Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!! The hubby and I are getting ready to make the drive up to Michigan to see our families. I'll try to remember to take pics of all the delicious food tomorrow!! xo

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Since we are going out of town for 5 days for Thanksgiving, I haven't gone grocery shopping in a while. So tonight we used up some chicken and potatoes we had. Yum!

Ingredients

* 2 chicken breasts, cut up into "tender" size (for 2 people)
* Frank's buffalo sauce
* Seasoned breadcrumbs
* Any extra seasonings you like

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Marinate chicken in buffalo sauce for a couple hours. The longer, the better!
3. Put bread crumbs into bowl and mix in seasonings to your preference. We mixed in some cayenne pepper and some Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy seasoning.
4. Dip each chicken tender into bread crumb mixture, coating all sides evenly.
5. Bake in oven on pan or wire rack for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

We served these with Garlic Fries and dipped them in blue cheese dressing. So good!

Ultimate Chewy & Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Since my husband's last failed attempt of cookies in the kitchen... I decided to help him out tonight w/ some real CC cookies. I got this recipe from Beantown Baker.

Ingredients

* 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

* 1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

* 1/2 cup granulated sugar

* 2 large eggs

* 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extra

* 3 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

* 1 tsp. baking soda

* 1/2 tsp. salt
* 16 oz. bitter or semi-sweetchocolate (we used chocolate chips)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly butter, and set aside.

3. Mix by hand/electric mixer the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

5. Beat in the vanilla.

6. Sift in the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl.

7. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture, and mix until just combined.

8. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

7. Shape knobs of dough about the size of a large walnut and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

8. Bake 12-15 minutes for smaller cookies; 14-17 minutes for large ones, or until tops are a light golden brown. If the cookies are neither firm not dark when they are removed from the oven, they will cool chewy and soft.

9. Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Salami Pesto Paninis

So there's this sandwich shop here in Knoxville called Pimento's... they are similar to Panera but they serve an AMAZING salami panini that my husband is OBSESSED with. I tried to make something similar tonight. The result: SUPER YUMMY!!!!!

Ingredients:

* 4 slices ciabatta bread for two people (we used asiago garlic ciabatta)

* 6-8 slices salami

* 4 slices pre-cooked bacon (we used turkey bacon)

* 2 triangles Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow Cheese

* Pesto sauce to taste

Directions

1. For each sandwich, spread Laughing Cow cheese on piece of bread and pesto sauce on other piece.

2. Add salami and bacon on top and put together into sandwich form.

3. Heat on griddle or panini press until done.

4. Enjoy!

Starbucks = Love ♥♥♥

I just had to share with everyone the greatest (hot) drink ever invented. A Starbucks venti non-fat 8-pump chai latte, no water. This baby always gets me through the day! mmm

PS ~ Aren't their holiday cups the best? Love them!

Friggin Amazing Taco Stuffed Shells

I found this recipe on BlogChef.net and was super excited to make it. How could anyone not love Italian + Mexican together??? mmm this was seriously one of the best meals I've ever had!

Ingredients

* 1 lb. ground beef (we used ground turkey)

* 1 package taco seasoning

* 4 oz. cream cheese (we used non-fat)

* 12 jumbo pasta shells (we used 16)

* 1 cup salsa (we used a little more)

* 1 cup taco sauce

* 1 cup cheddar cheese

* 1 cup monterey jack cheese

(we used 2 cups Sargento mexican blend)

* 1 1/2 cups crushed tortilla chips (we omitted)

* 3 green onions (chopped)

* Sour cream

Directions

1. In a frying pan cook ground beef; add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.

2. Add cream cheese, cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and cool completely.

3. While ground beef is cooking, cook the pasta shells according to directions; drain. Set shells out individually on cutting board/baking sheet so that they don't stick together.

4. Pour salsa on bottom of 9x13 baking dish.

5. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place shells in 9x13 pan open side up. Cover shells with taco sauce.

6. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

7. After 30 minutes, add shredded cheese and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

8. Add any condiments you'd like (onions, black olives, etc.) Serve with sour cream and/or more salsa. Enjoy!

What Happens When Men Bake (Butterscotch Cookies)

:: Five minutes before ANTM is starting ::

Keith: Honey, I really really want some cookies, like some Chips Ahoy, but don't feel like going to the store.

Me: We have stuff to make them but my show is about to start.

Keith: I'll make them myself.

Lindsay: OK, here's the recipe.

:: I take out all the ingredients, including 2 sticks of butter ::

Keith: Oh my god, TWO sticks of butter?! That's so bad for you!!

Me: They're cookies..... they're not good for you.

Keith: Isn't there some way we can only use one stick?

Me: No.

:: A few minutes later ::

Keith: We only have a little bit of brown sugar left, so I'll just substitute the rest for plain sugar.

Me: OK, if you say so.

:: I go into the kitchen and see Keith dumping flour/sugar/etc. in the bowl without measuring ::

Me: Sweetheart, why aren't you measuring anything?

Keith: Oh whatever, it's close enough.

:: I hear the microwave turn on from the couch ::

Keith: The butter isn't soft enough.
Me: Too late, you already started mixing it with everything else.
Keith: That's okay, I just put the whole bowl in the microwave.

And now you see why the wife should always be around to facilitate baking! I have to admit that the cookies taste pretty good, although very sugary. But they look horrible, like pancakes that are falling apart!! Men......

PS ~ Keith "followed" the recipe from Venice's blog, and butterscotch chips were used instead of chocolate b/c we were out of chocolate.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Buffalo Chicken & Garlic Fries

Since I loooooooved the Laughing Cow Chicken recipe so much, I decided to try a buffalo version tonight. This was really tasty and nice and spicy, just how we like it! :) We made garlic fries from Venice's blog to go with it - those were delicious as well!

BLUE CHEESE STUFFED BUFFALO CHICKEN

Ingredients

* 2 chicken breasts, cut in half horizontally 3/4 of the way through (so you can stuff the inside)
* Appx 1/3 cup blue cheese crumbles
* Seasoning to taste (we used "Extra Spicy" Mrs. Dash seasoning)
* 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
* Frank's Red Hot sauce to marinate

Directions

1. Marinate chicken breasts in hot sauce for at least a couple hours - we did ours for about 4 hours.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
3. Open each chicken breast up and sprinkle blue cheese crumbles and seasoning inside the middle. Fold chicken back over to original shape.
4. Dip chicken in bread crumbs to coat. Place on baking sheet.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

*** The bottoms of the chicken did get a little soggy, so I guess the solution would be to bake the chicken on some sort of rack or maybe try turning them over halfway through.

GARLIC FRIES

Ingredients

* 2-3 potatoes for two people

* Garlic powder

* Salt and pepper (we used seasoned salt)

* EVOO

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut potatoes into french fry strips. Toss with EVOO, salt, pepper, garlic (and any other seasonings you like!)

3. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes or until crispy.

Chicken Stuffed Shells

I'm sure you've realized by now that my hubby and I love pretty much any kind of pasta dish, especially if it includes chicken! And this recipe was no different. Thanks to Annie's Eats for this yummy recipe! (I halved the recipe for the two of us and we still have enough for 2 nights worth. The full recipe is posted below.)

Ingredients

* 1 box uncooked jumbo pasta shells

* 6 cloves garlic

* 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

* 30 oz. part skim ricotta cheese

* 1/3 cup italian bread crumbs

* 1 1/2 tsp. salt

* 1/2 tsp. black pepper

* 1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley

* 6 large basil leaves, torn (I used dried)

* 1/3 cup half and half

* ~28 oz. spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu Roasted Garlic)

* 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Cook pasta shells according to package directions and drain. Lay shells out on cutting board/cookie sheet to prevent from sticking together.

3. Add ingredients garlic through half and half to food processor and process until just combined. (I just mixed by hand.)

4. Spoon enough spaghetti sauce into 9x13 pan to cover bottom.

5. Fill the cooked shells with ricotta mixture and place open side up in pan.

6. Spoon as much of the remaining spaghetti sauce over shells as you'd like.

7. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

8. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

This was DELICIOUS!!!! My hubby said he wouldn't change a thing about this recipe, and I agree. Yum!

Frappe Vino

My dad and I went to the Sugar Loaf Art Fair in Novi, MI a few weeks ago and I ended up finding this hidden gem: frozen wine! It's a powdery mix that you add wine and water to, stick in the freezer for a few hours, and viola, you have a delicious frozen, slushy wine. The art fair was giving out free samples and they had me at my first sip :) Check them out: D'Marie Frappe Vino

Shelly's (White) ChocoChip Cookies!

These are soooooooooooo YUMMY!!! Thanks Shelly!!! :)

Ingredients

* 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

* 1/4 cup granulated white sugar

* 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
* 3/8 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

* ~9 oz. chocolate chips (I used white chocolate b/c that's what I had)

Directions

1. Set out stick of unsalted butter ahead of time, or heat in microwave just until soft. (Do not melt.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the first five ingredients with a hand/stand mixer.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the next four ingredients.

5. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet.

6. Stir in ~9 oz. chocolate chips.

7. Scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Leave about 2 inches between cookies.

8. Bake for 9+ minutes depending on how soft you like your cookies and how big you made them. I made mine really big, so mine took almost 15 minutes. Plus my oven kinda sucks.

9. Let cool for a few minutes before setting on cooling rack/wax paper/etc.

10. ENJOY!!! nom nom nom