Buffalo Chicken Taco's

I know, I’ve been M.I.A. It’s sad really…

But I’m back with some more. I get these fabulous emails from bettycrocker.com that are filled with new recipes and ideas. I LOVE when they arrive (you should all sign up if you want the recipes to come to you).

I couldn’t pass this one up – I am a sucker for buffalo sauce and these sounded so easy and simple and perfect for our simple minded taste buds.

Yummy Ranch Buffalo Chicken Taco's

Ingredients:

2 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs

½ tsp salt

¾ C buffalo wing sauce

¾ C ranch dressing

Shredded lettuce

Flour tortillas

Directions:

-Cook chick in slow cooker for 6-7 hours on low (I guess with chicken thighs you don’t need to add any liquid, but I used chicken breasts and just added a can of chicken broth and some water so they didn’t dry out)
-Sprinkle with salt

-Removed chicken and discard the liquid

-Shred chicken with 2 forks

-In the slow cooker, mix ¾ C buffalo wing sauce and ¼ C ranch

-Add chicken and gently stir to mix with sauce (the chicken will continue to shred so if you want it more chunky, don’t shred too much initially)

-Let sit until heated through

To Serve: spread about 1 tablespoon ranch (or really as much as you want) on the tortilla, add lettuce and chicken and wrap.

Tips/Ideas:

• I’m kicking myself for not doing this, but I wanted to top with some crumbled feta (I could add feta to anything), I think it would be a nice compliment to the flavor. Any cheese would work if you would like that, but it really doesn’t need it.
• I might try flat bread next time. There is a lot of flavor in the chicken that I think it can handle a more substantial bread/wrap.
• We might try to add some kind of veggie to add a different texture – possibly red or green peppers or possibly even celery (maybe).

These were SO easy – I love those meals. The sauce really isn’t all that spicy and the ranch helps to tame it, but it does get a bit more spicy the more you eat. You can find extra mild buffalo sauce if you are particularly bashful of spicy things.

Creamy Italian Chicken and Orzo Pasta

I tried this new recipe that I happened to love, but Cam was not quite a fan of (but said he still liked it).

It is SUPER simple and quick so I would recommend it alone for that – but will leave it up to you for your review

Creamy Italian Chicken and Orzo Pasta

Ingredients:

1 Lb (2-3) chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 small zucchini chopped

½ tomato chopped

1 cup broccoli

1 (10 oz) tub Philadelphia Italian Cheese and Herb Cooking Crème

2 cups hot cooked orzo pasta

Directions:

*Cook chicken and zucchini in skillet (I used a touch of olive oil and even went as far as to cook the zucchini separately and season with salt and pepper) until chicken is no longer pink

*Steam broccoli (simple to do in the microwave with a bit of water)

*Add cooking crème, tomatoes, and zucchini, cook on medium heat for 2 minutes stirring frequently

*Serve over pasta

Tips/Ideas:

• I loved the veggies in this and that there was quite a bit of sauce. I’m usually not a fan of pre-prepared sauces from the store, but this one gets my approval.
• One of the reviews I read online said that this doesn’t have the “from scratch” taste – which I think is why Cam didn’t totally love it – but it is so nice how easy and quick this is and I think still tastes delicious.

Chicken Caesar Panini

This is hands down one of the best recipes I've tried - there is not much too it so I'm a bit surprised, but we were loving every bite of dinner tonight.

I've decided that meals are 80% recipe and 20% technique - I can tell I am starting to learn what I can do with that 20% to make recipes that much better - hopefully I can outline those enough in my comments throughout...

Chicken Caesar Panini

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts
Ciabatta Bread (Harmon's has the best ciabatta bread - so soft)
Diced Romaine Lettuce
Caesar Dressing
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Montreal Steak Seasoning

Directions:
* Sprinkle chicken with steak seasoning (this is our favorite way to season chicken - we use this seasoning all the time)
* Grill chicken (or you can do this on a skillet but I was dying to take advantage of the BBQ weather today)
* Meanwhile, dice chicken, coat liberally with Caesar dressing and toss with Parmesan cheese (basically making a little Caesar salad)
* When chicken is cooked through cut up and place on sliced ciabatta roll, top with lettuce and close the sandwich
* With the grill already on (another reason to grill the chicken) place the sandwiches directly on the grill, place something heavy on top (I used a flat pan I have with the place that I used to carry the sandwiches out on and just pressed lightly) This gives it those professional lines (I'm also sure some of the more well equipped kitchens actually have panini makers or better things but the grill works great for us)
* Toast both sides for about 1-2 min - or until desired toasted/crispy-ness

Tips/Ideas:

• As you have all probably noticed, we are pretty picky with what we ingredients we like so we didn't put any toppings but I'm sure onions, tomatoes, or anything else like that would go well on these - if your into things like that.
• You can really season the chicken however you please, but since there is not a whole lot to this, the boldness of the Montreal Seasoning is just what we like.
• The actual putting together of the sandwiches can be done however you please - we mixed the salad all up just for convenience and it holds the lettuce on a pretty well.
• To get the toasted roll, you can also place cut side down in a skillet and let toast until your desired done-ness.

This is another quick and easy meal that is perfect for our working schedules and can easily be adjusted for more or lessservings (which is ideal when cooking for two).

Cashew Chicken and Broccoli

I always enjoy making Asian dishes - they are usually a perfect culmination of flavor, texture, and deliciousness. I also love the dinners that are an all-in-one type of thing.

This recipe caught my eye because lately I have loved almost any dish that has nuts in it like this.

Cashew Chicken and Broccoli

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked white rice
3 tbls soy sauce
2 teaspoons grated gingerroot (or as much as you want - I love this stuff so I add a lot)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil, if desired
1 lb chicken but into bite size pieces
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbls vegetable oil
3 cups broccoli
2 green onions (we omitted these)
1 cup salted roasted cashews (I love nuts but I still cut this in half - it is just too much for this dish)

Directions:
* Cook rice as directed (this is why my rice cooker is my best friend)
* Mix soy sauce, gingerroot, sugar and sesame oil and coat chicken - marinate for at least 15 min (or you can do this step a head of time and let it sit for a few hours - I did mine for about 6 hours)
* In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup chicken broth and cornstarch until cornstarch is dissolved, set aside
* In a skillet, heat vegetable oil on high heat, remove chicken from marinate (set aside remaining marinade) and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until no longer pink in the center
* Stir in broccoli and the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth, cover and cook for 1 minute
* Add onions and cashews
* Stir reserved marinade into cornstarch mixture and add to skillet, cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce thickens slightly.
* Serve over rice

Tips/Ideas:

• I really like the sauce of this but felt there wasn't a whole lot of it, so I think I am going to double the marinade and just add more chicken broth as I see fit.
• We LOVED the broccoli in this so I am going to add more of that next time.

I have to thank good old Betty for this one - I can't take too much credit for this...

Spicy Ginger Pasta

I LOVE this meal! It is definitely in the running to be my favorite - it's a current 3 way tie between this, taco's, and this yummy BBQ Sandwich. Not surprisingly - I got 2 of these 3 recipes from Jamie. Maybe she should be the one running a food blog.

This recipe is super easy and takes about 25 min start to finish (which are my favorite kind of recipes). The flavors of this dish are just the best - a bit of spice, peanuts, and veggies that actually taste good.

Try it. You'll like it.

Spicy Ginger Pasta

8 – 10 oz Angel hair spaghetti

1-2 chicken breasts cubed (if desired)

1 cup Broccoli florets

½ red pepper

½ green pepper

½ zucchini

½ cup chopped (or not) peanuts

Sauce:

1 cup Kraft Toasted Sesame dressing

3 Tb Soy Sauce

½ tsp Garlic powder

¼ - ½ tsp Red pepper flakes

½ tsp freshly grated ginger. (I add a lot more ginger than this - I love the taste of it so just add it to your liking)

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package. When there is 3 minutes left, add the broccoli. 

Meanwhile, in a fry pan add a bit of olive oil (or plain Veg oil). Brown chicken until you can't see any more pink (chicken is about 80% cooked at this point and it will finish cooking when you return it to the pan). Remove from pan and cover.

Fry peppers and zucchini . Add chicken to finish cooking (about 2 minutes). 

Turn down the head and add the sauce to the pan. Sauté until pasta is ready.

Put pasta in bowl. Pour sauce on top. Gently mix. Sprinkle peanuts on top. Enjoy!

Tips:

• You can adjust the heat/spiciness of this by using less (or no) red pepper flakes as well as limiting the ginger you use
• You can really use any veggies you might like in this. We have refined this to how we like it (the broccoli is my favorite since it soaks up the sauce, but then I love the zucchini for it's different texture, but then I love the peppers for their crunch... see what I mean? I love it!)
• You can also use any noodle you want - but long work's best for my taste
• I also use the Light version of the dressing - no difference in taste and saves some calories.
• These are hands down my favorite left-overs, I love to eat them cold right out of the fridge.

I hope I didn't talk this up too much - but it is honestly so good!

Enjoy!

Perfect Day for Grillin'

After 4 days of storming it was time for a change of pace so we decided to break out the BBQ and make a meal of it.

Usually for marinades I just through whatever I think in and it usually turns out ok, but a while ago kabob's were a bit of a mystery to me so I decided to find an actual recipe to try. I hit the jackpot on the first try. We LOVE the flavor of this and it is still subtle enough that you get the flavor of the veggies.

Summer Time Kabobs

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts (we use tenderloins and it is about 8-10 depending on size)
1/2 C soy sauce
4 Tbs lemon juice
1 C cooking oil
1 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
Dash of garlic powder
Veggies of choice (we use cherry tomatoes, red and green peppers, and zucchini. If you are an onion fan I think those would add good flavor)

Directions:
You can do this one of two ways-
I marinate just the chicken while it thaws and up until about and hour or two before I start cooking and then cube and skewer (alternating with veggies) and then marinade for the remaining time
or
Cube the meat and skewer (alternating with veggies) and marinate them all together.
Either way you do it, just mix all ingredients above and pour over chicken/skewers.
Cover and chill for at least 3 hours (if not more for more flavor) - rotating occasionally.
Grill for about 8 - 10 min turning once - or as needed.

Tips/Ideas:

• These go great with almost anything - we have made them with twice baked potatoes, salad, and rolls, but they would also be good with rice and crunchy crusted bread.
• These cook fast and are best when the meat stays moist - so don't overcook.
• I have yet to try this on any other meat - but think we might try steak in it - I'll let you know how it goes.

I hope you all like this as much as we do. Just mixing the marinade it starts to smell good and makes my mouth water. It's also an easy way for us to get veggies into our diet - we struggle with that sometimes...



Chicken Ranch Taco's

We are huge fans of Taco’s in our house – a post to come I’m sure – we usually just do the Plain Jane ground beef but we spiced it up a bit last night. I would say it was a success.

Chicken Ranch Taco’s

Ingredients:

1 box hard taco shells (the Stand N Stuff one’s work perfect for this)

3 C cut up deli rotisserie chicken

1 pkg taco seasoning (due to the fact that we hate this – we substituted 1 tbs  Montreal steak seasoning – our favorite)

3/4 C ranch (I made homemade Café Rio-esque dressing – divine! Find here)

 Any desired toppings: cheddar cheese, lettuce, salsa, extra ranch, tomatoes, jalapenos, etc.

Directions:

Heat oven to 325 and heat shells as directed on the box.

Coat chicken with seasoning and microwave until hot – stir in dressing (you can do this before you head it up as well if you want it all warm)

Spoon chicken mix into taco shells and top as desired (I topped with cheese and put back in the oven to melt it before adding the other toppings)

Enjoy!

These are super easy – even with making the dressing and cutting up the chicken it took maybe 35 min start to finish.

Heart Stopping Goodness

This is a dish I've been wanting to try for a while. I had it years ago while visiting an old boyfriends grandma - random I know. But it was just so good and I have never forgotten the amazingness of the ritz topping on this: TO. DIE. FOR.

Poppy Seed Chicken
2 roasted chickens, meat removed and diced into small cubes (or about 2 lbs chicken - boiled and cubed for convenience - but the roasted chicken probably has a better taste)1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 16 oz. carton of sour cream
1-2 Tbs. poppy seeds
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed
1/2 stick of butter, melted

In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, cream of chicken soup and the sour cream. Blend until creamy and smooth. Add the poppy seeds and the chicken. Stir until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

Combine the cracker crumbs and the butter, tossing to coat. Spread the crumbs evenly on top of the chicken. Bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Tips/Ideas

• I remember this being a bit different than what this recipe made - so next time I am going to leave out the cream cheese. I thought that would for sure make this dish - but it really just over complicated the taste and actually made it a little too thick for my liking
• We served over rice - which is where a more "sauce-y" dish would be preferable - but can be just the main dish with any variety of sides
• We thought of serving it on a baked potato - to be tested with our left overs
• I think we might try full chicken breasts next time as more of a "main dish"
• Overall this dish was good - although not healthy in the least bit and just a few tweaks to make it perfect!

Penne Rosa Knock Off

This is VERY similar to Noodle's & Company's Penne Rosa - my favorite dish there!

Courtesy of Cam's iphone - could I ask for a better photographer?

Penne Rosa

Cook/Prep time: approx 40 min

Skill level: easy peasy

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 heaping tablespoon crushed garlic 

2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes
2 cups whipping (heavy) cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
2 1/2 cups rigatoni pasta (8 ounces)
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 zucchini
1 head broccoli

Feta or Shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired

Directions:

- Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, garlic, basil and oregano in oil about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink in center.

- Start cooking pasta as directed on package

- Stir in tomatoes, whipping cream, salt, pepper and red pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered about 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

- With about 2 minutes left on the pasta, add broccoli. Drain pasta. Stir rigatoni and vegetables into chicken mixture; cook until hot.

- Serve and top with cheese.

Serves 8

Tips/Ideas:

• Continue the idea of N&C's dish and top with Parmesan crusted chicken instead of cooking it in.
• This can be very easily made vegetarian.
• The spice can be adjusted per your taste - I would do it spicier as Cam would do it less
• Add spinach near the end to wilt in
• I would also love garlic bread with this next time - when does bread not make a meal better?

I always love trying a new recipe and liking it, but also coming up with ways to make it better next time.