chicken | What's Annie Making?

Cooking Light and a few wise words

20 March, 2013 2 Comments

Last night I sat down to post about my Cooking Light adventures only to find that my blog was down due to an emergency hosting outage. I thought about typing the post on my phone… Then I decided I didn’t want my thumbs to bleed.

So instead I gave myself a manicure, watched Dancing With The Stars and played fetch with Charlie.

PS – isn’t he just a stunner in his new bandana?

All that as an explanation as to why I’m currently typing about dinner last night with my morning cup of coffee in my hand…

This week I’m going to be cooking through a bunch of the recipes from the newest Cooking Light magazine. The whole premise is to be able to get a healthy meal on the table in under 40 minutes. As someone who has been known to rely on frozen pizzas in a pinch [guilty] I was excited for some new fast recipe ideas.

Last night I made grilled chicken with quick green salsa

herbed cornbread muffins

and grapefruit walnut feta salad.

The whole meal took 40 minutes! They were right.

The verdict – it was good!

The tomatillo salsa on the chicken was amazing. If I made it again I would probably pound my chicken thin, and grill it outside on the real grill. I would have liked more salsa with each bite of chicken. I would definitely make it again though.

The salad is wonderful. I didn’t have butter lettuce so I used spinach and it was super tasty. The supremed grapefruit with feta combo was really light and refreshing.

I feel like I can’t fairly rate the cornbread muffins because I didn’t follow the recipe very carefully. I used whole wheat flour instead of regular. I didn’t have buttermilk so I used greek yogurt with milk. And I didn’t have green onions to mix in. The muffins were just okay. They were a little dry and the whole wheat flour overwhelmed the cornmeal flavor [my fault]. I will try to make them again soon, actually following the recipe before I really rate them.

If you don’t get Cooking Light magazine, all of their recipes are available for anyone online.

And here’s a few wise words for your Wednesday. I want to print this and frame it as a reminder in my house. So pretty!

Filed Under: chicken, daily sprinkle, dinner, grilled, man friendly, puppy, quick, salad

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 February, 2013 Leave a Comment

I told you guys that I would share any other brilliant Superbowl recipes with you if I found them. Well, I’ve looked and looked, and the only recipe that keeps popping up in my head is my own Buffalo Chicken Dip. I’ve made this close to a dozen times now, never really following a recipe.

I was first introduced to this crock pot of goodness by my sister-in-law. She brought it to the first family Thanksgiving I came to and I couldn’t stop shoveling it in my face.

I was determined then that I would try to figure out how to make it myself so that I wouldn’t have to wait for a major holiday to have it again. I tried a few versions of the recipe that I found online, but I always ended up changing things up. Adding more sauce, different ingredients… Finally, I came up with what I have deemed the “perfect” dip.

I made this for my parents at Christmas this year and my family went nuts. Then my mom called me and asked for the recipe. Ummmm, it’s in my head. I tried describing it to her (it’s really simple). She made it and said it was good.

Then my sister texted me this morning wanting to recipe to make for a Superbowl party tomorrow.

So, I suppose it’s time that I type it up to share it with you too. I actually made this today, to eat tomorrow for the game. It reheats very well too! Bonus.

I hope your Superbowl party menus aren’t set in stone yet. Because you need to make this. I promise all of your friends will love you forever. And you may also be told that you need to make it for every future gathering too. (If you don’t want that to happen, then don’t bring it to the party, just keep it to yourself at home).

This recipe is #3 of 10 in the Crock Pot Challenge I’m taking part in. Julie is hosting the challenge and all you have to do it make 10 crock pot dishes by the end of February. I love using my crock pot for this dish, because you can just set it on low and keep the dip warm throughout the party. If you don’t have a crock pot, you could easily bake this at 350 for 30 minutes, covered in foil.

I hope you enjoy!

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

by Annie S

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3-4 hrs

Ingredients

3 c. shredded cooked chicken breasts
4 oz. Neufchatel cheese
3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c blue cheese
1 1/3 c buffalo sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot)
1/2 c reduced fat Ranch dressing
1 t red wine vinegar

Instructions

Bake chicken breast in the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes (or used precooked chicken)

Let cool until you’re able to handle it

Shred finely

Add chicken and the rest of the ingredients to a 2 qt. crock pot

Cook on low 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally

Serve with Fritos, tortilla chips or other desired dippers

Alternatively, you could bake this in a casserole dish for 30 minutes at 350, covered in foil.

Filed Under: chicken, crock pot challenge, dips, man friendly

Superbowl Snacks

31 January, 2013 Leave a Comment

Did you know the Superbowl is this weekend? I’m still a little bitter that the Packers lost their playoff game and won’t be in it this year, but I’m working on getting over that. I still have plans to watch the game per usual. This time the focus might shift a little from watching the game closely, to watching the commercials and focusing on making delicious food.

In the past, I’ve hosted big Superbowl parties. This year school is pretty crazy, and my parents are coming down to visit. So we’ll be watching at home with just the fam. And I’m sure it will be wonderful. And we still will have lots of food. Here are some of my football favorites.

Bacon, Parmesan and Leek Deviled Eggs – it may seem like a strange addition for game day, but I assure you these babies are a big hit.

Cha Cha’s White Chicken Chili – This is a game day must in our house. Every year.

Cinnamon Spice Cupcakes with Banana Buttercream – Who needs brownies when you can have cupcakes? PS – this recipe is entered into the Celebrations.com contest for best cupcake. You can go online and vote for me every day. Most votes wins a trip to Miami! I would love to go somewhere warm right about now, so please vote for me!

Portobello Black Bean Chili – A meatless chili that’s just as delicious as the original.

Stuffed Mushrooms – Who needs deep fried mushrooms when you can have these gems?

S’mores cupcakes – no explanation necessary

Taco Pizza – I would like a slice of this right now!

Buffalo Chicken and Sweet Potato Quesadilla – perfect finger food, bbq and football were made for each other

Holy Guacamole - my favorite guac recipe. My mom informed me that avocados and chicken wings are the #1 and 2 sellers in grocery stores right now. So if you’re in the mood for guacamole I would get your avocados now.

Jalapeño Cilantro White Bean Dip - a different twist on hummus or bean dip

So there you have it friends. I’m going to do a little digging online and will post links to anything else I find that looks too good to pass up.

What are your Superbowl favorites? Do you watch the game? What’s your all-time favorite commercial?

Oh, and in case you didn’t realize, I finally gave the blog a much needed face lift. I’m still working out a few kinks with it, but I absolutely love it. And I’m so proud that I didn’t have to hire anyone to do it. I’m no expert by any means, but there are some wonderful tutorials that very smart people put together that really helped. I hope you like the new look. Please let me know if you discover anything funny that you think I should know about it. Thanks!

Filed Under: appetizer, baking, chicken, cupcakes, dinner, dips, man friendly, vegetarian

Cha cha’s white chicken chili

8 January, 2013 Leave a Comment

I’m sorry, but I have to apologize to you guys. I’ve been holding out on you. Holding out on one of my most loved kitchen secrets. The one recipe that I make more often than anything else in my kitchen. It’s the one that I’m pretty sure hooked me the man of my dreams. It’s what I make when guests come over, when there is a Packer or Badger football game on, when it’s freezing cold out… Pretty much any day of the week that ends in “Y”, I make this recipe.

This recipe gold is Cha Cha’s White Chicken Chili. I can remember my mom making this chili when I was growing up. I always wanted to know who Cha Cha was, and why her chili was so gosh darn good. Now when I make this I have to make a double batch so we have enough for lunch for the week.

As I’m typing this I realize how ridiculous I must sound right now, but it’s that good. Trust me people. I wouldn’t steer you wrong.

easiest way to shred cooked chicken!

I guess the reason I haven’t shared my secret with you yet is because 1. it’s not my recipe and 2. it’s so super easy and fast (aka – it doesn’t look like an impressive recipe, but totally tastes like it). But as I made this chili for the umpteenth time Saturday night for the Packer v. Vikings game (GO PACK!) I knew that I had to let you in on this stuff. It seems criminal not to.

I hope you try it out and add it to your recipe rotations.

Oh, and I always make Jenna’s green chile cheese cornbread for good measure. Because you can’t have chili without cornbread. You just can’t.

Filed Under: chicken, dinner, favorite things, lunch, man friendly, quick, soup, Uncategorized

Cooking Light and a few wise words

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Superbowl Snacks

Cha cha’s white chicken chili

Annie Lately

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