Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Avocado

           Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Avocado

I have recently discovered I'm getting a taste for hot sauce. 

This has been a whole new thing for me.

...Well its hot, it's spicy, it burns...but I'm getting braver 

A friend makes this gorgeous hot buffalo chicken dip, which I LOVE! 

I would make this for a crowd but wouldn't make it for us as a family because of the cheese.

It would mean that only I would be eating it.....

Which got me thinking about a quick Buffalo chicken salad that I could make ahead of time and TH could take to work for lunch, or TS could thrown some in sandwich for a quick lunch.

So I made a really quick and easy Buffalo Chicken Salad

Then I noticed the Avocado's and thought instead of a sandwich I'd make something else....

What you'll need

chicken breast ~ 3  breasts, poached  and shredded

avocado ~ 1 whole avocado

mayo ~ 1/4 cup

hot sauce ~ 3 tablespoons

Cherry Tomatoes ~ 1/4 cup chopped

Cucumber ~ 1/4 cup diced

salt and pepper

lime slice

Poach the chicken, when cooked shred the chicken/chop 

leave to cool

chop the tomatoes and cucumber

slice the avocado in half length ways, remove the stone

with a sharp knife, VERY CAREFULLY so not to cut the skin of the avocado.

cut the flesh of the avocado, in to squares, then with a spoon remove the flesh

in a bowl add the mayo, hot sauce and salt and pepper and mix well 

add the shredded chicken mix well

also add the tomatoes, cucumber and 1/4 of the avocado 

fold altogether 

spoon the chicken salad  into the avocado shells 

serve with a slice of lime and squeeze the lime over the salad 

Enjoy!

Pasta Salad (No Mayo)

                            Pasta Salad 
                                  (No Mayo)

It was getting to the stage  that we were having the same dinners it seemed on a weekly rotation.
fitting dinners in around basketball practice wasn't helping. Making dinners that could be warmed up quickly when home from practice or something that could be ready early enough before training.

Now the season has finished and dinner times are back to normal.

I looked in the cupboard and see the the mountain of pasta that I had bought when on sale or just making sure we had pasta. TS loves his pasta.

I was thinking of a pasta salad, TS dislikes mayo and you can't always hide mayo.

I remembered a few years ago I had made a pasta salad for a mothers day picnic in the park.
It was a not day and i wasn't happy about taking mayo.
That day I took an Asian pasta salad.

I looked in the fridge yesterday and I had stuff I would throw into a stir fry and thought why not
TS ate it, there was no mayo so I knew it wouldn't be a problem .


What you'll need  

uncooked pasta ~ 3 cups
snow peas/mange tout ~ 1/2 cup
shredded/grated carrot ~ 1/2 cup
broccoli raw ~ 1/2 chopped
sweet corn ~ 1/4 cup
green/spring onions ~1/4 cup
red bell/capsicum/pepper ~ 1/2 cup diced

dressing 

soya sauce ~ 2 tablespoons
sesame oil ~ 1 teaspoon
honey ~ 1 1/2 teaspoons
garlic powder ~ 1/4 teaspoon
ground ginger ~ 1/4 teaspoon
red chili flakes ~ 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper ~ 1/4 teaspoon
sesame seeds toasted ~ 1/2 teaspoon (toast in a non stick pan NO OIL for 2 minutes, stir constantly)

**(chili flakes and pepper for dressing NOT pictured)

Cook your pasta

in a bowl/jug make your dressing adding all the ingredients and mixing well
and leave to the side

drain the pasta when cooked, add the dressing, mixing well and leave to cool down

chop veggies

when the pasta has cooled add the veggies and stir in the veggies

Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

           Double Chocolate Banana Bread

For those that know me, they would know I would NEVER normally make banana bread....
Banana's are NOT my favorite food!
The only time bananas are really consumed in our home is when TS comes home from basketball training or he is running late in the morning and he woof down a couple of bananas with something that is close at hand and then it's  really easy to tell me "I've had breakfast"
They also get used in smoothies...I use as little banana in a smoothie as possible for myself .....

Anyway I have wanted to stop wasting as much food as we seem to
As soon as I see a brown spot on the banana, that is it....in the bin they go!

So this week I decided I was not wasting the bananas any more!

I normally use a silicone loaf pan.  I decided to use a metal tin.
I'll be honest I was worried that half the loaf would be left inside the pan...not the case.

I knew this was a success when TS came down the stairs, took a folk out the draw and just started digging in!
He smelt the banana bread wafting up the stairs apparently :)

What you'll need

All purpose/plain flour ~ 1 1/2 cups
light brown sugar ~ 1/2 cup
coco powder 1/2 cup
baking soda ~ 1 teaspoon
bake powder ~ 1/2 teaspoon
chopped up chocolate/chips 1/2
salt ~ 1/2 teaspoon
bananas ~ I used 1 1/2
greek yogurt ~ 1/2 cup
maple syrup ~ 1/4 cup
eggs, beaten ~ 2
vanilla extract ~ 1/2 teaspoon

MIX THIS BY HAND
an electric mixer will over mix this

preheat the oven to 180 °C/350 °F

mash the bananas

whisk the eggs

in a bowl mix the flour, coco powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mix well

in another bowl add the mashed banana, Greek yogurt, maple syrup, whisked eggs and vanilla
stir the wet ingredients until all blended well

when all mixed and blended add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients
mix well leaving no flour unmixed

add the chocolate and fold in

grease a loaf pan

pour the mix into the loaf pan

bake for 60minutes, after 45 minutes cover the loaf with foil so the loaf will not burn
using a knife, insert a knife and if it come out clean your

remove from the oven and leave for a few minutes before removing the loaf from the pan

Enjoy

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings

                     Honey Garlic baked Chicken Wings 

I had promised TH and TS I would make chicken wings ~ I have been promising for a while now.
Well I finally got around around to making them tonight.

When I think of chicken wings I think of a special family and going out for dinner with them.
Sat at 'Our Table' and the chef's making us stuff thats not on the menu anymore.
One thing that was always ordered was the chicken wings.
While these aren't the same flavour, chicken wings will always remind me of the great nights and of laughs and with great company and food we wanted.

What you'll need

Chicken wings/drumsticks ~ I used 30
flour ~ 1/4 cup
salt and pepper ~ a generous pinch of each
olive oil ~ 1/8 cup
honey ~ 1/2 cup
soya sauce ~ 2 tablespoons
chili flakes ~  1/2 teaspoon
Water ~ 1/3 cup
fresh grated ginger ~ 1/2 teaspoon
garlic cloves, minced ~ 2 clove

Wash and dry the chicken until completely dry

line a baking tray with a silicon mat/silicone paper/parchment paper

Mix the flour with the salt and pepper until mixed well
add the chicken to the seasoned flour mix.
shaking all the excess flour off mix
place the chicken on the tray and add the olive oil mix the chicken into the oil
then spread the chicken out and bake at 200/400 degrees and cook for 30 minutes

In a pan add the honey, soya sauce, chili flakes, grated ginger, garlic and water. stir well
bring to a quick boil, then turn the heat all the way down and let simmer for 10-15 minutes

After 30 minutes take the chicken out of the oven and pour the sauce all over the chicken making sure the chicken is coated in the sauce.
put the chicken back in the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes

Enjoy!