Bowtie Pasta Salad

Bowtie pasta, cooked

Grapes

Cashews

Mandarin Oranges

Pineapple (canned or fresh)

Green onion, chopped

Cubed, cooked chicken breast

Coleslaw dressing 

Mix everything together.  Add mandarin oranges last and fold them in.  Add salt to taste.  Garlic salt is also very good.  As far as the amounts, use your judgment ;)

Chili Cheese Frito Salad

Courtesy of Laura Powell and "Real Mom Kitchen".
Sorry no picture.

3 (14 oz) cans corn, drained well
1/4 red pepper diced
1/4 green pepper diced
1/4 red onion, diced (after making this I wouldn't use this much because it's a little strong for my family- I also prefer to grate the onion not dice it)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 1/4 cup mayo
1 bag (9 1/4 oz) Chili Cheese Fritos

Combine corn, peppers, onions, cheese, and mayo in bowl.
Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Just before serving add most of the chips into the vegetable mixture reserving some to sprinkle on top.

Serves 8-10

Cabbage-Apple Salad

I follow the Super Healthy Kid blog and I've used many recipes.  My goal is to use more and there is nothing I love better then a fresh healthy salad, especially this time of year.  So we tried this one tonight. I tweaked it just a tad.  The picture is from SHK blog.  Plus, the last year I have learned to love cabbage.  I use it a ton in Oriental cooking.

Here is the recipe:
Bagged shredded cabbage (as much as you like)
Cut up apples
Cranberries
Sliced Almonds
I didn't have cranberries so I just used extra apples.

Dressing:
Favorite poppy-seed dressing (which I didn't have on hand so I made my own)
Recipe:
1/2 cup fat free miracle whip
1/4 cup  milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup white vinegar
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
(I don't really like the taste of miracle whip, so I used 1/4 cup mayo and a 1/4 cup regular miracle whip- then I added some salt and a bit of apple cider vinegar, because I love it!)
Yummy! I love it, my kids were ok with it, but I'm going to be munching on this tomorrow.

Wingers Sticky Finger Salad

4 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup bread crumbs
2 heads romaine lettuce, chopped
2 tomatoes
croutons
cheddar cheese, grated
ranch dressing
craisins
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup Frank's Hot Sauce(Original. I found mine at Smith's)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Dip chicken breasts into the sour cream and then into bread crumbs. Place on a sprayed/greased sheet pan. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked and crispy.

While the chicken is baking, prepare salad and make the dressing.

To make the dressing, combine the 2 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1/3 cup Franks Hot Sauce, and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar in a pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Let boil for one minute, but no longer! If you boil too long it will turn hard.

When the chicken is done dip into sticky sauce and place on a plate. To serve, place sliced strips on top of salad with any additional toppings (cheese, croutons, tomatoes, craisins, etc.) and drench in ranch dressing. Save the additional sticky dressing as an extra topping for the salad...it adds a little more tang!

*Oh, I reserved a few pieces of chicken and didn't dip it in the sauce. I wasn't sure if it would be too spicy for the little ones!

Family Favorite

It's been a while since a new post on here.  Hopefully, everyone is busy having fun. This year's menu for us (so far) has been full of dishes that are "all-in-one"type dishes- with a little something from each food group to make it a complete meal.  Ham Fried Rice: rice, ham, carrots, peas, scrambled eggs.  Pesto Pasta: topped with turkey bacon, tomatoes, and a little cheese. And this Dorito Taco salad. I'm sure you all have this recipe, but I thought I'd share anyway.

1 pound ground beef or turkey

3/4 head of lettuce 

3 tomatoes

Doritos (you can use baked if you want)

1 can kidney beans (we like black better) drained and rinsed

a little onion

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

3/4 bottle Thousand Island dressing (you can use light or Fat Free)

Chop and mix tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese.  Mix with dressing.  Brown hamburger, drain, and add the beans. Simmer for 10 min. Add to salad.  Serve with crushed Doritos.  I like it topped with sour cream and avocados.

Glazed Chicken with Apple Salad

This is another Pampered Chef recipe, but no fancy tools or exclusive spices are needed. I LOVED this. And, in fact, I'm craving it. Good thing I have all the stuff at home to make it again. The salad by itself is divine and would work well with any dish. The salad has a coleslaw-ish factor, so I also might add some shredded cabbage the next time I make it.


Glazed Chicken with Apple Salad

Dressing and Apple Salad Ingredients:
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp apple jelly (I had no trouble finding this at wal-mart, but you can also use apricot preserves)
1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise (I used fat free)
1 Granny Smith apple
1 red apple such as Jonathan, McIntosh or Gala (I used Gala)
1/2 cup lightly packed watercress, plus additional for serving (I would double this in the future)

Chicken and Glaze Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I had tenders on hand, so that's what I used)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp prepared stone-ground mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:
For dressing, mix together vinegar, jelly and mayonnaise; set aside. For salad, slice apples into julienne strips. Remove leaves from watercress stems (discard stems); coarsely chop watercress leaves. Combine apples and watercress in medium bowl; set aside.

For chicken, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Meanwhile, flatten chicken to an even thickness with a mallet or meat tenderizer. Brush with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook chicken 4-6 minutes or until grill marks appear. Turn chicken over; cook 4-6 minutes or until center of chicken is no longer pink.

While chicken is cooking, prepare glaze. Combine jelly, mustard and brown sugar in small bowl. Brush chicken with glaze during the last minute of cooking.

To serve, arrange additional watercress on serving plates, if desired. Pour dressing over salad just before serving; toss to coat. Top watercress with salad and chicken.

Serves 4

Nutritional info:
Calories 280, total fat 7g, saturated fat 1.5g, cholesterol 65mg, carbohydrate 28g, protein 26g, sodium 560mg, fiber 1g.

Diabetic exchanges per serving:
2 fruit, 4 low-fat meat (2 carb)

Pear and Feta Salad

Dressing:
3 tbsp pure maple syrup
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp canola oil
salt/pepper to taste

Salad:
Lettuce of your choice
Feta Cheese crumbles (or blue cheese)
Dried cranberries
Toasted walnuts
Diced pear

Toss until combined.

Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad

I love this salad!!!

Corn Avocado and Tomato Salad (courtesy of Paula Deen)

Ingredients


•2 cups cooked corn, fresh or frozen

•1 avocado, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

•1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

•1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Dressing:

•2 tablespoons olive oil

•1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest

•1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

•1/4 cup chopped cilantro

•1/4 teaspoon salt

•1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Combine the corn, avocado, tomatoes and onion in a large glass bowl. Mix together the dressing ingredients in another bowl, pour over the salad, and gently toss to mix.

Cafe Rio-like Salad

For some reason I can't comment on this blog anymore? Has anyone ever had something like that happen? I can't comment randomly on a few friends blogs, but my comments never ever post on this one, so just so you know, I still read and I've tried several of your recipes and they are good. Liz's potstickers where tasty, and there where lots of other things that I typed comments on that looked so good, but my comments dissapear as soon as I click to post it. ANYWAY...




It's a labor of love, but so worth it. Here ya go:

Cafe Rio-like Salad


[ LIME-CILANTRO RICE ]

1 Tbsp. oil
1 cup long grain rice (2 cups chicken broth... add more if it boils out too fast.)
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
juice of 2 limes
2 tsp. crushed garlic

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add rice, cilantro, and garlic. Saute 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add broth and lime juice and bring to boil. Then reduce heat and simmer until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice (about 20 minutes). You could use a rice cooker

[ CAFE RIO PORK ]

pork roast
1 (16 oz.) bottle of salsa
1 can coke
2 c. brown sugar

Place pork in crock-pot and fill it half way up with water. Cook roast on high for 5 hours. Drain off water. Cut pork in thirds. Mix together ingredients (salsa, coke, brown sugar) and put on top of pork. Cook an additional 3 hours on high. Shred pork with forks. Leave it on low until ready to serve. (I tend to use a less sugar, like half that amount.Still tastes fine to me.)

or
[Cafe Rio Chicken]
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 c Italian dressing
1T minced garlic
1 T chili powder
juice from one lime
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

Throw it all in the crockpot for at least 6 hours. Stir it every now and then. If you need more liquid add some chicken broth during cooking. Just don't let it get too dry.

[ CREAMY TOMATILLA SALAD DRESSING ]
1 packet hidden valley ranch buttermilk dressing
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. mayo or sour cream
2-3 tomatillas (peel off outer leaf/shell)
1 tsp. crushed garlic
¾ bunch fresh cilantro
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
juice from 1 lime (about 2 tsp.)
salt & pepper

Blend all ingredients in the blender. Refrigerate.
*TIPS: don't use miracle whip or fat free. It will taste like yucky off brand ranch with something weird going on. Use real regular Mayo and I usually just get a little pint of buttermilk, they are only like 50 cents.) Even if you think you don't like cilantro, do not omit the cilantro. That is what makes it taste the way it does. It took me two tries to figure that out. (Turns out I don't hate cilantro, I just don't like it by itself or as a garnish.)

ASSEMBLE
We don't by prepared tortillas anymore, just because after buying the "cook yourself" type you can find in the deli section of the grocery store, the prepared and finished type taste like paste. Get the cook yourself type, you'll be so glad you did and it will taste more authentic. I haven't found a perfect method for homemade tortillas yet, I can't get them thin enough, but we're still working on that one.

So... Tortilla, Rice, Beans (black or pinto!), meat, chopped romaine lettuce, crispy tortilla strips, guac, and instead of pico de gallo I just add a little drop of fresh cut salsa. You can usually find it in the produce section. Then top with dressing.

We can eat off of this for several days. I usually separate the cooked meat into 3 freezer safe containers and freeze it to use for next time and it cuts down on prep time.

PW's Asian Noodle Salad

I love this salad. The best thing about it is that it makes you FEEL healthy just by looking at it!  So pretty!

Here's the recipe direct from PW's site:

Ingredients


SALAD INGREDIENTS:

1 package Linguine Noodles, Cooked, Rinsed, And Cooled

½ heads Sliced Napa Cabbage, Or More To Taste

½ heads Sliced Purple Cabbage, Or More To Taste

½ bags Baby Spinach, Or More To Taste

1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin

1 whole Yellow Bell Pepper, Sliced Thin

1 whole Orange Bell Pepper, Thinly Sliced

1 bag Bean Sprouts (also Called Mung Bean Sprouts)

Chopped Cilantro, Up To 1 Bunch, To Taste

3 whole Scallions, Sliced

3 whole Cucumbers Peeled And Sliced

1 can (about 10 Oz.) Whole Cashews, Lightly Toasted In Skillet

FOR THE DRESSING:

1 whole Lime, Juiced

8 Tablespoons Olive Oil

8 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons (up To 3 Tablespoons) Sesame Oil

⅓ cups Brown Sugar

3 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger Chopped

2 cloves Garlic Chopped

2 whole Hot Peppers Or Jalapeno's, Chopped

Chopped Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Mix salad ingredients together. Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over salad. Mix with tongs or hands and serve on a platter.

Note: dressing keeps for up to three days before serving, without cilantro.



Some notes: This recipe makes A LOT! I made it with the intent to eat for lunches this week. Also, I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles, and it is just as good. I didn't buy any fresh ginger this time, but I think I will next time.

Sticky Chicken and Spinach Salad

I was watching Good Things Utah and they had this recipe on. It looked so yummy and so easy so I thought I would try it.

Sticky Chicken

3-4 chicken breasts
1 cup apricot jam
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 packet onion soup mix

Cut chicken breasts into strips. Pour a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and begin browning the chicken. Mix together the remaining ingredients and then pour over the chicken. Let simmer until chicken is fully cooked and sauce is thick and bubbly. Serve over rice.

The chicken was so yummy! A nice sweet and sour twist to the classic chicken and rice. I paired it with my favorite spinach salad. No real recipe just ingredients.

Spinach Salad

Fresh spinach
hard boiled eggs
bacon
cucumbers
Good Seasonings Italian Dressing mixed according to package directions.

Sorry no pictures because my camera is MIA. I'll make it again soon at the request of my family and post pictures then.