Easy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

Hold the phone.

Tonight’s dinner was fan-flippin’-tastic.

Who knew making a homemade buffalo chicken sandwich could be so simple and so tasty thanks to only two ingredients?

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

To begin making our sandwiches, I first baked two Murray’s family farmed chicken breasts in the oven at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.

Once the chicken was fully cooked, I pulled it using two forks before tossing three ounces of the cooked meat in the buffalo sauce I made by combining one tablespoon of Franks RedHot Wings buffalo sauce and one tablespoon of grated Parmesan and Romano cheese.

Along with our buffalo chicken sandwiches, we enjoyed cold cucumber slices to distract our taste buds from some of the heat from the hot sauce.

If you’re a fan of buffalo chicken wings, you must make this sandwich!

When I saw Lisa make a buffalo chicken salad using this two-ingredient buffalo sauce that she saw on Hungry-Girl.com, I knew it would be a winner, and boy-oh-boy it is!

If you’re weary of the spiciness, don’t be! It definitely has a kick to it, but I’m terrible with spicy foods and I didn’t think it was too hot.

YUM.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (adapted from Hungry-Girl’s Buffalo Chicken Choppity Chop Salad)

Ingredients

• One 3-ounce cooked chicken breast, pulled (You may also used canned chicken to save time)
• 1 tbsp. Frank’s RedHot Wings Buffalo Sauce
• 1 tbsp. Grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 whole wheat hamburger bun or sandwich thin

Directions

Combine pulled chicken, Frank’s RedHot Wings Buffalo Sauce and Parmesan cheese in a bowl until chicken is fully coated. Microwave approximately 35 seconds until warm. Place buffalo chicken on top of whole wheat bun and enjoy!

Under the Sea

“Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling it’s better
Down where it’s wetter
Take it from me”

I looked to the sea for my lunch this afternoon.

Well hello there, shrimpies!

Cold Shrimp

After enjoying salmon burgers for dinner last night, I was really feelin’ the sea food vibe and decided to make myself a healthified shrimp salad for lunch.

To begin, I boiled several large, frozen shrimp until they were pink and ready for peeling. (I definitely just wrote “peeing.” Good catch.)

"Great! All peeled! Now gimme one."

After peeling the shrimp, I put them in the fridge to chill for a bit.

(Side note: I cannot say “chill for a bit” without thinking of “Shoop” by Salt N Peppa! Anyone else remember Ellen’s rendition of the song? Hilarious. Love her.)

Once the shrimp were sufficiently cold, I chopped them up and transformed them into a delicious shrimp salad which I prepared by combining the following:

• 3 ounces peeled, chopped shrimp
• 1 tbsp. light Miracle Whip (mayonnaise will also work)
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• Old Bay seasoning, to taste

Pre-Stirred Shrimp Salad

I topped a whole wheat tortilla with baby greens and the shrimp salad and served the wrap along with a sliced orange bell pepper.

Shrimp Salad

Get in Close for the Good Stuff

Orange Bell Pepper

Tasty!

Tuesday Lunch

Enough with the Shrimp Salad Pics. Wrap it Up Already! 😉

Of Possible Interest

• Three Moves that Target the Heck Out of Your Abs (FitBottomedGirls.com)
• Banish That Belly in Three Easy Steps (FitSugar.com)
• 7 Easy Ways to Lighten Up Your Snacks (Health.com)

Question of the Afternoon

• What is your all-time favorite Disney movie?

Without a doubt, mine is The Little Mermaid. When I was growing up I used to pretend to be Ariel in our pool. A green bucket served as my “Flounder.” 😉

The Little Mermaid

All morning I’ve been listening to songs from the movie through Grooveshark (hence the “Under the Sea” reference at the beginning of this post) and am making a serious effort to keep my singing inside my head rather than belting it out for my coworkers to hear.

“I wanna be where the people are, I wanna see, wanna see ’em dancin’…”

The Return of Hot Cereal

I’ve  taken quite the hiatus from hot cereal. Something about 90-degree weather makes me crave cold yogurt, icy smoothies and fresh fruit for breakfast.

Since Ryan and I still haven’t had the chance to make it to the grocery store for the week, I was relegated to the foods that we had on hand to assemble a tasty breakfast this morning.

I decided to prepare one of my favorite fall and winter morning meals: Brownie batter hot cereal!

Dry Mix

This meal is hot, chocolatey and oh-so-filling. I can’t wait until the chill of the fall sets in (in like two months in Orlando…), so that this breakfast makes an appearance much more often.

Brownie Batter Hot Cereal

Yum, Yum Eat 'Em Up!

And because it was literally calling my name from the pantry, I also enjoyed a small serving of homemade granola.

Granola is Addicting

This granola is so, so good! I’m working on getting the recipe for ya!

(If you’re looking for another good homemade granola recipe, check out this one for nutty apricot granola.)

Workout

That filling breakfast was the perfect post-workout fuel.

Today’s sweat session included a cardio hodgepodge that looked like this:

• 10 min. stair master
• 15 min. arc trainer
• 5 min. stair master
• 20 min. elliptical

It felt good to get a little schweaty this morning!

Question of the Morning

Do you crave different foods depending on the weather?

I love warm comfort foods in the winter and adore fruit salad in the summer. Rainy days always feel like they’re meant for homemade soup!

Salmon Burgers

The solution for a girl who wants dinner now?

Frozen salmon burgers!

SeaPak salmon burgers are all-natural and packed with protein and Omega 3s and cook up in less than 10 minutes.

While I prepared two burgers on the stove top, I made a dill dijonaise to spread on the burgers using a tablespoon of light Miracle Whip, 1/2 tablespoon of dijon mustard and several shakes of dill.

Along with the dill dijonaise, I topped my burger with cucumber and plum tomato slices before digging in.

On the side, I enjoyed a sliced red pepper.

This meal screams summer! With September right around the corner, I’m enjoying all the summery meals I can before fall is in full swing.

I’m off to straighten up the apartment a bit before cuddlin’ on the couch. I think the lack of sleep from yesterday is catching up to me because I’m tired tonight. I’m planning the hit the hay nice and early this evening.

Enjoy your night! 😀

Bachelorette Party Reflections

Sometimes the fresh ingredients make the salad.

So Fresh and So Clean, Clean

Sometimes it’s the dressing that makes all the difference in the world.

Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame

Today’s salad was fresh and tasty, and while the veggies were perfectly crisp, the dressing stole the show.

Ryan and I both adore Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame salad dressing and have to turn a blind eye to the inclusion of high fructose corn syrup in the ingredient list because it really is that good.

My salad today included:

• Baby greens
• Shredded carrots
• Radishes
• 1/2 c. Seapoint Farms edamame
• Green pepper

The Goods

All Together

I often find that when I eat salads, I enjoy certain bites more than others. Typically the bites with the good stuff like feta cheese or somethin’ with a little extra flavor reign supreme.

Well, the good thing about using this salad dressing on my salad today is that I enjoyed every bite equally because this dressing is so dang good. My friend Caitlin brought this dressing to a girls’ night potluck dinner a couple of years ago and I’ve been a sucker for it ever since.

Bachelorette Party Reflections

Now that both of my amazing bachelorette parties are behind me, I wanted to type up a little post about my post-party thoughts.

I felt so, so loved and blessed during both wonderful parties and have received some emails from readers asking me to detail what I loved the most, as it seems many of you guys are planning parties of your own!

While I absolutely loved everything my friends did for me, here are some of the stand-outs that I think would make nearly any bride-to-be happy:

• Planning: I was absolutely floored by all the planning and preparation my friends put into both of my bachelorette parties. They all took the time to plan out the weekends’ activities so we were never left awkwardly wondering, “Okay, what now?”

Ready to Hit the Town!

• Decorations: I didn’t anticipate any decorations, but arriving at a party completely decorated in bachelorette party-wear made me feel special and like my friends were genuinely excited to celebrate my upcoming wedding. I also appreciated how my friends stuck to a pink theme rather than a phallic theme. 🙂

Pretty Glasses

Gorgeous Table Spread

Decorations!

• Homemade Touch: Both groups of friends put a lot of time into creating crafty goodies for the festivities. I received homemade itineraries, a scrapbook, cards, decorated drink glasses, pins, customized tank tops and more. The time and effort my friends put into making these things themselves meant the world.

Homemade Scrapbook

• Get Into It: I felt like every single one of my friends really wanted to party it up and have a great time. Everyone was all about sportin’ fun accessories like jumbo-sized rings, pins declaring that they were bridesmaids, etc. Their energy was contagious and we had a great time wherever we went.

Woop, Woop!

My Girl Likes to Party All the Time!

Dance Party

Let's Get Crazy!!!

• Thoughtfulness: The thoughtfulness of my friends was truly astounding. They planned activities, meals and nights out that they knew I would enjoy. We went to bars rather than clubs, ate sushi and homemade meals prepared by their families and played games to get the party started… all things I absolutely love.

Sushi Night

• Unique Games: Though games might not be fore everyone, I had the best time playing bachelorette-themed games. The Q&A/Jello shot game was so entertaining and the paper ring dare game was a riot!

Of course none of these things are necessary for a wonderful bachelorette party, but I must say that I felt like I had two of the best bachelorette parties in the entire world thanks to the time, effort and love of my friends.

They made me feel so special and I cannot thank them enough for two of the best weekends of my life!

Question of the Afternoon

• What is one thing you think is an important component of a good bachelorette party?