crock pot buffalo chicken.

I know, I know... "Really? Another unseasonable crock pot recipe?!" 

Yes, really.  Slow cookers are typically reserved for the winter and usually yield hearty comfort foods perfect for cold snowy nights. But lets think about it differently, shall we? In the heat of the summer, the last thing you want to do is heat up your kitchen with an oven, am I wrong? Of course I'm not. 
Now enter the crock pot. A crock pot is a small counter top appliance that is a contained source of heat, leaving your kitchen cool and comfortable, perfect for those hot dog days of summer.
I got this DELICIOUS recipe from one of the dietitians at work (thank you Emmie!). One day I was bragging about my own buffalo chicken recipe, and she shared her special buffalo chicken recipe with our office. Well I hate to admit it, but I think she one-up'd me with this. It took me a couple months to actually listen to her advice and make it but I am so glad I did, and now I get to share it with you! Think of this as pulled pork, but with buffalo chicken instead of barbeque pork, yum! There are only three ingredients and it is so simple to make. I'd recommend starting it in the morning, and it will be done by supper time.

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken (serves 8)
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 bottle Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 envelope of ranch dip mix

Add raw chicken to the crock pot, don't worry about cutting it up because it'll break down in the cooking process.

Next pour in the buffalo sauce and the ranch dip mix.  You may not need the whole bottle, just enough to submerge the chicken in the sauce.

1) add the sauce and dip mix

2) mix it up

Cover it and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I cooked mine 10 hours for about 1 1/3 lbs chicken and 1/2 bottle of sauce. 

 When it's done, pick at the chicken with a fork to break it up.  Like I said before, it should be the consistency of pulled pork.  It is delicious by itself, but I made it into a sandwich with a whole wheat bun and a little bit of reduced fat blue cheese dressing. 

I hope you like it! And thanks again, Emmie!

guiltless buffalo chicken finger salad.

I wish I could preface this recipe by boasting about all of it's amazing health benefits, but unfortunately there is not much to report... we are talking about buffalo chicken, people.  But what this recipe lacks in nutritive value, it gains in flavor!
I always try my hardest to make foods that pack a nutritive punch.  But sometimes it's more important (and gratifying) to simply tweak a few ingredients to lessen the caloric blow whilst retaining the familiar taste.  I did just that with this recipe.  Now I know this recipe is very simple, in fact -- I almost feel as if I am insulting you, my faithful reader just by posting it.  But my hope is that you'll learn something that you maybe wouldn't have thought to do yourself and if nothing else, you have an awesome buffalo chicken salad recipe (trust me)!

Buffalo Chicken Salad (serves 4)
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast --I bought the tenders which cut down on prep time
1/3 cup bread crumbs
2-3 tbsp whole wheat flour
a hefty shake of garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder
1 egg
1-2 tbsp fat free milk
1/2 cup buffalo sauce (I bought Aurthur Marc's Mild Buffalo Wing and Dipping Sauce)
8 tbsp crumbled blue cheese, divided
8 tbsp Ken's light blue cheese dressing, divided
1 large head iceberg lettuce 
2 medium tomatoes, diced
6 large stalks celery 

 First start by creating a breading station.  On one plate, add the whole wheat flour and spices.  I added a generous shake (less than a full tsp of each) garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder, mix together to blend.
In a wide shallow dish, add one egg and the milk and beat together.  My mother always told me that when you a breading and baking, you use egg and milk, but if you are breading and frying, then use egg and water... I am not sure exactly why, but I (almost) never question her methods.  
In another dish add the bread crumbs.  I only had Italian style bread crumbs so I added a bit more chili powder to it.  Plain bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs would work really well too. 
Keep a big empty plate handy for the finished chicken. If you haven't already, cut the chicken into strips, I bought a 1 lb package of chicken tenders, which had 8 pieces, 2 per serving-- I love having the prep work done for me!
To bread the chicken, simply follow these steps:

Step 1: roll each chicken strip into the flour, shake off the excess

Step 2: dip the floured chicken strips into the egg wash, shake off the excess

Step 3: lastly dip the chicken into the bread crumbs, shake off the excess

Step 4: lay the breaded chicken on a baking sheet or stone

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake uncovered for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, cut the largest piece, if it is still pink, bake for another 5 minutes or until the flesh is white.  After baking, drizzle the hot sauce evenly on each piece. I finished the chicken off under the broiler for a minute or two, just to crisp up a bit. 

For the salad, I used only iceberg lettuce, diced tomato, and celery, divided equally into four.  Sure there are plenty of other lettuce varieties that have more minerals and vitamins than iceberg, but there are two exceptions I make for iceberg-- buffalo chicken salads and tacos!  When I chopped the tomatoes, I took out most of the seeds so there wasn't too much moisture in the salad.  And lastly, I chopped some celery, and left a few sticks as garnish. After dividing the salad onto four plates, top each one with two pieces (or 4 oz) of buffalo chicken, 2 tbsp crumbled blue cheese, and 2 tbsp light blue cheese dressing.  

This salad had a TON of flavor and was really filling! It'd make a great wrap too.  I hope you like it!