My Chicken Salad

I got this recipe from my good friend Brooke, who had it added to our ward's recipe cookbook.

Chicken Salad

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

grapes, cut in half

green onions, chopped

celery, chopped

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

6 oz package slivered almonds

Hidden Valley ranch dressing

mayonnaise

Combine all salad ingredients, then make a dressing using half ranch dressing and half mayonnaise. How much you need will depend on how much salad you have. You can make any variation of this you want... apples instead of grapes, walnuts instead of almonds, you can add curry, celery seed, garlic, red onions instead of green onions... the possibilities are endless! I like this best on halved croissants. :)

Stuffed Zucchini

This is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network. I saw this on one of her shows a few years ago and have been making it ever since. It always gets rave reviews! **Warning** This recipe can be costly to make due to some of the ingredients.

Stuffed Zucchini

2 TBSP olive oil

1 small onion, grated

1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

1 large egg

3 TBSP ketchup

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup Pecorino Romano cheese - this can get expensive!

1/4 cup dried plain bread crumbs

1 lb ground turkey

5 or 6 zucchini - varies according to size.

1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly drizzle the olive oil into a 9x13 baking dish. Whisk the onion, parsley, egg, ketchup, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl to blend. Stir in the cheese and bread crumbs. Mix in the turkey. (Once you add the turkey, I've found it's easier to mix with your hands.) Cover and refrigerate the turkey mixture.

Using a melon baller or spoon, carefully scrape out the seeds and inner flesh of the zucchini, leaving 1/8 inch thick shells. Be careful not to pierce through the skin. (I cut them in half so they're a little easier to work with.) Fill the zucchini halves with the turkey mixture, dividing equally and mounding slightly. Arrange the stuffed zucchini in the baking dish and pour the marinara sauce on top.

Bake uncovered until the zucchini is tender and beginning to brown and a thermometer inserted into the filling reaches 165 degrees - which takes about 45 minutes or so. Once they're cooked and out of the oven, I like to add some more fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese on top... mmmmmmmmmmm Serve with pasta and a salad and bread. OH BOY!!!

Fix Freeze and Feast

I bought this book several months ago and I LOVE it. For any of you who are familiar with freezer cooking, you know how exciting this is... lol

I've used several recipes from this book and so far I've really liked all of them. If you're interested in having me post any of the recipes that I've used from the book, just comment and let me know!

The idea of freezer cooking - at least for this particular book - is you buy the ingredients for each recipe in bulk. From Sam's Club or Costco or something similar. Each recipe makes anywhere from 2 - 4 pans for main dishes and something like several dozen cookies. You can make each recipe for yourself to have in your freezer for nights where you don't know what to cook, or you can do a recipe swap with your friends... a few of you pick one recipe each, you all make that recipe and then swap your dishes, so you end up with one of each. These really require a deep freezer, a traditional fridge/freezer combo really doesn't give you enough room to store all these dishes. They're great to have on hand too if you sign up to take dinner to a new mom or sick person in your ward.

Chicken Nacho Bake

This one is a new recipe I found ... can't remember where I found it now, maybe Kraft magazine? I don't know... I made it the other night for me and the kids and I actually liked it a lot.

Chicken Nacho Bake

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (calls for halves, but use what you have)

1/2 cup chunky salsa

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips

1/2 cup mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

**NOW** BEFORE you begin, may I recommend STRONGLY that you season or marinate your chicken breasts. I made the mistake of not doing so, and aside from the yummy toppings ON the chicken, the chicken itself had no flavor. Like Emeril says "I don't know about you, but where I come from, the water isn't flavored" .... same goes for chicken folks. Do your prep work on that chicken! lol

Place chicken on a foil covered baking sheet. (And can I mention how EASY this makes clean up after dinner!?!? HELLO MCFLY!!!) Slice 3 cuts on top of each chicken breast with sharp knife. Top each breast evenly with salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips. (I didn't measure how much I put on each one... I just topped them until it looked right) Bake 20 minutes, remove from oven. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

I served this with Yellow rice........ YUM YUM!

Spanish Rice

Now... I've heard this called a few different things.. Mexican Rice, Spanish Rice... Depending on your politically correctness depends on what you call it. lol Me.... I call it YUMMY DINNER!

Mexican Rice (Spanish Rice)

1 lb meat - this could be ground turkey or ground beef... heck, you could even use chicken if you really wanted.

1 cup rice

1 can mexican stewed tomatoes

1 can mild rotel

enough liquid to make 2 1/2 cups - this means drain the tomatoes into a glass measuring cup instead of draining them into the sink. Add enough water to equal 2 1/2 cups (you can add some salsa too)

2 beef bouillon cubes

garlic - as much or little as you want

onion - as much or little as you want

salt and pepper

Brown your meat in a big skillet that has a lid (and I add my garlic and onions to it when it's almost cooked through), drain the grease, then add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil (uncovered), stirring occasionally. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. BAM!

***Leftover fun stuff***

This is yummy with some scrambled eggs as a breakfast burrito the next morning... or just a straight up burrito the next day. You could make a burrito with it for dinner if you really wanted to get crazy. Throw some cheese and sour cream on it... and YUM YUM!!!

Toscana Soup - MY WAY!

This is a version of Toscana Soup like you find at Olive Garden, except I've made some changes to it because I like it slightly different. Creamier, a different sausage and some heavier flavors.... cause that's how I roll!

Toscana Soup

1 lb sausage - Now, I like to use breakfast sausage. Others like to crumble italian sausage or slice it... do what you like.

3 large russet potatoes, sliced in half and then cut into 1/4 inch slices. - I like to peel most of mine.

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cans of chicken broth

1 quart water - for the equivalent-challenged, that's 4 cups.. lol

1 cup heavy cream

Cook sausage - crumbled, add onion and garlic when it's nearly cooked through. I like to cook the onions till they're almost transparent.

Meanwhile, combine chicken broth, water and potatoes and cook on medium heat until potatoes are cooked through... usually about 20 minutes or so, check doneness with a fork. Now ... depending on how you like the crispness of your kale in the soup .... if you like it softer, like me, add the kale now. Once the sausage has been drained of grease and cooled, add the sausage mixture to the soup. Add pepper to taste and simmer for 10 minutes. For you crunchy kale lovers, add the kale now. Add cream and heat through. Now... before you serve this, taste it, cause sometimes it's missing a little something. Salt it, pepper it, add more garlic... you'll know what it needs! YUM YUM!

Apple Dumplings

This is another one of Pioneer Woman's recipes ... you know I adore that woman and her blog! She's getting so famous... I'm slightly jealous. lol Moving on! I've had a few requests for this EASY and YUMMY dessert, so here it is!

Apple Dumplings

2 GRANNY SMITH apples - if you don't use GS apples, it won't turn out right! Do it!

2 cans crescent rolls - not the jumbo kind.. the regular little ones that come 8 to a can

2 sticks of butter - yes.. you read that right. lol

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

cinnamon

1 can of Mountain Dew - DO IT!

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. (One of those corer/slicer things work well for this) Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9x13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and BARELY stir. Add vanilla, stir, then pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew (if you use a regular size can, you won't need the whole thing. I've found you need a LITTLE bit more than the small can for it to have enough sauce) around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. (And yes, that's the longest 40 minutes of your life).... Serve with ice cream and spoon some of the sauce from the pan on the top.