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Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

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Spicy food lovers, this one is for you :: Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese!!! First, I must credit my darling friend Natalie for inspiration! You need to go check out her FB page, The Dinner Club! So, I don’t know what it is but from the point of being preggo with baby number 2 and still 19 months later, I have had a new love of buffalo sauce. Lucky for me, my brothers and sis in law (not so much my hubs) love a little spice, so they were invited over for this dinner!  This recipe is certainly budget friendly and packs a spicy kick in the butt! There are several steps to it but the end result is so worth it! The chicken breasts are poached {double duty- homemade chicken broth}, soaked in buffalo sauce, tossed with pasta and a cheesy buffalo sauce and topped with chipotle seasoned bread crumbs…. YUM!!!!!

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Turkey, Ham & Cheese Crescents

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Yes, everyone loves a good ole ham and cheese sandwich but I think we can improve it a bit- Turkey, Ham & Cheese Crescents .  I came up with this one while attempting to think of new lunch ideas for my crazy little boys…. Aren’t they adorable?!?!?! So what did I do to fancy up the traditional ham and cheese??? Well, I wrapped up turkey, ham and cheese in crescent rolls of course! I mean really, crescent rolls make everything better! No worries though, these aren’t just for the kiddos! These are perfect as a party picky too!!!! Try them out this weekend or at your next casual get together.

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3 Easy Party Appetizers

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My mom was hosting a family & friends bingo party last weekend and had asked me if I could a few things to pick on. I love the idea of having a party with a whole lot of fun picky food as opposed to an elaborate menu. I kept it really simple seeing as there was lots of running around to be done that week. The great thing is there really aren’t recipes just methods so you can customize any of these easily to your tastes! I decided to go with 3 Easy Party Appetizers perfect for any party or football Sunday! Chicken Sausage, Peppers & Onions Skewers, Broccoli & Cheddar Bread and Pepperoni Bread. The skewers are beautiful with the colors of the mixed peppers! There is nothing complicated here but these pickies were a great hit at the party.

Chicken Sausage, Peppers & Onions Skewers

chicken sausage ring
mixed bell peppers, seeds removed
onions
wooden skewers

Oven at 375 degrees.

Cut the uncooked sausage into 1- 1/2 inch pieces. Cut the peppers and onions into large chunks.

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Arrange in whatever order you’d like on the skewers. Place the sausage skewers onto a parchment lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake for approx 20 minutes or until sausage is cooked through and slightly browned.

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Broccoli Cheddar Bread

pizza dough (i used Pillsbury pizza dough)
frozen broccoli florets, defrosted and drained of any extra liquid
shredded cheddar
garlic powder, salt & pepper

Oven at 450 degrees.

On a floured surface (pizza peel if using a pizza stone) or in a parchment lined baking sheet roll out the pizza dough. Spread some cheese down the center, followed by broccoli florets sprinkled with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

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Fold one of the longest sides over the filling. Fold the two shorter sides inward then the last long side over to seal the bread. Flip it over so the seam is down on the baking sheet.

Bake for approx 10 minutes or until golden brown. (the bread will cook quicker on a preheated pizza stone then on a baking sheet.

Pepperoni Bread 

pizza dough (i used Pillsbury pizza dough)
sliced pepperoni
shredded mozzarella

The process is the same as above except you are layering the mozzarella, pepperoni then more mozzarella.

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HAPPY EATS!!!

3 AMAZING Appetizers

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If you read my 4th of July entry we continue onto the the picky food I made for the celebration. Like most of you, i’m sure its all about the BBQ but I wanted to do something a little different. Heres what I decided on…  Dry Rubbed Shrimp finished with Cilantro and Lime; Wonton cups filled with BBQ Beef, Pineapple and Cheddar and lastly a Stromboli of Fresh Mozzarella, Sun Dried Tomato spread, Olive Tapenade and Basil.
If you’ve been reading my blog you may have noticed that I really like shrimp. They are great because they take on whatever flavor you season with and they cook in minutes! Doesn’t get any better then that! Lets start there, shall we…
Dry Rubbed Shrimp finished with Cilantro and Lime
 
2 lbs peeled and deveined shrimp, rinsed and patted dry
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
handful of cilantro, rough chop
juice of 1/2 a lime
In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients. Ta da, dry rub!
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Toss 4-5 Tbsp of the dry rub over the shrimp and mix until all the shrimp are well coated. In a pan, I use cast iron, sauté the shrimp in batches in a little bit of olive oil. Cook shrimp over medium high heat for about 2 minutes per side. When all the shrimp are cooked top with the cilantro and lime juice. Serve warm or cold.
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 BBQ Beef Cups with Pineapple and Cheddar
 
1 pkg egg roll wrappers (you will not need all of it)
1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup BBQ sauce
canned crushed pineapple
shredded cheddar
In a slow cooker add the beef and BBQ sauce and cook on low for 2-3 hours (the temperature varies with brands a bit). You want the meat cooked through. Check half way through, yes sure to break up the meat and if it looks dry add a little bit more BBQ sauce.
Oven set to 350 degrees. Take out about 8 sheets of the egg roll wrappers and cut into 4 even squares. Then gently push the squares into a mini muffin pan.
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Fill the cups 3/4 of the way up with the BBQ. Top with a little bit of crushed pineapple and cheddar.
Bake the cups for about 8 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
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Stromboli of Fresh Mozzarella, Sun Dried Tomato spread, Olive Tapenade and Basil
 
2  pkgs of pizza dough (i used pillsbury)
1 cup mixed olives, pitted (i used kalamata and sicilian)
2 cloves garlic
handful of fresh basil leaves
pinch crushed red pepper
olive oil
7 1/2 oz jar marinated sun dried tomatoes
1 1/2 lbs fresh mozzarella, sliced thin
flour for dusting
Oven at 425 degrees. Lets start with the olive tapenade. In a food processor add the olives, garlic cloves, basil, crushed red pepper flakes and 3 T olive oil. Pulse until finely chopped. Set aside. Next, into the cleaned food processor add the jar of sun dried tomatoes including the oil and pulse until it is finely chopped.
Using a baking sheet, dust with flour and roll out the pizza dough. Spread a layer of the sun dried tomato spread and next to it a layer of olive tapenade. Next add mozzarella in two rows and a row of basil leaves. Fold in the sides just slightly. This seals in everything.
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Starting from the side closest to you (bottom portion of above photo) roll the dough to the end and place the seam side down. Brush with olive oil and slice a few small slits in the dough to allow the steam to escape. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.  Now being that this is for the BBQ I can’t slice it open to show you because I will warm it tomorrow… I’ll post a picture of the beautiful inside of the bread soon!

Happy Eats!!


*these are my original recipes*