Our family schedule is really nuts this time of year and a lot of days weeknight meals are hard to get on the table (and difficult to consume with so many sweets around). Often, I turn to frozen food like chicken nuggets and peas, but that gets old really fast and not that appetizing to adults. Today, we’re partnering with Hip Chick Farms and their delicious organic chicken products to share an easy way to update the chicken nuggets and peas meal our family is very familiar with. Here’s how to make it company worthy…

This was my first introduction to Hip Chick Farms chicken and I’m super impressed. First of all, these might be the best chicken fingers I’ve ever had- seriously they are really delicious and come from the frozen food section. Wowzers.  I planned on using this batch above for dinner but then ended up snacking so much on them after the shoot I had come up with other dinner plans! Whoops. So I wasn’t surprised to find out that they’re made from organic, free range chickens at a family farm in Sebastopol, CA without the use of hormones or antibiotics. You simply pop them in the oven for 12 minutes and they’re ready to go.

The company is founded by Serafina Palandech and her partner Jennifer Johnson, former sous chef at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse, which is probably the most famous restaurant here in the bay area. Here’s something cool: they were named “Most Innovative Women in Food” by Food and Wine and Fortune Magazine (hooray for women entrepreneurs!). The Hip Chick Farm products include things like chicken nuggets, chicken meatballs, chicken patties, and fingers and you can pick them up at Whole Foods and Target, see here for a full list of locations. I’m so excited to try more of their organic, good for you chicken products. They’ve also produced a series of videos that are really entertaining and super informative.  Here’s one on pink slim (what normal chicken nuggets are made from):

Today, we’re sharing a couple recipes to go with our Hip Chick Farms Chicken Fingers to elevate the weeknight meal. First up, we’ve got three homemade dipping sauces! They’re simple, each one with ingredients you probably have in your fridge and take only a couple minutes to make.

Homemade Fry Sauce

The classic fry sauce. I don’t know anyone that won’t dip a chicken finger in this deliciousness. Great for kids who love ketchup and delicious with sweet potato fries as well (another favorite frozen food item we eat).

1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup ketchup
a dash of bbq sauce

Herbed buttermilk Ranch Sauce

Make a big batch of this and you’ll use it for salads and dips all week. It’s a huge crowd pleaser.

I love this recipe from Ree Drummond. It’s almost identical to a recipe that was passed down from my sister’s mother-in-law whose an excellent cook.

Homemade Honey Mustard Sauce

You can’t have chicken nuggets without a sweet honey mustard sauce. Such a great combo, and this one is so easy to make without spices that kids might not like.

1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 mayo
1/4 honey

We eat frozen peas a ton at our house. Both Edie and Henry gobble them up. Especially when Jared and I are headed out to dinner or a party and we need to make something simple for them before we go. Usually we just add butter and salt, but this is a really yummy, updated version that everyone will love.

Fancy weeknight peas with bacon and scallions

1 cup of frozen peas
2 scallions
2 slices of bacon, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
White wine (optional)

Boil peas in a pot with a cup of water until warm. Drain. Sautee up bacon with scallions in a saucepan, and then add peas to the pan until warm. If company are coming, add a splash of white wine to the bacon while it’s cooking for an added depth of flavor. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Healthy real chicken from Hip Chick Farms, delicious bacon peas, and lots of options to dip. Yum!

This post is in partnership with Hip Chick Farms and their line of organic, free range chicken products that make weeknight meals a cinch to make.