{Copycat} Wingers Sticky Fingers

The Sticky Fingers at Wingers are by far my favorite thing on the menu. I always order the Sticky Fingers Wrap. That would be my number one Wingers favorite! That sauce on the chicken is so yummy. Combine that chicken with a little bit of ranch dressing and I'm in heaven! Yum.

I was so excited when I found that I could make Sticky Fingers at home! I've seen all kinds of recipes for these Sticky Fingers on Pinterest. And not a single one of them were the same. But everyone swears their recipe is the tastiest and the closest to the real thing! So I decided to do my own thing as well, based on what others did. I'll show you what I mean:



{Copycat} Wingers Sticky Fingers
sauce makes enough for 4 to 6 chicken strips

• Tyson brand frozen breaded chicken strips (Our Walmart was out of Tyson breaded chicken so I went with Pilgrim's chicken breast strips. They were a little bigger than a standard Sticky Finger, but they worked just great.)
• 6 Tbsp. Frank's Original Hot Sauce (It has to be Frank's to get the right flavor! You can find this at any grocery store.)
• 1 c. plus one spoonful brown sugar (Here is where I made the biggest change. Online I saw measurements from a 1/2 c. to 1 1/2 c. of brown sugar for the sauce. I tried it at first with 1/2 c. but the sauce was still hotter than the real thing. It also made my husband cough like crazy from the kick. I added one more half cup, plus a spoonful of brown sugar and it was perfect to me. It tasted what I think the real sauce would taste like. That comes to 1 cup plus a spoonful of brown sugar.)
• ranch dressing (I prepared a packet of dry ranch dressing mix and used a cup of buttermilk instead of regular milk. It worked really well!)

(Add a little of the sauce to some ranch dressing and you've got yourself a mock of the Creamy Amazing Sauce!)

Get started by getting your chicken in the oven to bake. Or you can fry it, depending on your preference. It was really easy to just pop it in the oven and bake it! Then put the hot sauce in a sauce pan, along with the brown sugar. Heat on medium and allow the sugar to dissolve.

 When the chicken is done, place it in a bowl and pour the sauce over it. Stir the sauce around so all of the chicken pieces are evenly coated. Serve with ranch dressing and enjoy!

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Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

We are big fans of Chinese food at our house! There's a small Chinese restaurant in our hometown called Canton and we used to loved getting takeout from there. There was a period of time during this pregnancy where Chinese food was not on my list of favorites. I couldn't even stomach being around it! There was even a night where we were in Idaho with family and my husband's family had Chinese food for dinner during a party. The kids all got kids meals from Burger King. As much as I love Burger King, I would have much rather eaten Chinese that night!

Thank goodness I'm back to loving Chinese! And I was thrilled when I found this recipe for Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken. We made this for dinner last week and it tastes like we ordered it from a restaurant. It wasn't hard to make and the chicken ended up being super tender. That was a good night!


Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken
Six Sisters' Stuff

Chicken:

• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 c. cornstarch
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 c. canola oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

•  3/4 c. sugar
• 4 Tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 c. vinegar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp. garlic salt

Rinse the chicken breasts in water and pat dry. Then cut them into bite-sized pieces-the size you would get when you order them at a restaurant. Season with salt and pepper.

Dip the chicken pieces into the cornstarch to coat then dip them in the egg. Heat the 1/4 c. of oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken on both sides-just enough to brown but not cook them all the way through.

Place the chicken in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Mix all of the sweet and sour sauce ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.* Serve over rice or with another Asian-inspired side. Yum!

*I baked the chicken for 45 minutes at 350 degrees and turned it once-halfway through the baking process. The chicken came out super moist and delicious!

Hawaiian Haystacks

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that Monday night was the first time I'd ever eaten Hawaiian Haystacks. My husband was shocked when I told him. It seems like everyone has eaten these before except for me! And probably my siblings. We never had them growing up so it's not something I've ever made for myself. I was on Pinterest the other day when I came by this recipe and thought I'd give it a try for dinner Monday night. My husband and son both loved it. My little guy can be a little picky so I was especially excited when he couldn't get enough of this. And my husband said that he liked the sauce on these better than what he had growing up. Yay! Another winning recipe discovered. I love that I can make a different Hawaiian Haystack every time with all of the different toppings options out there. This would make a great dish to feed a crowd.

I forgot to take pictures of the process when we made these. I guess I was too excited to try them and got sidetracked! I appreciate the use of the picture from Picky Palate!


Hawaiian Haystacks
image and recipe via Picky Palate
makes 4 servings

• 1 stick butter (I used half a stick to cut the fat and it worked great.)
• 1/2 c. flour (I used 1/3 c. just to cut that down too. It also worked great.)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 32 oz. reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 tsp. dry Ranch Dressing seasoning packet
• 1/4 tsp. garlic salt
• 2 c. cooked shredded chicken breast
• steamed rice, enough for your family

Topping Options (Don't feel limited to just these. The possibilities are endless! Choose what you like and run with it. The ones in bold are the ones we used.)

• Chow Mein crispy noodles
• diced green onions
• black olives
• pineapple
• cranberries
• almonds
• tomatoes
• shredded cheese

Directions

Jenny over at Picky Palate didn't mention how she cooked the chicken. But this is what I did: I placed two large, frozen chicken breasts in my crock pot and poured the chicken broth right over it. I set it on low and let it cook for 6 hours. When it was finished I took the chicken out and placed it in a bowl to shred. I poured the broth through a strainer and set it aside to use for later in the process. This gave the chicken a good flavor. As Anne Burrell always says, your chicken is always going to taste like what you cook it in!

Let's make Hawaiian Haystacks, shall we? Begin by placing the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring to melt. Slowly whisk in the flour, salt, and pepper and stir till smooth and thick (about 1-2 minutes).

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth until smooth. Increase the heat to high, whisking until thick (about 2 minutes). Add the sour cream, Ranch seasoning, garlic salt, and cooked chicken. Stir together well.

It's time to serve! Place a nice pile of rice in the middle of your plate and pour some of the gravy over the rice. Top with all kinds of delicious toppings and enjoy!

Cookies and Cream Cake

On Saturday night we celebrated Mother's Day as well as our brother-in-law's birthday with my husband's family. We had a fun bbq with grilled burgers and hotdogs, and loads of yummy salads. I was in charge of making the dessert. I wanted to make a cake because there was a birthday, but I also wanted to do something different that no one had ever eaten. Enter this cake! It is so easy to make and everyone LOVED it, including all of the little kids. And who wouldn't? The cake combined with the pudding turns into a smooth and creamy bite of heaven. And the crushed up Oreos on the top add a little bit of extra crunch and texture. Everyone kept saying over and over how much they loved this cake. Even our little four-year-old niece inhaled it and she's hard to please! This is a crowd pleaser for sure.


Cookies and Cream Cake

• 1 chocolate cake mix (Including eggs, oil, and water needed to bake it)
• 2 (4 oz) pkg Instant Oreo Cookies 'n Cream pudding
• 4 c. milk (It's best if you use 2% or higher. But that's up to you!)
• crushed up Oreo cookies (For the top - Less than a row will give you plenty! I think I used 8 Oreos.)

Directions

Begin by baking your cake. Bake it according to the directions on the box in a greased 9x13 pan. Take it out of the oven when it is finished and start making the pudding. Put both boxes in a bowl and add the milk. Whisk together just until the lumps are removed. Be careful not to mix it for the full time the box says and just mix it enough for everything to be mixed together. Then let it sit for about 2 minutes. You want it to start thickening but still be runny at the same time.

While the pudding is setting up for that 2 minutes, poke holes in the cake with the end of a wooden or plastic spoon. Put the holes all over the cake about an inch apart. I ended up going back through and adding more in between the rows since I spaced the holes a little too far apart. You can really do however many you want, but the more holes the better for this cake!

Once that pudding is ready, spread it directly over the cake. Gently press it over the holes to help it get down inside of the cake. (This is what makes it super yummy when you serve it!) Spread it evenly over the cake and let it sit out on the counter, uncovered, to cool down. Cover it up and chill it in the fridge till you need it. I made this a little over 24 hours in advance and it stayed really well. Sprinkle the crushed up Oreo pieces over the entire cake just before serving. Serve chilled.