Tag Archives: freezes well

Baked Penne with Chicken & Sundried Tomatoes

Posted on November 26, 2011 | 3 Comments

Say what you want about Martha Stewart, but you gotta give the woman credit.  Girl knows how to cook.  And bake.  And decorate.  A while back I was on her website looking at various one pot and slow cooker meals, when I found this little gem.

(source)

Penne pasta in a cream sauce mixed with chicken, mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes? Oh, and cheese?  Uh, YUM!  I immediately pinned it on one of my Pinterest boards to make later.

Later came and I found myself perusing my boards for cooking ideas.  I saw this picture and decided it was time to test it out!  I made a batch to freeze and a couple small ramekins for Jeff and I to try out. (BTW, these ramekins make a great holiday gift!  I have a set of two and I use them all. the. time.  They work perfectly in a toaster oven to sample dishes as I did here!)

The verdict?  Great same day meal!  Frozen, the noodles can get a bit mushy, so make sure you don’t overcook them as I did this time.  Using the correct noodle cooking time, I’m sure this recipe would freeze beautifully!


I also used a Garden Vegetable penne instead of a regular penne as it was the only thing I had on hand at the time.  I think the regular penne would be much better in this dish.  But you decide!  Get Martha’s recipe here!

 

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Brown Sugar Meatloaf 2.0

Posted on November 16, 2011 | 3 Comments

You may remember my original post for my Brown Sugar Meatloaf.  Well, it’s been upgraded.

The past few times I’ve made this meatloaf, it has been a little…different.  And not good different.  I have tweaked it a lot (omitting the red pepper, grating the onion, increasing the amount of sauce, etc).  I finally think I’ve perfected it!  Here is the new, updated, more tasty version of my meatloaf.  Commence salivation now.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf 2.0

For the loaf:
2 pounds ground sirloin
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1.5 sleeves Saltines, crushed

For the sauce:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

For the loaf, start by combining the milk, eggs, salt, pepper, onion, ginger, and Saltines in a mixing bowl.  For convenience, I used my stand mixer.  Once everything is well mixed, add your meat and mix slowly until well combined.

In my previous post I demonstrated how not to squeeze the meat as it would compact it, resulting in a much denser, therefore drier meatloaf.  When using the stand mixer, you don’t have to worry about that as much and you keep your hands clean!  Bonus!

For the sauce, combine all the ingredients above and mix well.
Complicated, right?

To assemble your loaves, start by putting a cooling rack over a baking sheet.  Then, to prevent sticking, I cut some foil to the approximate size I wanted our loaves to be.  I then sprayed them with cooking spray.

The reason I used a cooling rack over a baking sheet was to encourage the “drippings” to run away from the meet.  The meatloaf is moist enough without it and sometimes when the drippings are allowed to stay close to the loaves, it actually results in soggier meatloaf.  Not very tasty.

After your rack is prepared, form your loaves.  I got three two person loaves from 2 pounds.  Shape them to approximately the same size as your foil.  Cover each loaf with a generous amount of sauce.  I used a pastry brush to do this, but you could just use a spoon.  It’s up to you.

Bake at 400º for about an hour, or until the middle reaches 165º.  The reason I like to use a baking sheet instead of a loaf pan is because you can put the sauce on the top, which creates sort of a crust that keeps the meat tender and juicy.  Plus it gets slightly caramelized which, let’s face it, is never a bad thing!

I will probably continue to fool around with this recipe because I can never leave well enough alone.  I have thought about adding garlic, red pepper flakes, hot sauce, ground sage, etc to the meatloaf.  Maybe in time there will be a Version 3.0!

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This Little Piggy Pancakes

Posted on November 6, 2011 | 5 Comments

Peanut butter and jelly.
Macaroni and cheese.
Oreos and milk.
Pancakes and sausage.

Some things just go together!  A while back, I hosted a game night.  Some of the game players partook in a little too much wine and, being the responsible hostess, I offered them my couch to sleep on.  The next morning, I decided a breakfast of pancakes and sausage might help soak up the remnants from the night before.

I had planned on just making sausage patties and pancakes, but then I had a light bulb moment.  Put sausage in the pancakes!  This Little Piggy Pancakes were born.

This Little Piggy Pancakes
(makes 8 pancakes)

1.5 cups milk
4 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups all purpose flour
6 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 pound sausage, browned and crumbled
cooking spray

Combine the milk and vinegar in a small bowl and let “sour” for 5 minutes.  You are essentially making buttermilk.  I promise, you won’t taste the vinegar or any sour taste.  The mixture just adds another dimension to the dish.

While the milk is souring, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Combine well.

Once the mixture is finished souring, wisk together the milk mixture, flour mixture, and eggs until just combined.  Be careful not to overmix here.  You want the pancakes to be nice and fluffy.  Let sit while you are browning the sausage.  You may notice the batter start to foam up.  This is a good thing!  Don’t stir it!

While the batter is sitting, brown your sausage in a saucepan over medium heat until cooked through.  Break it up into very small pieces while browning.  Once browned, drain on some paper towels.

After the sausage is removed, wipe the pan with some paper towels and decrease the heat to medium low.  Spray the pan with cooking spray and put about 1/2 – 3/4 of a cup of batter into your pan.  The amount of batter used depends on how big you want your pancakes.  Add about 1/8 of the sausage to the pancake.

Cook on medium low until you start to see bubbles appearing at the edges of the pancake.  This will help you determine when to flip the pancake.  I learned this trick during the many Sundays I spent making pancakes for our Pancake Breakfast at church with my friend, Beth.  (Hi, Beth!)

Once you see those bubbles, use a spatula to check the underside of the pancake.  You want to see a nice, golden color.  When you see this, it’s time to flip.  Put your spatula under the cake and just go for it!  100% commitment required!

Cook on the opposite side until it, too, is nice and golden.  If I had to guess at the time, I would probably say 1-2 minutes.  I honestly never time it.  I just go by feel.  One thing you want to avoid at all costs is flipping it over and over again.  You should only flip pancakes once.  Flipping more than that can result in tough, chewy pancakes instead of soft, fluffy ones!

Serve your piggy pancakes with warmed maple syrup.

If you have any left, let them cool to room temperature and store in a zip top bag in the freezer.  When you are ready to serve, you can warm them in the microwave or, my favorite way, in the toaster!  They get a nice little crust on them and they are just as delicious as the first time.  In fact, I often make double batches of pancakes, waffles, etc just so I can store some in the freezer for a quick, easy breakfast.

Easy to view recipe found here

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From Russia, With Love

Posted on October 26, 2011 | 7 Comments

When you see a super thin piece of beef, what is the first meal you think of?  Some people think of steak tacos, some think of beef stir fry.  Me?  I think of one thing:

the Russian originated Beef Stroganoff.

Beef stroganoff is one of my favorite weeknight meals to make because it is simple and easy.  It’s also one of those meals you can prep ahead of time and throw together quickly at the end of a long day.  I tend to make a double batch of sauce so I stretch my buck even further and get two, two, two meals out of one!

Yesterday at the store, I found a super thin piece of beef marked down to $3.82.  It was going to expire on 10/27, so I popped that baby into my cart and earmarked it for tonight’s dinner.  Because I was able to get two meals out of the one piece of beef, I was able to make that $3.82 stretch waaaaaaaay out!  Love it!

Apparently, Beef Stroganoff is one of those meals you can also make in the crock pot.  Well, I must have done something wrong last time I tried this because my husband said the recipe was so bad he couldn’t even choke it down!  Take it from me (and Paula Deen)…this recipe is so quick and easy, it takes no time to throw it together.  Trust me.  Would I lie?

Beef Stroganoff
(adapted from Mrs. Paula Deen herself)

3/4 pound thinly sliced beef, cut into bite sized chunks
Steak Seasoning
Flour
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
2 tbsp butter, divided
1 small onion, finely diced
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped (optional)
1 10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 can-full beef broth (see below)
Salt & pepper to taste
4 oz cream cheese
1 pound egg noodles*

In a large skillet over medium high heat, warm 1 tbsp each of the olive oil and butter.  While the skillet is preheating, cut up your beef.

Season liberally with the steak seasoning (I used my favorite grill seasoning from Dorothy Lane Market.  If you live in the area and haven’t tried it, you are seriously missing out!)

Sprinkle with flour and toss to coat.

Shake off any excess flour and place in the skillet.  Brown on both sides.  Once the meat is browned, remove and drain on a paper towel.

Add the second tbsp of olive oil and butter and then add the onions.  This is also the time you add the mushrooms if you desire.  I desired.  Jeff did not.  Guess who won that debate.  (Let’s be honest…he’s just lucky I didn’t have any mushrooms in the house.)

Once the onions are nice and soft, add a tbsp of flour and mix in.  Add your cream of mushroom soup and then fill up the empty can with beef broth and dump that in.  Mix well and bring to a boil.  Once it is boiling, reduce the heat to low and let simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your egg noodles to the package directions. Once cooked, drain and return to the stock pot.  I try to plan my noodles to be done around the same time as the sauce so they don’t sit in the hot pot too long as they can start bonding to the pot itself.

After your sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, add in your cream cheese and stir to combine.  I let my cream cheese sit in the sauce for a few minutes to soften up and then I stir it.  Honestly, the whipped cream cheese would probably work better for this recipe.

Once your sauce is finished, add it to the drained noodles and toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

I love beef stroganoff.  I honestly think it’s one of our favorite meals!  It’s definitely comfort food at it’s best.  And Peanut liked it too.  That or he just likes kneeing me a lot!  One thing’s for sure…I love my new camera!

*This recipe is a full recipe that would feed 4 people easily.  For the two of us, I save half the sauce and only make 1/2 a pound of egg noodles, saving the rest for when I make the second half of the recipe.

To view this recipe in an easy to follow format, click here!

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Freezer Meals: Chicken Enchiladas Two Ways

Posted on October 13, 2011 | 4 Comments

You may remember when I did my Marathon Cooking session a few weeks ago.  Well, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had been scheduled off for today!  Technically, I’m still on vacation.  So what does that mean?  Cooking, cleaning, and staying in my pjs all day of course!

I made several dishes during my Marathon Cooking session and unfortunately some of them did not turn out as delicious as I had hoped.  This taught me a valuable lesson:  only make bulk dishes to freeze out of meals you already know you like!

Learning this, I decided to make three meals in big batches:  “Cheater” Lasagna, Buffalo Chicken casserole, and Chicken Enchiladas.  I’ll post the lasagna and the buffalo chicken recipes at a later date, but today we are going to focus on the Chicken Enchiladas.  I came up with two different ways of making this dish.  The main recipe is the same, but the construction of the dishes are a little different.

Chicken Enchiladas
The Basic Recipe (makes enough for 2-3 people):

1 chicken breast, poached & diced
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1/2 can refried beans
1/3 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup cheddar cheese

To start, bring a pot of water to a boil, season with salt and pepper, and poach your chicken in the liquid for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  Remove from liquid and let cool.  Once it’s cool enough to handle, dice it into small pieces.

While your chicken is cooking, make your rice.  I used my Cuisinart rice cooker to make this rice.  Typically when you make rice, you use a 1:2 ratio.  I used one cup of rice to two cups of water plus a pinch of salt for flavor.  With my rice cooker, I just add the ingredients and flip the switch to “cook”.  Once it’s done, it switches to “warm” and lets me continue what I’m doing until I need the rice.  Just follow the directions on your bag of rice to ensure it turns out perfectly.

Once the chicken and rice are cooked and ready to go, add them to a big bowl along with your salsa, beans, cheese, and enchilada sauce (just to help the beans incorporate into the dish).

This is where you can get creative!  Add whatever kinds of Mexican-y things you like!  Corn, black beans, cilantro, green chiles, you name it!  Jeff is a simple man and is not a big fan of veggies in his enchiladas so I left them out.  I figure I can make a nice little Mexican side salad the night we eat this so I get all the yummy veggie nutrients.

That’s your basic recipe.  Here are two ways to use this filling to create a couple yummy dishes:

Method One:
Mexican Rollups

1/3 cup enchilada sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5 burrito sized tortilla shells

Since I am freezing my meals, I opted to use foil 8×8 cake pans.  We are just two people, so typically I only want to make a small portion.  If you have a bigger family, you can double the above recipe and use a 13×9 dish.  It’s totally up to you.  I sprayed my pan to ensure no sticking and then started rolling.

Take a burrito sized tortilla shell, add about a 1/3 cup of filling towards the bottom of the shell, tuck the bottom of the shell over the filling, fold in the sides and roll the remaining of the way up.  (Yes, I realize I should have taken pictures of this, but I didn’t think I would be doing a blog post about these meals.  Hey, when inspiration strikes…)

Line your rolled enchiladas in the pan, top with enchilada sauce and the cheddar cheese.  Cover with foil and freeze.  I decided to turn up the collar of the pan just to provide a little extra holding power for the sauce.

Method Two:
Enchilada Lasagna

With this method, you just want to create layers in the dish.  I put one tortilla in the bottom of the pan, added 1/2 the filling,


topped with a second tortilla, some of the enchilada sauce, the remainder of the filling, a third tortilla, and the remainder of the sauce. Just use your judgement as to how much sauce you want to use.  Obviously you don’t want the sauce to be overflowing, but you want enough for the tortillas to soak up while cooking.  Finally, finish with the cheese.  Cover and freeze.

One thing I decided for my last tortilla layer was to cut the tortillas to fit.  I would have done this for the whole dish, but again I wasn’t thinking ahead.  To do this, just lay your tortillas in the pan and cut the excess off the sides like so:

When you are ready to serve either dish, you can preheat the oven to 400º and bake for about an hour (or until the meal is heated through) or you can thaw it overnight in the fridge and shorten the cooking time to about 30 minutes.  My husband is funny.  When he decides he’s hungry, he’s hungry now.  I think his hunger cues are off because it’s almost like when he realizes he’s hungry, he has to eat then or he’ll faint from starvation!  He also likes to eat around 6p (apparently he’s in his 60s), but I don’t get home until 5:30p at the earliest.  For this reason, I have to try to plan things well in advance.  This is why thawing the dish ahead of time is better for us.

So there you go.  Two freezer meals that are simple, delicious, and crowd pleasers!  Hope you like them!

 

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Tater Tot Casserole

Posted on September 12, 2011 | 2 Comments

Today, while I was getting my cooking list ready, I stumbled upon a recipe for tater tot casserole.  Having never had this before, I thought it might be interesting so I added it to the list.

After paint shopping, grocery shopping, and painting half the nursery, I wanted a quick and easy meal to throw together.  This one sounded delicious, so I set about making it.  Jeff and I both thought it was pretty good!  I was smart and divided the recipe into two meals.  One is currently freezing for a future date.  Love my upright freezer!

Tater Tot Casserole
(allrecipes.com)

1 pound ground sirloin
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
1 can condensed cream of mushroom (I used the 98% fat free and it was great!)
1/2 cup milk
1.5 cups cheese
1 package frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large skillet, saute onion and ground sirloin in olive oil, breaking up the meat as you go.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook completely and drain.

In a small bowl, combine the cream of mushroom soup and milk thoroughly.  Spray a 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.  Put the meat mixture in the bottom of the dish and cover with soup mixture.  I tossed mine around to coat the meat.  Top with half the cheese, the tater tots, and the rest of the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until casserole is heated through and tots are nice and crispy.

Jeff said it tasted like something you would get at Sonic!  I don’t know about that, but I do know I made my typical ketchup/mustard mix to eat with it and it hit the spot!  Not the healthiest meal on the planet, but definitely one to make again!

(These photos aren’t bad for my iPhone, are they?)

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Break FAST

Posted on April 13, 2011 | 5 Comments

While I was visiting my dad’s side of the family for Christmas this year, my cousin Melissa told me about a dish she eats quite often for breakfast.  Quick, easy, FAST.  Sounded like the perfect breakfast for me as I’m always running a cool 5 minutes behind in the morning.

She told me about egg cups, which are pretty much exactly what they sound like:  cups filled with frozen eggs, cheese, and other various fixins.

It took me a long time to try them, but today was the day!  I am off work today and tomorrow so utilizing my time is a must!

I opted to use onions, turkey bacon, and asiago cheese today, but the varieties are endless!  Turkey sausage, cheddar cheese, sundried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, spinach, ham, red pepper…just to name a few. Anything you’d have in an omelet is perfect here!

They are so simple.  You just mix, pour, bake, cool, and freeze!  Yes, please!

Egg Cups
(adapted from onceamonthmom.com)

4 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 tbsp milk
1 onion, diced
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic gold nuggets in oil
5 slices turkey bacon, crisped
1/2 cup asiago cheese, shredded
3 slices whole wheat bread, quartered
salt, pepper, other herbs and spices to taste

Begin by preheating your oven to 450°.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Saute your onions until soft and slightly browned.  I added a bit of garlic gold nuggets here just because I can.  I’m a garlic lover after all.  Once browned, remove from pan and cook the turkey bacon in the same pan until crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Once drained, chop up relatively small. In a medium bowl, wisk together the eggs, egg whites, and milk until well incorporated.  Add the onions, turkey bacon, and asiago cheese and wisk together.  At this point, you can add any spices you like.  I used salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  We like things spicy around these here parts.  Once everything is good and mixed up, pour evenly into silicone lined (or cooking sprayed) muffin tins.  Bake at 450 for 12 minutes or until eggs are set.

You can either eat them right away or freeze for grab and go breakfasts.  Once A Month Mom suggests defrosting the cups overnight in the fridge and then reheating on 50% power for 90 seconds.  I have a feeling you could defrost them in the microwave on 30% power for a few minutes and then heat through after slightly defrosted.  I’ll have to play around with it and let you know.

Bonus Round!  I have found many people don’t really know how to cut an onion quickly and efficiently.  Today, because I love you, I have explained the process.  Enjoy!

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Slow Roasted Beef Enchiladas

Posted on January 26, 2011 | 1 Comment

Have you ever made a beef roast with no plans for it?  Me neither.  Until now.  The other night, in an effort to have a delicious meal waiting for us when we got home, I made a beef roast in the crock pot.  The verdict?  A bit dry unfortunately.  Luckily, Jeff had a date with his brother, so I was on my own for dinner.  I packed up the beef, stuck it in the fridge, and heated up some fried rice instead.  I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I knew I didn’t want to throw it away.

Tonight, on the way home from my new store (I’m a manager at Walgreens), I had a light bulb moment:  ENCHILADAS!  I stepped on the gas and hurried home.  This meal was super quick to make and I imagine would freeze beautifully!


Slow Roasted Beef Enchiladas

6 oz slow roasted beef, shredded*
1/2 cup salsa
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 small can green chilies (not drained)

4 whole wheat tortillas
1/2 cup vegetarian refried beans
1 cup 2% cheddar cheese
1 can green enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 425º. In a small bowl, mix the beef, corn, green chilies, and salsa.

Spray a 6×9 inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Spread 1/8 cup beans on each of the tortillas.

Spread 1/4 of the mixture on each tortilla and roll up.

Place in the dish, cover with enchilada sauce and cheese, and stick in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and the enchiladas are heated through.

One word sums it up:  DELICIOUS

*I roasted a beef roast in a bottle of Lawry’s Caribbean Jerk marinade mixed with a bottle of water on low for 8 hours in my crock pot.

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Brown Sugar Meatloaf

Posted on December 7, 2010 | 6 Comments

Meatloaf is one of those things…you either love it (and like my husband wants it every week), you tolerate it, or you just can’t stand it.  I used to be in the “just can’t stand it” category, until…

Enter the wonderment that is Brown Sugar Meatloaf.  Now, I know all of you are going to look at this recipe and think, “Yeah…what’s so special?  It’s meatloaf.  What planet has she been living on?”  But, my friends, there is something magical (to me) about this meatloaf.  I can’t explain it.  I can just share with you.

One of the reasons this meatloaf is so special to me is because I made it the night we went to see our current house for the first time.  We did our walk through and then went home to make dinner.  I don’t remember what sides we had, but I do vividly remember putting the loaf together afterward.  It’s the weird stuff that sticks in my memory sometimes…

Anyhow…I give you Brown Sugar Meatloaf.  Make it.  And serve it with Sister Schubert rolls.  Match made in heaven.  I promise.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf
(adapted from allrecipes.com…of course)

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup saltine crackers, crushed
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound lean ground pork
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a small saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Saute the onion, pepper, and garlic in the oil until soft and fragrant (about 5 minutes).

In a mixing bowl, mix the milk and saltines together and let sit.  Take a tip from me…pick a big enough bowl to start with or this happens:

You want the crackers to soak up the milk.  That’s better.

After your veggies finish cooking, add them to the milk mixture along with the eggs, salt, pepper, and ginger.  Mix well.

In a separate bowl, start working on the meat.  You want to break up the meat a little bit before you start mixing it with the other ingredients.  Don’t grab it like a baseball…

but instead, use your fingertips to gentle break apart the meat.

If you grab and squeeze the meat, it can become tough.  After you get your meat worked up a bit, add in your veggie mixture.  Mix to combine.

Now grab a loaf pan.  (This, unfortunately, is not a one pot meal, my friends.)  If it’s metal, you want to spray it with cooking spray.  If you have a silicone loaf pan as I do, you should employ it here.  Meatloaf gets messy.  Press the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan.

Then top with the ketchup.  (If you’re good, you’ll notice I did this step backwards and put the ketchup down first.  Hey…no one’s perfect!)

Top your ketchup with the meat mixture.  Press it down in an even layer.  Place the loaf pan on a cookie sheet (to catch potential boil overs) and place in the oven.  Bake for 1 hour or until the juices run clear.

Now…here’s the great thing.  You can portion control these out.  All you have to do is use a muffin tin instead of the loaf pan! (I was making a bunch to freeze and give away this day.)

This recipe freezes beautifully.  Just cook your meatloaf in the muffin tins, let them cool, pop them out and place the cooked meatloaves on a sheet pan and freeze.  Then, once they’re solid, move them to a zip top bag (or Foodsaver bag) and store in the freezer.  When you want a quick meal, remove however many you want to eat and defrost them in the microwave.  You may have to make a little more brown sugar/ketchup mixture for the top, but that’s easy enough to do.

As I said, my husband loves this meatloaf.  Every time I ask him what I should make for dinner he says meatloaf.  It is a great thing to have tucked away in the freezer for him.  He can pull out a meatloaf muffin and have it for dinner on the nights I have to work.  It’s a great go to meal.

Do you have a favorite meatloaf recipe?  What recipes do you like to stash in your freezer?

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Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Posted on September 3, 2010 | 5 Comments

When I was in college, I did not like buffalo wings.  I tried them a couple times and I hated the way they made my lips sting and sucked all the taste buds out of my mouth (due to the heat).  Why would anyone want to eat something as an appetizer and then eat their meals when they couldn’t taste anything?!

My husband, on the other hand, was a buffalo wing lover pretty much since birth.  Well, that’s how it seems.  We would go out to eat and he would get the buffalo wing appetizer, the buffalo chicken sandwich, buffalo wing ice cream milkshake…  OK, OK, that might be an exaggeration.  It might….

One day, he convinced me to try them again. 
But I’ll burn my lips and I won’t be able to taste my entree! I whined.
You’ll be fine.  Just use a fork to get the meat off the bone.  He desperately wanted me to try them.  He likes to share.
OK, but if I don’t like it, you’re buying me a chocolate sundae with extra cherries to make my mouth feel better!

I pulled a small piece of the chicken off the bone and hesitantly brought the fork to my lips.  It smelled good…a bit tangy with a whiff of garlic…so I bit down, taking great care to avoid getting the wing sauce on my lips.

Oh. My. God.  Why have you never made me try these before?!
The smug guy just sat there, with a little smirk on his face, and watched as I demolished his plate of wings.

The rest, we shall say, is history.

To begin, I poached a pound of chicken in water seasoned with Herbes de Provence, whole peppercorns, and kosher salt.

While the chicken was poaching, my egg noodles took a hot soak in some water.

Then, I introduced the ranch dressing to the hot sauce.  Everyone got along famously.

When the chicken was nice and cooked, I pulled it from the water and shredded it with two forks.

Then I drained the egg noodles and combined them with the chicken.

I added the hot ranch and a cup of cheese and mixed well.

I deposited said mixture in a square glass baking dish I’d sprayed with Pam and topped with “bread crumbs” (or ground up pretzels, which is all I had) and sprayed them with cooking spray.  Note:  the next time I make this (and there WILL be a next time!), I am going to crush up whole wheat crackers and mix a little melted butter in them.  That way the crust will get nice and golden and there will be more crunch…something that was missing this time.

As I was not going to be home for dinner, I decided to leave my sweetie a little note to help him out.

Our verdict?  YUM!  This is going in the “make again” pile.  It’s great for freezing and would be wonderful for kids.  Just decrease the spice level a bit. Let me know what you think!
Buffalo Chicken Casserole
1 pound chicken
peppercorns, salt, & herbes de Provence for poaching
2 cups egg noodles
1 cup Ranch dressing
1/2 cup hot sauce
1 cup 2% milk sharp cheddar cheese

Topping:
1/2 cup Ritz crackers, crushed (subbed from my original recipe)
1 tbsp butter, melted (subbed from my original recipe)

*Unfortunately, as I did not use the Ritz crackers and the butter, I may have the measurements wrong.  Please use your discretion when making the topping.

Preheat your oven to 400* and set two pans of water to boil…one for your chicken and one for your egg noodles.

In the chicken pot, add your peppercorns, salt, and herbes.  Bring both pans to a boil.  Add your chicken to your chicken pot and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink.  Add your egg noodles to your pasta pot and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the noodles are al dente.

Meanwhile, combine your ranch and hot sauce.  I usually do this by taste without measuring.  Make sure you hold back on your hot sauce if you are not a spice fan.  Keep tasting it to see if the temperature is to your liking.

After the chicken is cooked, shred it apart with two forks.  You could also chop the chicken in a fine dice if you’d like.  Whatever suits your fancy.  Then, combine the chicken with the egg noodles and toss.

Sauce your chicken/pasta mixture well, then add in your cheese and toss to combine.  After everything is mixed, deposit it into your prepared baking dish.

Melt your butter and crush your crackers.  Then let them meet and mingle.  Spread the mixture over the casserole.  Bake at 400* for 30 minutes.

This dish would be great with a crunchy salad (simulating the celery they serve on the side) or with a roasted green vegetable of sorts.

**My bestie, Carolyn, is testing out vegetarianism, so I find myself thinking “What would Carolyn do to make this vegetarian friendly” a lot of the time.  In this recipe, I think you could either leave the chicken out completely and decrease the amount of sauce you used, or you could use cannellini beans you’ve rinsed.

What would you do to change this recipe?

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