What We Made This Weekend

Both Katina and I made two very successful yet very different recipes this weekend that we thought fabulous enough to share with everyone.....


Recipe Gurl's Buffalo Chicken Panini's:

So we recently received a panini grill as a gift for our engagement party. I think we’ve used it about 5 times and our party was only a little over a week ago. A Panini is such an easy and satisfying dinner! It’s also a crowd pleaser (esp for picky eaters). So I came across this gem on the fabulous blog over at The Grilled Cheese Social and just had to try it. I am always a little weary of blue cheese, I never like when it’s too strong. I followed this recipe to a T and it came out amazing, the blue cheese was not overwhelming at all, it was the perfect compliment to the chicken. And as always, I used a rotisserie chicken to make the recipe even easier, and lower fat ingredients whenever possible. I strongly advise cooking this on a panini grill or even a George Foreman grill would work if you had one of those, but it also works just fine cooking it in the pan. Enjoy!!

Ingredients

-4 thick slices of french bread **
-2 pads of real salted butter
-1 tbs blue cheese salad dressing
-3 tbs organic cream cheese
-2 tbs crumbled blue cheese
-1 tbs shredded cheddar
-1/2 cup cooked shredded organic chicken breast
-1.5 tbs Frank's hot sauce

Once you've got everything out, combine all the cheeses into a small bowl. Stir together until you get a smooth consistency. Now combine your finely chopped chicken with Frank's hot sauce and stir.

Ok, now you're ready to begin!  Smear on a little over a tablespoon of the mixture onto each slice of bread (or however much you want!).

Then divide half the chicken on top of each piece of the smeared bread.  Now smear the other slices of bread with cheese and put the top on the sammie.  Gently apply 1 pad of butter to the top of the grilled cheese and place it butter side down in your pan (or Panini Grill)!

This cheese mixture will melt really quick, so make sure to check the brownness of each grilled cheese about every thirty seconds or so.  It'll probably take about a minute and a half once the pans hot and you'll want to take it off when it looks like this on both sides.

You'll want to serve these immediately because they're super delicious when they're all gooey and hot.

**I used Whole Wheat French Bread just to make it just a smidgen more healthy**

xoxo,

Katina

Okay - now for my (much lazier dinner approach) One-Pot Thai Chicken and Rice:

So I went to my local grocery store and randomly picked up Taste of Thai's Seasoning Packet for Chicken and Rice.  I made it last night for the boyf and we scarfed it down like it was nobody's business.  Here's the uber simple recipe from Taste of Thai's Website:

INGREDIENTS

Salt and pepperOil for browning4 pieces boneless skinless, chicken breast (about 1 1/4 lbs)1 1/4 cups Jasmine Rice, uncooked2 cups water1-1.75 oz packet Chicken & Rice Seasoning, both inner envelopes1 red bell pepper, diced1 cup peas, fresh or frozen

Salt and pepper chicken. In a large saucepan, heat oil on high and brown chicken. Remove chicken when browned. Set aside.

Add Jasmine Rice to saucepan and stir to coat rice. Add water and Chicken & Rice Seasoning. Stir well to combine.                                                                                                                          

Top Rice with chicken and bell peppers. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on a low heat 10 minutes.                                                                                                           

Uncover and add peas, re-cover and cook 5 minutes more.

I made this recipe to the tee, not changing a single thing and it was absolutely fabulous - as if we got takeout from our fave Thai restaurant.

Hope you enjoy one or both of these recipes!  

xoxo,

Amanda