Winger's Freakin' Amazing Sauce+ A French Bread Pizza Recipe

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Growing up my mom always made the day special with a card from her and my dad and heart shaped pizzas for dinner, which I loved. Now that I am "grown-up" and have a husband I love this holiday even more. Here's why: because David's birthday is in January and mine is in February we decided early on that we would rather have a bigger budget for each other's birthday gifts than any budget at all for Valentine's Day. That means we spend a whopping $0 on Valentine's gifts!

At first I thought it was a stupid idea and I thought for sure it would go out the window someday when we become rich (haha). The truth is it's my favorite tradition we have. Last year he made me roses out of aluminum foil and a green plastic hanger--- obviously things we had just lying around the house. I made him an ABC's book of why I love him. To this day the aluminum roses still sit on my bedside table and I am dreading the day when they'll need to be thrown away for one reason or another.

I have a killer $0 Valentine's Day date planned for us this year. I also have a surprise last minute Valentine's post for all of you readers but it's for Wednesday, so brace yourself. In the meantime I am sharing one of my favorite sauce recipes with you today plus another recipe with which to use said sauce. Enjoy!

Winger's Freakin' Amazing Sauce (Copy Cat Recipe)

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Favorite Family Recipes

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce *must be Frank's

1 tablespoon water

2 tablespoons butter

Combine brown sugar, hot sauce, and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until it bubbles and sugar has dissolved. This should only take about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter until it has melted. Let the sauce cool to room temperature before using.

Freakin' Amazing French Bread Pizza

Recipe Source: © The Taste Tester

1 loaf french bread, cut in half horizontally

1 recipe Winger's Freakin' Amazing Sauce, divided

2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast

10 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded *I used whole milk mozzarella

1/4 red onion, sliced

a handful of fresh parsley, chopped

ranch dressing for dipping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Set aside 1/4 cup of the sauce. Stir the shredded chicken into the remaining sauce. Using a pastry brush spread the reserved 1/4 cup sauce over the french bread loaf halves. Divide the saucy chicken evenly over sauced bread. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and top with sliced red onions. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is crispy. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with ranch dressing.