Buffalo Chicken Pizza

My husband's two favorites foods: pizza and buffalo chicken anything. Umm needless to say, this meal is pretty much his favorite thing ever. And I agree, it's pretty damn good. Enjoy!

(Measurements are approximate... just eyeball it and use what you think is good. You really can't mess this one up!)

Ingredients

* 1 prepared pizza crust - I used Boboli

* 1 large boneless chicken breast, cooked and cubed (or 2 small breasts)

* Appx 1 cup ranch dressing

* Appx 1/2 cup buffalo sauce (of course I used Frank's)

* Appx 1.5 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

* Appx 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

Directions

1. Preheat oven according to pizza crust directions.

2. Put cooked chicken in bowl and cover with buffalo sauce. (Save some buffalo sauce to go on the pizza.)

3. Spread ranch dressing over pizza crust and top with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with shredded cheese. Add blue cheese crumbles on top. Add more buffalo sauce on top, to taste.

4. Bake in oven according to crust directions or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly (usually less than 10 min).

5. Let cool a few minutes... if you can wait that long. Enjoy!

A Twist on Stuffed Peppers

I recently tried Stuffed Peppers for the first time a few months ago. They were SO good!! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and knew immediately that I wanted to make it! I love feta and will use any recipe as an excuse to eat it :) I altered the recipe a tiny bit, which is posted below. Next time I may add a little ground meat, but this was a great vegetarian option. It was SUPER yummy!

Ingredients

* 1 pack instant rice, cooked (I used Uncle Ben's Ready Rice, which is made in the microwave in 90 seconds)
* 2 bell peppers, halved and seeded (I used one red and one yellow)
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 2 green onions, thinly chopped
* 1 tsp dried basil
* 1 tsp italian seasoning
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 pinch ground black pepper
* 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Place the pepper halves cut-side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast 15-20 minutes in the oven, or until tender and skin starts to brown on edges.
3. While the peppers are roasting, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Cook the onions, basil, italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in oil for 2-3 minutes. Spoon in the cooked rice and stir until heated through. Remove from heat. Mix in the feta cheese.
4. Remove peppers from oven and spoon in the rice mixture into pepper halves.
5. Stick back in oven for ~5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Creamy Cajun Shrimp Linguine

I got this recipe from Colleen's blog (Cooking This and That). This was sooo sooo sooo good. One of the best pastas I've ever had. Seriously. My husband and I like things really spicy, so we kicked up the cajun seasoning and added some cayenne pepper in there. Yum! Here is Colleen's recipe, adapted from Cooking Light. (Makes 4 servings).

Ingredients

* 8 ounces uncooked linguine (I used whole wheat)
* 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
* Appx 6 slices bacon or turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
* 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
* 8 oz package presliced mushrooms (I omitted.. ew, mushrooms)
* 7 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced or 1 large red pepper, chopped
* 2 tsp all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp cajun seasoning (I used a lot more b/c we like things very spicy)
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2/3 cup half-and-half
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* Addition: cayenne pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring medium pot of water to boil. Add linguine and cook 5-8 minutes. Add shrimp to pot and cook 3-5 more minutes. Drain and keep warm.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Add roasted red peppers and mushrooms; saute 4 minutes or until moisture evaporates.
3. Add flour, seasoning (& cayenne pepper if using), and salt to pan; saute 30 seconds. Stir in half-and-half; cook one minute or more until sauce thickens, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat. Add pasta mixture, bacon, and parsley to pan; stirring to combine.

Since Keith doesn't like shrimp very much, I gave him a plateful of the pasta without any shrimp and he added chicken into it, which was very good as well.

Creamy Linguine with Bacon

I saw this on Stephanie's blog a long time ago and finally decided to make it tonight. This was really good, although very very rich and filling. We were going to have a side salad or crescents with it and forgot, and now I'm glad that we did! (Serves 2-3).

Ingredients

* 8 ounces rigatoni pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
* 3-4 cooked chicken cutlets - cubed (I omitted and used crumbled bacon instead)
* Fresh cracked pepper - to taste
* Garlic salt - to taste

For Cream Sauce:
* 2 ounces veggie cream cheese
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1/4-1/2 cup milk
* Fresh cracked pepper - to taste
* Parmesan cheese - to taste (I didn't have parmesan so I used shredded mozzarella instead.. it was still tasty!)

Directions

1. Cook pasta; set aside.
2. In a sauce pan, melt the cream cheese and butter over medium-low heat. Add milk once melted. Add parmesan cheese, pepper, garlic salt. Stir constantly for about 2-3 minutes until it thickens.
3. Toss in pasta and chicken (or bacon crumbles), coat well.
4. Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh cracked pepper.

Healthy Shrimp Scampi

This was really really really good! I made it just for myself since Keith isn't a huge shrimp fan, but it was well worth the effort. This is really simple to make and tastes soo good! I found this recipe on Stephanie's Macaroni and Cheesecake blog, who originally found it in the Eating for Life Cookbook. (Recipe below serves 2).

Ingredients

* 4 oz uncooked whole wheat penne pasta
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled & deveined
* 3 tbsp Butter Buds, divided (in the spice aisle)
* 3 tbsp white wine (or chicken stock - which I used)
* 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
* Lemon to squeeze (I used lemon juice)
* Parmesan cheese & parsley for topping

Directions

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil & garlic in large skillet over medium heat.
3. Add shrimp to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently until it's almost pink, about 2 minutes.
4. Add 1 tbsp of Butter Buds & and all the chicken broth to the shrimp. Saute about 2 more minutes, until shrimp is cooked through.
5. Drain pasta. Add pepper and remaining butter buds, and mix gently.
6. Add shrimp to pasta and toss gently.
7. Spoon onto plates and top with squeeze of lemon, parmesan cheese, & parsley.

Shelly's Crunchy Shrimp

Well this was my first time ever having shrimp at home... I just recently started ordering it more and more at restaurants, mostly in pasta, but have always loved it breaded as well. This was probably one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. No joke. Shelly, this was AMAZING! (Huge thanks to Shelly @ LovesToNom!) She linked me to this recipe at work this afternoon and I ran out to the grocery store at lunch to get some panko bread crumbs so that I could make it for dinner tonight :)

Serves 2.

Ingredients

* Appx 2 dozen medium size shrimp that come in the frozen bag (I bought a big bag of tails off @ Sam's Club)

* 3 tbsp flour

* 3 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like spicy!)

* 2 tsp black pepper

* 3 tsp garlic salt

* 2 eggs

* Panko bread crumbs

* Vegetable oil

Directions

1. Set out 2 paper plates and 1 small bowl. On the first plate mix the flour, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and garlic salt. In the bowl, beat 2 eggs. On the second plate, dump some Panko bread crumbs.

2. Heat up some vegetable oil in a large skillet (not olive oil). Pour just enough oil so it thinly covers the entire bottom of the pan.

3. Take a shrimp, dunk it in the flour mixture, then the egg, then the panko. Carefully put it in the skillet. Repeat as necessary.

4. Fry each side about 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

5. Shelly says you don't need dipping sauce, but I picked up some of this lemon dill sauce and it was so delicious on the shrimp!

Garlic, Blue Cheese, & Red Pepper Pasta

I wanted a not-so-bad-for-you/quick and easy pasta dish tonight since Keith had decided on just eating a sandwich for dinner and I was on my own. This was pretty good! It would probably be better if you roasted the red peppers, but I was too lazy and hungry and impatient to do so! (Recipe serves one.)

Ingredients

* Appx 2 handfuls whole wheat pasta (I used fusilli)

* Olive oil to taste

* Blue cheese crumbles to taste

* Appx 1 tsp minced garlic

* Diced red peppers to taste

* Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain.

2. Add all other ingredients into hot pasta and mix together until cheese is melted.

3. Eat! mmm.

Loaded Baked Potato

I'll be honest... this was my first time making a baked potato! Why have I never done this before? It's SO easy and so yummy! I used this basic recipe from the FN website. Enjoy!

Ingredients

* Large russet potatoes (one per person)
* Canola oil to coat

* Kosher salt

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash potatoes thoroughly, dry, and use a fork to poke about a dozen times all over the spud.

3. Place potatoes in a bowl and coat lightly with oil.

4. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place potatoes directly on rack in middle of oven.

5. Place a baking sheet on the lower oven rack to catch any drippings.

6. Bake for about an hour or until skin feels crisp but flesh beneath feels soft.

7. Serve by creating a dotted line from end to end with your fork, then crack open the spud by squeezing the ends toward one another. It will pop right open. Watch out for steam.

8. Top with your favorite toppings. We used fat-free sour cream, fat-free shredded cheddar cheese, chives, and low-fat bacon bits. (Hey, we tried to make it healthy!)

Sorry... I've been MIA!!

My apologies for being a horrible blogger lately... we were in MI for 11 days for the holidays. I got a new cookbook for Christmas and am looking forward to blogging again. Hope everyone had a great holiday and a fun NYE! xoxo