Candy Bar Salad

I've been attempting to incorporate more fruit into my meals.  We are great at having lots of vegetables, but not so great at eating fruit.  Weird right?  I know.  I only have one child who actually loves fruit.  The other two would rather go hungry than eat a banana or an orange for a snack.

While searching through my cookbooks the other day I ran across a recipe for a version of Candy Bar Salad.  It had a bunch of stuff in it, stuff that there is no way my kids would eat all mixed up together.  But I figured if I omitted a couple of things and adjusted the recipe they might be willing to try it.  Bingo!!  They loved it.

Candy Bar Salad

1 big box instant vanilla pudding
2 c milk
1 pkg twix bites
1 pkg snickers bites
4 green apples
3 cups whipped topping

Wash, core, and cut apples into bite size pieces.  Mix milk and pudding and directed on the package of pudding.  Then mix everything together in a big bowl.  Serve.

Simple right?  Everyone loved this salad.  It was super easy to put together and it didn't last long.

Samoan Chicken

My mom and I talked one day, a few months ago, about our usual subjects and recipes came up.  I gave her my hummus recipe and I told her how sick I was of cooking the same things, or new recipes that just weren't very good.  She started naming old tried and true recipes to see if I'd cooked them in a while.  Nothing sounded good... then she said Samoan Chicken.  I had no idea what she was even talking about because this is not a recipe I grew up with.  She got it only a few years ago from my sister Katie's friend, Amy's- Husband, who is in fact Samoan...  So you know this has to be good!  So I made it, and loved it!   And the next day we warmed it up and threw it on our salads and loved it even more!!!  My husband regularly asks me to marinade it so he can cook it on the grill.  This chicken is so good the next day, it's almost worth it to cook it, and wait 24 hours just to reheat and eat again.  So when you make this make extra  so you can have a round 2 recipe for a few days later in the week!


Samoan Chicken

1 small bottle of soy sauce
1/2 bag of brown sugar
1 1/2 piece of ginger peeled and chopped fine
             (or get it in a squeeze tube like me and use 1 1/2 T.)
2 cloves garlic chopped fine (or 1 tsp minced from jar)
3-4 lbs chicken thighs (or we do breasts a lot)

Mix together the soy sauce and brown sugar until mostly dissolved.  Then add ginger and garlic, and mix.  At this point you can either 
1-add the chicken and the marinade into freezer bags and pop them right into the freezer (thaw in the fridge 24 hours before grilling)..... 
2- or you can leave the marinade in your fridge over night like my mom does to let the flavors marinade add the chicken and let marinade the next day for 2 hours.
3- be like me and instead of the thighs which although is really good, I add breasts instead because that's what I usually have on hand and let the chicken thaw in the marinade most of the day.

Then when it's all ready,  throw it on the grill add marinade on top a few time to add more criminalization while grilling.  Grill until no longer pink in the middle.

This chicken is so versatile there is a few ways we eat it---

1- with the thighs we serve it with potatoes and gravy and a veggie
2-with breasts we serve it with rice-a-roni and a fruit salad
3- you could do kabobs and put it on sticks with veggies before grilling
4- the next day for lunch we usually warm up the chicken and serve it over a cold, crisp salad with ranch dressing (as seen in picture)
5- on big rolls as a sandwich

This is seriously the best chicken marinade and so good with so many things... play around with different sides and leave us a comment with what you come up with!  

Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad

Bacon Ranch Chicken Salad

1/2 lb bacon
2 C  rotisserie chicken
1 C (cooked) bow tie pasta (or spiral)
Lettuce (about 2 cups)
Cherry Tomatoes (about 1/4 cup)
Ranch


Cut bacon into pieces and fry till crispy.  Set aside on paper towel to drain the grease and let cool completely.  Remove chicken from bones and cut into bite side pieces.  Rinse lettuce and tomatoes.  Break lettuce up into smaller pieces.  Put bacon, chicken, pasta, lettuce, and tomatoes in a large bowl.  Pour enough ranch over it to just coat the salad, you don't want to add to much. 

There isn't an exact science to this recipe.  I added as much lettuce and tomatoes as we like, but you can add less or more depending on your family.  You could also add onions, or whatever else you like.  It's a pretty versatile recipe and can be adapted in many ways.  We loved it because its a simple summer time meal.

Egg Salad Toast

Happy Easter everyone!!!  Hope you are having a wonderful day.  At my house Easter is the one (and only) time of year that we have hard boiled eggs.  Yeah, you read that right.  We just don't eat them on a daily basis.  So it's the same for me every year, open up the cookbook to figure out how to boil the eggs...I know you think I'm kidding.  I mean seriously the lady that cooks and bakes and considers the kitchen her favorite room in the house and she still has to look up a recipe...I know, I know pretty sad but true....on the other hand I know exactly how we like to eat our hard boiled eggs.  At our house we eat our eggs on toast.  Egg Salad Toast to be exact.  How do you eat your hard boiled eggs?.....

 

Egg Salad Toast

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and rinsed (I  like to peel mine then rinse with cold water, just to be sure I don't get any little pieces of shell in my salad)
1/3 c miracle whip
salt & pepper to taste
3 pieces of toast

First peel and rinse your eggs.  (I like to rinse my eggs with cold water after they are peeled just to be sure I don't get any little pieces of shell in my salad...yuck).  Then put your eggs in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Add your miracle whip till well blended.  Then spread on toast and top with salt & pepper to taste. 

It's a simple recipe, but it's easy and just the way we like it.  We eat egg salad toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Love it!!!

Hard Boiled Eggs

4 eggs
Ice Cold Water

Place eggs in a single layer in a medium saucepan.  Add enough cold water to come 1 inch above the eggs.  Bring to a boil on high heat.  Reduce heat to low/simmering.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes: drain.  Run cool water over the eggs.  Drain.  Cool completely before peeling.

Sometimes  hard-boiled eggs have an (harmless) greenish ring around the yolk.  To reduce the chances of this happening, make sure you start out with ice cold water over your eggs.

Copy Cat Pasta Factory Chicken caesar salad

A Few months ago I went to a friends baby shower.  They had an amazing spread of food but my favorite was the salad that they had catered from pasta factory.  I've been craving it lately but with the new baby, going out a lot is not an option so I just tried to remember as much as I could. It turned out pretty amazing and it fed my hubby, his brother, me, 2 kids, 2nds for some and leftovers for 1 the next day.  Plus we were all full and it was yummy!  I worry about doing salads for dinner because they never seem that filling but the boys all said they were stuffed and they wanted it again sometime.   Sounds like a keeper recipe to me!

Chicken Caesar Salad

2 bunches romaine lettus (washed and cut up)
2 cups bow tie pasta (cooked and cooled with cold water)
2 chicken breasts (cut up and cooked with S & P)
Texas toast croutons
creamy caesar dressing
freshly grated parmesan cheese

I tossed everything together in a big bowl adding a little of the dressing at a time so it would coat everything but not overwhelm the salad.  You can use as much or as little of any of the ingredients to make it taste how you like it!!

*I served garlic bread sticks on the side .

Grape Salad

Grape Salad

1 lb. red grapes
1 lb. green grapes
1 pkg cream cheese
8 oz sour cream (one of the small containers)
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla together till well blended.  Stir in grapes.  Top with brown sugar and chopped pecans.  Let sit in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving.

This salad may not look delicious, but let me tell you, it is amazing.  My sister Mary brought it over for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  At first no one wanted to try it, but we were trying to be polite and so we each got a little bit on our plates.  Well all of a sudden we were going back to get seconds and thirds.  We ate it for breakfast, and as a a snack the next day.  As a side note, make sure your grapes are nice and crisp.

Colorful Corn Salad

Colorful Corn Salad
1 pkg. frozen corn (10oz. thawed)
1 c. chopped green pepper
1 c. chopped red pepper
1 c. chopped green onion
1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 TBSP olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
3 TBSP lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine vegetables, cheese and seasoning.  In a small bowl combine olive oil, garlic and lemon juice.  Pour over vegetable mixture.  Refrigerate.  Enjoy!

I found this recipe in a cookbook my mom gave me.  It was a great side dish.  Don't let the peppers fool you, the flavor is great, even my little kids who usually don't like peppers ate this salad.  They loved it.

Red, White & Blue Jello Salad

Red, White & Blue Jello Salad

1 package (3 ounces) berry blue gelatin

2 cups boiling water, divided
2-1/2 cups cold water, divided
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons sugar
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package (3 ounces) strawberry gelatin
1Whipped topping and strawberries & blueberries, optional

•In a large bowl, dissolve berry blue gelatin in 1 cup boiling water; stir in 1 cup cold water. Pour into a 3-qt. serving bowl. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.


•Meanwhile, in a saucepan, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Add the cream and sugar; cook and stir over low heat until gelatin and sugar are completely dissolved. cool to room temperature. Whisk in sour cream and vanilla. Spoon over the blue layer. Refrigerate until firm.

•In a large bowl, dissolve strawberry gelatin in remaining hot water; stir in remaining cold water. Spoon over cream layer. Chill until set. Garnish with whipped topping and berries if desired.
I found this recipe on tasteofhome.com.  It called for raspberry jello and raspberries, but I chose strawberry instead.  It was perfect for our little holiday celebration. 

Autumn Chop Salad

Autumn Chop Salad

6-8 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 medium pears chopped
1 c dried cranberries
1 c chopped pecans
8 slices bacon - cooked crisp & crumbled
4 to 6 oz of feta cheese
poppy seed salad dressing
balsamic vinaigrette

Toss lettuce, pears, cranberries, pecans, bacon, and cheese together.  Then add equal portions of poppy seed and vinaigrette (I used about 2 TBSP of each) enough to coat your salad.  Enjoy!!

I loved this simple salad recipe.  We made it one Saturday afternoon for lunch.  We ate the entire thing.  The kids liked it mostly.  I had to leave the salad dressing off for one of my kids and just use plain old ranch, but she liked it with all the extra stuff in it.  The pears really made this salad soooo good.

Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad

Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad

1/2 c mayonnaise
1/4 c sugar
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1/2 head broccoli
1/2 head cauliflower
1/2 lb fried bacon, broken into small pieces
1 small sweet purple onion
1/2 c Parmesan cheese

Chop broccoli, cauliflower and onion into small pieces. In a large bowl mix veggies, cheese and bacon. In a small bowl mix mayo, sugar, and vinegar. Pour dressing mixture into large bowl mix well. Chill before serving.

My sister Mary made this salad for a family party. It was delicious. I have had similar salads before, but this one is the best. Also, she used bacon bits instead of the regular bacon.

Fruit Salad

This fruit salad is probably the easiest and tastiest one you can make.  I used to make a small version of this with just a yogurt cup, so it can be single serve.  But for a lot of people this recipe works good.  You can use whatever fruit you want and whatever flavor of yogurt you want.  Make it your own!

2 apples cut into 1 in pieces

bunch of grapes

handful of raspberries

3 clementines

3 bananas cut up into pieces

16 oz ( half of a 2lb tub) of peach yogurt

mix all ingredients together and keep cold in the refridgerator.

Potato Salad

Potato Salad
6-8 potatoes
4 hard boiled eggs
2 pickles
1/4 c chopped onion
Sauce
1 1/2 c miracle whip
1/4 c mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 TBSP pickle juice

Boil & peel potatoes, then cut into cubes. Chop up pickles, eggs, & onions, then add to potatoes. Mix all ingredients for sauce then add to potato mixture. Sprinkle paprika on top before serving.

After trying many different recipes for Potato salad, this is the variation that I came up with. Most people love it, but a few (not naming names) hate it. Atleast give it a try!!

Cafe Rio Chicken Salad

Cafe Rio Dressing
1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make as per recipe)
2 tomatillos (green tomato like vegetable with a husk around it)
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno (use the seed too if you like is spicy). You could substitue a few drops of green tobasco for the jalapeno

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

Cafe Rio Chicken
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chilli powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic - minced
5 lbs chicken breast

Cook all ingredients together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Cafe Rio Rice
3 c water
4 t chicken bouillon
4 t garlic - minced
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 can green chilies
3/4 t salt
1 T butter
1/2 onion
3 c rice (not instant)

Blend cilantro, green chilies and onion together in food processor. Bring Water to a boil and add all ingredients, simmer covered 30 minutes.

Serve on a tortilla with melted cheddar cheese, then a layer of rice, pinto beans (I just buy them in a can, drain and warm), then a layer of shredded chicken, then lettuce, tomato, and top with dressing. You can put sour cream, salsa, guacamole, corn chips, and slices of lime on the side if you want.

Okay, who doesn't love Cafe Rio? I found these recipes a few years ago while surfing online. I'm not sure where they came from, but it is suprisingly similar to the cafe rio chicken salad.