Say What?

I have a confession: I'm not exactly a very spontaneous person. And I'm a bit of a worrier about the unknown. Not in a major way, but I certainly like to know what to expect in most situations. As much as I often like predictability, or the ability to at least be prepared, I'm not a huge fan of it when it comes to dinner.

My reaction every Sunday. I'm pretty 

sure I perfected the eye roll as a child, just like this girl. 
My mom was probably less than thrilled.

Every Sunday morning, we make a menu plan for our crock-pot meal, and then two or three more dinners to get us through the first part of the week. Every Sunday morning, I ask my husband "What do you want for dinner this week?" and every Sunday morning, I hear the same one-word answer: "Steak". Sometimes I get the occasional two-word response of "Steak...duh". Sigh. I'm pretty sure if he was given the opportunity to eat steak and potatoes almost every night, he'd take it (not every night though...some would have to be left open for sausage and peppers). But, I continue to ask every week. I think they say that's the definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result?

Well, imagine my surprise when the most recent response to my question was "How about we make those buffalo chicken lettuce wraps?". You can bet I quickly said yes - I was excited to hear a different response and looking forward to making a recipe we had made previously and really liked. It's from one of my favorite food blogs, Skinnytaste, which specializes in recipes that are a bit lighter and healthier but are still full of flavor. We've found a lot of favorite recipes on the site, including this one for Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

I used the same ingredients, but made a slight change to the directions - I added the hot sauce to the crock-pot while the chicken was cooking, rather than after shredding it. I think it helped the chicken absorb the flavor a bit more, but made the hot sauce a little less...hot, which I preferred.

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg of chicken breasts (about 1.5 - 2 pounds)
• 4c low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 of a small white onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2c Frank's Red Hot sauce
• Head of iceberg lettuce
• 2 carrots 
• Optional:
• Crumbled low-fat blue cheese
• Low-fat blue cheese dressing

Place the chicken in the crock-pot. Cover with chicken broth, hot sauce, diced onions, garlic and one celery stalk. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

 Remove the chicken from the crock-pot and shred. Discard the broth except for about 1/2 a cup. Place the chicken back in the crock-pot and cook for and cook for an additional 30 minutes. If you'd like, add a couple additional teaspoons of hot sauce.

While the shredded chicken is cooking, cut the carrots and remaining two celery sticks into small, thin slices.

When the chicken is done, place a little bit in each leaf of lettuce and top with carrots, celery, blue cheese and blue cheese dressing as desired. Enjoy (with lots of napkins)!

With blue cheese dressing

or with crumbled blue cheese

This dish is really something that could work either as a dinner or as a snack. It's kind of like deconstructed chicken wings with a healthier twist. Perfect for football and definitely husband approved!