Buffalo Chicken Salad

I can't remember where I got this recipe, but it's good!  If you like Buffalo Chicken Wings, you'll like this salad.  This would be perfect for that one big football game coming up...

1 Lb chicken

1 bottle Frank's Buffalo Chicken sauce

lettuce

3 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced

avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced

1/2 c. grilled corn kernels (optional)

cheese, shredded

sunflower seeds

ranch or blue cheese dressing, to taste..

-Heat oven to 375-degrees. Cover chicken in Buffalo

Chicken sauce and place on a greased pan. Place in

oven and bake about 25 minutes or until chicken is

cooked through. Cut chicken into slices and place in a

large bowl. Stir in more Buffalo Chicken sauce until

chicken is well coated. Shred lettuce and place on plate.

Add chicken, egg, avocado, corn, cheese, sunflower

seeds and top with ranch or blue cheese dressing.

Peanut Butter Cup Popcorn

This recipe comes from Our Best Bites and it was really good and easy.

About 20 cups of popped popcorn
2 cups honey roasted peanuts
3 cups peanut butter chips
2/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 TBSP vegetable shortening or oil

Place the peanuts, popped popcorn in a very large bowl.  In a microwafe safe bowl, combine the peanut butter chips and oil or shortening and heat for 2-2 1/2 minutes or until smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.  Drizzle the melted pb chips over the popcorn and peanuts and toss to combine.

Spread the popcorn onto wax paper-lined baking sheet.  In a ziploc bag, heat the chocolate chips until just melted and smooth (about 1 1/2 minutes), mashing the bag every 20-30 seconds.  Cut a small corner in the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn.  Allow to stand long enough to become solid.  When done, break the popcorn into small pieces and enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

I made these tonight while Brent was at a hunters banquet or something.  They are super good. I changed a recipe I had to make it a little better for you.  A little.  They are delicious!

Mix and rest for 15 minutes:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

2 TBS Yeast

After resting, add:

1/2 TBS salt

1 egg

5 cups flour

Mix well.  Put on floured board and knead a few minutes.  Roll out into a rectangle.  Brush with water.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar-and nuts and raisins if desired. Roll up and cut.  Put on greased cooking sheet and let raise for 30 minutes.  

Bake at 400* for 10-12 minutes

Frosting:

1 canister cream cheese frosting

warm for 20-30 seconds in microwave (opened with lid off)

pour over cooked cinnamon rolls

Enjoy!

Salsa Tacos (Crockpot)

I got this recipe from here.  It is so easy and so good. Very easy and super for a Sunday meal! 

Avocado
Cilantro
Onion
Tomato
Cheddar Cheese Shredded
Lime or Lemon
Chicken Breasts 3-4  (I use chicken tenderloins)
Salsa  2-3 cups (We use our home made bottled from last year.)

Dump the chicken and salsa in the crockpot. Cook for 4-5 hours or until the chicken is done.

Shred chicken with two forks.  Use small flour tortillas.  Put avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, cheese and onions on top. Squeeze lemon or lime on top.

Serve and enjoy!

Jerk Chicken Salad

Even if you're not a salad person, you'll like this. It's so yummy! The kids weren't super fans when they saw that there was green in it, (they hate all things green) but they loved everything else. This is a Pampered Chef recipe and it's delish!

Ingredients:
1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS Jamaican Jerk Rub (can order Pampered Chef's or can find in grocery store spice section)
1 pound chicken tenders
1 medium pineapple (fresh is SO yummy, but I'm sure you can use canned too)
1 red bell pepper
3 green onions
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 can (15oz) black beans, drained
6 slices bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled

Dressing:
2 limes
1/3 cup reduced fat mayo
2 TBS pineapple preserves (I couldn't find this, but I did find apricot and pinapple preserves and it worked)

Directions: Whisk together oil and jerk rub. Add chicken tenders, mix well to coat and set aside.
Peel and cut pinapple into slices. Heat a pan to medium heat and add chicken; cook 3-5 minutes on each side, until done. Remove chicken and add pineapple to pan. Cook 1 minute on each side. Remove from pan. Set chicken and pineapple aside.

Slice bell pepper and green onions. Arrange lettuce on large serving plate.

For dressing, zest one lime and juice both limes, put into bowl. Add lime zest, mayonnaise and pineapple preserves to bowl, mix well.

Layer chopped lettuce, beans, bell pepper, chicken, pineapple, bacon and green onions over plate. Drizzle dressing over salad.

Enjoy!

Avocado Salsa

Ingredients
4 ripe Hass avocados, peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
2 limes, juiced
Salt and pepper
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, to taste

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a molcajete and mix to a chunky consistency. Season, to taste, with salt, pepper, and cilantro. Serve immediately.

Cabbage Stir Fry

If you like cabbage, but never know what to do with it, I think this recipe is so yummy!  Cabbage is really cheap, so it makes a nice, inexpensive meal!


1 head cabbage (sliced, chopped)
1 onion (diced)
4 chicken tenderloins (cooked and sliced)
1/2 cup peanuts
3 TBS sesame seed oil
2 TBS rice vinegar

 Put sesame oil in a frying pan and heat on medium high until a little hot.  Put onions in and fry until they are brown.  Add cabbage and chicken.  Stir around and cook for about 10 minutes, or until cabbage is soft.  Add 1/2 cup peanuts and mix around.  Stir in rice vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve!

Meal Planning

I am getting organized! After searching on the web, I decided to use all the ideas I found and come up with my own planner.  Here is one for meals and chores.

 I can only upload these as a PDF file.  If you want the word document, leave a comment or email me and I will send it to you. (You have to have a gmail account too. They are free and if you have a blogger account, you have a gmail account.)



Weekly Planner

Jalepeno Poppers

Jalepenos
Cream Cheese softened
Bacon (precooked is easiest)


Take the jalepenos and cut them in half lengthwise. Take out the veins and the seeds, since these are the hottest parts.

Stuff the cream cheese into each half of the jalepeno.

Wrap the jalepeno with bacon, and secure with a toothpick.

Cook on 350 for 5-10 minutes, depending on your bacon.

Homemade Zuppa Toscana Soup

I've made this a few times over the years, and I think it tastes just like the soup at that one Italian Restaurant... :)

Here's the recipe. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

1/2 pound of Italian Sausage (I like the HOT kind, but the family likes Medium)

3/4 cups diced onions

6 slices of bacon (I use the pre-cooked bacon and it tastes the same)

1 1/4 teaspoons minced garlic

2 cups of chicken broth

1 quart water (4 cups)

4-5 russett potatoes, cut in half and then into 1/4 inch slices

2 cups Kale (I use fresh spinach)

1/3 cups Heavy whipping cream (I use milk if it's all I have on hand)

-Cook the sausage and crumble it. Place onions and bacon in large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Add chicken broth, water, and potatoes. Simmer 15 minutes. Add sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer another 4 minutes and serve.

-Top with parmesan cheese.

Southwest Pasta Salad

I made this for a potluck church activity last night and I loved it. It's light and full of flavor. It's also a good vegetarian option for a main dish or as a side.

Ingredients:
8 oz rotini pasta
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1-2 Tablespoons chili powder to taste (I used 1 TBSP)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups whole kernel corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup chopped roma tomatoes

Directions:
- Cook pasta until al dente, drain.
-Combine oil, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and garlic. Stir in pasta and set aside to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.
-Stir in rest of the ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Korean Candy Chicken

This was really yummy. A little bit of work, but the family loved it. Actually my kids liked it, but I had some Orange Chicken sauce from Panda Express leftover and coated half of the chicken in that- they loved that more, but they still liked this too.

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 eggs
2 cups flour

sweet sauce:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
toasted sesame seeds

cooked rice (I used quinoa instead)
Green onions (optional)

In a pan, pour about two inches of oil and heat on medium heat til hot. Beat eggs and put chicken pieces in the eggs, to coat. Then coat the chicken in the flour (which is in another container).

Place coated chicken pieces in oil and fry for a few minutes on each side until done. Place cooked chicken on a plate with paper towel to rest.

Mix the ingredients for the sauce. The sauce will be kind of thick, but not grainy. Then place the chicken pieces into the sauce and coat.

Serve over rice (or quinoa) and place sliced green onions on top.

Yummy Breakfast Pizza

This is a terrible picture of a really yummy dinner we just had. Everyone gobbled it right up. So, I'm sharing the recipe. Here you go!

1 pizza crust (you can also use a can of refrigerated crescent rolls)
1 pound sausage (Or bacon, but we prefer sausage)
1 cup frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

*Put uncooked pizza crust on pizza pan. Cook sausage while crust rises. Drain the sausage and cool slightly.
*Sprinkle sausage, hashbrowns, and cheddar over crust. In a bowl, beat eggs, milk and pepper; pour over pizza. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
*Bake at 375 degrees for 28-30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Blueberry Freeze

Blueberry Freeze

I made this dessert today, adapting it from a peanut-butter pie recipe. Oh my goodness, so good! Here is the general idea:

Use a graham cracker pie crust.

Make blueberry mixture in a pan:
2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen probably work too.)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
boil together and smash blueberries with a mashed potato masher until the mixture turns a lovely purplish-blue color
Mix in 1 TBS cornstarch mixed with a little bit of water
Let cool.

Mix together the following until smooth:
4 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup blueberries
2-3 Tbs blueberry mixture

Freeze pie for about 4 hours or until solid

To serve, cut pie and we warmed up the blueberry mixture to add on the top.

So Yummy!!

***We used Strawberries last Sunday...pretty good, but not as good as this. Next, we will try peaches. Yum!

Carne Asada Tacos

Ingredients:

2 pounds flank steak trimmed of excess fat
1 recipe Mojo sauce (recipe below)
Olive oil for coating grill
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
16 corn tortillas
Cilantro- chopped

Medium sweet onion-chopped
2 limes for serving

Mojo:

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 large handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 orange, juiced
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Lay the flank steak in a large zip-lock bag and pour the mojo over it. Refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 8 hours, so the flavors can sink into the meat. Don't marinate the steak for more than 8 hours though, or the fibers break down too much and the meat gets mushy.

Preheat an outdoor grill or a ridged grill pan (I used our George Foreman) over medium-high flame (you can also use a broiler). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Pull the steak out of the mojo marinade and season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Grill (or broil) the steak for 7 to 10 minutes per side, turning once, until medium-rare. Remove the steak to a cutting board and let it rest for 5 minutes to allow the juices to settle. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.

Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable.
To make the tacos, stack up 2 of the warm tortillas, lay about 4 ounces of beef down the center, and sprinkle with sweet onion and cilantro mixture.

No Bake Cookies

**The Key to No Bake Cookies, is making sure you boil the concoction long enough.  Otherwise, they won't set up, and they will be ooey-gooey. **

No Bake Cookies

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions:
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cocoa, sugar, milk and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for 1 minute.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the salt, vanilla, oats and peanut butter.
3. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow cookies to cool for at least 1 hour.