recipe

Two Pizzas Are Better Than One: Buffalo Shrimp and BBQ Chicken

/ foodsweatandbeers / 12 Comments

Here’s the honest truth: I’m a sauce boss.

At any point in time, in my refrigerator, there are enough products that could be used as sauce, marinade, dressing, and the like, it makes you wonder where I put it all. I guaranteed have more sauces than I do foods to cover with the sweet, liquid toppings, but that never seems to stop me from buying new ones.

I like my fries to be the side of my ketchup.

My pancakes should be able to swim in syrup.

My chips nearly drown in the salsa.

But here’s the clutch part of this story. Until Sunday evening, the only sauce I’d been using on my pizza…. is pizza sauce.  Occasionally in the form of marinara or Sockarooni (the favorite sauce of the Sugar Coated Sisters) but, honestly, I wasn’t getting too creative, pizza-wise.

Enter: Game Changers 1 and 2.

Big thanks to Ray and Ken

Two dinners made special thanks to Sweet Baby Ray’s and Ken’s Buffalo Wing Sauce.  Oh, and a special Harris Teeter deal on Whole Wheat Pizza Dough!

Single Girl Realization: One pizza dough ball = 2 beautiful pizzas for one!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and get ready for some pie!  Add some parchment paper to your pan so you don’t need to clean up later (trust me on this one).

First up, a buffalo shrimp pizza.

Not my best photography... But one of my best pizzas.

I rolled out that dough the best as I could. Unfortunately, on night one, that means an oddly shaped pie.

Up next, I put a thin (THIN being the key word here) layer of the buffalo sauce on this doughy wonder. In the meantime, I took some pink shrimp and tossed it in some cajun spices and olive oil, to give it a little flavor. Chances are, I dramatically overcooked it. I wouldn’t recommend that step, but I’m new at this whole seafood-cooking thing.

Up next, I tossed the cooked shrimp in some buffalo sauce. I covered the sauce and dough in a thin layer of cheese, then added some sauteed spinach and tomato slices to the pie. Add the shrimp and a bit more cheese. Cook in the oven for… jeez, I’m not even sure. 12 minutes?  Just watch it carefully.

Hawk-like.

When the cheese is melted and the crust is golden, you’re ready for eating action.

Maybe shrimp and buffalo sauce isn’t your poison?

I got this.

Roll out dough ball number two. Chances are, you did a better job this time. I know I did.

That looks much more pizza-like!

Keep that oven preheated to 400, and hit up your chopping block to cut up some red onion (I guess another onion would be good. But I prefer red.) Chop this bad boy thin, try not to cry, and sautee it in some olive oil.  Wait until the pieces get all soft and tasty. This is the best way to enjoy an onion.

Add some more spinach (gotta keep it green), and, if you have some cooked chicken, add it. I happened to have had a can of chicken on me, and I added this.  It worked perfectly. The chicken sweated on the onions and the spinach soaked it all up. It was a romantic little get together.

Take that BBQ sauce and add a thin layer to the dough.

The BIGGEST recommendation I can give about ALL homemade pizzas is to push the toppings out to the very edge of the ‘za. I can’t stress this enough.

So make that sauce reach every last nook and cranny of your crust. Sprinkle some cheese, add the spinachonionchicken mix to the pie, and spread a bit more cheese over with a drizzle of BBQ sauce.

Cook it in the oven!! Follow the same instructions as the first one (i.e. no real instructions… just watch it carefully.)

Perfect pie!

Serve it on a plate in the shape of a slice of pizza.

That’s probably the most important instruction of all.

Wait. Don't eat the plate.

What’s your favorite dream pizza topping?

How about the sauce you use the most?

 

The Lighter Side of Zumba

/ foodsweatandbeers / 15 Comments

Hey there y’all!! Long time, no blog.

This weekend was jam-packed, and I even blogged a pinch about it in this week’s Six Pack Sunday: My Cousin’s Wedding. That being said, considering it was the longest time I’ve spent home in a looooong time. Monday, since I had off, I took advantage of the bonus day and staved off my flight until Tuesday morning. The cost? One exhausted Jordan.

Payoff? Phenomenal Sister Date!

See the resemblance? (I'm the taller one, ps.)

On the agenda?

Pancakes (banana chocolate chip… with sprinkles), Baking (Namely, Courtney’s Crackled Sugar Cookies), Zumba, Lunch at Moe’s, and FroYo. All before 4pm (game time for her volleyball game!)  It was daunting, especially after drinking all the beers during the weekend, but, with little Kiley by my side, I was ready for anything.

She's also a whiz with a whisk.

Up first? The cookies.

Toss those bad boys into the oven, now what?

Since they take about 12 minutes to cook, but we were already dressed for zumba, clearly we only had one option.

Girl's got ups.

Not much of a yogi-bear

Beautiful tree pose

This is the most flexible I've ever looked. Don't believe everything you see.

16 takes of each pose later, they were ready!!

Just in time for zumba!

All iced and ready for the team!

Fast forward to a trip to the YMCA. The 1pm Zumba class on a Monday is not something my schedule normally allows, so I jumped at the chance.  When we got there, we realized that wasn’t my standard Zumba class.  It was, in fact, a whole different ballgame.

The two of us probably brought the average age of the fitness room down about 26 years. While I’m used to the  college students from UNC and Duke, or the young professionals from the Research Triangle who dress in Lululemon, Nike, and Under Armour, the fashion in this class was outfitted in jeans (no joke), plaid shorts, and stirrup pants. We stuck out like two sore thumbs. Two sore thumbs that were about 6″ taller than most of the other women in the class. We’re tall, we’re gangly, and we have zero rhythm.

Clearly, we were meant to be in this class.

Well, we were given weird looks as we were flailing around, taking steps way longer than needed, and jumping up and down.  In fact, at one point, a woman leaned over to us and said “Man, whatever you’ve got going on in your shoes, I think I need it!”

Sweet moves, Ki!

Both of us are tall, lanky, and athletic. Surprisingly, that doesn’t actually translate to being a good dancer whatsoever. It mostly translated to us looking like we were illustrating plyometric drills instead of salsa and merengue steps.  But we got some laughs, we felt like spastic jellyfish, and we broke one heck of a sweat.

Glossy

And, even though I may not have any sexy Latin moves, I can, at times, drop it like it’s hot.

Drop it low

It was great to take a group fitness class and feel like a goof, instead of focusing solely on knocking out serious cardio. I even followed my own group fitness etiquette and made sure that, since I wasn’t sure of the moves this woman used, I hung out in the back.

Do you ever take classes just “for fun”?

I can’t say I regularly do, but it’s such a welcome to take a class with a friend (or, in this case, a friend sister HYBRID!) and be silly. I still felt like it was a killer workout, but that might’ve been all the laughter (good for the abs, I heard.)

Stay tuned for a wedding post in the near future!!

Kick in the Pants

/ foodsweatandbeers / 15 Comments

Oh whew, made it to the end of Monday.  As I write this, I’m kicking back with my main man, Jason Segel, and the rest of the cast of How I Met Your Mother (one of my favorite Fall tv shows, it’s totally living up to my expectations). Also on Mondays: Gossip Girl, Cake Boss, Hart of Dixie, oi vay.

After I left work, and a weekend of overindulgence, I realized that I needed a little bit of a kick in the pants. See, despite my pipe dreams of Shredding for the Wedding (of my cousin in two weekends!!) and a fairly successful first part of the Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred, I soon realized that the reason I was able to lose over 40 lbs when I initially started going to the gym was just that: I was going to the gym.

While I loved the ability of having a little personal workout studio in my apartment, you know what else is in my apartment?

  • My foods
  • My couch
  • My bed
  • My TV
All of those things, while wonderful, are a not exactly conducive to me sticking with my self-imposed discipline.
Also, while I felt like a PRO at the old Weight Watchers, this new Weight Watchers Plus is confusing and different (well, maybe not, but I’m feeling a little more mentally taxed than usual) and not what I’m good at.  When I stepped on the scale, which was showing a notably higher number than the last time I’d looked at it (weeks ago). Honestly, I just needed to get back to my roots
Those roots included 33 minutes on the cross trainer elliptical (which is like a hybrid of elliptical, stair stepper, and arc trainer) and about 30 minutes on the Precor elliptical.

There's that sweat I know and love

There’s something about getting in a gym, the energy is contagious. I felt like I could go forever but, by the time I had burned an alleged 750 calories, I sweatily drove over to the grocery store to pick up some essentials.

First on my list (since it’s on special at Harris Teeter this week for $0.99/lb!): Spaghetti Squash.

I also grabbed some spinach, mozzarella cheese, apples, cottage cheese (WHAT?! more on that soon, once I try it!), and so many steamed vegetables you could throw a stick at them (please, don’t).

By the time I got home, I was much too tired to even contemplate a full 30-45 minute roasting of the squash, but it’s all I wanted.  Enter: Sarah from Sarah Snacks!

Her microwaving spaghetti squash method worked a charm! I cut it across, not lengthwise as usual, and it cooked completely in 10 minutes!!

Check out those long strands!!

Once it was cooled off, I scooped half into a tupperware for a Tuesday lunch, and tended to the other half in a big ol’ bowl.

I added some DELECTABLE Boar’s Head pepperoni, crushed red peppers, mozzarella cheese, sauteed spinach and several leaves from the remnants of my basil plant (which got hit pretty hard during last week’s storm).

Poor little branches, they didn't stand a chance

I’m so so elated that spaghetti squash is in season again!!

This one time, I lived in Italy for a month, and I think I burned out on pasta so much that spaghetti squash is the first “pasta” like replacement that I love like I used to love the carby noodles!

In the not-too-distant future, I’m hoping to try out the Mexi Spaghetti Squash in the style of Shanna. Always down to diversify my dinner items.

Do you like spaghetti squash? What’s your favorite way of cooking/eating it?

Chocolate Crack: S’mores Style

/ foodsweatandbeers / 15 Comments

All I could think about when I was making these was the incredibly quotable flick, Mean Girls.

Crack. (click on image for Source)

But I’ll be honest, this crack would definitely crack Regina George.  And Gretchen Weiners.

After our amazing dinner date at Mellow Mushroom last night, we figured it was time to whip up some dessert.  While I used a few different recipes online to remind me how to make this, I also used years of watching my mom make these delicious desserts.  I’ve heard it called all sorts of different names. Sugar Bark. Chocolate Crack. Salty Sweet. Crackle. But whatever you call it, it’s addictive.  And too easy to make.  If you need an easy-to-make food for a crowd you’re trying to please, GO FOR IT!

What you need is:

  • Aluminum foil
  • a tall pan (some people call them jelly roll pans? But I’ve never even seen a jelly roll, so I just called it the tall pan.)
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 sleeve of salted saltines (like, 40-50 saltine crackers)
  • 1 12 oz package of semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate, I bet even white chocolate would work
  • Vanilla extract
  • Some baby marshmallows

Step 1

My saltines were not green. But my lighting was awful, as these were being made at 10 pm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your so called “Jelly roll” pan with the saltine crackers (pack tight, no spaces) and make SURE you don’t have more than one solid row of crackers.  If there’s space on the edges, break the saltines to fit the gaps. And then, eat the extra saltine bits. Yum.

Step 2

Butter me up.

Take the butter. Put it in a medium sauce pan. Melt it at a medium heat. Don’t burn it. Easiest step ever.

Step 3

Looking sweet

Add the cup of dark brown sugar and a dash of vanilla extract (about a teaspoon, maybe a teensy bit more, we just eyed it) to the melted butter in the pan. Stir it at a medium heat until the mixture is a uniform rich brown.  This will look divine, smell like warm caramel, and you may be tempted to eat it straight from here. Don’t, you’ll burn your mouth and ruin your dessert.

Step 4

(no picture, sorry, so here’s a picture of a jelly roll)

That's a lot of pan for a little jelly roll. (Click image for Source)

Pour the butter sugar vanilla mixture on the crackers, and toss that in the (preheated) oven.  Watch it carefully, and when the mixture starts to bubble, take it out.

Step 5

Chocolatey goodness

Sprinkle the chocolate on top of the bubbling sugar crackers.  You can let the heat melt it, but I like to take a spatula and spread the chocolate for a more even coating.

Step 6

Rockiest road = marshmallows

We forgot to get the marshmallows, but had marshmallow fluff, so we plopped it all around.  However, I always recommend using marshmallows, and sprinkling them around. The fluff’s hard to work with (but, if you’re into getting more on the spoon and your fingers…. by all means.)  Put the pan in the fridge and wait it out.  I’d say at least 2-3 hours, or overnight.

Step 7

Get it OUT OF MY HOUSE!

After refrigerating for a few hours (or overnight, just to be safe), crack the bark up (the foil normally comes off very easily but sometimes you have to pull a bit) into little bite sized treats.  Try a piece. Then get it as far away from you as possible lest you eat the entire thing.
Voila!  I promise, this will go so fast at your next potluck you’ll wonder if you accidentally forgot to bring something.

Ok, now that I’m salivating over crack, I better eat some legitimate breakfast food. A girl can’t live on chocolate, sugar, butter, and saltines alone.

But she can certainly try.

Blogspiration and Some No-Bake Cake Bites!

/ foodsweatandbeers / 13 Comments

Hey there all, and happy Monday!  It’s lunchtime around these parts and, after a weekend of wine by the pool and BBQ with old friends, that means salad!

Chicken Salad, sounds peachy!

Today’s salad included:

  • Grilled chicken
  • Bed of spinach
  • Low fat Mexican cheese blend
  • Salsa
  • Roasted red pepper and banana pepper
  • Fresh orange pepper!
  • White Chia Seeds

It was fantastic.  I’ll be honest, when I first reached out to Anthony at Swanson Health Products, I was just interested in trying some new things.  These chia seeds, though only used as a topper so far, are quite tasty and great for adding a little crunch.  I haven’t the foggiest idea of whether or not there have been any health benefits to me yet, but soon I’d like to use them in something more creative than “sprinkle liberally on top of your food, no matter what it is.”  So keep an eye out for that.

There was one thing I was looking for, though, that I was BEYOND excited to try!

Candles, a food processor... Looks like a hot date ahead.

Swanson sent along some Fancy Whole Medjool dates.  Even though I knew I wanted them, I had no experience with them.  So I turned to the blogger who I see use dates in the most fun and creative ways: Averie at Love, Veggies, and Yoga!  And her recipes using dates were numerous. What to do, what to do…

Luckily for me, I was also using some Blogspiration from Meghann at Meals and Miles and pre-cutting my own carrots for the week ahead (much cheaper than pre-cut or baby carrots).

Chop chop

How could I merge these two into the perfect treat?

ENTER: Averie’s No-Bake Oatmeal Raisin  Carrot Cake Bites!!

Though I’m not about re-writing folks recipes when I literally didn’t change them at all, I did document each step with excitement.

All my ingredients in the blender!

I was lucky enough to have every ingredient on hand, so I followed the instructions to a T.

Vroom vroom: tastiness being blended!

I used the mini version of my Ninja Food Processor which is actually the most efficient food processor I’ve ever tried for how affordable it was.  If you’re in the market for something small, portable, and affordable to make some smoothies, grind your own breadcrumbs, make these little cake bites, or blend some sexy daquiris. truly check this out.  I got mine at Target for something like $49 and it doesn’t owe me a penny.

Cake bites fit for a jellyfish!!

These turned out perfect. Delicious, really showcased the taste and versatility of the dates, and really resembled the flavors of a carrot cake without making me feel like they were syrupy sweet!!  I will absolutely be making more, and have a newfound appreciation for these dates!  I’ll have to find new ways to use them.

In fact, I think I’ll have one or two for dessert.

  • Are you interested in getting some free Swanson Health Products goodies to review on your own blog? Then check out the Swanson Health Blog for all the details.

Have you ever used dates?  If so, any suggestions for a date newb like myself?

Back to work!!

The Little Meal that Could

/ foodsweatandbeers / 14 Comments

Good morning friends, neighbors, and countrymen (and women).

Last night was a blast as Ry and I watched the first episode of this AWESOME new show called Alphas (which is GREAT, if you like sci fi [or syfy] or super powers like X-Men, or anything wild like that), and oops, I did end up drinking the last Endo IPA from Carolina Beer Company.  However, I was informed that they are now owned by Foothills Brewing (which I have a super sweet glass from, woo!) so maybe the beers will improve (thanks, Michael!)

Well, before I sat my booty down on the couch to watch the show and drink too many beers for a Tuesday night, I decided that it was a great day to Zumbaaaaaaaaaa at the gym!!  AKA I really wanted a chance to rock my new Zumba shirt:

You like? I like!

PS I promise, I was off the clock when I took this picture and that’s why I’m playing dress up in my office.

Anyway, the workout was fantastic, though it made me painfully aware that I am not a dancer and merely an athlete trapped in a Zumba-phile.  Oh well.

771 calories burned? Don't mind if I do.

Then, when considering the food left in the pantry post work, and after meeting up with the beau in the grocery store…. it hit me.  What to have for dinner.

Chicken Cordon Buffalo Bleu(s)!!

Here was my plan:

  • Take some chicken breasts, knife them hollow
  • Marinade them in some sweet Ken’s Buffalo Sauce Marinade
  • Dredge them in some egg mixture
  • Stuff em with some stuff (Laughing Cow Blue Cheese n’ bacon for me, cheddar n’ bacon for Ry)
  • Then panko bread crumbs
  • Fry them in some EVOO
  • Eat them up

Seems foolproof, right?  Woops.

I skipped the egg mixture, coated in bread crumbs, stuffed em with some stuff…. then went into the pan.

Well, the panko bread crumbs fell off nearly instantly.  And some of the cheese came outta the stuffed breast.  And this is what it looked like:

Beautiful? No. Delish. Mhm....

I’ll be honest, I won’t even bother giving you a formal recipe, because I think that you can kinda understand it was sort of a bust, appearance-wise. But trust me, it hit in all the right tastebuds.

I paired it with some steamed vegetables (corn/carrots/peas/green beans) and voila, dinner of champions.

Ok, worktime followed by oil change time.  Knocking that list down one at a time.  You love it. I love it.

Ever have any cooking blunders that ended up delicious?

Are you a fan of buffalo chicken anything?

I go nuts over the stuff.

Hybrid Crab Cakes and Whipped Avocado Sauce

/ foodsweatandbeers / 9 Comments

Today was a day of temptation, as a meeting at work featured cookies and fruit cups.  I held off from the temptation of cookies by focusing on a much more delicious snack (note the dripping sarcasm.)

Oh, neat. Celery.

Paired with Athenos Hummus (which is not nearly as delicious as the Sabra I had earlier today and, comparatively, it is dry and grainy.)  Oh well….

I thought I was playing it cool, being all healthy and junk when…. WAIT A MINUTE!! WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE?!

Honeydukes Chocolate Frog!!!!

It came complete with a Godric Gryffindor trading card!!  My coworker just recently came back from Orlando, FL after spending a long weekend in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. She brought back a chocolate frog, which I consider a major tease/appetizer for my trip to Orlando in October!!  That’s right, home of such major attractions as Julie of PBFingers and former haunt of Meghann (Meals and Miles). Oh, wait, also home of such exciting spots as Disney World, Universal Studios, and Halloween Horror Nights is where I’ll be the weekend before Halloween!! (I’m welcoming any tips and advice of what to do in the sunny city as this was a totally random flight plan spawned by the Southwest Airline 40th Anniversary SUPER SALE!!)

Obviously, I had to have a few bites.  Oops.

Tonight, for dinner, I decided that, when life hands you crab flakes on sale, make crabcakes!

Since I’ve never undertaken such a wild dish as this, I knew I needed some inspiration, and so I of course looked to the internet.  Taking a bit of two recipes, one from the Trans-Ocean website for Cajun Crabcakes, and another for “The Wire” Worthy Crab Cakes from The Kitchen Sink.  They both looked good, so this is what I ended up with:

Recipe Hybrid Crab Cakes

  1. 1 tablespoon of Fat Free Greek Yogurt from Trader Joes
  2. 1 tablespoon of Hellman’s Low Fat Mayo
  3. 1 egg white
  4. the juice of one lemon
  5. a few splashes of worcestershire sauce
  6. Salt and Pepper
  7. Cajun seasoning
  8. 8 oz of crab flakes (Trans-Ocean was my choice)
  9. 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  10. 1/3 of a red pepper, diced
  11. 2 to 3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

In a bowl, stir together ingredients 1-7 (yogurt through Cajun Seasoning) together. Add the crab, mashing the heck out of it so that it’s got a nice finely mashed texture.  I wanna say stringy, but that sounds gross. But I guess that’s what I mean. Add the panko, red pepper and maybe some more spices if you forgot to add them earlier (like I did.) Split the total mix into four even parts and mold each part into a round little cake. Refrigerate the cakes for at least 30 minutes.  This will help the cakes hold together a little better on the pan.

Put 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add two crab cakes and cook for about 4 to 6 minutes before flipping and doing the same on the other side (or until lightly browned and heated through.) Remove the first two cakes to a plate; and repeat the directions above. If necessary, add some more oil to the skillet and cook the remaining two cakes according to the directions above. Serve warm, and maybe with a little of this yummy whip.

Whipped Avocado Dipping Sauce from Kristin of the Kitchen Sink’s Recipe
1 avocado, skinned and pitted
juice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Combine the ingredients in a large bowl and whip with a wire whisk (alternately, place the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse) until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Serve chilled.

This recipe worked out pretty well though I think, if I didn’t have the sauce, it would’ve been a bit dry. It was a healthified version of a dish that I’d only had SUPER FRIED in the past, which also helped. The peppers added some crunch to it, and I bet it would’ve been excellent in a sandwich with some lettuce, a tomato, and a sandwich thin!  Maybe tomorrow, as I have two leftover cakes!

Since I’m hoping to FINALLY get back to the gym tomorrow, I’m off to sleep in hopes for an early workout!

Have a splendid night, and remember (remember) the 5th of November (the beau rented V for Vendetta, which he’s never seen before…. Adorable.)