Cheddar and Chive Chicken Waffles with Pepper Gravy

I love the food blog, Oh Bite It! A couple months ago, she posted a recipe for Chicken In Waffles, that was a wonderful version of Chicken and Waffles, where the chicken was actually cooked inside the waffle and was drizzled with syrup. My husband doesn't like sweets with his savory, so I decided to modify the recipe for his tastes and it was transcendental. I seriously almost started crying while eating them, they were THAT good.

To make this yeast free, you need to just search for yeast free chicken tenders. Again, Tyson makes a southern chicken tender that is yeast free, just check the ingredients.

You can use my recipe for waffles, here if you are sensitive to baking powder or use Bisquick like the recipe calls for if your intestines tolerate it. If using the recipe linked above, simply omit the sugar and add salt, pepper, chives, cheese and chicken to the prepared waffle batter.

I suggest serving this with bacon. I cook mine in the oven at 425 for about 15-20 minutes or until it is crispy and delicious.

For the Waffles

2 cups bisquick or other baking mix

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 egg

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch of pepper

1 tablespoon chives

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1-2 cups diced defrosted precooked fried chicken tenders

Nonstick Spray for waffle iron

For the gravy

2 tablespoons butter

2-3 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your waffle maker.

Mix all of the ingredients for the waffles in a large bowl until well combined.  

Spray waffle maker with nonstick spray.

Place about 1/2 cup of batter in the middle of your waffle iron (or in each section if you have a square waffle maker, instead of the round sort), and cook until the waffle iron tells you it is done.

Meanwhile, combine the butter and flour in a small pot over medium heat. 

Cook until the flour smells nutty and becomes golden in color, a few minutes.

Slowly whisk in milk to avoid making lumps.

Allow to come to a boil, add more milk as needed if your gravy is too thick. 

Season with salt and pepper, tasting as you go.

Serve the waffles covered in gravy, with bacon on the side. Also great covered with a poached egg.

Makes 4-5 large waffles

Pepperoni Pizza Soup

I made Oh Bite It's "Grilled Cheese Pull Apart Rolls" tonight for dinner and wanted a soup to go with it, since it is rainy and cold out. This was the perfect match for it.

One of the things I find I miss most is pizza, and I don't always want to go all out and make a fancy pizza on a puff pastry crust, so I created pizza soup to mimic the flavor of pizza without the crust. I use shortcuts, like canned tomato soup, so that I can whip up a pot of soup in no time at all.

This particular recipe is for a Pepperoni Pizza Soup, but you are welcome to omit that and make it a vegetarian soup, adding mushrooms and roasted red peppers, or onions, or whatever topping you like. Be creative!

Ingredients:
2 11 oz. cans of condensed tomato soup + 3 cans of water
2 tablespoons of butter
2 green onions, sliced
About 2 oz of pepperoni, sliced
2 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning (oregano and thyme)
1 cup or more of Italian blend cheese
½ cup shredded parmesan blend
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional - ½ can of heavy cream

In a soup pot, melt butter over medium heat.
Sweat the onions in the melted butter and add sliced pepperoni.
Allow the pepperoni to crisp up, which will allow the fats to render.
Add the garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir until fragrant, a few moments, then add the condensed soup.
Stir well, add water and stir.
Allow to come to a boil, stirring periodically.
Once hot, add cheeses, allowing them to melt.
Add salt and pepper to taste, adjust seasoning as needed.
Finish with heavy cream, if desired, and serve hot with a little extra cheese on top.

Zombie (Chicken) Chili

This chili has beans.  If you don’t tolerate them well, omit them.  What makes it zombie chili?  The word zombie in front of it.  And the cooked white meat chicken looks a little like brainz!

Barbecue Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

I created this recipe to use up leftover grilled burgers my husband had made.  The smoked paprika gives it a great barbecue flavor. I can’t wait to make it again!

Turkey Club Meatloaf

Served with a simple salad of lettuce and tomato, this makes a warm and filling recreation of the classic club sandwich.

Quick Sausage Ragu

This is not a true Italian ragu, but a quick version with a cream base.  This can be cooked up in about 20 minutes total and makes a hearty meal in a flash. Here it is served over paperadelli pasta.  Notice that the recipe calls for pasta water.  After your pasta has cooked for a while, ladle out about a half a cup to reserve.
This allows you to control the consistency, for those who prefer a thinner sauce on their pasta.

Crawfish Bisque

The cream in this soup really mutes the salt and it takes quite a bit to season it properly, as it should be slightly salty in flavor.  Tasting as you go is really important to get it right. The crawfish can be replaced with crab or lobster if you prefer.

Spinach Alfredo Pizza

I created this for the challenge at Double Take. The ingredients for this time were Spinach and Cheese.  I just happened to have some fancy pizza dough in my house I have been meaning to use that is yeast free ( I used a Great Value brand, but it also comes in that Pillsbury brand I have mentioned before that is leavened with Glucono Delta Lactone and Baking Soda), so a delicious white pizza sounded great.  If the fancy strikes you, you can butter the crust when it comes out of the oven and sprinkle it with parmesan.

Chicken Française

This is another of my favorites dishes growing up.  It originally had white wine added, however, since wine is made with yeast, this recipe forgoes the wine for sparkling cider. It is still just as tasty! I made this one with a cranberry apple cider and it had a great wine-like flavor.
Wonderful served with pasta of any sort and a fresh salad.

S.O.S.

S.O.S is not the prettiest dish (which is how it got its name) but it  can be made fast, is fairly easy, and quite delicious. Usually you can use a can of cream of mushroom soup, which really cuts down the prep time, but in case you cannot find any, the recipe below is easy enough.

This can also be made with ground turkey or chicken.

Always great served on a baked potato or egg noodles!

Asian Plum Marinade

This is good for beef, pork, chicken, seafood, or tofu. Makes enough for 2 lbs of meat.  Here it is shown with  ribeye steak that was sliced after grilling.

Soy sauce can be a problem for some people.  Check the ingredients to make sure there is no miso or fermented ingredients listed. You can also substitute the soy sauce with 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tablespoon of water.

Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

This would be great on a bed of  butter lettuce with bacon crumbled over.  Using mustard powder avoids the issue of prepared mustard that contains vinegar, which can have traces of yeast, or wine. Here it is pictured on a puff pastry roll.

Product Recommendation- Macaroni Grill's Penne Rustica

I love this stuff, can't get enough. Romano's Macaroni Grill's Penne Rustica- al dente' pasta with a savory rosemary Parmesan cream sauce with sauted chicken, shrimp, and salty aged prosciutto.


 When ordering, I usually get it without the roasted red peppers on top in case it has skin on it still.  If you tell them you are yeast intolerant, they should clean off the area before preparing your food to avoid cross contamination.

And of course, skip the bread. 

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

This takes all the goodness of Chicken Cordon Bleu and turns it into an easy pasta dish.  It goes great paired with a fresh salad tossed in a lemony dressing.
Tyson's Frozen Crispy Chicken Strips can be substituted for fresh chicken preparation.  Be sure to check the package as only the crispy strips variety are yeast free as the rest have yeast for some unknown reason. Cook per package directions.

Barbecue Steak Tacos

This recipe can be done with chicken or steak. Using the breast of a rotisserie chicken (sliced) makes it much quicker.  The barbecue sauce is not a traditional tomato based sauce, but is a sweet and hot glaze made in the pan.

*If you want to use rotisserie chicken instead of steak, simply warm up the chicken over medium high heat and start at the third step (where you add the spices to the pan).

Basic Yeast- Free Pizza

The recipe below is the general methodology for plain yeast-free pizza, it is meant to be a base for customization.  This is in NO way low-calorie, but it is great when the craving for pizza overtakes you and you can't take one more pizza delivery commercial without losing your mind. The pizza pictured above was a sausage and bacon with provolone, mozzarella, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.  The toppings are only limited  by your imagination, and your food intolerances.

Since pizzas are such a fun and personal thing, all toppings are estimated for this recipe instead of using specific measurements. Cater it to your tastes.  Just remember, a well covered pizza is good, but adding too many topping can interfere with baking all the way through.  

Seafood Pot Pie

The meat in this can be substituted with lobster, or any of your other favorite seafood.  This can also be made with chicken if you don't like seafood! Simply replace the called for seafood with an equal amount of cooked cubed chicken. To make it family style use a large oven proof dish instead of separate bowls and place the four single portions of puff pastry over the top to make serving easier- cooking time may need to be increased.