Today I realized how little school I have left. I have only two weeks of classes left. My exam week is weak by most counts. I only have one presentation to do Friday evening, for which all of the materials are due a week before, and then a quick and easy exam Saturday afternoon. After those two finals, I have one week to relax before graduation!
As the semester comes to an end I seem to be in a cooking frenzy. I’m trying to use up everything in my fridge and pantry before I have to move out at the end of the semester. Also, I seem to be running out of money on my campus meal plan. I’m not quite sure which reason is the bigger catalyst for my cooking frenzy, but I don’t think it matters.
Today is one of my light-class days with only one class in the morning and another at 3pm. So, I took advantage of my time and pantry and made an angel food cake. Usually, my oven likes to undercook things but today it decided to switch things up. I had the pleasure of scraping some burnt portions off of the cake. I also conjured up some fresh strawberry sauce using some yummy strawberries and the last of my white sugar from the pantry.
After my second class today, I made some baked buffalo chicken tenders and broccoli with chili pepper cheese sauce. I spent a lot of time researching buffalo chicken recipes that use only what I have in the pantry. I couldn’t find any exact matches, so I adapted quite a few things. Here’s my recipe:
Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders
(Servings: 4-6)
Ingredients:
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenders or breasts
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 c. (+more if desired) hot sauce, such as Crystal’s Wing Sauce
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Rinse and fully dry the chicken. Cut the chicken into nugget sizes. Put the flour, garlic salt, red pepper, and cayenne pepper into a gallon-sized ziploc and shake. Add the meat and shake till coated. Place the chicken onto a baking sheet, being careful not to get excess flour on the sheet. Put the baking sheet of chicken in the fridge for at least one hour to let the flour crust set.
Preheat oven to 400ยบ. Whisk the melted butter and hot sauce. Dip the chicken into the sauce and place back onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip the tenders and bake for 5-10 more minutes. When the tenders are fully cooked and out of the oven, toss them with a little more hot sauce if you like.