Fried Chicken Salad Wraps

It was 5:30 and I had nothing defrosted and no idea what we were going to have for dinner.  I went to the grocery store and didn't see anything at the meat counter that gave me inspiration.  Then... I walked over to the deli and there was cold fried chicken.  Boom!  It instantly took me back to a show I watched a while back on Food Network called Southern at Heart with Damaris Phillips.  Her recipe is called Fried Chicken Salad Sandwiches.  She was a winner of the Food Network Star and I just love watching her.  You should watch it!  She's so fun!

You know me... I'm not really following the recipe but so I'm mostly starting with the main idea of using cold fried chicken and we served it as a wrap instead of on a croissant.  I do have to say that a croissant would be absolutely amazing too!

I was so excited to dig in that I had already taken a few bites before I took a picture.

Let's Get Crafty!
Toss in a bowl together:
3 cups diced cold fried chicken
1 cup celery, diced

Stir the sauce until mixed well 
1/2 cup olive oil mayo
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
I like to do the sauce separately from the meat and celery first so that it doesn't break down the diced chicken.  I like to have the chicken stay nice and chunky.

 I added some romaine lettuce and shredded carrots to the wrap to add some veggies.  It was really good.  I especially like the tangy flavor of the mustard pulling through and the bite that comes with the lemon.

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pizza Stuffed Zucchini

This summer has flown by for us and I'm not sure where the time has gone.  Please don't be alarmed that I haven't been posting very consistently here lately.  We've definitely still been eating!  :D

Stuffing zucchini is a summertime favorite of mine.  I think it's because when you broil cheese on top you end up with toasty beautiful-ness (sorry, made that up) and it feels like I'm getting something decadent and comforting.  On this particular day - I was making pizza for the kids and decided to use the same flavors to pull together a stuffed zucchini. I was pretty happy with the results.  It made for excellent leftovers too. 

Let's Get Crafty!
Preheat oven to 425

Get a pot of water going and bring to a boil

Prep the zucchini:
2 zucchini - halved and seeded
I like to take a knife a make a couple lengthwise cuts from one side to the other.  This makes making room for the filling super easy.  It also helps to give me a guide, so I don't take too much out.

For the Filling:
Let this simmer for a few minutes until the sauce thickens up and absorbs into the mushrooms
1/4 pound ground hamburger, browned and drained (I started with browned hamburger today since I was making pizzas for the kids and pulled 1/4 of the pound aside for this.)
5 good sized mushrooms, chopped
10 black olives, sliced (I like to buy by olives whole and slice them myself.  For whatever reason... I think they taste better than the ones that are already sliced)
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup water

Once the water is at a boil - turn to medium and let the zucchini go for 5 minutes
This helps to start the cooking process for the zucchini.  It's the same idea as a stuffed pepper and helps to cut done on the cooking time in the oven.

Stuff the zucchini

Add some mozzarella to the top of each one

Toss into the oven for 15 minutes

Switch the oven to a low broil and continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great day!

Philly Stuffed Peppers

We haven't made stuffed peppers for a while and I decided it would be a great way to use up some peppers hanging out in the fridge. This dish has the flavors of a philly cheese-steak sandwich without the extra carbs of the roll.  We had most of the ingredients already on hand and just needed to get some thinly sliced roast beef.  This is my favorite way to cook - look at what we already have and see what we can make.

Let's Get Crafty!
2 bell peppers - Green are usually my favorite for stuffing but we had yellow peppers to use up.  They were good... just a little sweeter than green would have been.  Start by cutting each one in half and taking out the seeds.

Preheat oven to 400

Saute for a few minutes:
2 tablespoons of butter
1 onion, diced
8 oz mushroom, sliced
1 pablano pepper, chopped
Then add in beef stock to help the onions cook through and continue cooking.  (This generally takes me about 20 minutes in total.)  I used chicken stock instead of beef because we were out and did two times of about 1/2 cup each.  I added in the second half once the first 1/2 cup had absorbed.

Add to the veggies and simmer for just a minute:
1 can of french onion soup

 It's such a beautiful thing to watch as the onions are 

caramelizing and the sauce is thickening up just perfectly.

Then add in beef until warmed through:
8 oz roast beef lunch meat (you don't want to cook this for too long at this step because it's also going to be in the oven for a while)

You'll need 1 provolone cheese slice per 1/2 pepper.  1/2 for the bottom under the beef/veggies and then another 1/2 for the top. That layer of cheese under the beef and veggies melts into ooey gooey tastiness and makes it feel like I'm getting extra cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a great day!