Tag Archives: spicy

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

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So remember last Friday I told you how we love our faux “bar food” on Fridays? I was serious.

Last weekend was pretty glorious weather-wise. Friday after work, the husband and I were able to sit out on our patio and enjoy a few drinks. It’s always a nice way to wrap up the work week, in my humble opinion. Then we ate dinner and watched a movie. A perfect, low-key evening. I guess like a calm before the storm, because Saturday was so busy I don’t think I caught my breath until we sat down in a movie theater!

Anyways, I had picked up some ground chicken at the grocery store and I wanted to try something new to share with you. Of course, I take pictures of these things as I create them and only share them if they are successful…allow me to say, these totally were. It’s like fancied up hot wings without the mess! I also took a cue from my ranch fries and threw some ranch seasoning in my mashed potatoes and it was the perfect combination!

So if you’re looking for something delicious and nutritious to make without giving up your craving for hot wings – here you go my friends! Who thought 6 little points could be oh so delicious?

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs (serves 2)

8 oz. ground chicken breast

1 Tbsp. yellow onion, minced

1 1/2 Tbsp. celery, minced

1 Tbsp. parsley

3/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

3 Tbsp. reduced-fat blue cheese crumbles

1/3 cup Frank’s red-hot sauce (maybe a little less if you can’t handle the heat!)

1 Tbsp. reduced-calorie margarine

1 Tbsp. honey

Add your ground chicken to a medium bowl. Chop your celery and onion very fine – remember it’s going in a meatball, so you don’t want huge chunks!

Throw in spices and mix together well. If you use your hands, I suggest spraying a little cooking spray. The chicken breast is very “wet” so it tends to stick!

Definitely “coat” your hands when forming the meatballs. I made 10 meatballs with mine.

Heat oil in medium skillet. Add meatballs and cook about 2 minutes per side. I even try to stand mine up on the sides so it gets that good coating all the way around.

While meatballs are cooking, melt your margarine in a medium saucepan. Add hot sauce and honey. Whisk until incorporated. You can always play with this – but it will impact the points if you add more honey and/or margarine.

When your meatballs are cooked through, pour sauce into the skillet and stir meatballs around and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Then serve…preferably with some mashed potatoes with a little ranch seasoning thrown in! 😉

You know you want them…

Have a great weekend everybody!

 

“Fried” Shrimp with Spicy Sauce

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I have always been a huge fan of shrimp. It’s so versatile! I mean, all you have to do it watch Forrest Gump to know some of the ways it can be prepared!

My grandparents lived on the coast of Mississippi so we ALWAYS had a lot of shrimp at our disposal. I even got to go on a shrimp boat once and do some of the dirty work. I think I prefer buying it already de-headed and de-veined though!

My absolutely favorite way was when my Mimi made her horseradish-mustard sauce to go with boiled shrimp – which I’d love to share with you – buuuut it’s a family secret.

Don’t worry – I have plenty of others to share with you…like this delicious gem!

“Fried” Shrimp with Spicy Sauce (serves 2)

“Fried” Shrimp

8 oz. pre-cooked shrimp, tails removed

1 Tbsp. white whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat.

Mix together flour, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder and cayenne in a plastic bag.

Pat shrimp dry and place half in the bag. Shake until coated.

Add to skillet. Repeat with remaining shrimp and add to skillet. You may need to work in batches. Cook shrimp for about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Remove and serve with spicy sauce…

Spicy Sauce

3 Tbsp. fat-free mayonnaise

1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp. Spicy mustard

1/2 Tbsp. ketchup

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning

2 tsp. prepared Horseradish

1 tsp. Tabasco

Mix ingredients together until smooth and refrigerate until ready to use. You can obviously modify the cayenne/Tabasco to appease your taste buds!

Pour sauce over shrimp. Or you can eat it on the side like me…because I don’t like mixing my food until I am good and ready! (We know I also had to disguise the mayonnaise from my self since I am a child – so I made this pretty spicy!) I think if I get over said tantrum, I might invest in some mini hoagies from the grocery store and make this concoction into a Po-Boy!

Tonight, I served this with some homemade cornbread and…wait for it, pimento cheese potato skins! Told you I was going to find another way to use my new-found creation for something delicious – I just added a little fat-free cream cheese to stretch it a bit! Now tell me this doesn’t look like a great low-fat meal…

So make this, kick back with a cold beer and imagine you are near the ocean…or just walk outside if you live anywhere near me and enjoy the 70 degree weather that is happening in FEBRUARY!

The Way to His Heart…

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

I don’t normally go all out for Valentine’s Day. Don’t get me wrong – I like the sentiment…but I usually just cook a nice dinner, have some wine, exchange some cards and call it a day (although getting flowers never hurts). This year, however, is a little different – because I got to pick one of the sweet “husband” cards!

The husband and I have only been married a little over 4 months, but it makes me so happy to know that I have many more years ahead with my best friend. He is an incredible man and he is so good to me and I only hope I can make him as happy as he has made me. So a day dedicated to saying “I love you” when you’re in love can’t be bad, right?

Okay, saving the rest of the cheese for the recipe – I promise! =)

It didn’t take long for the husband to sample my cooking when we first started dating, as I loved cooking and well, I had often heard that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach. Like, seriously. There are some other ways that can get you there, but they are like scenic routes.

So what is something my husband loves to eat? Hot wings! (Me too – could eat them all the time). What is something that is really hard to make diet-friendly? Hot wings!

Okay, so I do make diet-friendly hot wings – but they can be a little time-consuming – and sometimes I just don’t feel like making side dishes.

Enter buffalo chicken soup. That’s right people…I said it. I went there. Buffalo. Chicken. Soup.

If you’re looking for a super easy recipe that is action packed with flavor AND something you and your honey will love – look no further!

Buffalo Chicken Soup – serves 4

Starting Line-up

8 oz. ground chicken breast, cooked

1/2 Tbsp. margarine

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup carrot, diced

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 cans, 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

3 cups skim milk

1/2 cup Frank’s red hot sauce (good, mild base – I add more for added spice!)

1/4 cup reduced fat blue cheese crumbles

Cook your chicken and crumble in a large pot. Set aside.

Add margarine to pot with celery, carrot and onion. Cook 5-7 minutes over medium-high until softened. Reduce heat to medium low and add chicken. Stir and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.

Pour in milk and stir, careful not to scald. Add sour cream and soup and whisk until smooth and blended. Now add in your hot sauce, which will give the soup a pretty pink-ish color!

Cover pot and reduce heat to low. Cook about 20-30 minutes, bringing to a light simmer. Careful not to boil! Taste and add more hot sauce if needed, or you can just add it to individual servings if you have two separate heat tolerances to appease!

Serve with 1 Tbsp. blue cheese crumbles on top. We also like to have a slice or two of french bread for dipping with ours!

See…the perfect way to “spice up” your Valentine’s Day!

I know…I know…I can’t control it sometimes…

Pulled Beef…Any Way You Want It!

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Hopefully you have Journey stuck in your head now. For that, you are most certainly welcome.

So normally for the Super Bowl, I am cooking up a storm. This year, as I mentioned in a previous post, we played it low-key. But I couldn’t watch the game without making something tasty to go along with it even if my team lost! I have been a long time fan of a certain food blogger many of us know and love…and she featured a recipe that just screamed “game day food” to me – slow cooked pulled pork.

Oddly enough, living in a city that prides itself on barbecue (of the pork variety) – there was no pork shoulder available in my grocery store. So after pacing the aisles and having the hubby quite annoyed at my lack of a back-up plan, I just went for the beef roast. And I must say it did not disappoint!

Spicy Pulled Beef (adapted from The Pioneer Woman)

The Starting Line-Up

2-3 pounds beef roast (mine was choice beef chuck boneless english roast)

1/2 yellow onion

4 ounces chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

8 fl. oz. Dr. Pepper

1/3 cup barbecue sauce (not pictured, would add this next time)

1/4 tsp. Kosher salt

1/4 tsp. Pepper

1/4 tsp. Garlic Salt

1/4 tsp. Smoked Paprika

Serves 8-10 depending on size of roast.

Season both sides of the roast with salt, pepper, garlic salt and smoked paprika. I gave each side a light dusting of each and pressed it into the meat. If desired, trim some of the fat from the outside (fewer points and there is still plenty in the roast for flavor).

Turn your slow cooker on low and set for 7-8 hours. Chop your onion half into large pieces and scatter on bottom of slow cooker. Add roast on top. Pour chipotle peppers in adobo sauce on top (note: I used about 6 ounces in the photos and it was just too spicy – and I have a pretty high spice tolerance!). Pour barbecue sauce on top of the roast and then pour Dr. Pepper over the top.

Place lid on slow cooker and cook 6-7 hours on low setting, flipping every 1 1/2 hours. At about 6 hours, I cranked it up to high for about an hour to get the meat really tender so that it was easy to shred (we were competing with an exciting game AND commercials) – but I’m sure it would be fine leaving it longer on low if you’re making this while you’re at work or something! Once beef is tender, turn slow cooker off and remove meat, setting aside on a deep baking sheet for shredding.

Take two forks and shred, shred, shred! Skim any fat off the top of the liquid in the slow cooker, and return the meat to the liquid. Set slow cooker to warm.

Now here’s what’s great about this recipe – there are so many options at this point! My dad and mom made sandwiches with the shredded beef topped with cheese. The hubby and I made tacos with shredded cheese, lettuce and tomatoes (well, he didn’t have tomatoes, I did).

 

For leftovers – we had shredded beef with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus. I really want to try the shredded beef on a baked potato with some sharp cheddar and extra barbecue sauce drizzled on top. Anyway you want it…that’s the way you EAT it.

(I’m honestly laughing at the rest of the parody to the song I am now singing in my head. It’s a gift I tell you!)