Boneless Baked Daytona Bites

I originally found this recipe claiming to be a replica of the "special sauce" used on the wings at Hooters. I have been to Hooters a  number of times and I am familiar with the fried pickles, quesadillas and Caesar salad, but, I hate to say it, I've never ordered wings from Hooters, so I honestly can't tell you how close this sauce tastes. What I can tell you is that it's addicting, saucy (no pun intended) and mouthwatering. 

When I made this recipe, there is one thing I changed/would have changed more of the next time. Unless you are a die-hard BBQ sauce wing lover, I would cut the BBQ and increase the portion of hot sauce each by 1/4 cup*. In this house, we're all about the hot and spicy wings.

Lastly, when we baked the chicken according to the directions, they weren't even close to done. I edited this recipe to fit how I normally cook my chicken so it bakes all the way through, keeping it quick and easy!

Boneless Baked Daytona Bites
Ingredients:
 Bites
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces 
3/4 cup flour
1 TBSP paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Non-stick cooking spray

Sauce
3/4 cup BBQ sauce*
1/4 cup hot sauce* (Franks Original is a staple in our house)
1/4 cup honey
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP garlic powder
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp corn starch (add a few drops of water to it before putting it in)
a few sprinkles of crushed red pepper flakes (optional for an extra kick)

Preheat the oven to 425 F. 

Combine the flour, paprika, salt and pepper in a large plastic bag or into a bowl. Add in the chicken bites and shake or mix until each piece is fully coated. 

Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and spray it down with your cooking spray so bites don't stick. Put your coated bites in the pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. 

While chicken is baking, mix together all of the sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and cook for 15 minutes on medium-low. 

Once chicken is finished cooking, toss into the sauce until they are fully coated. Serve and enjoy. 

Click for the original recipe. 

Pizza Dip

Warning: This recipe is NOT healthy. I recommend stopping here right now if you are concerned about your health before I begin saying how delicious this dip is. 

I found this dip on Pinterest a while back, but I refrained from making it due to 1. the ingredients are not healthy and 2. three of the major ingredients in this recipe I do not like. However, my husband is pizza obsessed and had to work for 33 hours straight so I thought it'd be nice to surprise him with something pizza-like for dinner, and we are both happy that I did. 

To start, you are mixing together cream cheese, mayo, and sour cream. I am not a fan of what I call the "white toppings" (although I am slowly warming up to cream cheese)so I thought this dip would turn out to be a disaster. The blend of these ingredients smothered in cheese and doused in pizza sauce made their individual tastes unidentifiable, in other words, TASTY! It was so surprisingly mouthwatering that I felt the need to share this recipe with everyone I know.

The only tips I can offer would be 1. adapt the toppings to your own taste preference (duh), double (or even triple) the recipe if you are serving a group, and serve the dip with warm bread, bruschetta, tortilla chips, or any starchy dough-like substitute. 

Okay, enough chit chat, let's get to cooking this amazing dish!

Pizza Dip
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 mayonaise
1 cup. shredding mozzarella (halved)
1/4 parmesan
1 cup pizza sauce
your preference of pizza toppings

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, 1/2 cup of mozzarella, and the parmesan. Spread mixture at the bottom of a casserole dish or pie plate. 

2. Layer on the pizza sauce, followed by the rest of the mozzarella. Top with your favorite pizza toppings. 

3. Bake until cheese starts bubbling and browning, about 20 minutes. Serve with your favorite side to dip. 

**Click here for the original recipe.

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe

I know I said I'd be better at this whole blogging thing. Well, I lied. But I tried this recipe for dinner last night and it was so surprisingly good and different from the kind of chicken we normally eat at home that I had to share it. 

The love of my life is a pain in the side when it comes to eating weird foods, but he's super good about trying things I take time to make at home, which I 100% appreciate. It even makes me more excited when my picky eater LIKES one of my meals! This chicken not only passed the test, but qualified for a round of seconds. So here it is!

Tip: There are a LOT of different seasonings in here. I had all of them already at home except sage, but I wasn't going to go and spend $7 on a tiny container when I only needed a small amount. My recommendation is going to a grocer that sells large quantities of spices that you scoop into a baggie. I ended up going over to Fred Meyer and paid $.89 for a scoop of sage. It allowed me to stay within my grocery budget for the week and I still have extra in case I need it again for another recipe. 

Also, I made this recipe for 2 people, so everything I measured out was 1/4 of the original recipe. ENJOY!

Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken: 

4 large, boneless chicken breasts (I recommend buying chicken cutlets to cancel out the first step)

2 cups flour

4 tsp salt

4 tsp pepper + 1 tsp pepper for sauce

3 tbsp ground ginger

2 tbsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp ground thyme

2 tsp sage

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne 

4 eggs

8 tbsp water

2 tbsp olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup honey

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1. Place chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and, using a meat mallet, pound meat into an even 1/2 inch thickness. Alternatively, you can slice the breasts into horizontal halves on a cutting board. 

2. Sift together flour and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together water and eggs. In a pan, start heating up about 1/2 inch of canola oil (I used olive oil)

3. Dip chicken into flour mixture. Next, smother in the egg wash mixture. Return to flour mixture and make sure it is completely coated. Place chicken in the heated oil. 

4. Cook each side until brown, about 5 minutes per side. Make sure it is cooked all the way through before serving. 

5. While chicken is cooking, start your honey garlic sauce. Heat olive oil and garlic in a pan until garlic is soft, but not brown. Add in honey, soy sauce and pepper. Simmer about 10 minutes. The sauce will foam so watch out for any overflows.

6. Serve chicken with the sauce. It pairs well with veggies and rice/noodles. 

You can click here for the original website of this recipe. Thanks again Pinterest for another tasty find.