chicken salad bliss

Chicken Salad Pitas are my new favorite lunch.

Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad

1 c cubed cooked chicken
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 c celery rib, diced into small bits
1/4 cup dried cranberries
dollop of mayo
splash white wine vinegar
dash salt and black pepper

Combine and stuff in a couple pieces of red leaf luttuce in a toasted pita.

Salad

I made this salad just for myself today. It was fantastic. I was a little unsure about oranges + spinach + honey roasted peanuts. But can I just say...YUM?!?

Spinach Salad & Teriyaki Bowties
16 oz. Bowtie pasta, cooked and cooled
1 - 2 bags of fresh baby Spinach
2 small cans Mandarin Oranges (canned oranges scare me. I cut up a navel.)
1 cup Craisins
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1 can Water Chestnuts (water chestnuts scare me. omitted!)
1 bunch Green Onions, chopped (also omitted)
1 cup Honey Roasted Peanuts or Cashews
1/2 cup fresh Parsley (optional)
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds, toasted (optional)
2 cups torn cooked Chicken (optional)

Dressing:
1 cup Vegetable Oil
2/3 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Black Pepper
2/3 C. Teriyaki Sauce or Soy Vay
5 Tbs. Sugar

Cook bowtie pasta according to directions, drain and cool while whisking the dressing together in a large bowl. Marinate cooked bowtie pasta in the dressing for 1 hour or longer in the fridge. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and pour the teriyaki sauce and pasta over the salad, toss together and serve. If it's just a few of you, make individual salad servings; keeping the salad and bowtie sauce separate for the rest of the week (no one likes a soggy salad).

recipe from m.writes

I'm Cooking with Rachel Ray

images from Rachel Ray Mag

I got a couple issues of Cooking with Rachel Ray, and decided to try a few recipes. Our first experiment was dinner last night - "Thanksgiving Any Day: Turkey Meatloaf Burgers". The things that really intrigued me were the english muffin "buns" and the cranberry sour cream sauce - both of which I loved after trying. The turkey burger was a little strange at first, but by the time I had finished it, I was happy. And my warmed-up leftovers for lunch today were delicious. My food-cautious family were not so gung-ho about the whole thing - but it's good for them to try new things once in awhile!

The other sandwich pictured above is RR's new favorite - "Inside-Out English Muffin Grilled Cheese". She just butters the english muffins, lays the cheese, tomato, bacon, spinach (or whatever you want) on the unbuttered sides, adds little salt and pepper, another cheese slice, and cooks in a skillet until cheese is melted and the buttery muffins are golden brown. So simple, but sounds yum. I'm trying this soon, too.

Anyway - here is the turkey burger recipe if you're in the mood to try something new!

Apple Crisp

A few days ago I got a bag of Macintosh apples for super cheap, not knowing if I really liked Macintoshes. We usually stick to our Fujis. I was not impressed with the tart, white flesh as an eating apple, so I decided to make apple crisp. My usual go-to recipe has been letting me down the last few times, so I tried something new, and found the most delicious recipe that my bag of Macintoshes have been scrumptious in. I've made this crisp twice this week, and is my new fave recipe.

Apple Crisp

4 c macintosh apples
2/3 c brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1/2 c oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 c butter

Peel and slice apples. Spread in a greased 8x8" pan. Cut butter into remaining ingredients and sprinkle over apples. Bake at 375 for 30 - 35 minutes. Eat with vanilla ice cream.

Zuke Cake

We've been enjoying some friends' zucchini surpluses these last few weeks. I've made this cake twice, and it is great. Tonight I turned it into a punch bowl cake (crumbled and layered with chocolate pudding and whipped cream) and brought it to our RS picnic. Very tasty!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 c butter
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 c yogurt
2 1/2 c flour
3/4 c Dutch-process cocoa
2 c shredded zucchini (about one 10" zucchini, about 12 ounces)
1/2 c chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.

Stir in the yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa, mixing till smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes, till the top springs back lightly when touched, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Top with whipped cream

Black Forestish Cake

Black Forest Cake was my favorite birthday cake growing up... right behind Baskin Robbins Chocolate and Mint-n-Chip Ice Cream Cake. I've been craving a little Black Forest goodness since my last birthday, and finally decided to whip one up to share with the missionaries who were coming over for dinner last night. I tried something new, because I had no desire to try and make a round layer cake, with all the unpredictable slippery shifting that comes with it.

I baked a devil's food cake in a 9x13" pan, then poked holes with a wooden spoon handle as soon as it came out of the oven. While the cake was baking I blended up some homemade sweetened condensed milk, than blended in half a can of cherry pie filling. I poured that over the hot cake, spreading well to make sure the mixture went into the holes in the cake. I refrigerated the cake overnight, then served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream and a spoonful of cherry pie filling.

This cake was delicious, moist and simple, and is still so yummy today. Happy Belated Birthday to me!

Sweetened Condensed Milk (14 oz can)

1/2 c hot water (I bring it to a boil in a mug in the microwave)
1 c dry powdered milk
1 c sugar
1 TBSP butter

Blend VERY WELL in a blender

Maple Syrup Festival

Look! It's another picture of Hope eating a pancake! Hope has a very boring eating repertoire. She normally gets oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast, banana snack, cheese sandwich lunch, yogurt snack, and scrambled egg dinner every day. Lately she has been rebelling against the same ol' same ol', however, by fist squishing and chucking overboard her old favorites.

This morning we were planning on going to the Maple Syrup Festival in a nearby town. Everyone woke up a tad bit grumpy, however, so I made pancakes at home instead of indulging in being served all you can eat cakes with real maple syrup and homemade sausage at the festival. They turned out all right. Except for the batch that I forgot to put baking powder in. I was distracted by yelling at Madelyn who was yelling at me because Emma had been yelling at her to get her out of bed. It was unpleasant. So were the flat pancakes.

I figured I had used about half the batter with my first skillet disaster, so I just added 1 tsp powder to the remaining batter, and they were edible. I wanted to try this recipe from Every Day Food Storage, where you blend up whole wheat kernels in a blender. I will definitely try them again, but next time with my head on straight. Hope happily ate 3 of them.

Blender Wheat Pancakes

1 Cup Milk (translation for powdered milk is 3 T. Milk and 1 C. Water)
1 Cup Wheat Kernels, whole & uncooked
2 Eggs (2 T. powdered eggs 1/4 C. Water)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbs. Oil
2 Tbs. Honey or Sugar

Put milk and wheat kernels in blender.Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low. Pour out batter into pancakes from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!) onto a hot greased or Pam prepared griddle or large frying pan.Cook; flipping pancakes when bubbles pop and create holes.

We still made it to the festival after everyone had eaten and had a little emotional cool down period. The festival is also famous for all the garage sales that happen in the area the same weekend. We spent a good 3 hours following signs and yard hopping, looking for treasures. I found a great stash of baby girl clothes, and couldn't pass up the above freebie on the side of the road. It needed me.

Just Call Me Little Red Hen

I used my new wheat grinder today for the first time. After cracking open one can from my small stash of wheat, I nervously poured a few cups of wheat berries into the hopper and watched as they began to trickle away and disappear into the mill. I put the small lid on top of the hopper, and then made the mistake of peeking too soon into the mill to see if the wheat had all gone through. I got a face full of dust, and soon learned to listen instead of look to know when the wheat had all been ground.

I've been reading about gluten, and wondered if I should get some to make my bread more light and fluffy. Maybe that's only necessary with 100% whole wheat bread. I used our family's tried and true recipe, which has 1/2 wheat, 1/2 white flour. I'm assuming the gluten in the white flour is sufficient, because my bread made today from my freshly ground wheat flour was incredible. I even messed up the recipe and put in too little flour. This is a great fool-proof, no rolling wheat bread dough. It is super wet, though. You definitely need to mix it in a Bosch or Kitchen Aid, then just scoop the dough up and put in your pans.

Bosch Brown Bread

2 TBSP yeast
1/2 c warm water
6 c wheat flour
2/3 c oil
2/3 c honey
2 TBSP salt
5 c hot water
6 c white (or wheat) flour

*I added 2/3 c dry powdered milk, just as an experiment, and think it may have improved the taste of the original recipe! Maybe it even helped my mistake of too little flour.

Combine yeast and 1/2 c water in bowl. Let rest for 2 minutes. Add everything but the white flour and mix well. Then add white flour. Knead 10 minutes. Divide into 4 greased and floured pans. Let rise 1/3 and bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Now if only someone were home to help me clean up this mess...

So Smooth

I have a love/hate relationship with bananas. I love that they are a quick, easy nutritious food, and I hate that after 2 or 3 bites the texture makes me want to hurl. This isn't a pregnancy problem for me, by the way - it's all-seasonal. My desire for bananas precluding the hurling temptation brings me back to making my favorite fruit smoothies. All the banana flavor with none of the mushiness. This morning I made one with pineapple, bananas and orange juice. Perfectly refreshing. It would be even better if it wasn't 17 degrees outside. I'll just put on a sweater and pretend I'm in the tropics. Or the Middle East.

These are my two favorite smoothies:

Pineapple Crush
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c pineapple juice
1 c frozen pineapple chunks (I just use the canned pineapple packed in juice)
1/2 frozen very ripe banana
1/2 c vanilla yogurt (or ice cream...I won't tell)
handful of ice cubes

Pink Banana
1 c apple juice
1 c frozen strawberries
1 frozen very ripe banana
1/2 c vanilla yogurt
handful of ice cubes

On a side note, I bought these shoes last night to wear to my little brother's wedding in March. They are slippers with bling. I have to keep them away from Hope so she doesn't chew off the faux stones. She is intently interested in them.

Blondies Have More Yum

We made these last night. So good.

Chewy, Chunky Blondies
Source- Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperture
1 1/2 cups (packed) brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. pure vanilla extract

Add-ins from original recipe:
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips or Heath toffee bits
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

My add-ins:
2 c butterscotch chips
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions-
1. Center a rack and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13 baking pan and place on a baking sheet.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. Beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add both sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until well incorporated. Add the eggs one by one, beating for one minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce mixing speed to low and add the dry ingredients until they disappear into the batter.

4. Using a rubber spatula, stir in add-ins. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use the spatula to even out.

5. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. They should pull away from the sides of the pan and the top should be a honey-brown. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for about 15 minutes before turning the blondies out onto another rack. Invert onto a rack and cool the blondies right side up to room temp.

Makes approx 32 bars.

Are we moving yet?

This is the kitchen in our small apartment. Seriously. You are now looking at every inch of counter space I have to work with. It is a challenge to create anything more complicated than macaroni and cheese. So we eat a lot of that. I made homemade chicken and rice soup with cheddar biscuits for dinner a couple nights ago and it nearly did me in. So excited to have a little more space! I snagged this recipe from someone's blog. I'm sorry - I'm an unscrupulous copy and paster, and always neglect to note where things originate from. But this was a pretty good soup, so I wanted to share:

Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
1/3 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 can (5 ounces) evaporated milk
1 package (9 ounces) frozen diced cooked chicken, thawed

In a large saucepan, saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the broth, rice, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender. In a small bowl, combine the flour and milk until smooth; stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken; heat through. Yield: 5 servings.

Rice Pudding

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...


You are cheap and easy
You use up my leftover rice
You consist of things I always have in my fridge and pantry
You are a wonderful reason to indulge in a dollop of whipped cream
You remind me of my Spanish-speaking mission to Chicago
You are charming with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top
You are creamy and delicious

Stovetop Rice Pudding
1 1/2 c cooked rice
2 c milk, divided
1/3 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
dash cinnamon

Combine rice and 1 1/2 c milk, sugar and salt in heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally until thick and creamy, 10-20 minutes. Blend remaining half cup milk and egg. Stir into rice mixture. Cook 2 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Spoon into serving dishes. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add a dollop of whipped cream for good measure.

Cat and Mouse

Tonight's Family Home Evening was about getting along. We played a fun cat and mouse game found here. Everyone gets a mouse, which is a cotton ball tied to a long string. The fam sits in a circle, holding on to their strings with the mice in the middle. The "cat" holds a pan lid and rolls a dice. Every time the cat rolls a 6, she quickly slams the lid on the floor in an attempt to catch the mice. At the same time, each person tugs on their mice, in order to escape being trapped by the cat. The last mouse still free gets to be the next cat. We talked about not being like the fighting cats and mice, but to live in harmony with each other. :) Then we ate these yummy cat cookies. They were really fun to make. Next Halloween I want to try this version on a stick.

Halloween Black Cat Cookies

1 c peanut butter
1/3 c water
2 large eggs
1 pkg chocolate cake mix
M&M’s and red hots

Beat together peanut butter, eggs, and water. Gradually add cake mix. Mix well. Form dough into 1 inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Pinch out 2 ears at top of cookie. Add M and M’s (eyes) and red hots (nose). Press fork into dough to form whiskers.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Save the Earth and Tortilla Soup

Madelyn was sick and out of school for 3 days last week. When she went back she found she had missed 3 big assignments having to do with "Saving the Earth." Last weekend, to catch up, we researched facts on the internet and made a poster, a recycled craft, and a slide show. The picture above is from her slide show. She's demonstrating how one should use fans instead of air conditioning to save energy and produce fewer pollutants. We ran around the house and took as many pictures as we could of Madelyn turning off lights, saving water, and re-using grocery bags as trash can liners. We actually had quite a good time. The only snag came when it was time to burn the slide show on a DVD so she could take it to school. Jon has been in Michigan for a job interview all week (coming home tonight! Yay!), so I had no one to trouble shoot for me. Google came to the rescue, however, and gave me a simple solution for my perplexing error that kept popping up. So we got it done. I made Tortilla Soup for dinner tonight. It is delicious - amazing flavor.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

8 TBSP canola oil
10 corn tortillas
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of cilantro
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 - 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
5-6 c chicken stock
1/2 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP chili powder
4 bay leaves
1 lb skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
14 oz canned or frozen corn
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
juice from 1 lime
avocado, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream


Cut up 5 of the tortillas into 1/4 inch strips and fry them in 3 TBSP canola oil. You want them to be a golden brown but be careful not to burn them, they cook quickly. Depending on the size of your pot, you may have to cook several at at a time. Remove the strips from pot and transfer to some paper towels to drain. Season with a little salt.

Heat the remaining oil over medium high heat and sauté the onions for a couple of minutes. Then add garlic and sauté for another minute or two. Tear the remaining corn tortillas into bite size pieces and add to the pot.

Now add the cilantro, stir, and cook for a minute more. Stir in the bell peppers. Add the canned tomatoes with their juice and the chicken stock, cumin, chili powder, and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, add the whole chicken pieces and cayenne. Cover and simmer the chicken for 30 minutes until cooked throughout. Remove the chicken and put aside to cool. Add corn and beans. Continue to simmer.

Debone and shred chicken and return to the pot. Add your lime juice and taste for spiciness. If you like it hotter, add more of the spices.

Serve soup with the fried tortillas, freshly diced avocado, grated cheddar cheese, and sour cream.

Peanut Butter Corn Flake Chewies

This is such a simple recipe, it's probably something everyone has in their files somewhere - but I tried them for the first time not very long ago at a church activity - got the recipe and love them very much. I have to hide them in the cupboard, or I'll pick at them at all day long.

Peanut Butter Corn Flake Chewies

1 c light corn syrup
1 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 c peanut butter
6 c corn flakes

Mix corn syrup, sugar and salt in a large pot. Boil for 1 minute. Stir in peanut butter. Stir in corn flakes. Pour into a buttered 9x13" pan. Cool and cut into squares.

Jon's Birthday

Here we go - on the blog bandwagon! Hope it will be a fun trip.

We celebrated Jon's birthday yesterday. I bought a "make your own" tool box kit a year ago from the thrift store, and finally let the girls go to work on it to make their dad a present. I fear paint, but decided it was time to let loose. They did a great job sanding the pieces down, then painting their messages of love. I even got handy with a screwdriver when it came time to assemble. It was Cailin's idea to individually wrap Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (These are a rarity here in the U.A.E., so are coveted.) and draw tools on them to fill the box. She can draw a pretty decent wrench. Emma decided to use her prized puppy dog with googly eyes stickers as decoration. Now that's real love.

We've been big fans of Mississippi Mud Cake for years, but Jon asked for a variation this year for his birthday cake. I made a Texas Sheet Cake, which was more light and fluffy than the dense Mud cake. I think we all liked it better. This slightly modified recipe is from Stacy's San Antonio Ward Cookbook. Beware - this is not for the sugary faint of heart. It's some serious sweetness.

Texas Sheet Cake
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c crisco
1/2 c butter
1/3 c cocoa
1 c water
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c buttermilk (laban for us Arabians) or 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice + enough milk to equal 1/2 c
2 eggs

Combine in large mixing bowl: flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Set aside. Combine in small saucepan: crisco, butter, cocoa and water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Pour hot ingredients over dry ingredients and add baking soda, vanilla, buttermilk and eggs. Pour into greased and floured sheet pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting:
1/2 c butter
6 TBSP milk
1/3 c cocoa
4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 c chopped pecans
marshmallows

Combine butter, milk and cocoa in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Sift powdered sugar into small mixing bowl. Pout hot mixture over the sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Sprinkle marshmallows and nuts over cake (I only sprinkle half with nuts - Jon's the only nut fan). Pour frosting over cake, trying to cover evenly.