Fast and Easy Blackened Chicken

Smoky, spicy, highly flavorful seasoned chicken kissed with a blackened exterior that envelops a juicy tender interior. It's a tastebud tantalizing recipe to make any day of the year!

It's so simple to make and cooks quickly. It's just a brisk mixing of spices, then generously seasoning the chicken and from there cooking in a super hot skillet for that beautiful finish.

There's a plethora of delicious sides to pair with it (lots of ideas below), and there's also so much you can do with this chicken. My personal favorites for serving are pairing with coconut rice, corn, and mango avocado salsa (for a bit of that sweet + heat) but there's endless options.

And it doesn't just need to be served solo. Try it in tacos, add it to pasta (like creamy alfredo), or toss into a salad.

What You'll Love About Blackened Shrimp

• This shrimp dish is incredibly easy to make.
• It cooks super fast, in about 2 minutes!
• It's bursting with well seasoned, crave-worthy flavor.
• The shrimp are delicious on their own or you can chop them up and use as a taco filling.
• They pair well with fast and simple side dishes like baked potatoes, rice, grits, pasta, fresh bread, a simple side salad, coleslaw and so much more.

Crispy Baked Chicken Strips with the Best Sauce

Sweet and sticky, peppery and bold, this hot honey chicken will be an absolute hit for spicy food loving fans.

To make it it's a simple process of dredging chicken pieces through a trio of coatings then baking them all at once. And the final finish of tempting hot honey sauce couldn't be easier to make. It only requires 3 ingredients that together create the most crave-able sauce. Honey, Sriracha, and butter.

The honey of course brings the sweetness, the hot sauce perfectly enhances it with striking brightness, and the butter balances and tones it out as well as bringing in a layer of richness. You'll want to add this sauce to everything!

This hot honey chicken can be served as a party appetizer, a game day favorite, or as a main dish entree paired with the classic sides (see ideas below).

My few tips with this recipe are to generously coat the chicken with the finely crushed up corn flakes, which will offer plenty of crunch. And wait to add the sauce until immediately before serving or even use it as a dip to keep the chicken strips extra crisp.

Autumn Apple Pecan Chicken Salad

A crisp, apple studded, protein rich chicken salad that's perfect for a hearty autumn lunch or even a simple weeknight dinner that won't weigh you down.

It's made healthier with a combination of Greek yogurt and a little mayo, and it pairs beautifully with a hearty whole grain bread. Or you can serve it lower carb over lettuce leaves for another nutritious option.

This version is made with rotisserie chicken but you can use leftover cooked chicken breasts as well. I just recommend that you avoid canned chicken for a better chicken salad.

It's simple to make and worthy of your recipe collection!

Try serving it with baked sweet potato fries or sweet potato chips for a colorful fall pairing.

Easy Crockpot Mac and Cheese!

This is hands the absolute easiest way to make macaroni and cheese! Believe it or not, it's unbelievably creamy, no broken curdled sauce, no mushy noodles, and the taste is simply perfect.

My tricks to a good crockpot mac and cheese are to use a combination of cream, water, and evaporated milk - instead of regular or whole milk so it doesn't curdle in the cheese sauce. Then also wait until closer to the end to add the shredded cheese so that doesn't overheat and separate.

And another important key is to use a combination of cheeses for great flavor and texture. Sharp cheddar builds up the best traditional macaroni and cheese flavor, while each American cheese and Monterey Jack cheese create a velvety sauce.

The starches of cooking everything together in one pot (or slow cooker insert technically) also help create a smooth sauce.

This is a family favorite! It has a well-balanced flavor that isn't too harsh so people of all ages love it, and the cook will love the ease of preparation.

It's jam-packed flavorful goodness in every bite and undoubtedly worthy of the holidays (it's perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or potlucks), but yet simple enough for a weeknight side dish!

Watch the Video for Crock Pot Mac and Cheese!

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Cajun Seasoning to Taste

The great thing about making your own homemade cajun seasoning is that you can control the heat and the sodium, simply by adjusting the cayenne pepper and the salt to taste.

It’s also handy if you are ready to make a recipe but you are out of your go-to store-bought option. You will likely have most of the ingredients ready in your pantry! Plus, if you buy spices in bulk this is a great inexpensive option.

You’ll find it has the perfect blend of sweet and vibrant spices and flavor-enhancing herbs for southern cuisines like Caribbean (hello, Jamaican Jerk Chicken!) and Creole.

It’s easy enough it can be thrown together in minutes so you might as well try it out. Homemade spice blends are such a great way to go!

Bold Blackened Salmon

Blackened salmon is made using a cooking technique where fish fillets are liberally seasoned with a cajun spice rub then pan seared in a hot skillet until fairly well darkened (or blackened) on the exterior.

A beautiful crisp crust is formed and it has a nice hint of a charred flavor which highlight its more mellow interior.

Then with this specific recipe you also get a welcome final upgrade of a butter based honey and lime sauce to take it to a whole new level of delicious!

So much flavor in every tender bite!

Here as far as heat goes you can control just how spicy (or mild) you'd like it by adjusting the cayenne pepper to taste. That's part of the beauty of cooking at home, making things to taste.

On a side note don't shy away from the recipe just because there appears to be a daunting list of ingredients. Most of it is just spices you likely already have on hand.

And if you even insist you could skip the sauce and still have an incredibly satisfying seafood dinner.

Easy Baked Breakfast Potatoes

This is my new favorite way to make homemade breakfast potatoes!

Here creamy red potatoes are diced into small chunks, coated in flavorful seasonings and a fair dose of olive oil (which encourages browning and makes them richer), and then they are roasted in the oven at a high temp on a baking sheet.

Lastly they are finished under an extremely hot broiler for just a few minutes to improve exterior texture and give them some color. Because a crispy potatoes (with a soft and tender interior) are the absolute best kind of breakfast potatoes!

With this simple method you'll love that there's no tending to potatoes frying in a skillet over the stovetop (while constantly monitoring and frequently stirring). But here rather an occasionally tossing and the oven does most of the work.

To finish these my favorite way to serve them is with lots of sriracha ketchup for dipping. Just mix sriracha and ketchup to taste (desired heat level). It's one of the easiest and tastiest condiments, and it's the perfect flavor pairing with basic potatoes.

Serve with scrambled eggs and fresh fruit for an easy breakfast or see more of my favorite ideas below (listed just above the recipe that's down below).

Craving something sweet? Try my Sweet Holiday Chex Mix recipe!

Homemade Chex Mix

Who doesn't love Chex Mix? A snack that goes way back when, and always a fun one around the holidays.

For years I had just been buying Chex Mix at the store but this year I figured it was due time to try making it at home. And now I'm hooked because this fresher, buttery version is just that much better!

I've listed three common options to cook it. My personal favorite is the oven method but all work well.

With the slow cooker you just have to be available to stir every so often which can be a bit tedious in my opinion, and the microwave works fine but I think the perfectly crisp texture of the oven option wins.

Here we use a homemade seasoned salt blend (including salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and sugar). The great thing about that is that you can have more control over amount of salt, and you can switch it up (using other spices or adjusting those listed here).

It's a versatile recipe with so many options. Or just stick with the classic because you can't go wrong with it as is!

Love those classic Tex-Mex flavors? Also try my Ground Beef Tacos (you can use 1 1/2 Tbsp of this taco seasoning instead of using those spices listed) and try this easy Taco Salad. Two weeknight staples!

Taco Seasoning Recipe

So you may be trying this for the first time because you've realized you've got a recipe that calls for taco seasoning and you're all out of the store-bought stuff. But then once you try it and see how easy it is, and more cost effective (especially if you buy bulk spices) you'll be using this homemade blend all the time!

It really only takes a few minutes from start to finish, just gathering up each of the spices, measuring out and whisking everything together. It really couldn't be easier.

I love homemade spice blends because you can also adjust them to taste (making them less spicy, salty, more well seasoned with other spices, etc), and it's the perfect shortcut or head start to simplify recipes.

Ways to Use Taco Seasoning

Here are just a few ideas of different dishes to use taco seasoning in but the possibilities are endless:

• Tacos
• Taco salad
• Tostadas
• Burritos
• Chili
• Rice bowls
• Taco soup
• 7 layer dip
• Roasted vegetables
• Fajitas
• Add a little to homemade salsa