Dinner Tonight -- Wings, Homemade Mac 'n Cheese, Butternut Squash

I picked up some chicken wings on sale last week at Sprouts for just 99 cents a pound. Tonight I cooked those 15 or so wings. They were yummy. I used this recipe for breading and baking the chicken. I didn't refrigerate them, just rinsed them in cold water and squeezed them dry with a paper towel before tossing in the flour mixture. I used parchment paper (no spray) and baked them for a bit before rolling them in either buffalo sauce or bbq sauce.

Baked Buffalo Wings (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/baked-buffalo-wings/Detail.aspx)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 20 chicken wings

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lightly grease with cooking spray. Place the flour, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt into a resealable plastic bag, and shake to mix. Add the chicken wings, seal, and toss until well coated with the flour mixture. Place the wings onto the prepared baking sheet, and place into the refrigerator. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. [Didn't do this: Whisk together the melted butter and hot sauce in a small bowl. Dip the wings into the butter mixture, and place back on the baking sheet.] Bake in the preheated oven until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and crispy on the outside, about 45 minutes. Turn the wings over halfway during cooking so they cook evenly.

I also made some homemade mac 'n cheese. Pretty simple. I boiled some mini bowtie pasta until it was tender. Then, I made a roux with about 1 T. butter and 2 T. flour. (Melt butter, then stir in flour. Allow to brown a little, then add milk gradually.) I have no clue how much milk I used. Once it was a decent consistency, I threw in some handfuls of shredded cheese. The cheese was a "Mexican" blend from Costco. I think it would have tasted better with more cheddar, but it was still yummy. Once the cheese was melted, I tossed the noodles back in and stirred it up. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Finally, we had some butternut squash. Simple and easy. It's good! I had one small squash so I used about 1/2 the recipe. (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robin-miller/roasted-butternut-squash-recipe/index.html)

Ingredients

• 2 medium butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 4 teaspoons butter
• 4 teaspoons brown sugar
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place butternut squash halves on a large baking sheet flesh side up. Place 1 teaspoon butter in the middle of each squash. Sprinkle brown sugar over each squash. Season with salt and black pepper. Roast 25 minutes, until flesh is fork-tender. Reserve 2 halves for future meal.