Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Chili

       This recipe is so simple and has all the flavors of a buffalo chicken wing. I did all the prep work the night before and let it cook for 6 hours on low. The crunchy tortilla chip and blue cheese topping give the chili an extra kick of flavor.  

Ingredients:

2 lbs of chicken breast

4 large carrots

4 stalks of celery

1 large onion

1 jalapeno

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can red beans

1 can black beans

2 cans of chicken broth

Hot Sauce (measurement depends on level of spice preference)

1 package of McCormick’s hot chili seasoning

4 flour tortillas

Blue cheese crumbles

Step 1: The night before: Slice the chicken into bite sized chunks. Add garlic powder, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes. Put in a tight container or ziplock bag.  Next, cut the carrots, onion, jalapeno and celery into bite sized pieces.  Place in the crockpot. Put the crockpot and chicken into the fridge for the night.

Step 2: The day of: Add chicken to the crockpot of vegetables.  Next, add the remaining ingredients: diced tomatoes, beans, chicken broth, chili seasoning, hot sauce (a few dashes). Mix together, set on low for 6-8 hours.

Step 3: After about 6 hours the chicken will be cooked through and the vegetables will soften. At this point the chili is a little thin. If you prefer a thicker chili, mix flour and water into a paste and add to the chili. 

Step 4: Since I had flour tortillas on hand, I decided to use these as the “chips.” With a pizza cutter, cut the flour tortilla into 8 pieces. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne. Bake at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes. (Keep a close eye on them so they don’t burn!)

Step 5: When chips are finished baking, place them on top of chili. Top with the blue cheese crumbles. Depending on the level of spiciness you prefer, add a few more dashes of hot sauce.

This chili tastes even better the next day, and there should be plenty leftover for lunch! Enjoy!

Vegetable Turkey Meatloaf with Balsamic Glaze

Lately I’ve become a big fan of meatloaf. My previous specialty had a mushroom gravy topping and was made with ground beef. I saw a recipe for Bobby Flay’s Vegetable Turkey meatloaf and knew that I had to try it. Not only is this dish a lot healthier, but it received better reviews than my other meatloaf, which I thought was hard to do! The veggies help keep the turkey moist, and the balsamic ketchup glaze enhances the flavor of the loaf. I will say that this involves more prep work than traditional meatloaf, but in the end it is worth it.  This recipe makes enough for two meatloaves. Reduce the ground turkey to 1.5 lbs if serving for less people.

Ingredients:

3 lbs ground turkey

1 zucchini

1 onion

1 red pepper

1 orange pepper

4-5 cloves of chopped garlic

2 cups Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Fresh Parsley

Fresh Thyme

¼ cup reduced fat mayo or 2 eggs (I forgot to buy eggs so used the mayo as the binding agent)

Parmesan Cheese

Ketchup

Balsamic Vinegar

Crushed red pepper flakes

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice the zucchini, red and yellow peppers, and onions into bite sized chunks. Add to a pan with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and chopped garlic.  Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes. Let the mixture cook 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and let cool while preparing meatloaf mixture.

Step 2: Place ¼ cup reduced fat mayo, fresh parsley and thyme into a bowl. Mix. Add ground turkey, panko, parmesan cheese, a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and about ½ cup of ketchup.  Put the cooled vegetable mixture into the bowl. Combine ingredients together by hand.

Step 3: Form the mixture into 2 loaves.  Since I only have one loaf pan, I used a baking sheet for the second loaf.  Add a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese to the top of the loaves.

Step 4: Whisk together equal parts balsamic vinegar and ketchup plus a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes in a bowl. Brush the mixture on top of the meatloaf. Bake for 1 hour. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

 These two loaves served 5 people, with one tiny piece leftover!  That alone proves how delicious the end result is. I served this with roasted potatoes, onions, and carrots. Happy eating!

Saturday Night In: Burger Night

Who needs to go out on a Saturday when you can cook at home?

Our menu: Juicy blue cheese, caramelized onion and mushroom burgers with spicy sweet potato fries.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground meat

1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Ciabatta bread rolls

Two large onions

1 package sliced Mushrooms

A few splashes of red wine

Blue cheese Crumbles

Olive Oil

           For the burgers: My roommates and I are on a new health kick, so we decided to spring for the 93% lean ground meat. This is probably the only thing healthy about our meal, but hey, we deserved it. Not sure about you, but I can only eat salads for so long before beginning to crave real meat.

Step 1: I put a package of Lipton onion soup mix into the meat to boost the flavor, and then formed the meat into three patties. Next, I set the patties in the fridge for the flavors to set and to prepare the other ingredients.

Step 2: Onions-Caramelized onions are my roommate Molly’s specialty.  Her trick is “low and slow.” Slice up two to three large onions and place into a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the onions on low, stirring often. Frequently add one to two tablespoons of water into the pan as the onions cook down. The process should take between 20-30 minutes.

Step 3: Mushrooms- Coat a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add sliced mushrooms into the pan. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper flakes. Once mushrooms have cooked for 5-7 minutes, add a few splashes of red wine. Bring to a boil, then let simmer on low.

Step 4: Grill the burgers to your preference---we cooked ours medium rare.  When burgers are almost finished, add the blue cheese crumbles onto the burger until melted.Toast the ciabatta bread on the grill as well.

Step 5: Now the fun begins---assemble the burgers. Loaded burger for me: thick juicy burger topped with blue cheese, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and a few touches of Sriracha.

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries:

5 Sweet potatoes

Cayenne Pepper

Chili Pepper

Cinnamon

Parmesan Cheese

Olive oil

Sea Salt

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

I have a difficult time cutting sweet potatoes. In order to make them softer for cutting, I place them into the microwave for 5 minutes. Once cooled, slice the sweet potato into fries. Place in a baking sheet and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Season with cayenne pepper, chili pepper, cinnamon, sea salt, and a touch of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, turn and bake for another 15 minutes. Broil 2 minutes (if you like them crispy) These are so tasty---the sweet and spicy combination is delicious--a must have!

Bourbon Street Chicken

The idea for this recipe was found on BigOven.com and is called "Bourbon Street Chicken." I made a few adjustments to the original recipe. The result is a sweet yet spicy chicken dish loaded with flavor. I made the dish using a wok, and served it over brown rice with steamed broccoli.


For the marinade:

1 garlic clove; crushed

Crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup Apple Juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons of ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 soy sauce

Sriracha--measurement varies depending on how spicy you want the sauce to be

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

You will also need:

2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts

One large onion

Olive oil

Step 1: Cut the chicken into bite sized chunks. Add the ingredients of the marinade together in a small mixing bowl. Whisk together and pour over chicken. Mix well, cover, and set in refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

Step 2: To make the additional sauce, add the same measurement of the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Step 3: When you are ready to cook, coat the wok with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Slice the large onion into strips. Add to wok.

Step 4:Once onions are cooked down, add the marinated chicken to the wok

.

Step 5: Let cook for 20-25 minutes. The sauce will get thicker as time goes on.

Step 6: Meanwhile, take the additional sauce out of the refrigerator and place into a pan to boil. This sauce will be used to drizzle over the finished chicken.

Step 7: Cut into a small piece of chicken to make sure it is cooked thoroughly.

  

    

Step 8: Lastly, place the chicken over brown rice. Drizzle the sauce on top, serve with broccoli and enjoy! 

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip.


This is one of my favorite go to appetizer recipes. It's great to bring to parties and is always a huge hit.  Some debate over using ranch or blue cheese dressing as the creamy base. For me, it is a no brainer: blue cheese is the definite way to go. You can add as much hot sauce as you wish depending on how spicy you want the dip to be. 


1 lb of skinless boneless chicken breast
1 block of Cream Cheese, softened
Garlic powder
Crushed red pepper flakes
Frank's Hot Sauce (eyeball it depending on the degree of spiciness)
Blue Cheese dressing
Mozzarella Cheese
Dash of Italian Dressing


Step 1: Boil a pot of water. Place chicken breast in boiling water to cook, about 10-15 minutes. Chicken is done when juices run clear and middle is white.
Step 2: Shred the chicken into bite sized pieces using two forks. Place chicken in bowl.
Step 3: Add garlic powder and red pepper flakes to shredded chicken.
Step 4: Mix in softened cream cheese.
Step 5: Here comes the fun part: add as much hot sauce and blue cheese you desire. For a mild dip, use more blue cheese dressing with dashes of hot sauce. For all of the spicy food lovers like me, the more hot sauce the better. If you have different types of hot sauce, throw a few dashes of that in as well. Then, add some shakes of italian dressing to the mixture.
Step 6:  Add two handfuls of mozzarella cheese. Mix well.
Step 7: Place into a baking dish or disposable tin. Cover with more cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until cheese on top bubbles.

Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!