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Spicy Buffalo Chicken Slider Sandwiches

My husband chose to have spicy chicken sandwiches for dinner, and when he says something he wants I go with it because he doesn’t give ideas often :) These turned out delicious and I will make again. I made one for my daughter that was not spicy, before I coated the chicken if Franks hot sauce. So this recipe is very adaptable to the whole family.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Slider Sandwiches

Print recipe
Spicy Buffalo Chicken Slider Sandwiches
Serves 4
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 10 minutes
Total time 20 minutes
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Serve Hot
These sandwiches are great all year long, perfect for an outdoor feast or during the winter when you want to be outside. FrenchToasty.com has lots of sandwich recipes.

Ingredients

  • 1lb chicken breast
  • 6-8 slider rolls (We used Hawaiian sweet rolls)
  • 2 cups coleslaw
  • 1/2 cup coleslaw dressing
  • 8 thin slices cheese (we did half cheddar and half pepper jack)
  • 8 tablespoons hot sauce (we used Franks hot sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons flour (to coat the chicken, optional)
  • salt & pepper

Directions

Step 1
Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Coat chicken breasts in flour, salt and pepper. Place in skillet for 4-5 minutes on each side, until cook thoroughly. I used thin breasts so it probably cooked faster than most.
Step 2
Pre-heat oven to 350. Toast buns slightly for 2 minutes, then add cheese to one side of each split roll and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Step 3
Mix coleslaw with coleslaw dressing and set aside.
Step 4
Let chicken rest for 5-10 minutes after cooking. Then shred with 2 forks or your hands.
Step 5
Then add as much hot sauce as desired, the chicken soaks it up and we like it HOT so we added a lot. Pull some out before adding sauce for kids.
Step 6
Pile on the shredded chicken and then coleslaw and top with the top half of the slider.

 

I paired it with roasted asparagus and it was a delicious meal.

Fried Chicken

I am really into birthdays and I like them to be celebrated on more then just the day. So this year my husbands landed on a Sunday which in my mind meant BIRTHDAY WEEKEND!! So on Friday when he said he wanted fried chicken I thought it was the perfect time to try a new recipe and I really love when we cook in the kitchen together. My daughter even put her apron on to help ;) which she loves to help, so it was a win win for everyone. Especially me, family time is my favorite time.

We found a recipe that took advice from all the pros- Emeril, Paula Deen, Ina Garten and Cook’s Illustrated. We also learned that if you soak your raw chicken in a buttermilk brine for hours you will be well rewarded with moist juicy chicken, not dry at all. I also listed the optional ingredients to spice this up. So enough talking here is the delicious recipe, Enjoy!

Fried Chicken Recipe with option of Spicy

Print recipe
Fried Chicken Recipe with option of Spicy
Serves 4
Prep time 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cook time 30 minutes
Total time 3 hours
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Website Smitten Kitchen
This recipe provides amazing fried chicken in your own home. FrenchToasty.com brings you your favorite recipes to prepare for your family.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2lb chicken tenders (Or 1 chicken cut into about 10 pieces, breast cut in half)
  • peanut oil (I just bought one bottle, and used only half)

Brine

  • 2 1/2 cups buttermilk
  • 1/4-1/2 cup kosher salt (you can adjust between 1/4-1/2 cup, we were just under 1/2 cup)
  • 2 medium garlic heads (mashed)
  • 1/8 cup granulated sugar

Batter

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Batter (Optional)

  • 3-5 tablespoons Hot Sauce (we prefer Franks but use your favorite, to make it spicy)

Coating

  • 3 cups flour

Coating (Optional)

  • 1-2 tablespoon cayenne pepper powder (To make it spicy)

Note

We chose to use chicken tenders, but this recipe is easily adapted to a whole bird, cut each bird into 10 pieces, breast in half and increase fry time to 7 minutes on each side.

Directions

Step 1
Mix brine ingredients in a large bowl. Place the chicken pieces in brine and refrigerate for minimum two hours, we did ours for four. Remove and place on rack to air-dry.
Step 2
Mix batter ingredients and place in a large bowl or pan. Large enough to coat chicken in.
Step 3
Coat chicken with flour, then place in batter. Drain excess batter off chicken and place in flour again and cover. Use tongs to transfer.
Step 4
To fry, heat peanut oil to 375 degrees in a cast-iron skillet. Do not fill the pot more than half full with oil. Place five to six pieces of chicken, skin side down first, in the skillet and cook, covered for four minutes. Turn chicken and cook, uncovered, for another four minutes. Allow the oil to return to 375 degrees F before frying the next batch.
Step 5
Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan, keeping warm in the oven until ready to serve.

 

I just had too many pictures that showed the deliciousness so figured what the heck share them all! I served it with my Mayo-Less Dill Potato Salad Recipe

Thanksgiving Herb Crusted Roasted Turkey

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. It’s by far the best eating holiday. I love everything turkey, dressing, yams and mashed potatoes with gravy. My mouth is literally watering thinking about all this yummy food. I also love all the family getting together, I am very lucky my mother in law has always invited my parents over to her house so I never have to choose where to go, I get all them in one place, minus a few but for the most part everyone. One day I hope to start hosting at my house because I love preparing food for family and decorating my house.

I was so nervous to make my first turkey because you hear horror stories of them being too dry or not cooked enough. I watched lots of videos online and finally came up with one that I liked and I knew that I could do. Alton Brown does an excellent job of explaining the steps, here is the video I watched to help me with my first turkey. I did not brine my turkey like he did but I roasted it for 30 minutes before covering with foil and it turned the most beautiful brown color. You can follow my steps or make your own revisions as you go, but cook it with love and you family will be very thankful for this lovely bird at dinner.

This turkey I made for Christmas 2011 before I started my blog, so I barely have any pictures but I really wanted to get this recipe and method on here for any other first timers this Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Herb Crusted Roasted Turkey Recipe

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Thanksgiving Herb Crusted Roasted Turkey Recipe
Serves 12
Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 2 hours, 30 minutes
Total time 2 hours, 45 minutes
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Serve Hot
Website Food Network
This roasted herb crust turkey is great for Thanksgiving and Christmas. FrenchToasty.com has lots of Holiday recipes.

Ingredients

  • 14-16lb young turkey (fresh or frozen)

Aromatics

  • 1 red apple (sliced)
  • 1/2 onion (sliced)
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 cup water
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 6 sage leaves
  • canola oil

Herb Crust

  • 1 bunch rosemary (finely chopped)
  • 1 bunch sage (finely chopped)
  • 1 stick butter (room temperature)
  • kosher salt

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
Step 2
Remove insides (discard unless you have another recipe that calls for those) Rinse and pat dry the thawed bird. Place the bird on roasting rack breast side up.
Step 3
Cut your piece of foil before cooking it. Then it's pre-measured for when you need it.
Step 4
Combine the apple, onion, cinnamon stick and 1 cup of water in microwave in a microwave safe dish and cook on high for 5 minutes. Add the steeped aromatics to the turkeys cavity along with the roasemary and sage. Tuck the wings under the bird.
Step 5
Combine the butter, rosemary and sage. Season with salt to taste. Rub under the skin and massage on top of the skin. You can add a little canola oil on the outside if you want. Tie the legs with butchers twine.
Step 6
Roast the turkey for 30 minutes at 500 degrees F. Insert a probe thermometer into thickest part of the breast and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Set the thermometer alarm (if available) to 161 degrees F. (I did not have one so I checked with my meat thermometer at the 2 hour mark and let it cook a little bit longer) A 14 to 16 pound bird should require a total of 2 to 2 1/2 hours of roasting. Let the turkey rest, loosely covered with foil or a large mixing bowl for 15 minutes before carving.
Step 7
I prefer to cut the whole breast off in one big piece then slice that. Then every slice will get the herbed crust.

Baked Salmon with Browned Butter Sauce

Something about salmon reminds me of summer and I love BBQ’ing it but baked salmon is good year round. And since we have salmon at least once a week, we always want to try new recipes, When I came across this one the picture sold me, it looked absolutely delicious. I  altered it a tiny bit but followed it almost to a t.

It is hit and miss whether or not my daughter feels like eating salmon but lately it’s been a major hit. She loved this recipe and liked the sauce to dip her bread in. Kids come up with great ways to eat food, so I of course dipped my pretzel roll in the sauce also and it was great. I hope you enjoy this great new recipe.

Baked Salmon with Browned Butter Sauce

Print recipe
Baked Salmon with Browned Butter Sauce
Serves 4
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 25 minutes
Total time 30 minutes
Allergy Fish
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Serve Hot
Website Food of Our Lives
This salmon is cooked to perfection and then a browned butter sauce is poured over top. FrenchToasty.com has lots of seafood recipes.

Ingredients

  • 2lb wild salmon filet (skin on)
  • coarse sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon flour
  • 3/4 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • kosher salt
  • ground black pepper
  • 2 green onions (thinly sliced)
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Step 1
Lay your piece of salmon skin side down on a baking sheet covered with foil.
Step 2
Drizzle salmon with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Step 3
Put salmon in a cold oven and turn the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Step 4
While salmon cooks prepare sauce. Place butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook butter until melted and slightly brown, watch closely as to not burn. This only takes a couple minutes.
Step 5
Once the butter is light brown, whisk in flour and then quickly add heavy cream and wine.
Step 6
Stir until slightly thickened and then remove from heat. Add some salt and pepper to taste. It will thicken as it sits, but don't let it sit too long as to not get cold.
Step 7
Remove salmon from oven when moist but flaky, leave skin on foil.
Step 8
Place salmon on serving dish and top with sauce and then sliced onions.

Pesto Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Broccoli

This is a quick and super easy meal and I needed to make a quick dinner tonight so I came up with this delicious dish. I always keep a big batch of pesto in the fridge so I always have some on hand, glad I did because it came in handy tonight.

This pasta is packed with veggies and even better because it’s made with homemade cilantro pesto. I love sun dried tomatoes and I put them in most pastas that I make. I also had left over salmon so I added some and it was a delicious addition. You could also add chicken if you would like, that would be yummy also or leave just as pictured above.

Pesto Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Broccoli

Print recipe
Pesto Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Broccoli
Serves 4
Prep time 5 minutes
Cook time 15 minutes
Total time 20 minutes
Dietary Vegetarian
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Serve Hot
This Pesto Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes and Broccoli is a quick and easy meal for a week night dinner. FrenchToasty.com has lots of quick recipes for you and your busy family.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 box rotini noodles
  • 1/2lb broccoli florets
  • 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup cilantro pesto
  • fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

Optional

  • 1/4lb cooked salmon

Directions

Step 1
Cook pasta according to box.
Step 2
Add broccoli for last two minutes.
Step 3
Drain noodles and then add noodles back to pan. Add sun dried tomatoes and pesto sauce and stir until all piece are covered.
Step 4
Add optional cooked salmon or cooked chicken if you want it.
Step 5
Add fresh shredded Parmesan cheese right before serving.

Optional cooked salmon

Homemade Marinara Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

When I make spaghetti I usually use a jar of sauce and add spices and vegetables to make it tastier. But this time it was hours until dinner so I thought I’d try to make my own sauce, figured it can’t be that hard. To my surprise it wasn’t hard at all. You just need a few ingredients and a couple hours to let the sauce simmer to get more flavorful. Why not try to make your own sauce, you will know that your family is only getting wholesome ingredients and no preservatives like some jarred sauces can have.

This recipe is very popular with the kids, I mean what kid or adult doesn’t love sucking a spaghetti noodle until it reaches their mouth. This recipe will bring out the kid in you and will bring back memories of being a kid and getting so excited when mom said it was spaghetti night.  It’s always fun to create family traditions so how about once a month dinner/movie night. If you have little ones that enjoy Disney movies you could enjoy this meal with Lady and the Tramp!

I hope your family enjoys this homemade recipe and hope you enjoy creating it.

Homemade Marinara Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs

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Homemade Marinara Spaghetti with Turkey Meatballs
Serves 6
Prep time 10 minutes
Cook time 2 hours
Total time 2 hours, 10 minutes
Allergy Egg
Misc Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Region Italian
Website Skinny Taste
This homemade marinara is better then jarred sauce. FrenchToasty.com has lots of homemade favorites.

Ingredients

Marinara Sauce

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
  • 1 bay leaf
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil or parsley (or a mixture of both)

Marinara Sauce (Optional)

  • 1 can black olives (sliced in half)
  • 4 mushrooms (sliced)
  • 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
  • 1/2 small zucchini (chopped)

Pasta

  • 1 box spaghetti noodles

Turkey Meatballs

  • 1lb ground turkey breast (93% lean or more)
  • 6 saltine crackers (crushed)
  • 1/4 cup Reggiano Parmigiano cheese (grated)
  • 1/4 cup parsley (finely chopped)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 garlic clove (minced)
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Topping

  • 1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)
  • 1/4 cup Reggiano Parmigiano cheese (fresh grates)

Directions

Marinara Sauce
Step 1
Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat, add garlic and saute for a few minutes until golden brown, watch close to not burn.
Step 2
Add crushed tomatoes to pan and add the bay leaf.
Step 3
Simmer on low for 2 hours. Sauce will thicken a bit. Add optional olives, mushrooms, pepper or zucchini and cook for 5 additional minutes.
Turkey Meatballs
Step 4
In large bowl combine ground turkey, saltines, egg, parsley, garlic and cheese. Use your hands to mix all the ingredients and form small meatballs, about 1/8 cup each in size.
Step 5
Heat large pan on medium heat and add 1 tsp olive oil. Cook meatballs on all sides for about 4 minutes on each side until all sides are golden brown and meatballs are cooked all the way through. Drain on paper towel if needed.
Pasta
Step 6
Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside.
Step 7
Serve noodles on plate and top them with marinara and meatballs. Garnish with chopped basil and freshly grated Reggiano Parmigiano.

Turkey Meatball Fillings[/caption]

Turkey meatballs cooking in olive oil[/caption]

Spaghetti & Meatballs[/caption]

Spaghetti & Meatballs with Parmesan and Basil[/caption]

 

Serving Size 4 meatballs with sauce
Calories 200.4 ~ Fat 8.1 g ~ Carbs 12.6 ~ Fiber 0.6 ~ Protein 17.3 g ~ Sugar 4.4 ~ Sodium 427.5 mg
Caloric Information from recipe source SkinnyTaste

Cilantro and Red Onion Pesto Quesadilla

Mexican is so popular in my area, my city has 4 Mexican restaurants in a 1/2 mile radius. I know that seems crazy, but they are all a little different so they all do great. As much as I love going out to eat, I’ve learned to cook a lot of my favorite dishes at home. With a little one it’s so much easier to eat at home, she can play and be as loud as she wants!  So here is my newest Mexican creation, Enjoy!

Cilantro and Red Onion Pesto Quesadilla

Time 20 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients
1 cup Cilantro and Red Onion Pesto
4 flour tortillas
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups cheddar or pepper jack cheese, shredded
2 T olive oil
Toppings:
2 cups kale, chopped
1 cup guacamole
1 cup pico de gao
1/2 cup sour cream
hot sauce

Directions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a big pan.
  2. Put tortilla down, lay cheese on half of it and the pesto on the other half.
  3. Add chopped pepper and onions to the side with cheese.
  4. Continue to cook on med-high for a few minutes. Put a few splashes of hot sauce on cheese and pesto. Keep a close eye to make sure to not burn.
  5. Fold quesadilla in half, cut in half or quarters and then add your toppings. Serve immediately if toppings are on other wise place finished quesadilla in oven to keep warm, until ready to serve.
Completed Quesadilla with all the toppings
Completed Quesadilla with all the toppings

 

Cilantro Red Onion Pesto
Cilantro Red Onion Pesto

 

Crock-pot Chicken Ranch Tacos

I make Mexican food all the time, but I wanted to try something completely different this time and use my crock pot. I really like the idea of putting the meat in and letting it slowly cook while I go about my other daily duties and then when I’m ready to make dinner it’s almost done, what’s better then that. The website where I got this idea didn’t use the crock pot but a reviewer gave me the idea so thanks to them.

These would be great for a party your having. It’s an easy way to prepare a lot of food with out a lot of work. Plus I like the idea of making the rice with the broth that you cooked your chicken in to carry the flavor through out the whole dish. I will be making this next family card night that I host and probably be adding some beer-a-ritas! Nothing screams Mexican party more then chicken tacos and margaritas.

I hope you enjoy these chicken tacos and I hope that everyone likes the idea of cooking the chicken in the crock pot. Enjoy your own easy to do fiesta!

Crockpot Chicken Ranch Tacos

Print recipe
Crockpot Chicken Ranch Tacos
Serves 4
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 3 hours, 15 minutes
Total time 3 hours, 35 minutes
Allergy Milk
Meal type Main Dish
Misc Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Region Mexican
These chicken tacos are so easy and delicious they will be showing up at your table often. At FrenchToasty.com we have lots of easy and delicious recipes.

Ingredients

  • 1.5lb chicken
  • 2 packets taco seasoning (1 for crockpot, 1 for cooking)
  • 1 packet ranch seasoning (for crockpot)
  • 1/2 cup ranch
  • taco shells (3-4 per person)
  • 1/2 bunch kale (chopped bite size)
  • 1 cup cheese (shredded)
  • 1 handful cherry tomatoes (chopped)
  • 1 avocado (cubed)
  • hot sauce
  • 1 cup rice (I like to use brown rice)

Directions

Crockpot
Step 1
Put chicken in crock pot with 1 can chicken broth, 1oz packet of taco seasoning and 1 oz packet of ranch seasoning and cook on low for 3 hours.
Pan Cooking
Step 2
Shred chicken and put in a pan over medium heat. Sprinkle with 1oz taco seasoning (no water) and 1/2 cup ranch. Stir until all is heated through.
Step 3
After you have removed the chicken from the crock-pot pour the liquid into a pot. This is the liquid you will cook your rice in. Add extra water to meet your rice recipe requirements. Cook rice according to your package.
Assemble
Step 4
Put shredded chicken in bottom and layer all the other ingredients to your liking.

Pepper Jack Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken

I was feeling creative tonight for dinner, so I was searching through Pinterest and found this amazing picture that looked delicious and it was called cheese stuffed chicken, but the link went nowhere, so I had to improvise. I think my improvise turned out great, my family loved it and so did I.

I’ve never tried to make a chicken stuffed anything, so I wondered how it would work. It was actually pretty fun and easy to do. I highly recommend trying this next time you are having guests over for dinner, because it looks much harder then it is and kinda fancy. They will think you put so much time into preparing dinner and they will be vary thankful. Plus you can always choose your favorite ingredients to put inside to make it different each time. My mind is already creating the next type I’m going to make…

Let me know what fillings you decide to put in. Enjoy!

Pepper Jack Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Cajun Chicken

Serving 4
Time 1 hour

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, thin sliced or pounded thin  to about 1/4″
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 T Cajun spice
1 T panko bread crumbs
1 T canola oil, for brushing chicken
4-8 toothpicks

 

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Mix panko bread crumbs and Cajun in small bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl combine chopped spinach and shredded cheese.
  4. Distribute spinach/cheese mixture evenly onto each breast. Roll chicken tightly and secure with 1-2 toothpicks.
  5. Brush each breast will oil and sprinkle Cajun mixture on each rolled up breast.
  6. Place the chicken onto a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. Remove toothpicks before serving.

Kung Pao Shrimp

Last night I was craving Chinese so when I came across this recipe I tweaked it a bit and came up with the most delicious homemade Chinese recipe ever. The sauce is the best part of this recipe and I think it’d be great on a cold noodle salad or a dipping sauce for spring rolls and pot stickers.

Kung Pao Chicken is always my go to entree at Chinese restaurants but I’ve always been nervous to try and make it, because I figured it was hard work and a lot of ingredients. This came as a pleasant surprise when I realized it wasn’t hard and I had all the ingredients already, so it was a win win and I knew I had to try this. My husband raved about how delicious it was and he even went back for seconds and finished off the bowl, which was suppose to be his lunch today. My daughter loved the noodles even though they were a little on the spicy side. I can handle a lot of spice but be weary if you can’t, you can always cut back on the siriachi sauce.

If you enjoy a spicy dish and want to treat yourself to amazing flavor then this recipe is for you. Give it a try and I promise you will be happy.

Kung Pao Shrimp

Servings 4

Ingredients

1lb shrimp*, I removed tails and butterflied
1/2 cucumber/zucchini, sliced and halved
1/2 cup cornstarch
oil, for frying
1lb uncooked linguine noodles
sauce-
1/2 cup chicken/vegetable broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Sirachi sauce, hot chili paste
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup garlic, minced
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup green onions, sliced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped

Directions

  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with a sprinkle of salt. Cook linguine according to package. When done drain and set aside.
  2. While noodles are cooking toss shrimp in 1/2 cup cornstarch until evenly coated. Heat oil in deep skillet, once heated fry shrimp in oil, about 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and fully cooked. Last 2 minutes add cucumber. Drain on paper towels.
  3. In a bowl whisk together broth, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, soy sauce, siriachi sauce, sugar, red wine vinegar and sesame oil.
  4. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir fry for 20 seconds. Pour the sauce into the pan and add peanuts. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until thick and bubbly.
  5. In a serving bowl add cooked linguine, shrimp and cucumber and pour sauce over the top. Add green onions and cilantro and toss.

*You can substitute chicken or tofu in place of the shrimp