Buffalo Chicken Dip

A month or so ago we had some people over at the last minute to watch a basketball game.  I needed to throw together some quick snacks and I decided to make this buffalo chicken dip.  It's super simple and always well received.  Sorry for the blurry picture.  I snapped one at the last second as people were ready to dig in.

Ingredients

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese

1/2 C Frank's Original Sauce

1/2 C ranch dressing

2 C chicken, cooked and shredded

1 C cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients together in bowl.

Spread into a casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until heated through.

Serve with crackers or celery.

BBQ Chicken Enchiladas

I get most of my recipes from the other blogs I read.  This recipe for BBQ Chicken Enchiladas is from one of my favorite cooking blogs called Gimme Some Oven.  These enchiladas have a southwestern vibe too them.  This is the first time I have remembered to take step by step pictures in quite some time.  However, I am taking cell phone shots as I go along, if you want to see how good it can look check out the link above to Gimme Some Oven.  The recipe below is similar to hers but I did adapt it slightly.

 Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

1.5 lbs chicken breast, cut into small pieces

1 4 oz can diced green chiles

1 15 oz can black beans

1 can mexicorn

8 large flour tortillas

3-4 C shredded Mexican blend cheese

2 cans red enchilada sauce

1 C BBQ (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

Salt & pepper

Start by adding olive oil and red onion to large skilled and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add chicken & green chiles and cook 7-8 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Season well with salt & pepper.

 Stir in black beans and mexicorn and remove from heat.

 

Mix together enchilada sauce and BBQ in a bowl.

Assembly:

To assemble enchiladas spread a couple spoonfuls of sauce onto tortilla.

Top with chicken mixture and generous portion of shredded cheese.

 Roll tortillas and place into a 9x11 casserole dish.  I used a large Le Creuset dish.

Place 8 large tortillas in pan.

 

Top with remaining sauce and cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

These enchiladas are huge and very filling.  I found 1/2 of an enchilada to be plenty for one meal.  I may suggest that if you are not cooking for a large family to either half the recipe or give half of it to friends.  I'm fairly certain this would make a good freezer meal as well.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I originally saw this recipe on Pinterest from the blog SkinnyTaste with pictures that are obviously way prettier than my cell phone shots.  I made a few changes - left out mushrooms and used spaghetti noodles instead of linguine, marinaded the chicken, etc.

 

Ingredients

1.5 lb Chicken breast tenders

2/3 box Dreamfields Spaghetti Noodles

1/3 C milk

3 T cream cheese

1 T flour

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 clove elephant garlic, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

1 C chicken broth 

3 scallions chopped

olive oil

Salt

Cajun seasoning

Garlic powder

First I coated chicken breast tenders in cajun seasoning, garlic powder and salt and refrigerated for several hours.

Blend together flour, milk and cream cheese.  I used my nutribullet for this step but you could do in a blender or by hand.

In large frying pan, cook chicken tenders and set aside.  This took me 6-7 minutes and I just cooked it til the tenders were cooked through and slightly blackened.  Set aside.

Cook noodles according to package instructions.

Add olive oil to pan, then add peppers, onions & garlic and saute over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.  Sprinkle with cajun seasoning, salt, and garlic powder.

Add tomatoes and cook for 3-4 additional minutes.

Add chicken broth and milk mixture and stir together for a few minutes.  More cajun seasoning, salt and garlic powder.  Reduce heat.

Add chicken and let cook over low heat a few more minutes.

Strain noodles and add to pan.  Mix all ingredients together.

Top with scallions.

 

 

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

I saw this recipe for oven baked fajitas and decided to give it a try.  We used to eat fajitas all the time and somewhere along the way we just stopped.  Don't know why because we both like them.  If you look at the pictures you will see that I don't like to eat my fajitas with the shells.  Eric does but I didn't remember to take any pics of them all wrapped up.  I adapted the above recipe a little bit and here is how I made it.

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

2 small onions

1 15 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes

3 T olive oil

Chili powder

Cumin

Garlic powder

Tajin

Red pepper flakes

Cut chicken into strips.

Mix olive oil & spices together (I didn't measure any spices just a generous shaking of each).

Marinade chicken for 30 minutes or longer.  You don't have to do this, I just find it gives more flavor.

Slice peppers and onions.

Place chicken, peppers & onions and the remaining marinade in sprayed cooking dish.  I used my Rachel Ray oven baker but you could just use any baking dish.

Mix together well.

Top with diced tomatoes.

Stir together all ingredients.

Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender.

Crockpot Chicken Chili

I thought chili would be a perfect meal for this cool, rainy, fall day.  I posted this recipe once before but didn't have pictures so I thought I would repost it today.  I originally got this recipe from Skinnytaste.  This recipe is nice because it goes in the crockpot and is pretty simple.  If you prefer a beef/sausage chili try this recipe I posted in January. 

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced

1 15 oz can black beans

1 15 oz can kidney beans

2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chilis

1 15 oz can corn

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 packet taco seasoning

1 T cumin

1 T chili powder

2 large chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients, except chicken, together in crockpot. 

Place chicken breasts atop other ingredients.

Cook on high for 5.5 hours.

Shred chicken with 2 forks.

Mix shredded chicken into other ingredients.

Cook additional 30 minutes.

Optional: Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, and/or cilantro for serving.

Jalapeño Popper Chicken

We have tons of peppers growing in our garden, especially jalapeños.  A few weeks ago, before we headed to the beach I was looking for a few recipes to use some.  I had seen this recipe for Jalapeño Popper Chicken on Skinnytaste previously so I just adapted it to work for us.

Ingredients Chicken breasts, thinly sliced 1/2 block cream cheese 3 jalapeños, diced  3/4 C cheddar cheese, shredded 1 T olive oil 1/2 C lime juice Panko S&P Wash chicken breasts. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Mix cream cheese, jalapeños & cheddar cheese together.

Lay chicken breasts flat.  Top with cheese mixture. Roll up chicken breast using toothpicks to hold the edges together. Mix olive oil & lime juice in a bowl.  Dip chicken breast in lime juice mixture. Roll in panko. Place on baking sheet, seam side down. Bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes.

Grilled Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

This isn't much of a recipe, just something we made this week that was good and simple.   I made buffalo chicken a few days before and this was just a simple sandwich to use some of the leftovers. But honestly, sometimes the simple things are the best things.  

Ingredients: Buffalo Chicken (My recipe here) Pepperjack cheese Panini Bread Butter   Spread bread with butter as if you are going to make a grilled cheese.  Top with slice of pepperjack cheese and some shredded buffalo chicken.  Grill in frying pan just like you would make a regular grilled cheese sandwich.   Tip:  it helps if the chicken is warm when you start so that the sandwich is evenly cooked throughout.    

Most Popular Recipes of 2013

I thought I would recap some of the most popular recipes on the blog for 2013.   These are the top recipes by page views and pins on pinterest.   Far & away this was the most popular post...   Beef & Broccoli  

  Followed by my Crockpot Buffalo Chicken  

  Pesto  

  Pizza Rolls  

  Pumpkin Dip  

  Baked Ziti  

Pasta Primavera   

      NOW FOR SOME OF OUR FAVORITE DISCOVERIES OF THE YEAR... Strawberry Rhubarb Pie  

   Grilled Pizzas  

Shrimp & Grits

 Oven Roasted Butternut Squash  

Chicken Stir Fry

We had chicken on Tuesday night so we had some leftover from the package to use in stir fry tonight.  We also had several onions and other vegetables in our fridge leftover from salad last week plus greens from our CSA so Eric whipped up a Chicken Stir  Fry.  Eric likes to make stir fry a lot and everytime it's different but here's how he did it this time.  The nice thing with stir fry is you can just use what you have.  If you have zucchini or squash put that in, if you have other peppers put them in, if you don't like something, leave it out.  

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 red pepper, sliced
3 carrots, shredded
1 C snap peas
1 C broccoli florets
2 onions, sliced
2 jalapenos, chopped and seeded
1 C tightly packed cooking greens (tatsoi, vitamin greens, etc), chopped
1 T ginger, minced
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 T wok oil (you could use olive oil if you don't have wok oil)
Classic Stir Fry Sauce (you could also use various combo of  soy sauce, garlic, hoison sauce, stir fry spices, Chinese 5 spice, etc)

Marinade the chicken in stir fry sauce (at least an hour but we usually marinade chicken overnight) Slice chicken into pieces and cook it in frying pan with 2 T wok oil, 1/2 ginger, 1/2 garlic, 1/2 of the onion. Remove mixture to bowl but reserve the juices in the pan. Add remainder of garlic, ginger, & onion and cook for a minute or so. Add remainder of vegetables, stir together, cover and cook until just shy of tender. (5-10 minutes) Add chicken mixture and greens back into pan, stir, cover & cook until greens are slightly wilted, about 2 additional minutes. Serve over white or brown rice.

Meal Planning Monday!

Today I will share our menu for the week and review last week's plan and how we did with it.  

Monday: Salad with Grilled Flank Steak & Luscious Lemon Cake

Eric's mom's birthday was Friday and we had her over for dinner tonight to celebrate since I worked all weekend.  Check back tomorrow for the Luscious Lemon Cake recipe...

Tuesday: Steak Salad Take 2
We have leftovers and the flank steak is so good so we are going to eat it again.

Wednesday: Sausage & Pepper Sandwiches
With the leftover sausage & peppers from Sunday.

Thursday: Bowling Alley

Friday: Zuppa Toscana
I am going to attempt to copycat the Olive Garden recipe.

Saturday:  Going out to dinner!  May switch with Friday.

Sunday: Grilled Pizza
Not sure what flavor yet, probably either BBQ Chicken or Buffalo Chicken

  Last week in review...  

Monday Plan: Baked Ziti

We had baked ziti Monday night.  I made this recipe up myself and it doesn't use ricotta since Eric doesn't like it.  It has chicken sausage and spinach in it and is so flavorful.  I made it in 2 pans and delivered one frozen to friends who just had a baby.  We had some garlic breadsticks with this dinner too.

Tuesday Plan: Scwhan's Chicken Enchiladas

This was a frozen dinner that had been in our freezer for a little bit.  Just popped it in the oven about an hour.  It's no homemade enchiladas but not bad at all.

Wednesday: Leftover Baked Ziti 

Thursday: Dinner at the bowling alley

Friday Plan:  Gnocchi
The plan was gnocchi but we had Chipotle instead.  With it being Eric's mom's birthday, we wanted to stop by and bring her her birthday present before I had to go to work which doesn't leave much time for cooking. 

Saturday Plan:  Mom & Dad's

My Gramma was in town so we went to my parent's house to visit before I had to head to work.  We had BBQ, tortellini salad, etc.  I made this Pumpkin Dip which was so good.  I also made a Tortellini Salad which I will post a recipe for down the road sometime.

Sunday Plan: Banh Mi
We didn't have Banh Mi.  Nunnie, a family friend of Eric's makes the best sausage & peppers we have both ever eaten.  Well she was kind enough to share her recipe with us - although it's her secret so I won't be sharing it on this blog.  But I promise you it is amazing.  Eric made this Saturday while I was sleeping and then on Sunday he cooked the gnocchi and we had gnocchi with sausage & peppers.  He also made his own tomato sauce and I will try to come back and share that recipe later this week as he took pictures of his cooking process & wrote his recipe down as he went for me!

Overall we didn't do too badly this week.  We made one substitution of the sausage & pepper gnocchi for the banh mi and we ate out once when we planned a meal for home. 

 

Meal Planning Monday!

  There is no meal plan to review for last week since we were on vacation.  But this is the plan for the upcoming week.  It is subject to change as always.  I'll post a review next week.

Monday: Baked Ziti with Chicken Sausage & Spinach

This has been one of my most viewed recipes on the blog and one of the first recipes I ever posted.  I am making it today in 2 square pans instead of a large rectangle one so I can freeze half for my friend's C&T who had a baby last night

Tuesday: Scwhan's Chicken Enchiladas

We have had this enchilada meal from Schwan's in our freezer for a while so we are going to cook it for dinner tonight.  And by cook it I mean heat it up.  Easy peasy!

Wednesday: Leftover Baked Ziti 

Thursday: Dinner at the bowling alley

Friday:  Gnocchi
With homemade noodles/gnocchi.

Saturday:  Mom & Dad's

My Gramma is in town from Florida for one day only so my parents are having people over Saturday afternoon to visit.  I have to work but we are going to try to head over there for a little bit before and we will eat while we are there.

Sunday: Banh Mi
I couldn't begin to tell you how to make this but we had Banh Mi from a food truck back in July and it was so good.  Eric immediately researched multiple recipes for making it.  He made one a couple months back with pork tenderloin and now he said he has a recipe with ground pork that he wants to try.  If you live in Charlottesville check out the Hanu Food Truck.  Soooo good!

 

Meal Planning Monday!

  We are in the OBX so there is no meal plan for this week (hopefully we will be eating a bunch of steamed shrimp & maybe some crab legs).  This is just a recap of last week's meals with recipes, etc.  Hopefully we can jump right back on board with our meal planning next week when we return!  

Monday: Grilled Buffalo Chicken Pizza

We made this Monday night and it was great.  We just can't get enough of these grilled pizzas.

Tuesday: Crockpot Orange Chicken, White Rice
This was a quick & easy crockpot recipe.  Only 4 ingredients!

Wednesday: Hamburgers, Potatoes & Onions
I picked up potatoes and onions along with several other things from our CSA portion this week.  Eric whipped them up with some burgers while I got ready for work on Wednesday night.

Thursday: Dinner at the bowling alley
BLTs for both of us!

Friday: Grilled Flank Steak Salad
We grilled flank steak rubbed with Shenandoah Spice Company's Spicy Adobo spice mix and ate it over a salad with the lettuce, tomatoes & onions from our CSA.  This steak turned out perfect.

Saturday: Pizza Rolls

We were invited to a cookout Saturday night for our friend Terra's birthday.  So we made the pizza rolls at lunch time.

pizza rolls on the left

We managed to follow our meal plan exactly last week! It may seem like sometimes we have way too much food for one meal as we don't typically eat the same thing multiple nights in a row.  I hate to eat the same thing over and over so Eric usually takes our leftovers to work for lunch.  Sometimes I will also take leftovers for "lunch" which usually falls around 3:00-4:00 AM for me.  If we do eat leftovers for dinner we try to eat it a different way instead of eating the exact same meal again.