Date Night Dinners - Buffalo Bonanza
Now I know I say this a lot, okay maybe more then a lot (probably every other date night dinner post), but this one definitely takes the position of top three. This meal was fan-frickin-tastic. So, so good! We were deciding between three recipes this week but as soon as Brenden noticed the word 'buffalo' the decision seemed simple. Brenden loves everything spicy, and being from upstate NY where the motto is to put hot sauce on everything, he knew we couldn't go wrong with buffalo macaroni and cheese. I also lived around there during college, and the buffalo chicken wing dip was one of many of my guilty pleasures. Lately I have been looking for some type of simple buffalo chicken recipe to get me through those college day food cravings. We found this dish and it met all of our criteria. Spice for Brenden; a bit healthier then college gluttony for me, and cooking ease for the both of us. The chicken was made in the crock pot, so that was as easy as 1-2-3. We love our crock pot. And after melting the cheese into a nice sauce we only had a bit of stirring to do before we popped in the whole thing in the oven.
This isn't your typical beginning of summer, 90 degree with a heat index of 101, dish, which had me a bit worried. But it ended up being the perfect meal for our night. We prepared the meal, went for a little run as it cooled, and came back with ravenous appetites, dying to taste into our masterpiece. The aroma of buffalo sauce and macaroni cheese had filled the kitchen by the time we came back to eat, and it made the dish that much more appetizing.
There was a perfect ratio of cheese to hot sauce and chicken to pasta. This is a meal I think we nailed on our first try. I wouldn't do anything differently (even though before tasting it I suggested that we should have added caramelized onions, gotta sneak the veggies in there somehow). There was a good amount of spice, that satisfied Brenden without making me want to fire hose my mouth down. And a perfect amount of cheese to tone down the spice without drowning out all the other flavors.
Although this is a "healthier" version of buffalo chicken mac and cheese, it is definitely is not on top of the health pyramid. I have really been trying to tighten up my eating lately so I told myself I could only eat a certain amount of the dish. If you noticed from some of my past post, when Brenden and I have date night, we don't let anything hold us back and we tend to stuff our stomachs to the max. This week I tried to be aware of how much I was putting on my plate. And, it worked out well. This meal was so good I was truly satisfied after just one serving (about 1/8) of this dish. Plus I was excited I would be able to eat it for several days later without remaking it from scratch because we had so much left over and it tasted so good. But the best part was I told myself I could eat some ice cream if I did well on the actual meal. This meant Brenden and I were able to conclude a perfect night by sharing one of my favorite, mint chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches.
Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken
Recipe adapted from organizeyourselfskinny.com, Slow Cooker Buffalo Shredded Chicken
Ingredients
- 1.25 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- 1 (1.5oz) powdered ranch packet
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 Tbsp butter
- Cut the excess fat off the chicken breasts and place in crock pot.
- Sprinkle ranch seasoning over chicken.
- Pour in hot sauce and chicken stock.
- Turn the chicken a few times to make sure all pieces are full coated with the seasonings and everything is well combined.
- Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
- Take chicken out and shred.
- While the chicken is out of the crock pot, add the butter to the remaining liquid mixture and let it melt.
- Add the shredded chicken back into the crock pot and coat with liquid mixture.
Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Recipe adapted from organizeyourselfskinny.com, Healthy Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients
- 8 ounces macaroni noodles
- 1 cup 1% milk
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 italian mixed cheese, shredded
- 1.5 cups shredded buffalo chicken (see recipe above)
- 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions
- In a medium saucepan bring water to a boil and cook pasta as directed so that it is al dente.
- When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, whisk together the chicken stock, milk and flour, until flour is completely dissolved.
- Continue to cook mixture on medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until it gets bubbly.
- Stir in garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and both cheeses, whisking until smooth (about 3 minutes).
- Place pasta in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Mix the shredded buffalo chicken in with the pasta.
- Pour the cheese sauce over pasta ad chicken in thirds, stirring as you add to make sure everything gets covered and evenly coated with the cheese.
- Sprinkle bread clumps on top of the mac and cheese dish.
- Place the dish in the over and bake for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly.
- Let the dish sit for a few minutes to cool slightly before enjoying.
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