Quick Buffalo Chicken Wraps

This is one of my favorite dinners to make when I am out of time.

I also love to take this for lunch. I bake the buffalo chicken strips in the morning before I leave, then wrap them in aluminum foil. I take a small container of ranch and a tortilla.

I put them all together at lunchtime.

It's so wonderful and filling!

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

• 5 Buffalo Chicken Nuggets, I use Wegmans, but I'm sure any buffalo strips will work.
• 2 Tablespoons of Ranch Dressing
• 2 Leaves of Romaine
• 1 Multi-grain Tortilla

Oven bake the buffalo chicken strips extra crispy.

Wrap with all the fixin's in a large muti-grain tortilla.

I hope this helps you on a busy night!

Simple Chicken Stir Fry

I don't know about you all, but I am still feeling full from Thanksgiving.

Code Boyfriend and I have been trying to eat a little lighter since returning home from our vacation.

So tonight, I made a very simple chicken stir fry with brown rice.

Nothing spectacular today. We didn't eat breakfast and grabbed a quick lunch at Wegmans before we did our shopping.

It is full of veggies and easy to switch up with whatever veggies you may have on hand.

Chicken Stir Fry

• 1 Chicken Breast, cut into strips
• 1 Clove of Garlic
• 1 Cup of Frozen Vegetable, I used Broccoli, Cauliflower and Carrots
• 3 Tablespoons of Teriyaki Sauce -- The Wegman's Teriyaki sauce is very good
• Olive Oil for the pan
• 2 Tablespoons of Corn Starch

Coat the strips of chicken with the corn starch and place in a hot pan with enough olive oil in the bottom to prevent sticking. I used a non-stick pan, so I only needed a tablespoon or so.

Allow the chicken strips to brown on one side, almost cooking all the way through undisturbed. This took my chicken about 5 minutes. I used this time to make instant brown rice.

 After the chicken is mostly cooked, add the garlic, frozen veggies, and teriyaki sauce.

Allow the frozen vegetables to cook, about 7 minutes.

Serve over rice, noodles, or whatever strikes your fancy. I do like to serve with rooster sauce. I like the kick.

Chicken Wing Dip Stuffed Shells

I have a final tomorrow. I'm kind of freaking out about it in a way that makes me not want to study. Instead, I want to pull the blankets over my head and pretend that finals are going to go away.

So, I made the week's most time consuming dish tonight... as a study break.

Chicken Wing Dip Stuffed Shells

•  1 Box of Jumbo Pasta Shell, cooked al dente, even a little under. They'll finish in the oven.
• 2 Shredded Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 cup of Frank's Hot Sauce (I cut back on this because Code Boyfriend does not like spicy food, it was still really good)
• 1/2 cup of Ranch Dressing
• 4 oz, half of a box of Cream Cheese
• 1/2 cup of Cheddar Cheese (extra for the top)

 For the sauce:

• 2 Tablespoons of Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons of Frank's
•  1/2 cup of Chicken Stock  

Mix shredded chicken, Frank's, ranch, and both kinds of cheeses in a bowl.

Spoon this mixture into the cooked shells and place into a glass baking dish. The shells can be on top of each other. 

Mix the tomato paste, Frank's and chicken stock in another bowl. Pour this over the shells.

Cover the shells with extra cheddar cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, until the cheese is all melty and the shells are cooked.

 These were amazing! But so filling. We have over half the pan left with 3 hungry college student eating. I should have cut the recipe in half, keep this in mind if you don't have an army to feed.   

Related: I want to use the jumbo shells to make giant mac and cheese. Maybe for winter quarter....     

Caprese Stuffed Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Risotto

Code Boyfriend declared this the best thing he's ever eaten. I take that as extraordinarily high praise.

Our roommate is out of town for an interview, so we decided to have a slightly fancy dinner at home. Code Boyfriend picked up a bottle of wine, and I made this.

Everything was amazing. The chicken was tender, the risotto was amazing (granted, it's Pioneer Woman's recipe, so what do you expect) and the pan sauce was perfect.

Code Boyfriend even found a white wine we both enjoyed that paired well with everything.

Sorry guys, white wine will never be my favorite, but Sweet Walter White tastes like champagne they forgot to carbonate, and I can get behind that.

Caprese Stuffed Chicken

• 2 chicken breast
• 1 Roma Tomato
• 1/2 a cup of Basil
• 3 Mozzerella String Cheese Sticks
• Olive Oil

Butterfly the 2 chicken breasts, then lightly flatten with a cast iron pan. Or, if you're all fancy you could use a meat tenderizer, but I just don't have room in my kitchen for one when I can use a mini cast iron pan.

Peel string cheese into a bowl. Mix with the diced roma tomato and chiffonade of basil.

I used this mixture to stuff the chicken breast, placing the seam of the rolled chicken breast down in the pan. I only used half of the stuffing and used the remainder for the sauce.

Place in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour, until the chicken breast is cooked completely through.

About half way through the cooking process, I poured 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the chicken breasts to keep them moist.

Then I paired it with this sauce.


Caprese Pan Sauce

• The leftover Caprese food
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 2 Tablespoons of Heavy Cream
• 1 Teaspoon Corn Starch

After the chicken is cooked and taken out of the pan and placed on a cutting board to rest, place the pan on the stove over medium heat.

Add all of the ingredients to the chicken drippings, heat and stir until the sauce comes together. Serve over the chicken.

I served this dish with the Pioneer Woman's Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto, which is amazing as is. I didn't change a thing. I have tried her risotto both with and without white wine, and you can definitely taste the difference in the end product without the wine. The flavor just is not as deep.

I highly recommend looking around her blog when you are stuck for meal ideas. She's always very inspirational.

Gringo Chicken Taquitos

Today was one of those days where I look at the clock and wonder where the time went.

It's the last week of class of the quarter, so I've been preparing for 3 tests and readying a lab notebook.

This is a great recipe for those, oh crap, I didn't plan dinner and it's 5:30 kind of days.

Also, we didn't make it to the grocery store this week. Not only did we not have dinner plans, I was out of coffee this morning. It was not a good way to start the day.

But look how great they turned out.

I must admit though, these were made in New York state, and I just don't have access to some of the more traditional things for taquitos. I'm also way too lazy to pull out my frier on a Tuesday night.

But they are still tasty, creamy, and crunchy, as well finished quickly, so I was happy with them.

But they're not traditional, so I've dubbed them "gringo".

Thank you, Code Boyfriend, for the action shots.

Gringo Chicken Taquitos

•  2 Chicken Breasts, cooked, or rotisserie chicken meat
• 1/2 a Brick of Cream Cheese (4oz)
• 1 Can of Green Chilies
• 1 cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Cooking Spray
• Tortillas

First, shred your chicken. I do this in my KitchenAid with the paddle attachment, but you can also shred the chicken by hand, and mix together yourself. But it won't be such a quick meal.

Then add your can of chilies. I tend to just keep the mixer running on low while I toss things in the bowl.

Then add your cream cheese.

And your regular cheese. This completes the awesome chicken filling. This is also where my apartment become divided...

Traditional taquitos are made with corn tortillas. I almost always prefer corn tortillas anyways, so this works for me. But Code Boyfriend and Roommate loudly disagree with this preference. I end up filling both kinds of tortillas with about 2 tablespoons of filling, and then rolling.

But be warned, the flour ones aren't really taquitos, they're flautas. I get very cranky about that. But don't listen to me. They're good both ways, and I'm a grump this week.

Next, put every one on a cookie sheet, spritz with cooking spray, and place in a 400 degree oven, for about 7 minutes, or until the edges get crispy.

I have the world's least reliable oven, so your times may be radically different. Just watch them. They brown up fast. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I serve with salsa (weak, sad pathetic salsa that is masquerading as "hot" in New York) and sour cream.

I always make a bunch of extras and freeze them. Way better than any other frozen taquitos I've ever had. Just reheat in the oven and enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bacon

A.K.A The best thing that could ever happen to chicken breasts.

I am once again back to the grind of New York life, the hours of school work and trying to throw together dinner for the boyfriend and myself at 6 hours of lectures.

But tonight, something wonderful happened. I had an odd craving for Chicken Cordon Bleu, and while perusing my cabinet I lacked ham but found bacon. I deemed this to be porky enough and began to create what my boyfriend dubbed Chicken Cordon Bacon.

Granted, it did take several more ingredients than a typical college kid has lying around the apartment, but the beauty of this dish is that it can be made with whatever happens to be in the cupboard that day.

So I started out on the stove top, in my beloved cast iron skillet (trust me, that pan can do anything) melting a little bit of butter. Just enough so the chicken doesn't stick. Go with what you feel.

While that's melting into pools of goodness, I CAREFULLY trimmed the chicken breasts, and sliced them almost in half horizontally. My goal here was to butterfly the chicken breast, so it can be opened like a book and hide all sorts of fun things inside. Don't cut too far because A) it will be very difficult to keep your cheeses on the inside, and B) that's where your fingers are!

Once the chicken was opened like a book, I began to fill it with cheese, something any good college fridge should have.  (I mean really, how are you making grilled cheese and nachos without it?)

I used a combination of White American (boyfriend likes it on his sandwiches, there is no shame in using slices cheese here), shredded cheddar (aforementioned nachos), and Parmesan.

Then season, with whatever you have around. I used salt, pepper, oregano, and some mustard powder, but the dish will be just as tasty if all you have available are salt and pepper packets "borrowed" from on campus.

Then I closed my chicken books. Now, the fun part. I wrapped each chicken breast with a strip of raw bacon. This kept both the chicken book closed during cooking and adds delicious bacon-y flavor the the cheese filled chicken.

I sprinkled my chicken with a very little bit of bread crumbs. This isn't vital, but I think it added a nice ending color and crunch.

I then transfered the bacon wrapped chicken to the skillet of melted butter, moved that into the oven, and baked the chicken at 375 for 35 minutes. Make sure your chicken in cooked all the way through before consumption!

I topped my chicken off with a very quick and easy sauce, that everyone should be able to make.

College Béchamel Sauce - Best over Chicken Cordon Bacon


2 tablespoons of Butter
1 and a half tablespoons of Flour
3/4 of a cup of Milk
A pinch of Italian Seasoning
A pinch of "Emeril's Essence"(I bought mine in a bottle, but it can be made)
Salt and Pepper
1 Tablespoon of Butter

Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan and mix in the flour. If it looks doughy, that can be fixed when you add the milk, but this should be a glue-y looking mixture.

Add the milk, and mix throughly. This might take some work to get everything incorporated. Trust me, your work will be rewarded.

Once the milk looks like it is beginning to thicken, add all spices and mix. Taste the sauce. Add spices to taste.

Turn off sauce once seasoned, stir in the last tablespoon of butter. This will give the sauce a nice consistency and sheen.

A picture of the finished product, originally taken by my boyfriend to send to a friend, to gloat about his bacon wrapped dinner.