Fruity Salad

This photo doesn't do this salad justice. It's delicious, trust me. Super easy and yummy. Here are the ingredients:

Romaine lettuce (or green leaf lettuce)
Thinly sliced green apple
Sliced Strawberries
Handful of craisins
Newton's Own Light Balsamic dressing

If you like fruity salads, you'll love this one. If you don't like fruity salads (like me), you'll still probably love this one.

A Yummy Dessert

This evening, despite the fact that we had just finished eating dinner less than an hour before, Isaac asked me to make waffles. (He asks me to make waffles several times a day.) Although this wasn't what he had in mind, I decided to make waffles for our family home evening treat, and they were cinchy and pretty yummy. Here's how you can make some too.

Mix your favorite cake mix as directed on the box, or with whatever substitutions you like. I personally think chocolate cake mix is best for this, although Sareny wants to try the rainbow chip kind next. Pour batter into waffle maker and cook just like waffles. Top with ice cream and melted peanut butter, or other toppings.

I could see this being delish at one of mom and dad's after-the-game coach's dinner thingy's--you would just want to have two waffle makers. In fact, I used two waffles makers this evening, and I am guessing Holli Jo and Johnny would have a hard time making this treat, since one of the waffle makers I was using was theirs that they tried to sell at a yard sale. When it didn't sell, I glommed onto it.

Sweet n' Tangy Chicken and Rice

I made a new recipe for dinner tonight and I was completely caught off guard when my kids scarfed it down and asked for seconds. I think I have exceptionally picky kids. But that made me think maybe you would like to try this recipe too, which was really easy.

3 Chicken breasts (I diced mine before cooking, although the original recipe didn't say to.)

1 pkg frozen sugar snap peas, carrots, onions and mushrooms

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup dijon mustard

1 Tbls soy sauce

One note--I couldn't find that particular package of veggies, so I substituted a bag of carrots, onions, and celery, then added some fresh sliced mushrooms. I also added 2 crushed cloves of garlice, just because.

Brown chicken in skillet.

Add vegetables and heat through.

In small bowl, combine honey, mustard, and soy sauce. Pour into skillet. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, and serve over a bed of rice.

Apple and Carrot Salad

Hi guys. I wanted to share this new recipe I just tried. It is very yummy, but also very healthy. Just what we need.

Here is the recipe:

1 lg. red apple, cored, thinly sliced and cut into matchsticks

1 lg. green apple, cored, thinly sliced and cut into matchsticks (take the time to do this, it isn't that hard, and makes the salad really pretty)

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (important that it is fresh, not bottled)

2 cups matchstick cut carrots (buy them already cut!)

2 small green onions chopped really small, including lots of the green part

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

a few sprigs of cilantro chopped really small (don't go overboard on the cilantro, you just want a hint)

Place apples in a large bowl and toss with lemon juice. Add carrots, onion, oil, sugar, salt, pepper, cheese, and cilantro. Toss to mix thoroughly. Serves 6 to 8 (3/4 cup servings). I found this recipe in a weight watcher's book, but tweaked it and made it better. (I added the onion and cilantro, which I think totally make it) You can add more than 2 cups of the carrots if you want. They had you add 3 cups, but I thought that was a little much.

Let me know if any of you try it and how you liked it. Dad isn't home yet, so I don't know what he thinks yet, but I loved it!

Yummy Coleslaw

Guys, when is someone going to post a recipe on here? I seem to be the only one, but I know you guys have yummy meals. Get a goin!

Now listen, normally I'm not into coleslaw. I don't like mayo/miracle whip, and most coleslaw is dripping in it. But I have had a couple of yummy coleslaws since moving here and thought I'd try making one. I have made this a couple of times and even James seems to like it. It's a bit tangy, and not bland like typical coleslaw. It's delish with pulled pork sandwiches. I don't have exact measurements at all, I just kind of added things here and there, but here's the general idea:

Ingredients:
Coleslaw mix, or chop a half of a head of green cabbage and red cabbage and shred some carrots on a cheese grater.
mayo or miracle whip
some kind of fruity salad dressing (I used a papaya seed vinaigrette)
lemon juice (from a bottle is fine)
olive oil
Craisins

Depending on the size of your salad, mix a scoop or two of mayo with a few squirts of the salad dressing. Squirt in a little lemon juice and olive oil and mix it together until it's fairly runny. Pour it over the coleslaw (I don't add a ton of the dressing, as you can see in the photo) add the Craisins and mix it all together.

Chile Relleno Casserole

If you have a few calories to spare on a yummy dinner, I suggest chile relleno casserole. There is a ton of cheese in this thing, but I bet you could cut back on the cheese and it would still be good. Just maybe cut back on everything else a little to to even it all out. This was one of my favorite things Mom made while she came to help with Truman!

14 oz. chopped green chiles

2 bags shredded cheddar jack or Mexican blend

4 eggs

1 c. flour

2 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

Butter or spray 9 x 13 pan. Arrange ½ of the chiles in the pan. Sprinkle 1 bag of cheese over chiles. Repeat with remaining chiles and cheese, Beat eggs and add flour, salt and milk. Pour over the chiles and cheese. Bake 1 hour at 350.

Greek Salad

This recipe is from my Persian friend, Marjan. It's easy and yummy and gets me excited to eat salad! I just finished eating some...I should have taken a picture.

Ingredients:
1 head of Romaine lettuce
1 or 2 tomatoes
1 bell pepper
1 red onion
1 cucumber
olive oil
lime juice (the kind in a bottle)
salt and pepper
feta cheese

Wash and chop the lettuce and the other veggies.

To make the dressing, just use equal parts olive oil and lime juice and sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Start with maybe 1/4 cup of olive oil and lime juice and add more if you need to. Make the dressing in something like a washed out sour cream container or something so you can shake it around to mix it. Also, after it has been in the fridge for a while it gets hard and gross looking. Just run it under hot water and shake it around for a while and it will go back to normal.

Top your salad with dressing and feta cheese. So good.