Jalapeno Fresco Spicy Chicken Sandwich - Wendy's

Jalapeno Fresco Spicy Chicken Sandwich - Wendy's - 2015

New spicy chicken fast food menu item?? You know I'm down for that. Spicy stuff is my thing - and with each new pepper-packed menu item, I'm always guaranteed to check it out. This spring was my first time trying Wendy's jalapeno fresco chicken sandwich and wow did it deliver!

This spicy sandwich is a tasty contender, made with delicious, hot crispy chicken with extremely fresh-diced jalapenos, colby jack cheese and served with a bold tasting ghost pepper sauce all nestled upon a warm, red-jalapeno bun.

The thing I was most impressed with was the crunchy, fresh jalapenos. This sandwich packs a nice heat-punch and also tastes really good. Spice can vary depending on each jalapeno too, and I was lucky enough to have a couple of these with some immense spice levels (for a jalapeno, that is). 

I picked up probably about five of these babies during their time on the menu. Too short of a time if you ask me. This is something I'd absolutely return for and hoping it comes back every spring/summer for some slammin' heat!

-Danno

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FlatOut Spicy Sausage Pizza & Enchilada Cantina Pizza

Two very delicious hot pizza right off the pizza stone! (Using FlatOut Spicy Italian flatbread crusts)

I love pizza. Classic crust, stuffed crust, deep dish- and one of my favorites, thin crust. One of the things I love about thin crust pizzas? I feel like they allow for tasting and enjoying all of the toppings without ending up packed full of heavy dough.

Making dough can often be tedious and if your recipe fails or if you're not used to tending to yeast properly when making dough, you can end up with a terrible crust- and then there's rolling it out.. I'll admit that the difficulty level of that alone, for me, has usually been a doozy- (major respect to all pro pizza makers out there!) and thin crust can be even trickier to master without ripping the dough.

Flat Out offers an easy, pre-made alternative for those moments or even for times when you want a quick, easy fix for a meal.

Pros? They come in three different flavor styles, Rosemary & Olive Oil, Spicy Italian, and Rustic White. They're also a nice, light crust that doesn't have too many calories!

Two different sauces. One store-bought pizza sauce and one home-made white cheese sauce.

You can use any toppings your heart desires! Pack 'em on and create a great tasting pizza!

Spicy sausage & mushroom pizza and Enchilada chicken pizza.

If there were cooking directions, I didn't read them. I just topped each crust with my desired toppings and popped these bad boys into the oven until they were done (about 10-15 at 400 degrees F)

I named my creations Spicy Sausage & Mushroom Pizza and the Enchilada Cantina Chicken Pizza
Here's how to make them!

Ingredients

2 Flat Out Spicy Italian Pizza Crusts (each package includes 6 crusts)

Spicy Sausage Pizza

• 1 Jar of classic Pizza sauce
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Sliced Cremini mushrooms
• Pickled, jarred jalapeno peppers
• 1 package Johnsonville Hot Italian Ground Sausage (pinched into dime sized balls and pre-cooked. *This entire makes a very large portion, so you can use what you want and freeze the rest, cooked or uncooked!)

Enchilada Cantina Chicken Pizza

• 3 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp. sour cream
• 1 tbsp. shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• Shredded Mozzarella cheese (or Monterey Jack cheese)
• 1 4oz. can hot, diced green chillies
• 1/2 cup cubed cooked chicken breast (seasoned if desired)
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions 

Pre-heat over to 400 F.

For the White Cheese Sauce (Enchilada Cantina Chicken Pizza) :

Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, shredded parmesan and minced garlic in a bowl. This makes roughly enough sauce for two pizzas. Spread desired amount of sauce evenly over crust.

For the pizzas:

Spread desired amount of each sauce over each crust. Top each pizza with desired amount of shredded cheese(s). Apply toppings to each pizza. Bake pizzas on pizza stone (or according to package directions) for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown.

Enjoy!

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Fanime Food Adventures, San Jose, CA (2014)

My friend Bekka and I showing our excitement after arriving at the hotel! Night one - the Arrival.

Fanime, Fanime! Oh the many, many years I wanted to finally attend Fanime! So it took nearly ten years, but I finally attended! And I got to do it with some of the best people in my life. The first year I really knew I wanted to go to Fanime was back in 2005 after seeing dozens of photos and videos from cosplayers I admired and it made me feel so inspired and excited! Every year I tried to make plans to go, and every year they fell through, until finally, it happened.

Sailor Punk Scouts!

Me and my awesome gang of punk sailor scouts had a blast. The only downside of the fun, adventure-filled trip was that more time was spent driving than at the actual convention which was the main downside for a con so far away, but it didn't disappoint and I would love to attend again someday soon.

The first morning we were all famished. We found a cute little creperie called Whisper's Cafe & Creperie. The menu was HUGE and the line was long, but honestly not long enough for me to make up my mind. I wanted so many things! The ultimate decision was between having a sweet crepe, or a savory crepe.

I'd never had a savory crepe, so I was really dying to try one! But I was so torn... the sweetest sounding sweet crepe of them all was calling to me-- a few of my friends pointed it out in ode to our Sailor Moon in the group. It was called a Half Moon which was served with sliced peaches, honey orange glaze, cinnamon and brown sugar. OH how I wanted to try it.. but I ended up going with the Buenos, filled with sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and cheese. Not bad for a first time savory crepe. Still I think the sweet might have been the better choice-- next time Half Moon!


Lunch on our last day was Subway. Can't really go wrong there. A couple of our friends decided to go back and grab some grub from the Creperie again, which was right across the street actually, so they picked a nice, shady table for us to eat our lunch at.

And the last day's meal? Good ol Gyros! (Now, come on you guys. Please, for the love of Yevon, pronounce it "yee-rohs". Yes? Good). These were super delicious! Really big and enjoyable with all the yummy sauces and trimmings! Hummus. Tzatziki. Fresh veg. Yummy meats. GLORY. Although I can't remember the name of the place... if I ever come across it again, I'll edit it in!

I loved this trip. It was too rushed in places, and too short altogether, but the food was fun and the memories fond. Good times with good people. What could be better than that?

-Danno

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Hot n' Spicy McChicken and Premium Southwest McWrap - McDonald's

Hot n' Spicy Chicken (left) - Premium Southwest McWrap (right)

So I'm not a huge McDonald's fan. Not sure whether its because I ate so  much of it when I was a kid and just burned out of it, or maybe its because they started doing crap prep on their food? Or maybe its just that I genuinely realize how bad most fast food is for you. McDonald's just seems to have ended up on the bottom of the junk food faves for many years for me now. They even had a period where the fries (at least here in SoCal) all tasted like they were fried in rotten oil (to which, I boycotted McDonald's for a little over two years). 

Their fries remain my favorite thing on the menu, and yeah, ever so often I'll get a bit nostalgic or have a case of junk food munchies and swing by for a bite, and usually leave unimpressed.

Though, knowing me, I have a curiosity for firstly "anything spicy" and secondly, new menu items! Granted, not all of them-- I've steered clear of things like the McRib just because it honestly terrifies me...

But a little over a year ago I tried McD's Hot n' Spicy McChicken. Right off I can tell you, its a simple sandwich. a little lettuce, little mayo, a seasoned chicken patty and a bun. Super simple, nothing I'd go crazy for-- except I found it pleasantly satisfying. I probably stopped by and ended up consuming several of these babies before they were no longer on the menu. They weren't super spicy, more zesty or similar to the "buffalo sauce" flavor.

Next we have McD's Premium Southwest McWrap. According to its advertising, the Southwest McWrap consists of "grilled chicken breast with cilantro lime glaze, crunchy chili-lime tortilla strips, fresh spring greens, sliced tomato, cucumber slices, shredded cheddar jack cheese, and a spicy, creamy habanero ranch sauce — wrapped up in a soft, warm flour tortilla." 

Well, my McWrap didn't seem to have any indication of a cilantro lime anything (nor did it taste like cilantro at all) and the chicken was plain fried, breaded- not seasoned or coated. I immediately removed the huge, annoyingly thick slices of cucumber and tomato. The tortilla chips were nice and crispy, but not at all seasoned as described. There was a bare-minimum sprinkle of cheese, and to be honest, my very favorite thing about this wrap was that habanero ranch sauce.. man I want more of that sauce. But between the crispy chicken, the habanero sauce and the greens, not the worst wrap.

I believe, if my tastebuds aren't lying to me, the Habanero Ranch sauce used in the Southwest McWrap is the same sauce that was served previously with the chicken bites McD's has on the menu for a while, which I actually quite enjoyed.

-Danno

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