Happy Valentine’s Day!

From the frying pan into the fire.  We are always busy but on the day after we got home from vacation my daughter had a choir concert.  I needed to have dinner ready to go and be able to serve it to three different people at three different times.

We usually don’t do dinner like this so it stresses me out.   I usually make one dinner and we either all eat together or I leave one portion for lunch the next day for my partner.   When she is working late during tax season, August to January, she often doesn’t get home until somewhere between 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  She usually doesn’t feel like eating dinner that late so I have learned to just package it up for her lunch the next day.  She gives me her reviews and suggestions the next day.

I threw this together because I knew that I could make all the separate parts and then heat it up as needed for each person.

Ingredients:

• 3 large half chicken breasts
• 2 tsp powdered garlic
• 1 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 (2 lb.) bag frozen tater tots
• choice of shredded cheese – I used parmesan and sharp cheddar
• blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
• sour cream, to garnish
• parsley flakes, to garnish

Directions:

1. Spray the bowl of the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Add the chicken breasts to the bottom of the bowl.  Pour the Frank’s Hot Sauce, butter, garlic and black pepper over the chicken.  Stir to mix ingredients.
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours.
4. Thirty minutes before you are ready to serve dinner:  Cook tater tots according to package directions.  You want them nice and crispy so you may need to cook them a bit beyond the recommended time.
5. Shred chicken in crock pot using two forks.  Taste the sauce for spiciness.  If you would like more heat add a bit of cayenne or more hot sauce.  If you need less heat add a bit more melted butter.
6. Remove tater tots from the oven.
7. Place a large hand full of tater tots on a plate.  Top with shredded cheese, then buffalo chicken.  Add  spoon of sour cream and a drizzle of blue cheese or ranch dressing over the top.  Garnish with parsley flakes if desired.