Wednesday, December 5, 2012

On The Menu: Buffalo Chicken Tacos


Please forgive my instagram photo. When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I couldn't resist. The only problem? My husband hates, HATES buffalo sauce. Just one of his weird quirks. So half the chicken was coated with buffalo sauce, the other half he mixed with a random assortment of toppings. Oh well, he's missing out.

This recipe is super easy and quick, and perfect football game watching food. This recipe is adapted from the one found on Pinterest from Mrs. Regueiro's Plate.

Ingredients:
• 1 lb. (or two large) boneless skinless chicken breasts.
• 3 T. cornstarch
• 1/3 C flour
• 1 t. garlic salt
• pepper to taste
• 1/4 t. paprika
• 1/4 t. cumin
• 2-3 T. vegetable oil
• Thicker, Burrito-sized flour tortillas. We like Guerrero brand.
• Buffalo Wing Sauce - I used Frank's

Toppings:
• Avocado Cubes
• Ranch Dressing
• Sliced Green Onions
• Minced Cilantro

Directions:
1. Pound the chicken breasts with a mallet until they are a uniform thickness (about 1/4"). Cut into 1" strips or cubes.
2. Heat your oil in a large skillet on medium. While it's heating, combine your cornstarch, flour, garlic salt, paprika, and cumin in a bowl.
3. Season your chicken with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour mixture. Place in your hot oil and fry on each side about 3 minutes. I popped mine in the oven for about 5 minutes at 350 after they were done frying to make sure they were done and not soggy.
4. When your chicken is done, toss with about 1/3 cup Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce.
5. Layer in your tortillas with your toppings and enjoy!

Monday, December 3, 2012

DIY Craft: Cardboard Roll Garland


With a mobile infant, I find I have even less time for crafting. With Judah getting into EVERYTHING, I just can't leave the hot glue gun plugged in - thus reducing my crafting time to during naps only/after bedtime.

However, this was a quick one, so it didn't take too long too accomplish. I love looking at Pinterest for crafting projects, and I was inspired by all the crafts made from cardboard rolls - the kind you get at the end of a paper towel or TP roll. I saved empty paper towel rolls for this one.

Here's What You'll Need:
• Empty Toilet Paper Rolls or Paper Towel Cardboard rolls cut into strips about 1/2" wide
• Scrapbook Paper
• Letters printed off a computer or to size out of a Silhouette or Cricut cutter - I made mine to size in photoshop in 1" circles
• Decorative punches
• Hot Glue
• Hole Punch
• Thread, string, yard - something to hang your garland.


Step 1: Gather your supplies. I wanted my garland to read "Peace On Earth" - so 12 individual letters. I used a 3" decorative punch to punch out 12 scalloped circles from scrapbook paper. I printed out my letters and used a 1" circle punch to cut them out (I printed them on plain cardstock). And finally I figured out I would need six strips of TP roll per letter for the shape I wanted to create (so enough cardboard roll for 72 strips).


Step 2.  Using hot glue, glue together your TP roll strips in the center to form a flower shape. I liked the look better with 8 strips, but that would require 96 total strips, and I just didn't want to wait until I had more. So I went with six.

 
Step 3. Using hot glue, layer on your decorative punches and cut out letters on top of your flower shapes.
 
Step 4. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top point of your flower/star. Thread your letters onto your thread or yarn. I used decorative christmas trim.
 
 
Step 5. Hang your garland and slide your letters to space them evenly. Stand back and admire your craftiness.
 
Now looking at the top photo I realized I mis-strung two letters and spelled "earth" wrong. Fail. Oh well, at least this is an easy fix!
 
Cardboard Rolls + Hot Glue = Classy :).