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).

Bagel Pizza's

Need a quick dinner idea? Have too many left over bagels from our last cooking attempts?

I have the perfect (and most delicious) solution - I know this isn't even all that original, but we made them the other night and they were so delicious I just had to share.

Bagel Pizza's

Ingredients:

Bagel of choice

Pizza sauce (our favorite featured below)Mozzarella 

Pepperoni

Any other toppings of choice

Directions:

Heat oven to 350

Cut bagel, top with sauce, toppings and cheese (we like our cheese on top so it holds everything on)

Add any spices you might like (garlic salt, red pepper flakes, etc)
Bake for about 10 min (mostly to warm the bagel)

Turn the oven to broil and watch until they turn bubbly and brown (about 5-7 min)

We like to make homemade pizza stuff alot so we usually have these things on hand which makes this meal that much easier. I have fallen in love with this pizza sauce too. It actually tastes like pizza sauce and not just totmato sauce imposing as pizza sauce. This squeeze bottle makes it that much easier to keep on hand (it doees come in a can but as you can imagine you don't always use it all hence the ease of the bottle). You can usually find it down the mexican isle by the taco stuff (I don't know why they store their pizza stuff there).

If you can't tell I always love a quick meal but one that tastes good. This definately hit the mark.

Prize Winner

Finally documented: My Garlic Knots (here)

Seriously, you've got to try these things.

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!

Pizza Joint Must-Have

I've wanted to find a good recipe for Garlic Knots and have read a lot of recipes, but last night I struck gold! I didn't even use a recipe I read - not that it is hard - but I just made them by what sounded good for what I like.

I better make these sparingly, with their bite-size goodness it is hard to limit myself!

Easy Peasy Garlic Knots

Ingredients:

1 can (11 oz) refrigerator pizza dough/crust

Butter (about 3 Tablespoons) - melted

Garlic Salt (this is for ease – you can use fresh chopped garlic)

Parmesan cheese (I prefer shredded)

Parsley (I just use dried and I even crumble it so it isn’t big pieces – but that is just personal preference)

Red pepper flakes

Directions:

-Open dough/crust and roll into a rectangle (when I opened my can it wasn’t a nice rectangle for me and I think the dough held together better after rolling it out)

-Cut 1 inch strips on the short side and then cut down the middle the long way (this does not have to be scientific, as long as they are pretty close the same size – but even if not it’s not a huge deal)

-Tie into knots (tucking the ends underneath so it is like a little ball) and place on baking sheet (they don’t grow too much so you can fit them all on one pan)

-Cook at 450 until golden brown (mine were maybe 10 min)

-Put in a large bowl and gently coat with melted butter (you can just stir them with a large spoon since they are so small and they nicely evenly coated)

-Next add Parmesan cheese, parsley, and red pepper flakes to taste (no real magic here – just do to your liking)

Wha-la! Deliciousness! And from start to finish – 20 min

Ideas/tips:

• These are delicious dipped in ranch, but you can also use pizza sauce or marinara sauce to dip them in
• You can probably use any bread dough for this, but I have used breadstick dough before and they were much more flat and light, the pizza dough is a bit more dense and I think more fitting for these.

(Sorry no picture - we ate them too fast to even have time for one -

but trust me, I will be making these again)