Thursday, February 6, 2014

Successful family dinner party

My in-laws used to have a family dinner one day every week, but now that they are both retired, we are trying to share the family dinner expenses since they are penny pinching. I should have had dinners before they retired, I just never thought of it and when someone offers to cook for you, you take them up on it, cause let's face it as a mother, you never have someone cook for you, you always have to do the cooking yourself.
So, my brother-in-laws awesome girlfriend and I are going to alternate months of hosting dinners and the in-laws will have one a month.  As my month got closer and closer, I got more nervous. It is not easy to make an entire gluten free meal good enough to please even the gluten eating people.  I think I was successful though. I had a Honey Baked Ham gift card and their meat and glazes are gluten free. So, I had salad fixings, ham, gf corn bread, mashed potatoes, baked beans, buffalo chicken casserole and gluten free chocolate chip cheesecake.
The buffalo chicken casserole, I found on Pinterest but it didn't have a link. I used only half the hot sauce to make it not as hot. It was definitely loved,  so here is that recipe: 

Loaded Potato and Buffalo Chicken Casserole:2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cubed (1")8-10 medium potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes1/3 cup olive oil1&1/2 tsp salt1 Tbsp. black pepper1 Tbsp. paprika2 Tbsp. garlic powder6 Tbsp. hot sauceTopping:2 cups fiesta blend cheese1 cup crumbled bacon1 cup diced green onionPreheat oven to 500 degrees. Spray a 9X13" baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and hot sauce. Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat. Carefully scoop the potatoes into the prepared baking dish, leaving behind as much of the olive oil/hot sauce mixture as possible. Bake the potatoes for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until cooked through and crispy and browned on the outside. While the potatoes are cooking, add the cubed chicken to the bowl with the left over olive oil/hot sauce mixture and stir to coat. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, remove from the oven and lower the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Top the cooked potatoes with the raw marinated chicken. In a bowl ix together the cheese, bacon and green onion and top the raw chicken with the cheese mixture. Return the casserole to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the topping is bubbly delicious.Serve with extra hot sauce and/or ranch dressing.

 

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