Buffalo Dinousar Chicken and Peas

As many dads quickly learn, there's nothing like a fancy sauce to quickly class up a dish, and nothing is quicker than the store bought varietals.  Unfortunately, most store bought buffalo sauces, important to the recipe in this post, are not the best.  My recommendation is to go down to your premier local wings joint and see if they bottle some of their secret sauces.  It's also a good opportunity to take a moment for yourself, or bring a bud, and enjoy a plate of spicy goodness.   If one or more of your kids are not into spicy sauces, see if they have some not-so-spicy options.   The worst that will happen is you'd have enjoyed a good, if no so healthy, meal.


If you are out of luck with the sauce, and you plan this meal for a day when a Charlie Brown special is on (I know, you can get any show you want on demand or via the Internet, but what I'm trying to suggest is that you are a responsible dad who would not turn on the TV just so you can spend a few extra minutes cooking -not that I haven't done that- while at the same time trying to romanticize childhood based on my own childhood experiences), you can try to recreate one of the recipes from the Web.  Not recommended though.  From a quick browsing, it looks like a lot of them are sub-par too.


If you're in a bind, you can always remove the buffalo sauce and substitute with ranch or barbecue.


Note that this dinner is one of my healthier low-carb suggestions, but if you plan on doing a hike or venturing out in the cold, you could easily add a pasta dish such as mac and cheese, or cinnamon toast, for which I'll have recipes in future posts.


Buffalo Dinosaur Chicken
Ingredients:

• Dinosaur-shaped chicken (really, any specialty shape will do)
• Bottle of buffalo sauce

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to about 25 degrees hotter than suggested on the package of chicken.  Toss a plate of the chicken in the microwave for about 2 minutes on 30% power (i.e. defrost).  Place semi-defrosted chicken in the oven for about half the time the chicken box recommends, or until golden-brown.


Serve chicken with buffalo sauce, either on the side or on the chicken.


Peas
Ingredients:

• Costco Frozen Peas, mostly because there good, but if that's not an option, any frozen peas.
• Butter
• Kosher Salt

Instructions:
Place a half-bowl's worth in a ceramic bowl, with a tablespoon of butter and a little kosher salt.  Heat for about a minute on full power. Mix and serve.


Note - the ceramic bowl generally looks more serious on the table, and probably won't get as hot as plastic, thus simplifying the microwave to table transfer.