Tasty Tuesday #73 Entry: Pumpkin Malunggay Chicken Nuggets

My sister came over to our house today along with my father and my two young neices. They got here just in time for lunch. Back in the day, I would just consider ordering a takeout from Mcd's or Jollibee. But eversince I became a mom, I developed the habit of taking the time to think about what food to prepare. Of course there are times when I feel lazy. But fthis is not one of those times.

I have been eyeing a recipe I found online for quite some time now, thinking how I could experiment on it and change it up a bit to give it my personal touch. When my little visitors came by, I had a light bulb moment and came up with a more artistic idea on how I can feed them vegetables.

Using the recipe I mentioned as a guide, I added a few more ingredients to the dish.

Procedure

I'll go directly to the procedure while discussing the ingredients. In a slightly big container, mix 2 cups of mashed pumpkin, 1 cup of flour, 1/3 cup of milk, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of black pepper, 1 egg slightly beaten, 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1/3 cup of malunggay powder, 2 pcs of shredded pan-fried chicken breast, 1/2 minced onions, 1 pc minced red bell pepper, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients until you get a really thick consistency. Let the mixture sit in the fridge for a few minutes to fully incorporate the flavors.

I took this time to quickly mix the sweet and sour sauce for the dip. For the sauce, simply mix half minced onion, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tbsp catsup, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup pineapple juice, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp cornstarch, 4 tbsp water (to dissolve the cornstarch on), 1/3 cup pineapple chunks, and 1 tbsp sesame oil. Simply mix everything, bring to a boil and continuously mix until it becomes thick. And that's just about it.

Once you're done with the sauce, you can go ahead and start molding them. I first started molding balls. Then I thought about molding it into different shapes. It's helpful to get the kids involved in the cooking process so they appreciate the food they are being served. I asked each of them what shape they wanted. I made heart-shaped nuggets, circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles. Aya already knows about shapes so she's the one giving those orders. Then my neice asked for a star-shaped nuggets. Talk about being careful what you wish for. Stars were really difficult to make. I couldn't find my cookie dough mold cutter (apparently, I haven't used it since it was gifted to me since I haven't learned baking yet). It would have been easier using those. :/

After molding the shapes, put the nuggets in the freezer for 10-15 minutes (or longer if you wish) before you go ahead and deep fry them until they're golden brown. And that's it!

It's really much easier to make them eat the vegetable nugget, they have no idea they're eating veggies. Each of them had the shape they requested. My sister who is a notoriously picky eater especially with vegetables commented that she didn't realize she was eating pumpkin. Yeah! That's how good it is! ^____^