Buffalo Chicken Minis

There's nothing fancy or complicated about these cute little sandwiches. The picture doesn't even look that exciting. All I can tell you is that these are a delicious choice for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. We ate ours with leftover pasta salad, so I think the entire meal took me about five minutes to prepare. And as a bonus, these are really yummy and sort of addictive. I'll definitely be making them again!

Buffalo Chicken Minis
source: adapted from Macaroni and Cheesecake, who got the recipe from Pennies on a Platter

1 rotisserie chicken (or 4 chicken breasts), shredded
3/4 to 1 cup hot sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
12 mini-buns
Ranch dressing for topping, if desired

In a medium saucepan, heat hot sauce, butter, and water. Add shredded chicken and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until heated through. Serve on mini-buns and top with Ranch dressing, if desired.

Creamy Pasta Salad with Cheddar and Grapes

It seems like I've been making pasta salad a lot lately. Last week I shared my pesto pasta salad with you, today I'm sharing a new recipe I recently tried, and tonight I'm making my traditional pasta salad for a baby shower/potluck at work tomorrow. It's basic, but delicious, so I'll probably share that one with you too. At least I'm giving you options for your Labor Day festivities, right?

And speaking of Labor Day...The pasta salad I'm sharing today is definitely the one I will be serving at our annual cookout this year. I saw this recipe on Deborah's blog a few weeks ago and was instantly intrigued by the flavor combination. Cheddar cheese and grapes? It sounded so unusual, I just couldn't resist giving it a shot.

This is an awesome pasta salad. It's flavorful and creamy, and much to my surprise, the flavors all worked perfectly together. If anything, it could have maybe used a little less vinegar -- but then again, the pregnancy has probably just made me extra-sensitive to that flavor. I left out the ham, but I'll definitely add it when I make this for Labor Day; I'm sure it's just delicious in this. It was a big hit in our house, and we're having the leftovers with dinner. Since Deborah says this salad tastes even better the next day, I'm really excited to eat it again tonight!

Creamy Pasta Salad with Cheddar and Grapes
source: seen on Taste and Tell, adapted from Allrecipes.com

1 3/4 cups farfalle pasta
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
2 cups diced ham (omitted this time, but I'll use it next time)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 cups diced sharp Cheddar cheese

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain, and rinse in cold water.

2. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, cider vinegar, mustard, sugar, black pepper, dill weed, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, combine pasta, grapes, ham, green onions, and cheese. Toss with dressing. Cover, and chill overnight or for at least 6 hours.

Skillet Lasagna

My latest craving -- they're changing so frequently these days it's hard to keep track -- has been for anything containing red sauce. One of my husband's constant cravings is for lasagna. And Andrew loves anything that involves tomatoes. So this skillet lasagna fit our menu this week perfectly.

We liked this a lot, and it will definitely be repeated in our house. It has all the flavor and feel of a typical lasagna, but it comes together so much more quickly. This is right up there with lasagna soup for my favorite alterna-lasagna recipe.

I added a couple of things to the recipe, which are reflected in purple below, but I'll make even more changes when I make it again. Joe and I both thought the red sauce was a little bland, so I think next time I'll use jarred spaghetti sauce instead of just plain tomato sauce to add some more flavor. I also couldn't find pre-packaged meatloaf mix at the store, so I used a full pound of ground beef, but I definitely missed the pork component. Additionally, I think this could use a little bit more red pepper, so I'd increase that ingredient to probably about 1/4 teaspoon.

This is perfect for a quick and easy weeknight meal, and it's pretty delicious to boot. Thank you, Donna, for sharing this recipe!

Skillet Lasagna
source: adapted from My Tasty Treasures, originally from Cook's Country

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, minced
Salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I'd increase to about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 pound meatloaf mixture (8 ounces ground beef, and 8 ounces ground pork)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
8 ounces curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths (10 noodles)
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce (I'd use jarred spaghetti sauce instead)
1 ounce parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
Pepper
8 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Pour the tomatoes with their juice into a quart measuring cup. Add enough water to the tomatoes to measure 4 cups.

2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until softened,about 5 minutes.

3. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the meatloaf mix and Italian seasoning and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

4. Sprinkle the noodle pieces evenly over the meat. Pour the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce over the pasta -- don’t stir. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 20 minutes.

5. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dot heaping tablespoons of the ricotta over the noodles. Cover the skillet and let stand off the heat for 5 minutes.

6. Sprinkle with the basil and mozzarella and serve, passing the extra Parmesan separately.

Snickers Cookies

Most of you have probably visited Donna's blog, right? If you haven't, go ahead and click on over. I'll wait.

I love Donna because of her ah, um, unique and hilarious take on food and her awesome personality, which shines through so brightly in all of her posts. Not to mention the fact that her food always looks so amazing! I've bookmarked about a million recipes from her site to try, and this recipe for Snickers cookies is one of the ones I've been most excited to make. And I have to say, with all honesty, that these are probably the best cookies I have ever made. They taste exactly like peanut butter blossoms, but with the added bonus of a chocolatey, peanutty, caramely center. See?

Oh. SO GOOD. If loving these cookies is wrong, I never, ever want to be right.

What's awesome about these is that the dough requires chilling time, so I was able to start them on Saturday night after Andrew had gone to bed and finish them up the next morning. They were so easy to make and baked up absolutely perfectly. My stepmom, stepsister, and dad all raved about them, not to mention Joe and Andrew, who devoured them with gusto.

And now it's Tuesday, and there are only three cookies left. From a batch of 35. And I'm sure they'll be gone by the time I get home tonight.

It's dangerous for me to be in possession of this recipe.

Snickers Cookies
source: My Tasty Treasures

1 bag Snickers miniature candies (I used half a bag of regular Minis, and half a bag of dark chocolate Minis)
2 sticks softened butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 eggs
1 teapoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Hersheys kisses, or any milk chocolate

1. Combine butter, peanut butter, and sugars using a mixer on medium to low speed until light and fluffy.

2. Slowly add the eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Mix in flour, salt, and baking soda.

3. Cover and chill dough 2 to 3 hours up to a couple of days.

4. Remove dough from fridge. Divide dough into 1 to 2 tablespoon pieces and flatten.

5. Place a Snickers Mini in center of each. Form a ball around the Snickers Mini, taking care to cover it all.

6. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust time as needed if using more than 1 tablespoon dough. (Mine took about 15 minutes.) Let cookies cool 1 to 2 minutes then remove to rack to cool completely.

7. Drizzle melted milk chocolate over each cookie in a zig zag pattern.

Artichoke Bread

I've had my eye on this bread for quite some time now, and I finally got the chance to make it last night. I'm so glad I did, because it was absolutely delicious! The artichoke topping is incredibly creamy and flavorful and pairs so perfectly with the crispy bread. It reminded me a lot of hot artichoke dip. I followed Megan's suggestion and sprinkled some chopped parsley on the top, and I loved the freshness it added. I don't really know what else to say about this bread; it was simply amazing and will definitely be repeated in our house!

Killer Artichoke Bread
source: Megan's Cookin', who got it from Smoky Mountain Cafe

1/4 cup butter

3 garlic cloves, pressed

1 14-ounce can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

2 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (I used colby because I had it on hand)

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1 French bread loaf (I used half an Italian loaf I had left over from a previous meal)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the artichoke hearts, cheeses, sour cream, and salt and pepper. Stir to blend. Remove from the heat and cool.

2. Slice the bread lengthwise. Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly onto the bread. Broil until cheese has melted and bread is hot. Top with chopped parsley and cut into slices.