Smack Shack Mac And Cheese Recipe
Oday Forster
What even is a Girl Dinner? It's basically a snack plate for nights when us girls just don't want to put together a full meal. Girl Dinners can have everything from popcorn to tinned fish to veggies, but it usually involves minimal prep and no cooking. Sounds like my type of meal!
I may be a recipe developer but some nights I just don't feel like cooking. Still, nourishing my body is important to me and snack plates have been a lifeline. Girl Dinner is something I've been unintentionally doing forever. Today I'm going to share my healthy snack plate ideas and a full recipe for a Mediterranean inspired Girl Dinner.
Note that these are just rough guidelines for a general population. You may or may not need different ratios of each group. Now let's dive into examples to include in your snack plates and Girl Dinners.
Eating fibre-rich carbs is something I like to prioritize because of fibre's roles in blood sugar balance, gut health and more. Most adults should aim to eat between 25-30g of fibre daily, so prioritizing fibre-rich carbs is a good starting place. You can read more about why fibre is important here.
Fruits and veggies provide fibre, water, and a ton of micronutrients that our body needs. Try aiming for as many different colors as possible- this ensures you're getting a variety of nutrients throughout the day!
Fats are a part of all our cell membranes and many of our hormones, so it is an essential part of our diet. Eating fat with our meals also helps to promote satiety by slowing digestion and increases satisfaction- simply because it makes our food taste better!
But what even is a healthy fat? Without digging into the chemistry, I am referring to high fat foods that have additional nutrition and health benefits. They are often (but not always!) from plant sources and are also called monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats. You may have heard of omega-3 fats, which plays roles in preventing inflammation and supporting brain health.
PS. I love seeing my recipes in action! If you decide to make any of these snack plate ideas for Girl Dinner, don't forget to snap a photo and tag me on Instagram- @nourishedbynic or leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked it!
I've been making snack plates since i was a kid. usually not so healthy but we didnt have a lot of money. just now, i didnt feel like cooking anything so i got 3 cocktail cherries (that was the dessert!), a handful of blueberries, two slices of ham, a slice of swiss cheese cut into fourths, and two pieces of toast topped with butter and garlic seasoning. not the healthiest, but a good way to fill up, and your not dirtying up the kitchen in the process.
One time a friend showed my mom how to make the special sandwiches. She said they are a regional Ohio thing and as such, people have different ways of making them. Some folks crush Ritz crackers and add them to canned chicken and some other ingredients. But our friend made hers with a box of Stove Top stuffing mix. We liked this the best!
Slow cook the mixture for an hour, then begin giving it a good stir about every 30 minutes to keep it from burning around the edges. I usually slow cook the chicken on low for 2-3 hours until good and hot. Then, cut the cream cheese into cubes and drop it into the chicken. Let it slow cook for about 15 minutes, then stir well until the cream cheese is fully incorporated into the chicken.
Also an Ohio girl, I love shredded chicken sandwiches. There was one store that carried the Sweet Sue canned chicken where I am in Ky, but not anymore! Actually found this recipe because I was looking for chicken online that I can have shipped. My ex husband, born and raised in Ky also loves chicken sandwiches and still asks for them, but I CANT FIND CHICKEN!!!
Definitely a regional Ohio thing. My husband grew up in Southern Ohio and never heard of it. I grew up two hours north of Columbus and it is served at every social get together! Never tried the cream cheese in it, but willing to give it a shot!!
It can, but the chicken would need to be very tender and well-shredded. Canned chicken is easy and has a great texture for the sandwiches. Very tender shredded chicken breasts will work, you may just need to have some extra chicken broth on hand to adjust the moisture of the chicken filling.
Jodi, oh my goodness, these were delicious. Made them for dinner last night and we gobbled them up. I love how the meat was just a little sweet. The grilled bread took it over the top. I should have doubled the recipe as my two teenage boys and my husband just loved them. I bet if I doubled it, the meat would reheat the next day for another day of these sandwiches. Thanks for a delicious post!!!
Hi Teresa, I am so glad you enjoyed them. We seriously could eat these on a weekly basis. I definitely need to double it next time too so we have leftover meat for the next day. So, so delicious! Thanks for your comment.
Jodi, I had a feeling you were going to say that.
But it is a LOT of web searching.
Yet, I will likely do the search to see IF I can eat them.
I will likely make them anyway for my family & grandkids.
Thanks for getting back to me.
It would depend on the type and brands of food you use(low calorie, low fat, ect). You can find a relative easy recipe calorie counter at myfitnesspal (googling it should send you to the website). I have the app I use and it helps a lot.
It was good. A little bit of heat, good flavor. Next time I will cut down on the brown sugar. To cut down the sweetness I sprinkled on some dark cocoa powder. So, I ended up with a different recipe this time, but it was delicious.
Think I may of found a remedy to your squishing concerns,I watched an episode of Jamie Oliver on tv with his grilled cheese he sprinkled cheese on the pan before the sandwich then as it cooked pulled the surrounding cheese up over making it a sealed sandwich flipping it only seals the deal lol
These were AMAZING! My husband is already asking me to make it again! The only thing I did differently was spread melted butter and garlic powder on the Texas toast and broil it for 3 minutes on each side. That totally took it over the top! Thank you so much for this yummy recipe!
Thank you for this idea I do make my sloppy joe meat like yours except add green pepper and celery but did what you said and these are wonderful, wish I had leftovers for tomorrow. I will try chicken or turkey for when my California family comes. Anyone who know which tastes the best? Again thank you!!
There has been a quality burger trend in the last several years, with the expansion of a few burger chains like Five Guys, Smash Burger and yes, the very tasty Shake Shack. They have all grown in popularity because of a concentration on 2 things; made to order burgers and high quality ingredients.
Spouse and I have just returned from a few weeks in the sunny south and boy is it hard returning to the freezing temperatures and snowstorms. It is only on vacation when I get to sample any of these burger chains.
The two things that made this burger extra tasty though, was that signature Shack Sauce and the chopped cherry peppers. I loved the smoky, tangy flavour of the sauce and the sweet, mild heat of the cherry peppers.
To bump up the smokiness, I added both smoked paprika and chipotle powder which worked exceptionally well. For more flavour on the tangy side of the recipe I increased the pickle juice to more than double what some recipes called for.
At the Shake Shack restaurants they also butter and toast the buns. I chose to grill the buns in a cast iron pan like you would do for the bread in a grilled cheese sandwich. This, which not only adds to the flavour of the burger, also helps give the sloppy burger a bit more structure.
I have been grinding chuck (blade) beef roasts for many years for burgers. That is a great, flavourful, beefy cut with the right balance of fat and lean. Ideally ground burger meat should be no more than 20% fat.
In the final analysis, when I put my copycat version of the Smoke Shack Burger together, complete with the copycat shake sauce I was not disappointed! I enjoyed my homemade burger just as much as the restaurant version.
Lobster mac and cheese is a MUST MAKE recipe if you have a lobster lover in your life! A creamy gruyere-cheddar cheese sauce and hunks of lobster make this meal forget you were spending nearly $30 for the same thing in a restaurant!
If you can't find fresh lobster near you, frozen uncooked tails work great! Just thaw them overnight in the fridge and then steam them in a few inches of water for about 12 minutes until they are bright red.
In high school, I played flute in the marching band. Every Saturday during the fall, the 250 of us musicians and color guard would arrive to campus by 5:30 am to load our instruments onto five large charter buses and head to various other high schools in Northern California for a band review.
Each band review followed a similar format. After arriving and patiently waiting on the buses for the drivers to maneuver about the small parking lots to find a space for us to fit, we climbed off and walked directly to the racks of uniforms and Dinkles (our special black marching shoes!) before finding our way to the locker rooms to change.
The Parade Competition came first, where we lined up in a huge block, nine people across, and marched down the city streets playing our specific song for the judges. Back at the parking lot, we changed into our street clothes again, ate lunch, hung out in the cargo space under the buses, and pretended to do homework until evening fell. Then it was time to pull on those uniforms again and warm up for the Field Show Competition before performing, changing yet again, and sitting in the football stadium bleachers for the Awards Ceremony.
While we were often in charge of our own lunches, either bringing them from home or buying something from the snack shack on the high school campuses, our Band Boosters always provided dinner for us. The menu switched each week, and we loaded our plates with meals like spaghetti and meatballs, soft tacos, and build-your-own subway sandwiches.