Showing posts with label buffalo chicken. Show all posts

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
Directions

  1. Cut the excess fat off the chicken breasts and place in crock pot.
  2. Sprinkle ranch seasoning over chicken.
  3. Pour in hot sauce and chicken stock.
  4. Turn the chicken a few times to make sure all pieces are full coated with the seasonings and everything is well combined.
  5. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
  6. Take chicken out and shred.
  7. While the chicken is out of the crock pot, add the butter to the remaining liquid mixture and let it melt.
  8. Add the shredded chicken back into the crock pot and coat with liquid mixture.

Buffalo Chicken Mac 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
  1. In a medium saucepan bring water to a boil and cook pasta as directed so that it is al dente.
  2. When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  4. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, whisk together the chicken stock, milk and flour, until flour is completely dissolved.
  5. Continue to cook mixture on medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until it gets bubbly.
  6. Stir in garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and both cheeses, whisking until smooth (about 3 minutes).
  7. Place pasta in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
  8. Mix the shredded buffalo chicken in with the pasta.
  9. 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.
  10. Sprinkle bread clumps on top of the mac and cheese dish.
  11. Place the dish in the over and bake for about 40 minutes, or until bubbly.
  12. Let the dish sit for a few minutes to cool slightly before enjoying.
buffalo chicken chicken crock pot
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Date Night Dinners - A New Point Of View

This weeks date night dinner was a tried and true recipe. Pizza. Not just any kind of pizza, but the healthy kind. The thought of healthy pizza is enough to make one shudder at the thought. What is it missing? The sauce? the toppings? Heaven forbid you leave the cheese off. Fortunately all that was omitted was a traditional crust. For this crust we used cauliflower. I know, I can hear your brain exploding from here.

Tracy found this recipe back when she thought she could get me to eat healthy. (queue laughter) Usually we have to rice the cauliflower by hand with a grater, nowadays we just chop and throw in the food processor. Super quick and super easy.


Usually the crust turns out soggy and floppy, not really a pizza. It was more like sauce and pepperoni on cauliflower that kind of looks like rice. However, we learned a fantastic secret that we are going to share that really turned this recipe around for me. Get rid of all excess fluid. We threw balls of soon to be crust into washcloths and squeezed with everything we had. Then we mixed the crust back together and threw it in the oven for awhile. Then threw it back in for a little extra crisp.

We made a homemade buffalo chicken version this time which was a pretty fantastic idea. Blows plain turkey pepperoni out of the water. I was just happy I could add hot sauce and ranch to what would have been a relatively healthy meal.


This meal was one of my personal favorites and one I look forward to revisiting soon. It took one of my favorite meals and blended it together with my favorite veggie and made it work. Who knows, maybe Tracy can make me a healthy eater yet.

Utensil-less Cauliflower Pizza (Buffalo Chicken)
Recipe adapted from http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2013/08/cauliflower-crust-pizza/

Ingredients
(NOTE: I gave you the measurements and directions to make one pizza)
  • Cooking Spray 
  • 3 cups (one SMALL head) cauliflower, finely shredded (it is easiest to place cauliflower, stems removed, into a food processor, but you can also use a cheese grater) 
  • 1 egg 
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded 
  • 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt 
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil 
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano 
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
  • crushed red pepper flakes to taste 
  • 1 raw chicken breast, diced small 
  • 1/2 yellow onion, sliced thin 
  • 1/4 cup hot sauce, divided 
  • 1/4 cup blue cheese dressing 
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded 
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees with the baking sheet you will use inside the oven to get warm. 
  2. On a flat surface, place a large piece of parchment paper and spray it with cooking spray. 
  3. Place the cauliflower in a medium microwave safe bowl. 
  4. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. 
  5. Pour microwaved cauliflower on a clean dish towel. 
  6. Set aside and allow for it to cool until able to handle. 
  7. In the meantime, cook your chicken on medium-high in a skillet until thoroughly cooked. 
  8. Drain excess fat and liquid and set aside. 
  9. Spray the same skillet with cooking spray and add your onions to begin to caramelize. 
  10. Set the heat to medium-low and stir occasionally. 
  11. Set aside once caramelized. 
  12. Your cauliflower should now be cool enough, so back to the pizza "dough." Take the corners of the dish towel and wrap it around the cauliflower. Then wring out the excess water - as much as possible, you will get a lot I promise). This is the step that helps to keep the "dough" together. 
  13. When you have gotten as much water out as possible, place the cauliflower back into the medium bowl. 
  14. Add the egg, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, salt, basil (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers as you add it), oregano (crush up the leaves even more between your fingers as you add it), garlic powder, and crushed red pepper. 
  15. Mix it all together with your hands, almost as if to knead it together like dough. 
  16. Once all of the ingredients are well combined, place the "dough" on to your oiled parchment paper. 
  17. Pat the mixture into a medium-thin circle, making sure all of the "dough" is tightly formed together. 
  18. Remove your baking tray from the oven and carefully transfer the parchment paper with "dough" onto the center of the tray. 
  19. Place the baking tray (with the pizza) back into the oven and back from 11-15 minutes until it begins to turn golden brown. 
  20. While it is baking prepare the pizza sauce, mix together half of the hot sauce and all of the blue cheese dressing (equal parts), remember you can taste and adjust as you wish. 
  21. Next, coat the cooked chicken in remaining hot sauce. 
  22. When the pizza crust looks like it is getting golden, remove from oven. 
  23. Layer the pizza sauce you just made. 
  24. Top with chicken. 
  25. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese. 
  26. Top with caramelized onion. 
  27. Return pizza to oven and cook for another 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. 
  28. Remove from oven, cool, slice, and enjoy!
buffalo chicken cauliflower chicken
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