Thursday, November 14, 2024

What Kind of Dark Magic is THIS: Food Edition

When The Pony was in high school, and his classmates couldn't figure out a situation, someone would always give the explanation as "DARK MAGIC!" That's what came to mind as I was cooking some supplemental chicken to go with our Chinese dinner.

I had informed Hick that by adding the six eggs, two onions, can of mushrooms, can of baby corns, and 1/3 bag of frozen broccoli to the rice, the amount of tiny chicken pellets that came in the Teriyaki chicken might make each serving meaty enough for him. 

"Here, take a look. I have some frozen chicken nuggets that I got last week, if you want me to warm some up to put in your Chinese."

"Yeah. That would be good. I'd take four or five."

I opened up the bag, part of the 5-for-$25 deal I got at Country Mart. Wow! Was I surprised! They were actual chicken nuggets. As in McDonald's chicken nuggets! I'd been expecting little pellets, like came in the Teriyaki chicken bag, the weight of which was mostly the three sauce packets included.


You never know if what's inside the bag is going to look like what's on the outside of the bag. When I was cooking them, they SMELLED exactly like McDonald's chicken nuggets! And their shape was exactly the same: some squarish, some roundish. They turned out all crisp exactly like McDonald's chicken nuggets. 

Don't get me wrong. I am not a McDonald's chicken nugget aficionado. I can take them or leave them. I haven't been to McDonald's since The Pony was still riding to school with me, and we'd go to the drive-thru. But I do know a McDonald's chicken nugget when I see one.


Since they take 20 minutes to bake, I made enough so as just to warm them for Hick's next meal. Of course I had to sample one, and it tasted exactly like a McDonald's chicken nugget. And look at the top of the bag: RESTAURANT QUALITY!


I think McDonald's gets their chicken nuggets from this same supplier! Imagine the money they're making! I'm sure they get a better deal than ol' Val. They surely buy in a greater quantity!

The innernets tell me that in St. Louis (the closest city to us), the price of a 10-piece McDonald's chicken nuggets is $7.19. That's more than this whole bag that I got for $5. There's gotta be at least 40 nuggets in that bag. Maybe more. Of course, I don't have to pay some emo teenager $20 per hour to cook them. So there's that.

Anyhoo... who knew that you can buy the EXACT same chicken nuggets that McDonald's uses? Sure, you can even chuck them in a Fry Baby if you want. I say they're just fine baked at 425 for 18-24 minutes.

I was Yesterday Years Old when I learned that McDonald's is selling frozen chicken nuggets that regular people can buy in a grocery store.

6 comments:

  1. Age and wisdom. They go together.

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    1. Try telling that to the young whippersnappers these days!

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  2. I might try some of those if they are sold in Alabama. They do look delicious.

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    1. If you like McDonald's chicken nuggets, then they are quite delicious. They're identical! The Pony seems excited to try them, when he finds time to go in the store a block from his post office.

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  3. I always knew Macca's nuggets were frozen, how else can they keep such a huge supply? but I didn't know you could buy them as Restaurant Quality for home. We have frozen nuggets in our supermarkets that are probably as good, though I haven't bought any since the kids were much younger and living at home. I sometimes make mini schnitzels in nugget sizes.

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    1. Same as you, I knew they were frozen, but not that we could buy them ourselves at the store. I never thought McD's was slaughtering chickens in house, then stamping out nuggets and battering them.

      The kind of nuggets I found in the store for my boys had a different coating. More crumbly. I had not seen this "battered" kind, though frozen fish comes with that coating.

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