Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Over the summer, I had a hankering for Buffalo Wings.  But I didn't want to make the full wing.  I didn't want to fire up the fryer or the oven.  But I wanted the flavor.  That spicy, tangy, crispy, drooling........oh, sorry.  I love buffalo wings.  Especially on game days.  The only thing I don't like about them is getting the buffalo sauce on my fingers and having it burn my skin.  So I usually opt for the boneless wings.  No fryer, no oven, boneless chicken.  This called for a slow cooker recipe!

So this is what I came up with.  A slow cooker version that you can pile high with tender chicken, saucy and spicy. I also wanted my carrots and blue cheese with it.  So I made a carrot slaw, tossed on some red cabbage, and topped it with chunky blue cheese dressing.  The result was so delicious, and tasted just like having wings at a restaurant.  Seriously one of my new favorite sandwiches.  One tip - get a good, crispy roll.  Not a soft bun like a hamburger bun.  We're talking bakery roll.  The soft buns will soak up the sauce too much and fall apart in your hands.  Okay, I think I need to make these again this week.

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 cups chicken broth
1 bottle Frank's® Red Hot Buffalo Wings Sauce
1 bottle Lighthouse® Chunky Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
Shredded Cabbage
Sandwich rolls

Carrot Slaw:

3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Place chicken breasts and broth in slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

2. Prepare carrot slaw.  Combine carrot shreds with olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Toss to coat.  Set aside.

3. Remove chicken from slow cooker.  Discard liquid.  Shred chicken with 2 forks and place in a large bowl.  Add 1/2 bottle or 1 cup of wing sauce to chicken and toss to coat.

4. Pour 1 Tbs. of blue cheese dressing onto bottom half of sandwich roll.  Top with buffalo chicken. Add shredded cabbage and carrot slaw.  Pour another 1 Tbs. of dressing on top of carrot slaw, adding more buffalo sauce if desired.  Top with remaining sandwich roll half.  Serve immediately.

Serves 6

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Lemon and Pesto Chicken Parmesan

Is this really a recipe?  You betcha!  This recipe gave me a little inspiration and motivation to get it up on the blog.  And I think you'll like it!  With the lemon zest in the chicken and the basil pesto sauce, it is such a light, refreshing switch up for regular Chicken Parm with marinara sauce.  But it still tastes like a traditional Italian dish with the oregano and basil.  My kids loved the fried aspect of it.  Using panko crumbs made it nice and crunchy while the asiago cheese in the mix totally just blew the flavor out of the water.

It might seem unnecessary to half the chicken breasts, but it's so important.  Not only will it ensure that it cooks evenly, but your portion will be perfect.  I don't know about you, but a full chicken breast is almost overwhelming when having it with anything else.  (Usually I end up cutting part of it off for one of the kiddos.)  And because I've started counting calories religiously, I've thrown the calories down at the end of the recipe for you.  And yes, it includes the pasta and pesto!

Lemon and Pesto Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 egg
1 Tbs. flour
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
1/2 Tbs. dried oregano
1/2 Tbs. dried basil
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
8 oz. (1/2 package) angel hair pasta
1 cup basil pesto sauce

Directions:

1. Using a sharp knife, cut the chicken breasts in half, horizontally, and pound with a meat mallet until even thickness.  Set aside.

2. Combine egg and flour in a bowl and whisk with a fork until flour is incorporated.  In a shallow bowl, combine panko crumbs, asiago cheese, oregano, basil, garlic powder, black pepper, and lemon zest.  Toss with a fork to mix well.  Combine mozzarella and parmesan cheeses in a separate bowl and set aside.

3. Preheat olive oil in a large skillet.  Dip chicken into egg mixture, coating well, and allow excess to drip off.  Place in panko mixture, using hands to thoroughly coat chicken.  Place into hot skillet and cook for about 5 minutes on each side, turning only once, or until cooked through.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese mixture evenly on all 4 pieces of chicken.  Place a lid on the skillet and remove from heat.  Keep lid on until cheese has melted.

4. While chicken is cooking, prepare pasta by bringing a large saucepan of water to a boil, and cooking for 4 minutes for al dente.  Serve with chicken and pesto sauce.

Serves 4
789 Calories per serving

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Chicken Alfredo Gnocchi Bake

How about another comfort food recipe, one that again used items that needed to be cleaned out of my
pantry and freezer.  Not only do I like to stock up my pantry with staples that our family loves, but I also will grab more of an item that is usually kind of pricey when it goes on sale.  I will do that as well with cheese because it tends to be cheaper per ounce when you buy more.  So I'll buy double what the recipe calls for, the wrap it up really good and freeze the remainder.  I love having a big freezer to be able to do those things.  But food in both the pantry and the freezer have an expiration date.

This is what happened with the Italian Style Gnocchi that I made.  I had leftover gnocchi.  I had a jar of Alfredo sauce.  Check in the freezer and I have leftover cheeses and half a package of bacon.  I ALWAYS have chicken breast on hand.  So, throw it all together with some fresh veggies and BAM!  Pantry Purge Perfection!  See, it's amazing what you can create by just cleaning out your kitchen.

Chicken Alfredo Gnocchi Bake

Ingredients:

1 (17 oz.) package gnocchi
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 jar Alfredo Sauce
1/2 cup chopped bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom of 9x13" pan.

2. Prepare gnocchi according to package instructions.  Drain and spread in bottom of pan.  Add shredded chicken.  Add mushrooms.

3. In a large bowl, combine onions, Parmesan cheese, blue cheese, and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.  Stir in Alfredo sauce.  Pour sauce over the top of gnocchi and chicken.  Sprinkle bacon and remaining mozzarella cheese over the top.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese starts to brown on top.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6-8

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Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Every 6 months I do a purge of my kitchen.  I go through and clean out the fridge, the freezer, and the pantry.  Expired foods go bye bye.  Anything else either gets donated (canned food drives love me) or is used in a new creation.  That is how my
 Chicken Enchiladas were born.  When I was dating The Hubs, I raided his kitchen one night to make him dinner.  He was a true bachelor and rarely ate a home cooked meal.  I found chicken, tortillas, cheese, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce, and cream cheese.  And a meal that we love was created.

So this time around, when I found chicken, corn, black beans, enchilada sauce, diced chilies, cheese, cream cheese, avocado, cilantro, and egg noodles, I took it to the next level.  Behold, Chicken Enchilada Casserole.  All the same yummy ingredients, tweaked.  I also ground the chicken using my Kitchenaid mixer attachment.  It was creamy, cheesy, and my kids actually liked it better this way.  And yes, I baked it with the avocado chopped on top.  It really finished it off nicely.  If you want, you can add a dollop of sour cream to cool off the spices a bit.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients:

8 oz. egg noodles (about 1/2 bag)
1 lb. ground chicken
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup (4 oz.) cream cheese
1 can (10 oz.) verde enchilada sauce
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
1 small container plain Greek yogurt
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
2 avocados, diced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

2. Prepare egg noodles according to package instructions.

3. While egg noodles are cooking, brown chicken over medium high heat.  Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.  Add cream cheese and stir until melted.

4. In a large bowl, combine enchilada sauce, corn, black beans, sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup of the colby jack cheese, yogurt, chilies, and cilantro.  Stir to combine.  Add chicken.  Add noodles and fold gently into mixture.  Pour into 9x13 pan.  Top with remaining cheese and avocado.

5. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until cheese melts and starts to bubble.  Serve immediately.

Serves 6-8

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Grilled Chicken and Mango Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing

Today's Fit Friday recipe is a healthier take on a dinner salad.  And it's full of fresh fruits and vegis.  I love Summer and the fresh produce that comes with it.  I so love going to the market and buying fresh, ripe fruits, like these mangos.  The smell that these all have is amazing.  When it is hotter than the inside of an oven outside, all I want is a cool salad made with ingredients that are simple but full of flavor.

Coating the chicken with some season salt is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the mango.  The dressing can be adjusted - using 1/2 jalapeno gives it just a slight edge.  If you want more spice, use the whole thing.  If you want less, just use 1/4 of it.  It makes it very easy to make this salad kid approved.  To take it one step further, I just grilled 2 of the chicken thighs with some salt and pepper.  So get ready for summer and dish yourself up some salad.

Grilled Chicken and Mango Salad

with Spicy Avocado Dressing

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbs. seasoned salt
2 ripe mangos, peeled and cubed
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and Pepper
1 avocado, pitted and sliced
1 cup goat cheese crumbles
4 cups salad mix (I like spring mix)

Dressing:

1 avocado, pitted
2 limes, juiced
1 bunch green onions
4 cloves garlic
1 cup cilantro
6 oz. plain Greek yogurt
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded
1/2 cup water
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare the dressing.  Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Process until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

2. Preheat grill over medium high heat.  Pour seasoned salt into a large ziploc bag.  Add chicken and shake bag to coat with salt.  Place on grill and cook for 20-25 minutes, rotating once, or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

3. After placing chicken on grill, pour olive oil into a shallow bowl and toss tomatoes in oil to coat.  Add to grill and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Turn frequently to cook evenly, for about 5-10 minutes or until skin begins to char.

4. Layer salad with salad mix, avocado slices, mango cubes, grilled tomatoes, and sliced chicken breast.  Sprinkle goat cheese over the top and add 1/4 cup dressing to each salad.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4

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Tandoori Grilled Chicken with Cilantro Lime Quinoa

If you asked me what my favorite food was, I'd say sushi.  Hands down, every day, all day long, 365 days a year.  But since I'm not a millionaire, I can't afford to eat sushi every day.  So if you asked me what my second favorite food was, I'd say Indian food.  Holy crap.  I love the aroma of it cooking.  I love the spices involved.  Just looking at all the different spices in a recipe for an Indian dish gets me giddy.










So for today's Fit Friday recipe, I'm cooking up some dark meat with a handful of fragrant spices.  Tandoori Grilled Chicken.  Now, I have to say that Tandoori chicken isn't about the spices alone.  A tandoor is actually a type of oven used to cook meat and bread in, native to India.  It's made out of clay or metal and is cylindrical.  It reminds me of a very deep fire pit.  But we here in America known this type of chicken used with these spices as Tandoori Chicken.  Paprika, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, all spices used to give the chicken a smokey flavor while the cayenne pepper gives it a pop.  Let me say this - this IS a kid friendly recipe.  Even though it has cayenne pepper in it, it's really not spicy.  The yogurt tones that down.  Just gives it great flavor.

Using quinoa as a side dish just makes sense to me with Indian food.  I could use couscous, but I'd rather get some protein and fiber packed into my side dish.  The lime and cilantro compliments the chicken so well, you really don't need anything else.  Again, something the kids will enjoy.  Here's your tip for this recipe.  If you can't find skinless chicken pieces, it's VERY easy to skin them yourself.  All you have to do is find a place where the skin is loose, slide your thumb underneath the skin, and pull the skin back.  If you find it a little difficult, just grab a paper towel, grab the skin, and you'll find that pulling the skin off is so easy.  And it's cheaper to buy it with the skin on!  Winner winner, chicken dinner!

Tandoori Grilled Chicken

with Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Ingredients:

4-6 skinless chicken pieces (I used drumsticks and thighs)
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves
1 Tbs. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. garam masala
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1 (6 oz.) container plain Greek yogurt
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 cup quinoa
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 limes, juiced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Pierce chicken pieces with a fork several times.  Place in a large ziploc bag.

2. Place onion and garlic in a food processor.  Process until smooth.  Add spices, yogurt, and lemon juice.  Process until mixed well.  Add liquid to chicken in bag.  Place in fridge and allow to marinade for 4 hours.

3. Preheat grill over medium high heat.  Place chicken on grill and cook for 20-30 minutes, turning once.  Remove from grill and serve immediately.  (I served mine with lemon slices to be juiced onto chicken)

4. While chicken is cooking, prepare quinoa.  Pour chicken broth and quinoa into a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Reduce heat and cook until moisture has cooked off, about 10-15 minutes.  Remove lid and add lime juice and cilantro.  Toss with a fork.  Serve immediately.

Serves 4

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Paleo Blackened Chicken

It can be difficult to find healthy recipes that your family will like.  So when I had some blackened chicken cravings and wanted to make it even healthier with a side of quinoa, I knew that my kiddos wouldn't go for just that.  I had to "oomph" it up a bit.  I had a couple of avocados hanging around and I knew they'd go bad soon.  So a variation of my Avocado Dipping Sauce was the result.

The nice part of this recipe is that the chicken has just enough spice.  A lot of times blackened chicken can be spicy.  So I toned down the cayenne pepper (not too much though, you still want it to have a little zing) in order to be kid friendly.  And I'm kind of a sucker for Cilantro Lime Rice.  But with paleo recipes, you need to convert your rice over to quinoa.  It turned out to be a fantastic dish that was gone before I was even done taking pictures.  Yup, I ate my meal by myself.  But that's okay, it was a hit, and the kids had no clue how good it was for them.  SCORE!

Paleo Blackened Chicken

with Quinoa and Avocado Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

Avocado Cream Sauce:
1 avocado
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 Tbs. milk
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1/2 Tbs. lime juice

Directions:

1. Place quinoa and chicken broth in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook quinoa until opened, all liquid has cooked off.  While quinoa is cooking, preheat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat.

2. Combine paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, onion powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  Sprinkle half of the spice mixture over the top of the chicken breasts and place spice side down in skillet.  Sprinkle remaining spice over chicken and cover.  Cook chicken for approximately 8-10 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in center. Remove from heat but leave cover on pan.  Let rest until ready to serve.

3. While chicken and quinoa are cooking, prepare avocado sauce.  Put avocado, greek yogurt, milk, 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, vinegar, and lime juice in a food processor.  Process until smooth.

4. Fluff quinoa and add lime juice, lime zest and 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro.  Serve chicken over quinoa and top with avocado cream sauce.

Serves 4

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