.

5 Carolyn { 09.16.10 at 11:51 am }

Just found your site. Love it!

When we make chicken fingers (for my four-year-old on a GFCFSF diet and her 2-year-old sidekick), I grind up in the food processor some Enjoy Life Crunchy Rice cereal (used to be called Perky's Nutty Rice, no nuts involved), with a wee bit of GF cornflakes. Cut with some potato starch, and dip in melted Earth Balance soy-free spread, and either bake or fry.

We can get Sunbutter here at either our local health food stores, or our local Bulk Barn. I've never seen it at our Superstore (I'm in western Canada). We can get the peabutter from Superstore, but it's not as good.

6 Lana { 09.17.10 at 6:45 am }

I've read about peabutter that's made in Alberta (is that right?) but I've never seen it here in Ottawa. Good to know to stick with the Sunbutter.

I'll have a look for that Enjoy Life cereal, I think that would work really well for maybe some sort of nut-free "trail mix" type thing. I haven't looked at many cereals yet… our little guy is still on a major toast and oatmeal kick.

Leave a Comment