A US mum has sparked an online debate over her unusual meal preparation hack, revealing she freezes 80 McDonald’s chicken nuggets that she then reheats to feed her son.
Se Fordree, from South Carolina, shared on TikTok her food tip, explaining how “it’s the only thing he’ll eat.”
“’I just got 80 chicken McNuggets from McDonald’s and I’m gonna freeze them,” she said in the video.
‘These are the only nuggets that my child eats so that’s why I buy so many of them.”
In the clip, she showed how she puts all the nuggets into a Ziploc bag and places them into the freezer before reheating the chicken pieces in the microwave when they are needed.
“You’re gonna wanna squeeze all the air out of them. Then what I do is put it in the refrigerator for one day,” the mum advised.
“The reason why you put them in the refrigerator for one day is because … you want it to cool down before you put it in the freezer so they don’t stick together.”
Se then also put the McDonald’s bag of sauces in the fridge.
She later takes out the bag of nuggets from the freezer and reheats them in the microwave.
“I just put them onto a plate and then microwave them. I usually do 10 of them at a time,” she said.
“But you see how nice and loose they are. They’re not stuck to each other. That’s why you want to refrigerate them.”
She reheats the food in the microwave “on high for one minute and 30 seconds.”
The clip ends with her young son dipping one of the nuggets into the sauce before eating it.
“They’re out of the microwave and now they’re ready to eat,” Se said.
Social media users were divided over the mum’s meal prep hack.
“You lost me with the microwave,” one person wrote.
“Buy the cheap ones at Walmart and put them in a McDonald’s container,” another said.
“Ask them to buy a whole frozen bag from their freezer,’ a third person suggested.
Recalling their childhood, a fourth person commented: “When I was a kid I ate what mum made or didn’t eat at all.”
Se responded: “I did too but my mom cooked a bunch of meals for all of us because she knew not all of us liked the same things.”
Recalling a similar experience, another commentator wrote: “I only ate what Mum cooked, or starved.”
Se replied: “I’m sorry – I don’t want that for my kids. Nor did my mum want that for us.”
One person argued sarcastically: “That’s real healthy,” to which the mum wrote clapped back: “He doesn’t eat them ALL the time. It’s just his favorite [sic] nuggets, just like you may have a favorite [sic] food of your own.”
“If those are frozen when McDonald’s cooks them and you refreeze them, is that safe?,” another parent asked.
“They’re not fully cooked when McDonald’s cooks them so to me it’s like freezing fully cooked nuggets,” Se explained.
‘Why not reheat in the oven or air fryer so that they can get crispy again,’ another person asked.
Se explained that her son ‘likes it that way too, but he’s the type of person that also likes bacon limply.’
Despite the negative reactions, other parents supported the mum’s meal prep trick.
“As long your boy is eating, that is all that matters. You’re doing a good job mama,” one person said.
“Thank you for creating a safe space for your child to eat whatever he wants to! Fed is best!” another wrote.
“Lol people judging must not have kids. I’ll buy ANYTHING just to get my toddler to eat,” a third said.