Buffalo Sunday

It's football Sunday again.  When Joe and I started our Sunday football menus, we could not wait for this week.  The Steelers play Buffalo.  

Buffalo wings, buffalo chicken dip, and buffalo chicken sliders made the menu this week.  There are so many different buffalo combinations we could have done, but these made the cut! 

Week Twelve Menu

Baked Buffalo Wings

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Sliders 

The wings are Joey's recipe from when he was back in college.  The sliders are a super simple recipe I just put together.  The dip recipe is Frank's Red Hot's version of this football staple.  

Buffalo Wings

Ingredients 

2lbs frozen or fresh chicken wings

Ranch dip seasoning packet

Frank's Red Hot Sauce ( it's up to you how much!) 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lay chicken wings out on a cookie sheet and cover with water.  Cook the wings for 30 minutes.  

Remove the wings from the oven, dump them into a mixing bowl, and clean the pan.  

Turn the oven to broil.

Add the ranch seasoning packet and as much hot sauce a you would like ( at least a half a cup) to the wings.  Toss the wings and then lay them out on the cookie sheet.  

Place the wings back in the oven under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes or until the wings are crispy enough for you! 

Buffalo Chicken Slider

Ingredients 

1lb ground chicken

1 ranch dip seasoning packet

1/4 cup hot sauce

Directions

Combine all three ingredients in a mixing bowl and form into six patties.  Cook about 5 minutes on each side on the stovetop or on the grill. 

Too with crumbled blue cheese and extra hot sauce on your choice of bun! 

Buffalo dip: use the classic recipe (Frank's Red Hot Sauce) 

Our tummies were full, our buffalo cravings were satisfied, and the Steelers won a game! 

Cheers to a great Sunday! 

Never Stop Cooking ~ Melissa

A Week of Chicken

I am typically known to make a different meal every night of week, and the only way I make it again is if I really, really like it, or it's requested.  Joe tends to say, " please make this again, but I won't remember it because you make so many different things!"

This week I decided on a theme for dinner....chicken.  I guess this is as close to making the same meals as I can get. I started looking for ideas, and ended up going with chicken recipes inspired from around the world.  

I am actually following recipes all week, so I will supple the recipe, my thoughts ( if I will make again too!), and the changes I made to them if any.  

Here is what our weekly menu looks like:

            Monday is Chinese night:

      Crockpot Sesame Chicken Thighs

              Tuesday is Greek night:

    Kalamata and Tomato Chicken Breast

          Wednesday is Mexican night:

     Chicken and Black Bean Casserole

             Thursday is Indian night:

            Crockpot Chicken Korma

                Friday is Italian night:

            Smothered Chicken Italiano

Who doesn't like chicken! And every recipe is healthy and is under 400 calories. I will round out my meals with some simple sides as always! 

To me this looks like a pretty tasty week of cooking! Enjoy! 

Never Stop Cooking~Melissa

And just because who doesn't love a puppy, here is ours:

It's football time!

The Steelers played the New England Patriots today.  As it seems like a rebuilding year, we had some friends over and spent more time watching the Cleveland Browns win, then actually watching the Steelers game.  

But anyway, we decided on doing a boiled dinner of corned beef since this is typical New England fare, along with some roasted carrots ( because they taste so much better than boiled) and baked sweet potato fries.  

Week Six Menu

Corned Beef Sandwiches

Roasted Carrots

Cajun Sweet Potato Fries

To make the corned beef, I just placed it in the crockpot and covered it with water and the spices that come with it.  I set the crockpot to 165 degrees and let it cook on low.  It took about 4 -5 hours on low and then I let it sit on warm for a few hours until we were ready to eat! 

Joey carved that baby up and it was yummy! It's such a simple meal, how can you not make it! 

You could even put your veggies right in the crockpot with the meat if you like.  I would cook the meat and then take it out and let the veggies ( carrots, cabbage, and potatoes) continue to cook for another hour or two. 

Next week it's buffalo time! Oh my god, I can't wait! Buffalo dip, wings, and sliders here we come!

The Steelers may not be having the best season, but we are eating pretty darn good 😄🏈

Never Stop Cooking~Melissa

Happy Halloween - Time for chili

Happy Halloween! 

Joey and I decided on making a Halloween tradition of chili and corn bread, a Halloween movie, and maybe some Halloween candy to go along with it. So that's what we are up to tonight. 

One of our favorite chili recipes comes from Rachael Ray.  It's called Indian Summer Turkey Chili. You can find the recipe on foodnetwork.com

I do change a few things as I am known to do.  Here is my Rachael Ray Redo of Indian Summer Turkey Chili:

Ingredients

19.2 ounces 93% lean ground turkey

4 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp steak seasoning

1 tsp seasoning salt

2 tbsp hot sauce

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 medium onion, diced

2 bell peppers, diced

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cups crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1 cup frozen corn

Directions

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat the pan over medium high heat.  Cook ground turkey for about 4-5 minutes.  Add in the spices, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce.  Add in the veggies and cook for another 4-5 minutes.  Stir in the chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, and BBQ sauce.  

Add the chili to the crockpot.  Stir in the corn, and cook on low for 4 hours.  

Serve with your favorite corn bread and toppings! 

Nutritional information

4 servings

One serving:

Calories 323 Fat 10.9g Cholesterol 79mg  Carbohydrates 37.5g Fiber 7.1g Sugar 18.7g Protein 24.3g

We are watching Monster House ( yeah, its a kiddie movie but is about as scary as Joey and I can handle) and hoping we get some trick or treaters.  

Happy Halloween🎃

Sunday Funday is back this weekend!

These past couple of weeks have been crazy with moving.  So we put a hold on our Sunday Funday football themed food.  But, this Sunday we are ready to go again. 😄

The Steelers are playing the Patriots this weekend.  Expect some New England style foods, with some patriotic inspiration too! 🇺🇸

Even though we didn't have football food this past Sunday, we did have our favorite meal, tacos and a beer because you need a beer after moving!

Cheers to our first meal in our new place! 

Never Stop Cooking~Melissa

Mexican Sunday Funday

Well, I know we have been watching football and recreating football foods with  city themes every Sunday, but this weekend we spent a lot of time moving stuff to our new apartment.  We use our Sundays, as what we call, a refeed day.  So we went for mexican enjoying a jumbo margarita, chicken nachos, pork tamales,  chicken quesadillas, and chicken enchiladas.

 

 It's Monday afternoon and I think I am still full! But it was really yummy to say the least.  

We had a great time, great food, and lots of laughs.

Not to mention, plenty of energy to carry a rug we really wanted.  Have a great week! 

Never Stop Eating Really Yummy Food~Melissa

Crockpot by Candlelight- Open Faced Turkey Sandwiches

Day three of Crockpot by Candlelight and we are having open faced turkey sandwiches.  If you want comfort food done super easy, this recipe is screaming your name.  

Ingredients

3 lb turkey breast

1 cup water

1 tbsp poultry herb seasoning ( or your favorite herbs)

1 tsp garlic powder 

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp seasoning salt

Directions

Combine seasoning in a bowl. Coat the turkey breast evenly with seasoning blend. 

Place turkey breast in crockpot and add a cup of water.  

Cook turkey on low for 4-5 hours or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. 

Serve over bread with either pre-made gravy or use the turkey drippings and flour to make your own.  I served mine with cranberry sauce because I need cranberries with turkey:)