Buffalo Chicken Salad

We all are all familiar with that time of the month.... when there is nothing in the pantry that is. I know what you thought. (No chocolate dessert for that time just yet.)  No, today the pantry and fridge were scarce so I thought about what sounded good. There is a wrap at Einstein Bros. Bagels that is a chicken salad with buffalo sauce. It's really pretty good if made correctly, which sometimes they skimp on the ingredients. Anyway, back to today, I was inspired by wanting that flavor but not wanting the extra bread.  With just a few ingredients, it was so easy to make a great salad that had a little kick.

I filled a bowl with mixed greens, added chopped celery, cucumber, and avocado. For the chicken salad I used one of the large cans of chicken breast (drained),  one tbs of chopped onion, one tbs Hellman's olive oil mayo, onion salt, and Louisiana hot sauce to taste. Mix them all together, scoop onto salad, and enjoy! S added a Klaussen pickle to hers and I added a squeeze of lemon wedge. It needed the acidity so you should use whatever you prefer.

On another note, I have started gaining some weight. What with the missing of a leg causing me to be less active and all the traveling increasing my fast food intake, it was bound to happen. Now that my pants aren't fitting and my bras are over flowing I figured I needed a diet because I have no money to buy new clothes that do fit. Oh and I want to be healthy too... kind of. I have decided to join the millions of others that are also on weight watchers and, well, watch my weight. Also, I plan to bump up my exercising which is easier now that I have my prosthesis!! This does not mean I will be changing all of my food to only salad and stuff. Trust me!  Butter and I have a tight relationship and wine and I have a therapeutic love that my mental status can not afford to quit right now.  I will merely be letting you know the points of the meals that I make. For example, this one is 4 points. Pretty good for a meal! Enjoy!

Hungarian Chicken Paprikash

Last night came really down to the wire. All day I could not decide what to make for dinner because the pantry is looking a little bare and I really still can't go to the store after my surgery. I was searching all over the web for chicken recipes that I hadn't used that I had the ingredients for and that wouldn't be too hard to make. Finally, I searched "chicken and dumplings" and Paprikash came up. As it happens, when we were in Ohio a year ago we stopped in at Tony Packo's  for their hot dogs. (The chili is one of my family's favorites! We come home with a few extra jars of it every time we go home to visit the family.) Anyway, that day mom and Steph decided that they didn't want hot dogs and got Paprikash (also spelled Paprikas). It was delicious so I decided that making it again would be a good idea. 

This is the recipe I used, courtesy of Allrecipes.com: Paprikash

I doubled the recipe for the large family we have. So started with a stick of butter melted and cooked the chicken breasts. When they get nice and brown, add the onion and let that simmer for about 5-8 minutes. Finally, add chicken stock instead of water (more flavor), salt, pepper, and a LOT of paprika. I just used the McCormick paprika but the reviews said that the Hungarian paprika makes a difference. I wouldn't know but I wouldn't write it off either. Simmer that mixture for about 10 more minutes.  Then take the chicken out and add the sour cream and flour slowly and whisking so it mixes well. Let that mixer reduce by half while simmering and stir often. (Letting a sauce reduce means that you are going to let it cook out the water content, get concentrated, thicken up, and you will have about half the amount of liquid you started with.)

On this recipe they have you make home made dumplings which is all fine and dandy if you want to do that. I had Bisquick on hand so I made dumplings with that. Boil for 10 minutes and they are ready to go.

Be warned, if you have never made dumplings before, they expand at first and you think there is going to be way too much but then they shrink up. So make a lot!

Also, Paprikash is traditionally served over dumplings and or noodles so I did both. We used Kluski noodles which are a think noodle that work well in dishes like Chicken Noodle Soup.

Add the dumplings to the sauces and mix well, scoop over noodles and add a breast of chicken. YUM!

It was soooo good! We had extra sauce and we really didn't want to throw it out because it was so tasty! I probably could eat it as a soup! Just thinking about it now makes my mouth water, my stomach grumble, and me wish that I had some left overs haha.
I suggest trying this body warming winter recipe because it's delicious! Until next time!

A Rhonda Sandwich

The inspiration for this sandwich, I am sad to say, was not my own. It was that of a posting of one of my family friends' on Facebook! Rhonda, your turkey leftover sandwich looked excellent! I took the idea and ran with it. I guess ya'll should know what she made before I tell you how I changed it. Only fair haha. She made a panini with leftover turkey, cranberry chutney, arugula, and Gorgonzola. What she didn't know was that I have been trying to find recipes using arugula because I have such an abundance growing in the garden, I don't know what to do with it all.

Because of the peppery taste that is signature to arugula, my family and I don't really prefer it as a salad. Having grown it myself that peppery taste is just so strong I need to put it into other foods. Hello?!? Sandwich!!! Duh.

So I changed out the turkey for chicken breast that I just pan sautéed with poultry seasoning. I got both a French baguette and a ciabatta loaf for the bread. We have a lot of blue cheese so I switched that out for the Gorgonzola. Both cheeses have very strong flavored and work well interchangeably. Instead of making chutney I used the cranberry relish left over from thanksgiving. It's a family recipe that Gran makes with orange zest that gives it a really fresh taste. Finally, I have a addiction to cheese. I'm not afraid to tell you, "hello, my name is Dev and I'm addicted to cheese." All kinds of cheese, I will, without fail, find a cheese that can go with anything. Some might even say I could put cheese on my cheese. Which I did. I put provolone on the sandwich while it was toasting in the toaster over and then the blue cheese!

It was a surprisingly harmonious sandwich of flavor. I admit, I was apprehensive about putting cranberry relish on my sandwich but it really enjoyed it. The peppery flavor of the arugula offset the sweet and she chicken and cheese added salty and savory. Yum!

On a side note, I also made a Greek salad out of the abundance of cherry tomatoes from the garden and a cucumber. I have to mention, growing your own veggies is so rewarding! I love picking the produce and having the fresh food but even more than that, the flavors are so incredibly strong that you get the flavor of what a real tomato or pepper or whatever tastes like!! The dressing was just equal parts oil and vinegar with salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and onion powder.

Moral of the post? Don't underestimate your sandwiches ya'll! They can be fabulous!