Shredded Buffalo Chicken

At Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY this past summer.

My teenager could consume a bottle of Frank's Buffalo sauce every week.

I love me some Buffalo sauce, but in MODERATION. That's why when I see recipes for crock pot Buffalo chicken, I hesitate, thinking, could a family with varying loves of hotness do a whole batch? Our family, YES, with the bottle on the table to add more sauce for those who needed it. Yours, you decide. Here's my solution for the family with varying tastes:

Prepare a batch of shredded chicken in your crock pot - I like to buy a large number of breasts, toss them all in with a cup of broth or water, a diced onion, and a little salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then I let it go on medium or low, and check mid-day to make sure it's not drying out. When it's cooked through, I shred it with 2 forks.

THEN, you can reserve some of the plain chicken for the littles or those who don't do Buffalo, and either mix in a little BBQ sauce, or keep it plain.

For the Buffalo chicken, I'd start with this "recipe":

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

2 c. shredded cooked chicken

1/2 c. mild or medium Buffalo wing sauce (we use Frank's)

Combine the above. There. You're done!

THEN, you can make a wrap, a slider (maybe use some Hawaiian Bread rolls?!), a panini, or a salad with some of the meat! I would add some crumbled blue cheese as a topping, and include a side of Ranch dressing and celery sticks.

P.S. Here's a delish salad recipe I saw on Pinterest - you could use the shredded meat on this.

Layered Mexican Trifle Salad

So this is awesome. It's a lot of work, but it is awesome. Feeds a crowd, looks cool, tastes great. What more can you ask for? I first had this at a party, and then tracked down the recipe - I believe it was originally from Pampered Chef. You can mix it up, but I really like this combo. It's easy to double or whatever is needed, based on the serving dish. The one pictured was MASSIVE, and was basically a triple batch - so much work, and at the last minute! Layered Mexican Trifle Salad I ngredients: Beans: drain, rinse and mix together 1 15 oz. can pinto beans and 1 15 oz. can black beans 1 15 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained (I've also used fresh) 1 large tomato, diced (I usually use several Roma tomatoes) 2 green bell peppers, diced 3 ripe avocadoes, diced and mashed with the juice of 1 lime and salt and pepper to taste 1 large onion, diced (red or white) 2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded 2 cups cheddar or jack cheese, shredded

Skillet Chicken, Broccoli, Ziti & Asiago Cheese

We ALL really love this recipe. This is based on a recipe from the good people at Cooks Illustrated - I am grateful to them for getting my kids to happily eat sundried tomatoes and broccoli! I've also made this in a huge batch and served it family-style for a dinner party (and got to use my giant Pampered Chef Simple Additions square pasta bowl (it's really big), and it was AWESOME). If people could have licked the bowl clean, they might have - there was NOTHING left. Try this, and love it: Chicken, Broccoli, Penne and Asiago Cheese Skillet 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch squares 2 tbsp. vegetable oil (or olive oil - just don't heat that to smoking) 1 medium onion, minced (about 1 cup) 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tbsp.) 1/4 tsp. dried oregano 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes 8 oz. ziti or penne (2 /12 cups) 3 c. water 2 c. low-sodium chicken broth 3-4 c. broccoli florets 1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes in oil, rinsed and choppe

Another Take on Comfort Food

Sometimes there's nothing you can do but cook. I've had the displeasure of seeing 2 young moms in our school community recieve cancer diagnoses in the last 18 months. If you're like me, when someone you know is hurting, you want to help, but lots of times, there's not much you can do. If you can cook, you can take away some of the stress of getting the family fed and bring a meal or two. In fact, even if you can't cook, you can pick up a meal at a restaurant or a bag of groceries, or even a gift card for a local restaurant. I think it comes naturally to some - the church and school communities I grew up in always loved with food - church potlucks, school spaghetti dinners, and of course lots of meals for people who needed them. But not everyone has done this before, so it might be overwhelming. As in my "feeding a crowd" blurb, there are a few things to keep in mind. Don't try to impress - don't try new recipes. Find out if you're

A Cooking Baker

Search This Blog