Delicious Summer Salad

Tonight for dinner we ended up having this salad and it has become one of my very favorites. I don't know if there is a recipe for this out there (there probably is somewhere), but we just put together what we had. So filling, yet very light and refreshing and pretty healthy. We were planning on having a bbq so I had marinated some chicken tenderloins for a Teriyaki-ish flavor. And I was just planning on the salad as a side dish so when we ended up combining them I wanted to make sure the dressing actually complimented the salad and the raspberry pecan dressing in the fridge was past the Best Buy date (by quite a bit) so I just threw this together. It turned out so wonderfully (and it's so simple) I wanted to record it somewhere.
Dressing:
1/4 c. White Wine Vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
3 large spoonfuls of Blackberry Jam
Olive Oil ( less than 1/4 c.)
These measurements are not "scientific" at all. I made the dressing in a clean sour cream container (the 2 c. size) and covered the bottom about 1/3 in. deep? with the vinegar. Then I added some jam and sugar and finally covered the top with a little Olive Oil. I tasted it and it was too strong of a vinegar taste for me so I added another spoonful of jam and a little more sugar so I think the amounts above are about what I ended up with, but you can tweak it for your taste. Then just shake it up.

* We ended up making another salad this same size so next time I would just double it to begin with for 2 adults (but we like larger portions) and a 2 year old (who loved this salad!). There was enough dressing for both salads with just a little bit left over.

Rinse a few cups of Spring Mix lettuce (or spinach or a red leaf lettuce) and shake dry.
Add about 1 c. of rinsed and drained cottage cheese
1/4 c. sliced Smokehouse Almonds (we love Blue Diamond because they have such great flavor, but I'm sure a generic would also work)
Big handful of rinsed Blackberries
3-4 Chicken tenderloin sliced.
Handful of crumbled bacon (I hate having to cook it anytime I want to use it so I buy the bag of Hormel Bacon bits at Sam's Club).
Toss it all together, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Light Sour Cream Coffee Cake

We made this yesterday, so yummy. I found this in a taste of home magazine! I used fat free sour cream. And next time I think I might double the streusel since you use it in the middle and on the top!! And I am wondering if I could use apple sauce ( or apple butter) instead of butter?Next time!!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup (8 ounces) reduced-fat sour cream ( I used fat free)

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt ( I used low fat)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

STREUSEL:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, sour cream, yogurt, butter and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

In a small bowl, combine the streusel ingredients. Spoon half of batter into a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with half of streusel. Top with remaining batter and streusel. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack to cool. Yield: 20 servings.

In-a-Pinch Chicken Noodle Soup

The stomach flu has been going around like crazy up here, and in the last week, my two kids and my nephew (we're watching him for a week), have all been taking turns throwing up. Fun. Anyways, yesterday I needed chicken noodle soup and realized that we were out of the canned stuff and I really didn't want to haul kids to the store. I also didn't want to make a really involved recipe, so I tossed this together on a whim, and it turned out really good! Todd proclaimed it one of the best chicken noodle soup recipes he's tried. I figure I'll write it down for the next time I need a quick batch of soup!

Ingredients:

15 c. chicken broth (I used 4 c. of reserved water from boiling the pasta, 11 more cups of water, 7 1/2 t. herbox chicken granules and 7 1/2 T. chicken flavored "Better Than Bouillon")
3 cups of sliced or diced carrots
5 stalks celery, sliced or diced
1 yellow onion, diced
5 large cloves of fresh garlic, pressed
2 c. (dry measurement) mini pasta shells, cooked until "al dente", rinsed, and drained
2 cans of Costco chicken breast, drained and shredded (this came out to about 3 c. if you wanted to use regular shredded chicken...the cans just made it really easy and fast, and when I was already dealing with so many germs, I didn't want to add raw meat on top of my ever-growing list of "things to sanitize")
Black pepper to taste (I gave about 15 cranks of our pepper grinder)
2 T. Italian Seasoning

Directions:
-Boil pasta in 2 quarts of water 6 minutes or until al dente. Drain, reserving 4 c. if you want it to use for making broth if using bouillon. Rinse pasta with cold water to stop cooking, drain, and set aside.
-While pasta is cooking, chop celery, carrots, onion, and garlic.
-Add broth (or water if using bouillon) to the same pot used to cook the pasta (use a large pasta pot...this makes a TON of soup)
-Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bouillon (if using water instead of prepared broth), ground pepper, and Italian Seasoning. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.
-While vegetables are boiling, shred chicken. Add chicken to vegetable mixture and boil for an additional 5-7 minutes until carrots are tender.
-Remove from heat and stir in noodles, adjust seasonings as desired.
-When this is too hot for my kids to eat, I throw in a small handful of frozen peas to their bowl to cool it off and add some more veggies. Great trick for any soup...you can also use frozen mixed veggies, frozen corn, or frozen carrots.

Freezer Meals

I know we talked about not doing themes, but I want to throw one out there. Do you have any recipes that you make that freeze well for later? Our compassionate service committee has asked for some of us to volunteer to have a casserole/meal in our freezer for when they need it. I just made three yesterday, all of which were enchiladas, but I have a confession I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food as a whole. I'll be going to Girls Camp for a week this summer and I'm sure the family would appreciate having something on hand in the freezer. So will you please post some of your recipes that freeze well, and make a label for freezer meals on the post so we can look them up. If you have Mexican food that freezes well feel free to share that too, because I know I am definitely a minority. Lets help each other out so we can stock our freezers with meals, so when we don't feel up to making dinner or some one need a meal we are ready. I can't wait to see what you have.

Broccoli Beef or Chicken

Here in good old Rexburg there is no good Asian food. And We find ourselves seriously craving it. So I am always on the hunt for our favorite Asian food recipes. For this one I didn't have to go far. I got This from my Sister Laura you got it from her sister in law Pakiene who is from .... ummm I cant remember, Laura or Shannon help me out? But she has some seriously good recipes!! This one is easy and super yummy!

1 package of stir fry beef strips or 2 chicken breast cut into small pieces
2 stalks of broccoli cut into small pieces
2 T. oil ( I usually use sesame oil for a little extra flavor)
1/2 c oyster sauce (I was afraid to try this but now its one of my favorites and I use it in lots of Asian recipes!)
1 clove of garlic finely chopped( i usually add at least 2, we like our garlic!)
1/2 c. water

using a frying pan/ skillet on med- high heat, pour in oil. Add garlic and saute for a minute then add meat. Cook for 2 min. Add broccoli in and stir. let it cook for 3-4 minutes. then add oyster sauce and water, stir and let cook for 2 more minutes.
serve with rice! enjoy!!!

I usually double this for our family (or at least double the meat and sauce, we have some broccoli haters in our house :-(

Ceasar Salad

1 crushed garlic bud

½ teaspoon dry mustard

½ teaspoon of salt

¼ teaspoon of pepper

1 Tablespoon of Lemon Juice

¼ cup salad oil

2 – 3 Tablespoons of grated Parmesan Cheese

Mix all of the above ingredients in a bowl, put torn up Romaine, red and green leafy lettuce, and spinach on top.  Do no toss! Cover and refrigerate overnight or several hours.  Toss and add Croutons and Parmesan Cheese.

I usually 3 X’s this recipe to put in the big Tupperware bowl for a crowd, or at least 3 times the dressing so you can use some one night and some more for lunch or dinner the next day!!

Menu Mondays- Cori

Wow with going out of town for the weekend, then my Brother and Sister in law havign their baby I totally spaced my menu.  Sorry!

So I made a month calendar for our meals.  But since things have been kinda crazy latley I ahvent cooked half of our meals planned.  So this week Im not gonna stick to what my calendar says and go with what in my fridge/ freezer and use stuff up that I ahd bought for previous meals that jsut never happend!!

Monday-  Chicken Alfredo (I used the 1/3 fat cream cheese and  I seasoned with fresh garlic, basil, and parsley.  then added Italian season and salt pepper and a dash of nutmeg.  so yummy) with Moms Caesar salad-  this meal was requested by Jordan and Natalie who I was taking dinner to cause they just got home from the hospital with cute baby Sydney!!
Tuesday -  Calzones- we never did make them last week with moms Caesar salad (so yummy and easy, I will add recipe later)
Wednesday-  Heathers Pork chops and Jungle rice   I'm excited to try this!
Thursday- leftovers,  we have a meeting to be to!!
Friday - Barbecued chicken, potatoes, and grilled asparagus
Saturday- Broccoli Beef, rice-  I love this recipe from Laura!  I will add later!
Sunday- Rotisserie Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, dilled carrots.