Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Everyone in this house loves Buffalo anything.  After some experimenting with different hot sauces my oldest daughter and I think we have perfected what we consider the best Buffalo sauce :-)

Be warned.  It is NOT a healthy recipe but it is SO GOOD!

We start with Frank's Red Hot Sauce.  

This recipe will make around 2 cups of sauce which will coat around 32 frozen chicken tenders.  This feeds our family of 7.

16 Tablespoons of Franks Hot Sauce

Two full sticks of Butter

1/8 Teaspoon onion powder

Pinch of nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne pepper (when I don't have Cayenne I use Chili powder)

3 Tablespoons of White Vinegar

2 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all in a saucepan over medium heat while stirring occasionally until the butter is completely melted.  Reduce to simmer.  Typically, while my oldest daughter is mixing the sauce I prepare the chicken tenders.  You can either make your own or buy frozen tenders from your local grocery store.  If I use frozen tenders I put them in the over for the first half of the cooking time.  I then remove the tenders, put them into a large plastic food storage container and pour sauce over them.  I then close the container and gently shake.  Once coated I place them back into the oven for the remainder of cooking time.  Once done I serve with ranch dressing.  Easy and delicious!

The chicken and the slow cooker

I love recipes that allow me to throw things into a slow cooker and forget about it.  Here is a little something I put  together last week and it turned out pretty well.  The kids liked it and it was easy to prepare.

3 Boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen of fresh)
1 Large sliced onion
1 Large sliced green pepper
1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, basil and oregano
1 28 ounce jar spaghetti sauce
fresh sliced mushrooms
favorite spices and seasonings
pasta

Place all ingredients minus pasta in slow cooker and let it cook all day on low.  (approx 8 hours)

Pick your favorite pasta.  Prepare according to directions.  Serve chicken and veggies over pasta and viola!
Enjoy!

Heavenly Cake

So life has been crazy and I have not been writing but it doesn't mean that I haven't been cooking. I'm still experimenting and have a whole slew of new recipes to add to my already full cookbook.

Today I will post something sweet. It's summer and this is a great quick and easy summer dessert.

Heavenly Layer Cake

1 Store bought or home-made angel food cake

1 package vanilla instant pudding

1 8oz container cool whip

1 small can crushed pineapple, drained

strawberries sliced

Slice cake into three layers. Mix pudding mix, cool whip and pineapple in bowl until thick. Spread on each layer including top of cake. Place sliced strawberries around the top of cake. Chill.

Enjoy!

Quick Italian Dinner

Typically I make a homemade sauce that I will get around to posting but when I am in a hurry I prepare this sauce that is delicious and only takes about 15 minutes.

Ingredients:

Large jar of Prego spaghetti sauce (Regular or Chunky Vegetable)

2 cans of Hunts diced tomatoes with garlic and oregano

approx. 3 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Heat on stove until hot but be careful not to let it begin to boil or it will become watery instead of thick. Serve with cooked pasta of your choice.

I also make an easy bruschetta to accompany the pasta that the kids love. My oldest usually prepares the tomato mixture.

2 packages english muffins

3 Large on the vine tomatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp basil

sprinkle of parsley

Preheat oven to 425. Slice muffins in half and brush with melted butter mixed with a dash of garlic powder and parsley. Bake for approx. 4 minutes on each side.

Dice tomatoes and mix with olive oil and next 3 ingredients. Top toasted muffins with tomato mixture and enjoy!!

Steak and Onions

This recipe has quickly become a favorite in our house. It's simple and inexpensive and has great flavor.

Typically I serve this with corn on the cob and a broccoli casserole.

For the steak I always purchase the steaks on sale. I never pay more than $3 a steak and for these particular steaks and their size, I usually buy 3 for a total of a little over $9 after tax.

Marinated Steak with onions

3 lbs petite sirloin steak

2 large sweet onions

Balsamic vinaigrette dressing

brown sugar

Heinz 57 Steak Sauce

Worchestire Sauce

Garlic powder

Start by mixing 1/2 cup of Balsamic vinaigrette dressing with 6 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Add 4 tablespoons 57 sauce and 2 tablespoons Worchestire sauce.

Mix in 2 teaspoons of garlic powder.

Place steaks in a large Ziploc bag and pour in mixture.

Place in fridge.

I usually prepare about 3 hours before I'm going to cook the steaks and flip at least once.

Time to cook:

Heat two tablespoons olive oil in large pan on medium high heat.

Slice up both onions into thin slices and place in pan.

Cook for 5 minutes.

Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and cook an additional 15 minutes

or until tender and brown.

Place steaks on an aluminum covered broiler pan and place 8 inches from broiler.

Broil approximately 7 minutes on each side.

Once the steaks are done, add 2 tablespoons of 57 sauce to onions.

Slice steaks into thin strips and top with onions.

Enjoy!!