Buffalo Chicken Dip Lettuce Wraps

After a week of eating entrees as-is (too busy to get creative, my evenings go too fast these days), I felt like having something that usually is a decadent party treat. Buffalo chicken anything is usually pretty damn good. I didn't really start out as a buffalo wing fan, but it has grown on me as it's popularity has grown. I think it is a grown-up love of vinegar.

It took me a bit of thinking and shopping around to find a way to fit buffalo chicken dip into the HMR box, but damned if I won't find a way for anything! I needed something to replace the chips or crackers that it is usually scooped up with, but I really hated all of the crackers I have tried to make with HMR foods. So I settled on a lettuce wrap, though celery sticks would probably be good too, and more traditional.

Ingredients (makes 2 portions):
Chicken from 2 Savory Chicken entrees, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Low Fat/Skim Milk Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp Nonfat Sour Cream
1-3 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot sauce (depending on level of heat preferred)
1/2 - 1 Tsp Ranch Dressing Seasoning (depending on ranchiness preferred)
5-8 Large Leaves of Lettuce

Pull the chicken pieces out of the entrees, rinse and chop it up. Rinse the rice in a strainer and save it for another dish (like my next entry, Vegetable Rice Pilaf!). I went pretty fine on the chop, but bigger chunks might make it a little less dip-like and a little more chicken salad sandwich-like.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and then mix until the cream cheese is fully incorporated. I suggest adding the hot sauce slowly, because it can be deceptively spicy. In fact, the science says (I believe I read somewhere) that spices are less detectable in cold food than in hot food, so once this is heated up it will be even spicier. The 3 tablespoons of hot sauce I put in was pretty spicy. Also, I think eating it on chips or crackers would help temper the heat, where the lettuce really doesn't.

I split the mixture into 2 separate tiny baking dishes so I could cook the two portions individually. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

When bubbly, remove from oven and scoop into the lettuce leaves. Don't overfill, a little of the chicken packs big flavor in the leaves. The below was made with just one portion, so it goes a long way.

I really, really enjoyed this, and it managed to taste pretty much like the real, full fat and calorie filled thing! I think you could probably even trick a non-HMRer into thinking this wasn't diet food. I think there may have been a bit too much creamy stuff, so I might cut down the cream cheese and sour cream to 1.5 tbsp each on the next go around.

I just had an awesome idea... buffalo chicken dip stuffed mini bell peppers! How awesome does that sound? I might do that with the other half of this... mmmmmm...

Enchilada Beef Soup

I enjoy making soup. Sometimes I enjoy making it more than I enjoy eating it, but that is beside the point. And not the case with this soup, because it was great. I honestly can't remember what inspired this, but it was probably something like wishing for something beefy that wasn't a slimy mess.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)

Enchilada filling scooped out of HMR Enchilada entree (could use 2)

3 cups of water

1 beef bouillon cube

Caramelized onions & bell peppers (I had leftovers from a previous meal)

Rice from a Savory Chicken or BBQ Chicken entree

Green onions

Scooping the filing out of the enchilada entree was a little gross, but easy enough. I saved the rest of the entree for another time (a less than stellar attempt at "chips" and salsa, not worth the work).

I brought the water to a boil with the bouillon cube, dissolving it, and then added the beef filling. Once that was simmering I added the veg, and then shortly after, the rice. It simmered for another 10 minutes or so for the flavors to do their thang, and then voila!

I would totally make this again. The bouillon cube added so much flavor for only 10 calories, and it tastes so different than what you start with, which is a welcome change.

Deconstructing the entrees into their component parts and then using them to make other recipes is quickly becoming a staple of my HMR plan. It is a survival technique for me because I can't keep eating the same things over and over. And I didn't even bust out the crazy spices on this one! Garam masala in everything!