Buffalo Chicken Stuff

I love buffalo wings. When I was pregnant with my son, who is now 7, I couldn't get enough of them. To this day I am still a fan. My husband, however, is not a huge fan. He can take 'em or leave 'em. Imagine my surprise one day last week when he said he had seen a recipe for some buffalo chicken wraps and asked if maybe I would make some buffalo chicken strips. Ummmm...have you not realized my love for buffalo wings, especially when doused in a healthy serving of Ranch dressing? It's just the bones I don't like. At all. So I decided that I would come up with my own concoction. We had some friends coming over, so I figured I'd just test it out on them. My back up plan was ordering pizza, just in case there was a disaster in the kitchen. Unfortunately the pizza delivery guy didn't get our business that night. My husband and his friend inhaled their chicken. They didn't cut it into tiny little bites to savor the flavor. I had taken maybe three bites, and they were helping themselves to another serving. When my husband asked me last night to make that "Buffalo Chicken Stuff" again, and sooner than later, I realized it was a success.

Buffalo Chicken Stuff

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin

2 sticks butter

Louisiana hot sauce, or whatever brand you prefer

2 cups plain bread crumbs

1 package Ranch dressing mix

2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded - provolone will also work

Melt one stick of butter and mix in 4 tablespoons of hot sauce. You can use more if you like a little more kick. In a large ziploc baggie add the chicken and the butter mixture, coating the chicken. Throw it in the fridge to marinate for an hour or so. Melt the other stick of butter adding several tablespoons of the hot sauce. Place this in a shallow bowl. In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs with the Ranch dressing mix. Grease an 8x8 baking dish. Get out your marinated chicken breasts and prepare to get messy! Place one chicken breast on a plate and add 1/4 cup of the cheese on top of the chicken. Roll up the chicken, then roll the chicken around in the melted butter. Next, coat the chicken with breadcrumbs. Place the chicken seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts. Drizzle the rest of the butter over the chicken. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Take out of the oven, top with the rest of the cheese, and bake another 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Cookie Cutters

I love cookie cutters. Especially the holiday ones. My collection isn't quite what I believe it should be, so I need to work on that. Ssshhhh...don't tell my husband! You can't have a holiday without making iced sugar cookies. Or at least that is what I think, and my kids feel the same way. Yesterday while I the kids were at school I made sugar cookies. And I iced them. By myself. I didn't just make the dough and let it chill until the kids got home so they could help. I didn't just bake the cookies and let them cool until the kids got home so they could ice them. I made the dough, baked the cookies, and iced them, all before the youngest kid got home from school. Now if you know anything about my kids, they love to ice cookies. They get pretty creative, and I will just leave it at that. I greeted them with "Mommy made sugar cookies today!" when they got home, wincing because I knew they were going to ask to ice them. To my shock, they were happy because they didn't have to wait for the icing to set for once. They just dove right in and promptly ate about half the cookies. I guess I'll be making them again later this week.

Sugar Cookies

1 c butter, softened

1 c sugar

1 egg

3 T milk

1 t vanilla

3 c flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

Cream the butter, sugar, and egg. Mix in the milk and vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients. Mix well, and chill for one hour. Roll out dough and cut out with your favorite cookie cutters. Bake at 400 for 5-8 minutes. This makes about 30 cookies, if your kids don't eat all the dough. What I really like about these sugar cookies is that they aren't overly sweet. That is what the icing is for!

Sugar Cookie Icing

1 c powdered sugar

2 t light corn syrup

1 T milk

1/4 t almond extract

assorted food coloring

Stir together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Add the corn syrup and almond extract, stirring until icing is smooth and glossy. Add a bit more corn syrup if needed to thin it out. Divide into separate bowl and add food coloring. Dip the cookies, or paint on icing with a brush. Let the icing set for about an hour.

Soup...

I love making soup. When it starts getting cool outside I immediately dig out my stack of soup recipes and start planning. Today was a soup kind of day. Several years ago when I first told my husband about this soup he was skeptical. There was no meat in it. So, at his suggestion, I added some chicken. Score! Ever since then I don't make it without chicken. Of course, being the bread lover that I am, I had to have bread with my soup. I could give up sweets before I would ever give up bread. I would never survive on a low carb diet! Dinner tonight was Santa Fe Squash soup and some crusty French bread. Yum!



Santa Fe Squash Soup

1 T olive oil
1/4 c chopped onion
1 can chicken broth
1 c milk
1 c sliced yellow squash
1 c sliced zucchini
1 c frozen corn
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
1/2 c Monterrey Jack cheese
1-2 cooked and shredded chicken breasts

In a large saucepan heat the oil over medium heat and cook the onion until soft. Add chicken broth, squash. zucchini, corn, and chiles. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until squash is tender. This takes about 15 minutes. Add milk, cheese, and chicken. Cook until heated through. I usually double this recipe. Top with more cheese and sliced avocado if you desire.



French Bread

1 1/4 c warm water
2 t sugar
1 t salt
3 1/2 c bread flour
1 package yeast
1 t olive oil
1 egg
1 T water

I used a bread machine today to mix this, but you can do it by hand, or use a stand mixer. Add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to the bread machine. Next, add the water and olive oil. Set the bread machine to the dough cycle. If mixing by hand, dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in the olive oil. Add the remainder of the ingredients, mixing and kneading well. Form into a ball and let rise about an hour. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Form into two loaves. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with flour. Cover and let rise until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 375. Beat the egg and water together. Brush over the top of each loaf. With a sharp knife, cut three diagonal slits on the top of each loaf. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Try not to eat the bread all in one sitting!

Breakfast...it's what's for dinner...if the kids are lucky

Remember those times as a kid when you were lucky enough to get breakfast for dinner? You only thought you were getting a real treat. Now that I am the mom, my kids get breakfast for dinner when I forget to thaw something out. Or I am just feeling really lazy. Either way, my kids are always happy when I suggest pancakes. They are happy to eat them in the morning, but are really happy to eat them for dinner. Any time I suggest pancakes, they ask me if it is going to be pancakes out of a box or "my" pancakes. That is the deciding factor for them. That and if they get to have chocolate chips or sprinkles in them. They drive a hard bargain. I made these pancakes so many times this past summer when my daughter was going to soccer camp. We had another soccer player staying with us for most of the week, and every morning they would inhale an entire batch of pancakes leaving nothing but the crumbs and dirty dishes in the sink. So I say "Go for it!". Have some pancakes for dinner and pretend that you are a kid again.

Buttermilk Pancakes

1 c flour

1 t sugar

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 c buttermilk

2 1/2 T milk

1 egg

1 1/2 T butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. I like to sift all mine together. In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, egg, milk, and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together until just blended. It should be somewhat lumpy. You can also add chocolate chips or colored sprinkles if you want. I like to add frozen blueberries to mine. Lightly oil a griddle and heat over medium heat. Pour 1/4 - 1/2 cup batter into pan and cook on both sides until lightly browned.

It's not exactly gourmet...

Comfort food. It's not exactly gourmet, but sometimes we just need a little comfort in our food. To me, comfort food needs cheese. This evening I retired to my kitchen and whipped up a batch of Tater Tot Casserole. I guess I could give it some fancy name, but this dish is anything but fancy. Which translates into "the kids will eat it". My husband will eat it. I will eat it. Looks like we have a winner! My husband saw me taking pictures and couldn't wait for me to finish. He knew that meant he just got to eat as soon as I was done.

Tater Tot Casserole

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef or turkey

1 can cream of chicken soup

Chopped onion - as much or little as you like

Chopped green bell pepper - as much or as little as you like

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/2 bag frozen tater tots

Seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 375. In a pan on the stove, add the meat, onion, and bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until done. Drain any grease from the meat. Mix the beef or turkey with the cream of chicken soup in a medium sized bowl. You can also add any veggies you want to this mixture. I threw in some grated cheese just because I'm such a fan of cheese. Pour this into a 8x8 casserole dish. Top the meat with the grated cheese, then add a layer of tater tots. Sprinkle seasoning salt on top of the tots. Bake for 35- 40 minutes. Enjoy!

When I want it, I make it...

I've been wanting chicken enchilada soup from Chili's. My husband didn't feel the need to take me there just to get a bowl of soup. "You know how to cook. Why don't you just make it yourself?" were his words. I informed him that it would involve a trip to the grocery store, hoping that would sway him, but that didn't seem to work. If you know my husband, he rolls his eyes every time I even mention needing to run to the H.E.B. to get "a few things". Off I went, list in hand, to the grocery store. What resulted was a soup that I loved. No more trips to a restaurant just to get soup. I can make it right at home, and I don't have to put on make-up or straighten my hair! Perfect, if you ask me. I threw all the ingredients into my crock pot this morning, and by late afternoon the house smelled fabulous. It was also super easy. Even a guy could make it.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes - use Ro-tel if you want some more spice
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can enchilada sauce (10 oz), or 2 cups of the semi homemade, which follows
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 c milk
2 chicken breasts
2 t ground cumin

In a crock pot mix together the black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, and onion. In a medium sized bowl mix together the enchilada sauce, cream of chicken soup, and milk. I used enchilada sauce that I had made and frozen previously. Place chicken breasts on top of the mixture in the crock pot. Sprinkle cumin over the chicken. Pour the sauce over chicken and cook on low for 6-7 hours. Remove chicken, shred it, and add back to the soup, stirring to mix. Top with shredded cheese of your choice. You could also add chopped avocado or tortilla strips.

Enchilada sauce
This is the Pioneer Woman's version, I just changed it a little.
1 T vegetable oil
1 T flour
1 large can enchilada sauce
1 can chicken broth
dash of salt
dash of pepper

In a large saucepan, whisk together oil and flour to form a paste. Cook over medium for 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. This freezes really well.

Who doesn't love pizza?

Pizza. It's one of my favorite foods. I like to experiment with different toppings, but it always has to have tons of cheese. I love cheese. And you just can't beat cold pizza for breakfast. I hadn't made pizza in a while, so the other day I decided it had been too long, so out came the ingredients. I also made my own sauce this time. My son hates pizza sauce, and even he told me it was good! Guess I'll be making my own from now on. It was really easy, so I can't complain. I used to use my bread maker to make the dough, but I use the Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook now. I suppose you could do it the old school way with your hands, but I am just too in love with my stand mixer. Hope you enjoy the pizza as much as we do!

Pizza Crust

1 pkg yeast

1/2 t brown sugar

1 1/2 c warm water

1 t salt

2 T olive oil

3 1/3 c flour

Garlic salt - to taste

Dissolve yeast and brown sugar in water and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir in the salt and olive oil. You can also add some garlic salt or any other Italian seasonings if you'd like. I usually add several shakes of garlic salt. It adds a nice flavor. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Continue adding the remainder of the flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Place into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size. This takes 1-2 hours. Punch down dough and form into a tight ball. Let the dough chill out and relax a minute. Roll out and let crust rise 15 minutes before baking.

Pizza Sauce

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 c chicken broth (you can use water)

1/4 c olive oil

1/2 T dried oregano

1/2 T dried basil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 t sugar

Mix all the ingredients together, and you've got your pizza sauce. I made mine when I started the dough and just stuck it in the fridge until I was ready to use it. It makes enough for 2-3 pizzas.

To make the pizza, preheat the oven to 425. Bake the crust for 5 minutes before adding the toppings. Spread the pizza sauce on and add any toppings you want. Bake for 15 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. I use a pizza stone. Which reminds me...I need to get another one.