Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce Just Like McDonald's! Easy Happy Meals Made At Home!
Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce Even on French Fries?
Sweet and Sour dipping sauce is an amazing creation! My grandkids will dip anything in sweet and sour sauce, even french fries. The following recipe is by far, the best and closest to McDonald's that I have found. My adult son (my guinea pig, although he doesn't know that he is the basis for all of my culinary experiments) and my grandkids give this one the thumbs up! So if men and grandkids both like this, it must work. Copy cat recipes, for the most part, are not interchangeable with the real thing, but this one is definitely worth copying!
Try it with Real Chicken Nuggets and Make Them Each A Home Made Happy Meal!
Far be it from me to knock fast food chicken nuggets, but if you make you own, at least you will be able to read the list of ingredients and know what they are. With this sweet and sour recipe, you can even bake your chicken nuggets and the only thing anyone will miss is the toy. In fact, don't skip the toy! The next time you have some kids at your house, make them some chicken nuggets, bake up a bag of Ore-Ida fast food fries (they really do taste like the real thing!) and put a cheap little toy beside the plate of each child!
- 1/2 cup of apricot jam or preserves
- 1/2 cup of peach jam or preserves
- 3 Tablespoons of corn syrup
- 3 Tablespoons of white vinegar or rice vinegar(either will work)
- 1 Tablespoon of corn starch
- 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 4 Tablespoons of water
Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until everything is smooth and combined. Pour into a medium sized pot and bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring so that the bottom doesn't burn. Lower heat to a slow boil or simmer and cook this mixture anywhere from 3-5 minutes. The sauce will thicken as it cooks and remember to stir it constantly. Remove from heat and it can be served immediately. Refrigerate any leftovers and then to serve again, just pop the sauce into the microwave and reheat. This will make about a cup and a half of dipping sauce.
Simple, Quick Real Chicken Nuggets!
Make Happy Meals At Home! Your Kids Will Be Healthier for It! Homemade nuggets are healthier because you are using real chicken! Use either boneless, skinless thighs or boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (find them on sale for $1.99 a pound), cut each into 3 lengthwise strips, then cut each strip into 3 nuggets. You will have 27 nice sized chicken nuggets.
- 3 beaten eggs
- 2 cups of flour in a large baggie- put in 1 Tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 Tablespoon of sweet paprika and 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder- Shake the baggie to mix
- 1/2 cup of canola oil
Set up a simple breading station using a couple of old pie pans. Put the chicken in one after it is cut up and set up one more that contains the beaten eggs. You can use a third for the flour mixture or a use a baggie, like I do. Drop the chicken into the eggs and completely coat each piece with egg. With a set of tongs, drop the nuggets into the baggie of flour, six to eight at a time and shake them until they are coated thoroughly with the flour. Remove each nugget and put them on a plate. As you are shaking the nuggets, heat the oil in a large skillet. When the oil is hot enough, gently drop each nugget into the oil. Fry them until they are golden brown on each side and then remove them to a paper towel lined plate. You will probably need to do this in two or three batches, depending on the size of your pan.
Even better, instead of frying, try shaking the egg-dipped chicken into a baggie of bread crumbs, instead of flour. Coat the bottom of a cookie sheet with some canola oil (not much) and put the nuggets on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle a little oil over the top of each nugget and place in a 350 degree oven- 20 minutes on each side and you have some great chicken nuggets! These are our favorite way of cooking them!
Take some help from Ore-Ida frozen french fries. Buy a bag of the Ore-Ida fast food fries (they taste like McDonald's fries) and bake on a cookie sheet in the oven, following the directions on the package. Sprinkle some salt on them as soon as they come out of the oven.
If you want to make your own fries, they are so simple. Take a cookie sheet and spray it. Wash a few potatoes (depending on how many people you are feeding), and cut them into one quarter inch thick slices. Don't bother peeling them. Put them in a mixing bowl, sprinkle with a little oil, salt, pepper and paprika. Then put them on the cookie sheet in a single layer. They cook best at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes on each side. If you are making the nuggets at the same time, they can cook together. Just watch the chicken and turn it after 15 minutes, not 20. When the potatoes are tender, turn them onto a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with a little more salt, if needed. The kids love them and they are better for them than any frozen fries. Real food!
Cut up some apple strips and orange rounds and slice up a banana ot two. Sprinkle some lemon juice or orange juice over the apples and the bananas to keep them from turning brown.
You have all of the ingredients for a happy meal, except the toy. Try buying each child some cheap stickers or temporary tatoos that all the kids love. Wrap them simply in a couple of paper towels or old newspaper. Add a ribbon and let the fun begin!
It Is Not That Hard To Make Kids Think They Are Having A Happy Meal!
I have never seen a kid disappointed in the homemade happy meals. If you want to make a habit of staying away from fast food restaurants, and you want your meal to be authentic, you can go on EBAY- there are vendors who will sell you the complete sets of whatever the collectible Happy Meal Toys are at the time. Takes a little thought and a good hiding place for the toys, but it is fun!
