"Z Weed" Munchies Mix | Z Nation

Welcome to another edition of "In the kitchen with Zombie Fiction"! In honor of tonight's season 3 premiere, I'm sharing a recipe inspired by the hilarious Syfy series Z Nation. I hear a lot of people hating on Z Nation, calling it a TWD ripoff. I'm pretty sure that none of those people have actually ever watched it, because (and if you know me, you know I'm a diehard TWD fan) they are wildly different, similar only in that they are both zombie shows.

Crispy Oven Baked Hot Wings, a #WingWeek guest post

Please help me welcome my third (and final) #wingweek guest poster, Bernadette of Rants From My Crazy Kitchen. She set out on a mission to make some husband-pleasing crispy hot wings from the oven instead of the fryer—and succeeded. I'm pretty sure these would please husbands all around the world!

Hi, everybody! I'm Bernadette from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen. I've been recipe blogging for almost 3 years, and I am a wife and a mother to a 5 year old girl. My husband had a heart attack on December 20th, at the age of 46, but is on his way to a full recovery. Since then we have made a lot of changes to his diet, which means mine and my daughters as well. I am cooking a lot healthier, no more red meat, no fried foods, etc.

A few weeks after he came home from the hospital he was thinking about food, and said "I guess no more chicken wings for me." I told him I could bake them, and he said "Yeah, but there not as crispy." The next day Heather asked for guest posters with the theme of chicken wings, and I just knew I could do it!

Popcorn-crusted Chicken Wings

It's Friday, and that means we're more than halfway down the #wingweek homestretch. I'm a little bit bummed out that I didn't unearth the grill from the garage and share some grilled and/or some smoked chicken wings with you this week, but that just gives me a goal for #wingweek part deux!

Today's wings aren't from the grill, they're another baked variety, but what makes them fun and a bit unique is the fact that they are breaded! Now, I've never breaded my wings before today. Well, wait a minute—I have breaded wings, but only when I've cut up a whole chicken and breaded that. So, it was "whole" wings. That doesn't count. But it's the same difference. A lightly seasoned flour coating, then into the beaten eggs, then shaken up in a bag full of ground-up cheesy popcorn mixed with chipotle chile powder.

We dipped these in chipotle ranch, but you could definitely use regular ranch, as well. Though they have chipotle in the breading, they're not spicy. Just be sure to season your flour well, so that your wings have flavor!

Bloody Mary Chicken Wings

When January rolls around, so many people are focused on finding recipes to back up their resolutions; this usually means lighter fare. Words like healthy, skinny, and lightened-up take over the search bar. I totally get that. The holidays kick my butt, too. For me though, January triggers something entirely different—a craving for chicken wings!

I think wings are a natural accompaniment to January. Or maybe I should say they're a natural accompaniment to football and the art of gathering around the television eating things with your fingers. Now, I realize that this is actually the tail end of the season, but for one reason or another, it's bowl games and play-offs that trigger my desire for wings.

I'm pretty sure I look like a madwoman, preparing for the chicken apocalypse, as I stack every last package of chicken wings and chicken drumettes from the cooler into my shopping cart. Should I even mention what happens once I get all that chicken home? Let's just say that if a fridge was a pair of jeans, I'd need a pair of pliers to zip them up.

Crisped Ginger-Soy Chicken Wings + Beer Pairing, a #WingWeek guest post

Please help me welcome my first #wingweek guest poster, Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla. I'm pretty thrilled that I inspired her to make chicken wings in her own kitchen for the very first time! Her Crispy Ginger-Soy Wings sound like they are bursting with flavor, plus, she's offered up a beer pairing to go along with her wings. No wonder I like this girl.

When Heather posted that she was looking for some chicken wing guest posts this month, I almost skipped reading the rest of the request. Chicken wings?!? I thought. I don't fry.  I remember watching a cooking show about chicken wings and there seemed to be a complicated dance between the fryer and the oven. And, remember: I don't fry.

But as I finished reading her post, I decided that this would be a good culinary challenge, one that I definitely wanted to complete: make tasty, crispy wings without frying. Challenge accepted.

Good chicken wings are about great flavor and great texture. I did it! This has both.

Slow Cooker Sweet 'n Tangy Glazed Chicken Wings

Until recently, I'd never really thought about making chicken wings in the slow cooker. It was either baked, fried, or if I happened to think about it while the grill was fired up, I'd throw some on there. I don't know if I just didn't pay attention before, but as soon as I saw one recipe for crockpot wings, I've been seeing them around every corner. It's like the buying a new car syndrome (see a beautiful car, buy it, then suddenly everybody and their mother is driving the exact same car).

I figured it was finally time to throw some wings in the slow cooker and see what came out. I bet you can guess. Tender deliciousness, of course. I mean, they were cooked in a slow cooker! The result was a batch of wings just threatening to fall off the bone. But boy, were they ugly. Half the fun of eating wings is a crispy skin, and obviously you can't achieve that in a wet environment.

The trick is lifting them carefully from the crock, setting them onto a rack, and then saucing them up and sliding them under a hot broiler. That skin will crisp up in no time, and all you have to do is give it a couple of sauces and a couple of turns. Minimal finishing work for such amazing results.

Spiced Fig and Garlic Chicken Wings

Whether you're enjoying them outside the stadium, plucking them one by one from a huge foil pan, or getting messy inside during the game, wings are one of those ubiquitous game day foods. Some like them spicy (hand raised), some like them sweet (okay, I'll raise a hand here, too), some like them bathed in garlic (both hands and both feet raised), but you're hard-pressed to find somebody who doesn't enjoy a good chicken wing. Vegetarians—sssshhhhh. You can have cauliflower "wings" instead; I won't deny you.

So, since today is the official start of the #10DaysofTailgate, what better thing to share than a finger-lickin' batch of wings? These particular wings are simple. Beyond simple. With only three other ingredients (one of which is optional), I should probably say embarrassingly simple. But hey, they're too good not to share. Plus, they feature one of our awesome #10DaysofTailgate sponsors, Not Ketchup!

Spiced Fig = Instantly Smitten. This fruit ketchup is slightly tangy and slightly sweet, and my bottle is entirely empty. I rinsed it out and put it back on the shelf, but as of yet, it's not automatically regenerating. And for some reason, I couldn't get the idea of combining it with garlic and slathering on wings out of my head. So, that was exactly what I did.

The #10DaysofTailgate Kick-off (aka "The Program")

How fun is it to have a kick-off to reference during a tailgating event! Just me? That's okay, I'll take it. Arm raised, cutting a tornado in the air, chant growing ever-louder, and then BOOM - let the game begin!

Today I'm joining a group of amazing bloggers and awesome sponsors to bring you a ten day tailgating event, hosted by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla. Each day we'll be featuring recipes fit for game day, from drinks and appetizers to meats and side dishes to desserts—and everything in between.

But not only do we have good food and drink to share, we also have some fantastic products to give away! Our sponsors have generously donated all sorts of things that will come in handy on game day. Whether you're a grill-master, a condiment queen, or a side-dish sourcerer, we've got something elevate your game all season long!

This post will feature all of the info you need during the event, including a list of our sponsors and our list of giveaway items (plus the rafflecopter widget you'll need to enter for a chance to win). Let's just call this "the program". The parking lot officially opens at 9am ET today, so be sure to come back and check out the recipes. Now, I won't be posting a new recipe every single day during the event—that's what our group (team!) is here for.

Spicy Chili Dip inspired by The Deepest Secret {book tour}

The Deepest Secret
author: Carla Buckley
publisher: Bantam
source: tlc book tours
hard cover: 448 pages

"foodie" read: Not a foodie read, but there is mention of food as a part of daily life. From Chicken Casserole to Ravioli, from ice cream to whole wheat doughnuts (which I almost made), from Gin & Tonic's to Pasta Puttanesca, there are plenty of references if you're paying attention. See why I chose to make Spicy Chili Dip below...

random excerpt: David looks at his wife, the woman he's loved. He thinks of their son. All the ways in which they've worked to protect this house from the sun had only allowed the darkness to creep inside.