Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I originally saw this recipe on my favorite food blog, Skinny Taste, and I just had to try it.

Her recipe is a little more in depth, but I just adapted it to make it a little easier…I’m all for as simple as possible

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• Buffalo wing sauce (I used Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce)
• Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (I used 2 pounds, but use the amount you need)  I also used frozen, but I’m sure you can use thawed
• 1 packet of ranch seasoning
• Lettuce or tortillas (for wraps)
• Ranch or blue cheese dressing (We used my skinny ranch dressing) (Optional)
• Celery (Optional)
• Blue Cheese Crumbles or shredded cheese (optional)
• Shredded carrots (optional)

Throw chicken, sauce, and seasoning packet in a crockpot and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8.  Shred with a fork and serve on lettuce or tortillas, with your choice of dressing, and  toppings

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Lately, I’ve been using my crock pot A LOT.  I hate cooking chicken, and throwing it in the crockpot makes my life SO much easier.

Anyway, I found this super simple recipe (sorry, not sure where, but I know there are a lot out there) for “taco chicken”.  I’ve made it twice because it is so easy and a huge hit with my boys (Alex, little brother, and his friend who lives upstairs).  So here it is (measurements not really important )

Crockpot Chicken Tacos:

Ingredients:

• Frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast – I’ve done it with 1 pound and 2 pounds.  I prefer doing the 2 pounds because it feeds us longer.
• Jar of your favorite salsa
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (your choice of mild, medium, hot, etc)
• Crockpot

Throw all the ingredients in the crockpot (I usually throw my chicken in frozen, but I’m sure you can thaw it out beforehand…just adjust cooking time).  The original recipe I found said a whole jar of salsa, but I just eyeball it and make sure the chicken is covered.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high or 4-6.  (Obviously, just check it to make sure it is cooked through ).

Shred with a fork and serve with your favorite taco ingredients!

Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese

Although my Alex will eat pretty much anything, my family (parents and brother) are EXTREMELY picky.

From my dad not liking tomatoes, my mom eating like a four-year old (macaroni and cheese, burgers, chicken fingers), and my brother who refuses to eat anything that might go in a salad, it is quite difficult to come up with anything that they will all eat.

I was at home for the weekend and needed a recipe that I could try that they all would eat.  I saw this while browsing my favorite cooking blog, and thought it would be a good recipe to try.

It was a hit!

Terrible picture, but it is from my cell phone.  I’ll fix it later though ;)  Visit the original recipe here for a better, more appetizing picture

Baked Buffalo Chicken Pasta

serves 4-6

• 1 pound pasta (I used shells)
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into chunks
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 ounces grated monterey jack cheese (I used half a brick) + more for topping
• 1/3 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese + more for topping
• 2/3 cup mild buffalo wing sauce (original calls for 1/3, but I added more for more flavor)
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

for garnish: additional buffalo wing sauce  (She added additional garnishes on the original recipe found here)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare water for pasta and cook according to directions.

While pasta is cooking, heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter, and once it’s melted and bubbly add the flour. Whisk together to create a roux and cook for 1-2 minutes until mixture gets a bit golden in color. Add milk, stir and turn down heat to low. Continue stirring until milk thickens. Add in grated cheeses and continue to stir until mixture is smooth. Stir in buffalo wing sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.

Spray a baking dish (9x13) with non-stick spray. Add pasta and chicken, then pour cheese sauce over and mix thoroughly until everything is coated. Sprinkle with additional grated cheese and bread crumbs. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.  Drizzle with buffalo wing sauce.

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

Alex has been dying for me to cook for him, so while I was in Arkansas…I thought I would do just that.  I found this recipe on the Kraft Foods website and with chicken, pasta, spaghetti sauce, and cheese I didn’t see how you could go wrong!  The original recipe was semi-healthy and with my changes, it definitely took that aspect away, but it was so good!  I’m sure it is delicious without the additions as well…we were just about to go out of town for the weekend and didn’t want a lot of leftover ingredients :)

I hope you enjoy as much as we did! :)

*Note:  As always, my additions/substitutions are in bold italics

From:  kraftfoods.com (It has a video if you need extra help, but honestly, if I can handle it, I’m sure you can too! ;))

What You Need

1-1/2 cups multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked (I used regular penne and I used the entire box)

1 pkg.  (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves (I coarsely chopped it to make it easier to eat – this could be easily left out without compromising the dish)

1 lb. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (I used 2 pounds)

1 tsp.  Dried basil leaves

1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 can  (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained (I didn’t drain them)

2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed (I used 4 oz.)

1 cup  KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided (I used the whole package)

2 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese (just tasted it and added as I saw fit)

 

Make It

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

COOK pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water the last minute.

COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat 3 min. Stir in spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer on low heat 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel.

DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole or 8-inch square baking dish (Because I upped the ingredients, I used a 9 x 13 baking dish)

BAKE 20 min.; top with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

Like I said, it definitely wasn’t healthy, but it was definitely yummy!  It made a lot (with my alterations of course) and it was just as yummy as leftovers :)

As always, if you try it, let me know how it works for you!

Easy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

My brother’s football coach used to invite the team over every once in a while for dinner.  Since the coach’s wife had a big group to feed, she made spaghetti quite often.  Not just any spaghetti though…it was chicken spaghetti.  My brother would come home raving about it and finally asked what was in it.  My mom just happened to run across a recipe that was very similar, if not identical, to the one his coach’s wife made for them. 
Mom actually made it this weekend and it has definitely become one of my favorite meals (I’ve even made it for Alex and he liked it too!)
So here is the yummy recipe (from Neighbors magazine October 2008)

EASY CHEESY CHICKEN SPAGHETTI
1 pound spaghetti
2 (13-ounce) cans chicken, drained and flaked
2 (10-ounce) cans cream of chicken soup
1 (10-ounce) can cheddar cheese soup
1 (10-ounce) can mild Rotel tomatoes
2 cups shredded three-cheese blend
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook spaghetti according to package directions and drain. In a large bowl, stir together spaghetti and remaining ingredients. Pour into a greased 9- by 13-inch casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.

I will say, it is super easy to make (like I said, even I’ve made it!) and super yummy!
As always, if you try it, let me know what you think! :)