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.

Fast Mex

It seems like everyone loves Mexican, especially here in Portland, OR, where I currently live.  Even my 9-year old, who won't eat anything, and my 7-year old, who will anything, love Mexican.  Not much of a fan myself, but its not about me, right?  So here's a quick down and dirty way for us single dads to throw a fiesta without too much trabajo (roughly translates as I work, and not trouble, which it sort-of sounds like and would fit also).


The components of the meal include: Burritos, chips, salsa, guacamole dip (sort-of), and applesauce.


Burrito
Ingredients:

• Your preferred frozen burrito(s)
• Kosher salt
• Canola oil (I prefer canola because I'm told its healthier)

Instructions:
Heat your cast iron pan (if you don't own one, totally worth getting.  They're heavy, strong, can take some abuse, and don't contain carcinogens like the Teflon stuff, or so I was told) to about number 6, or maybe 7.  Just a heads up, for ease, I'll use the numbers on my stove dials which go from 0 to 10, it makes a lot more sense to me than "medium heat," whatever that means.


Okay so put in the oil, but not too much, and toss a little salt in the oil, let it warm for a sec.  While oil is warming, put the burritos in the microwave for about a minute per burrito on power level 30.  This will defrost them a little, speeding up the results so you can get your kids off the video games a little quicker.  If you have a bunch of burritos for some reason, turn the stove down to number 3 or 4, until your ready to cook.


Now throw the burritos in there and cover.  Cook until golden brown, then turn over.  Once both sides are golden brown, you may want to throw them back in the micro for about 15-20 on full power, just to be sure the innards are warm.


Serve.




Chips and Salsa
Ingredients:

• Janitas chips, if you can get them.  Any restaurant style, if you can't
• Your favorite bottled salsa

Guacamole Dip (sort-of)
I've discovered that some things are just hard to get the same time after time, and kids like consistency, not to mention they tend to favor somewhat blander foods.  So, this is a simplified guac you can get right every time that the kids will love, especially if you have a picky kid or two in the mix.
Ingredients:

• 1 Hass Avocado

Instructions:
Using a fork, break up the avocado in a bowl.  Use a nice wood bowl, if you have one, to impress your kids with your seemingly restaurant-level of sophistication.  Be careful not to mash it too smooth; again, for the sophistication.


Serve.




Applesauce
Ingredients:

• No sugar added applesauce.  Here in Portland, TreeTop is a good one that's actually sweet.  The no added sugar aspect allows to talk to your kids about the importance of eating healthy.