Heat's Homemade: Buffalo Wing Sauce

When I was at the store buying ingredients for Buffalo Chicken Lasagna, I made the great mistake of buying hot sauce instead of buffalo sauce. In my defense-they were in the exact same location and the store brand bottle of hot sauce looked just like the buffalo wing sauce bottles! So, instead of going back to the store, we decided to improvise and make our own buffalo sauce. I don't know if we would make this again, but it definitely works if you don't have buffalo sauce in the house and need it for a recipe! The one thing I would suggest for this recipe is to definitely taste as you go. I wasn't completely satisfied with either recipe together. But overall it's a good start. We combined two recipes (recipe one and recipe two) from allrecipes and here is our adaption:

Buffalo Wing Sauce
Total Time: 20 Minutes

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2 tablespoons honey

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium low heat. Simmer until butter is melted an all ingredients are well mixed. Serve on chicken wings or as a dipping sauce.

Creamy Corn and Spinach Enchilada Casserole

Scott and I are huge Mexican food fans! Almost every restaurant we go to is awesome: quick, delicious and relatively inexpensive! Now that we're cooking we want to make our own! I absolutely LOVE Stephanie O'Dea! Her blog, and two cookbooks (both of which I own, btw) are absolutely awesome! As I've said before, slow cookers are the greatest! They can make life so incredibly easy! I always do my best to use the slow cooker on low heat. This time, however, we put this together the evening we ate it and cooked it on high--it still turned out great!

But back to the recipe: we would definitely give this a 4.5/5! We used chicken, but these would definitely be great with shredded or even ground beef! We weren't sure about the corn, but overall we really enjoyed it! If we made this again next time, we would probably take out the jalapenos-we just dont need quite that much spice! Also, we though of maybe switching out the creamed corn for black or pinto beans, and just not draining them. The corn made the enchiladas a little sweet. We would also add black olives. But that's just because we love black olives! Overall, though, if you enjoy Mexican food--make these!

Creamy Corn and Spinach Enchilada Casserole-adapted from Make it Fast Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'Dea
Serves 6
Total Time: 5 hours

• 1 cup shredded cooked meat
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can creamed corn, or pinto beans, undrained
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped sliced jalapenos (if desired)
• 3 tablespoons chopped blacked olives (if desired)
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 8 to 10 corn tortillas
• 2 cups green enchilada sauce
• 2/3 cup sour cream

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. In a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded meat, creamed corn or bean, cilantro, spinach leaves, jalapenos, black olives, and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese. Mix until spinach leaves are wilted and coated with the corn.

Place a corn tortilla into the bottom of your stoneware. Add a hearty spoonful of filling. Top with another corn tortilla. Repeat the layers until your crock is full. In a mixing bowl, combine the green enchilada sauce with the sour cream, and pour on top. Add the remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours, or on high for 2 to 4 hours. Let stand with the lid off for 20 minutes before cutting.

Original Recipe:Turkey-Spinach-Artichoke-Sandwich

Scott and I are in love with the Turkey Artichoke Paninis from Panera. We decided to make our own. The recipe amounts won't be a precise as usual, because we really didn't measure. But you get the idea. We bought store made spinach dip, and added artichokes. But you could very well make your own spinach and/or artichoke dip to go with this as well. Or use leftovers to make the sandwiches. We were absolutely in LOVE with this! Obviously, it's not overly healthy, but when you're craving a really yummy warm sandwich, this will definitely do the trick! 5/5 all the way!

Turkey-Spinach-Artichoke-Sandwich

Turkey-Spinach-Artichoke-Sandwich
Total Time: 20 Minutes
Total Servings: 2

• Melted butter
• Loaf french bread, sliced into sandwich-sized pieces
• Deli-style turkey
• Sliced Asiago cheese
• Warmed spinach artichoke dip

Butter one side of one piece of bread. Once warm, add the cheese, turkey, and spinach artichoke dip. Place other slice of bread on top, and lightly butter the top. Flip the sandwich when the first side is browned. Cook until turkey is warm and cheese is melted. ENJOY!!

Southwest Chicken Hash Browns

Another recipe from Pillsbury's Fast and Healthy Cookbook! This was a different kind of recipe that isn't for everyone, but if you like a little bit of heat, you will like! We added some cajun seasoning to the chicken, which I think was a little too much for me. Overall, 3.5/5 (Scott thought it was a 4, I thought it was a 3. We compromised!)

Southwest Chicken Hash Browns
Total Time: 30 Minutes
Serves 2

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1 3/4 cups frozen hash browns, thawed
• 1/8 teaspoon cajun seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup fat free sour cream
• 1/4 cup chunky salsa

In a medium bowl, mix chicken, onion, and potatoes. Stir in cajun seasoning and salt.

In a large skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium-high heat. Spread potato mixture evenly in skillet. Cook, without stirring, 6 to 9 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center and bottom of potato mixture is golden brown and crisp.

With spatula, divid chicken mixture in half; place on two plates. Top each with sour cream and salsa.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps

So this is really a recipe that doesn't need a recipe. You can really make it your own. But I wanted to give credit where credit is due. We got the idea for this recipe one night from Pillsbury's Fast and Healthy Cookbook (definitely one of our favorites). If you are new to cooking, or just like to add cookbooks to your collection, buy this one (pictured below)! Almost everything we have made from here has been fantastic!

Chicken bacon ranch wraps are probably mine & Scott's go to wrap. It's simple and always delicious. We're huge ranch fans! I love that this recipe calls for the rotisserie chicken. I think this is genius! When you just don't feel like cooking or don't have the time, just pick up an already cooked chicken at the store! We've put it in casseroles, salads, and now, wraps! It's always delicious and just makes life easier-which is always good! 

This recipe is definitely a 4/5. You can make this to your liking. We added some onions, and realized we like a little more lettuce in the wraps as well. Use what you have on hand to make it your own! We didn't do the first step in the recipe. We just made our wraps as we wanted. But you can definitely make everything ahead of time to have a week's worth of wraps! One last tip-heat the tortillas to make the rolling go smoother!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps
Total Time: 15 Minutes
Serves: 8 Wraps

• 2 1/2 cups shredded deli rotisserie chicken
• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 4 slices cooked bacon
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 1 cup fat-free ranch dressing
• 1 package flour tortillas for burritos (8 inch)
• 4 cups shredded lettuce

In a large bowl, gently mix all ingredients except tortillas and lettuce. Cover; refrigerate up to 3 days. (if desired)

To make 1 wrap, in a small microwavable bowl, microwave generous 1/3 cup chicken mixture, loosely covered, on High 30 to 45 seconds or until hot. Spread chicken mixture on tortilla and top with 1/2 cup shredded lettuce. Roll up.