Chicken Salad Two Ways

I L-O-V-E chicken salad.  I might eat it every day if it were up to me.  Sadly, it's not up to me, so I don't.  But, I do make it as often as I think I can get away with, and chicken is on sale at the grocery store! 

The Chickens of Podunk are mighty glad that I go to the grocery store for my chicken! 

The secret to my chicken salad is I start with cream cheese.  I'm a big fan of cream cheese, and the chicken sticks together better too.  No falling out of the bun here!  Start with an 8oz block of softened cream cheese - I usually forget, but 30-45 seconds in the microwave will soften it right up.

Then the chicken.  DD#1 and DD#3 went garage sale-ing with me yesterday, and so while we were gone, I had chicken breasts cooking in the crock-pot on low (7-8 hours on low). When I got home yesterday, I put the chicken in the fridge to cool until today.  That make whipping this together a 10 minute dish! 

First, I put about 3" of hot, soapy water in my sink for finger rinsing.  I hate chicken grease on my fingers, and this little trick keeps my from using those greasy fingers to turn on the water and then having to clean the faucet! 

Remove the skin and the bones from the chicken breasts (rinse fingers in soapy water).  You can certainly use boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead so you can skip this step, but that is almost always alot more expensive, so I will remove the skin and bones.  Plus, the cats will love me later.

Once you have remove the skin and the bones, dice into chunks.  The size of the chunks are a personal preference... I like it chunky, so my chunks are about 1". 

Add to the softened cream cheese...(you will have to trust me here, it's under the chicken!). Then add about 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp seasoned salt, 1/3 cup diced celery and 1/3 cup diced onions.  I was out of celery and the last onion was sprouting (desperate need to go to grocery store) so you will not see these in my chicken salad.  I may use this as an excuse to make it again later this week!

Stir well to combine.  Now, here is where the two ways comes in.  Put 1/2 of chicken mixture into another bowl.

  To the bowl on the left, I add about 3 tbsp of hot sauce or wing sauce.  We like Frank's Redhot sauce.  Any brand will do.  Feel free to add more if you like the heat.  Stir well. 

To the bowl on the right, I add a heaping tablespoon (out of the silverware drawer, not the official measuring devise) of mayo and a couple squirts of horseradish sauce.  Then I stir with the tablespoon to combine. 

Serve on croissant rolls (our favorite) but any bread or bun will do.  I serve the buffalo chicken salad with cheddar cheese and lettuce (here again...missing the lettuce... must go to grocery store) and sometime a squirt of ranch dressing.  I serve the plain chicken salad with a slice of swiss cheese, lettuce, and sometimes a slice of tomato. 

Yummy and versatile chicken salad! 

If you have or create other versions, I would love to hear them!  I'm working on a Spicy Thai Peanut version right now and will let you know.

Recipe

1 1/2 - 2 lbs cooked chicken (skin and bones removed)

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp seasoned salt

1/3 cup dices celery

1/3 cup dices onions

Stir to combine. 

To make Buffalo Chicken Salad, add:

3 tbsp hot sauce or wing sauce

Serve on bun, croissant or bread with cheddar cheese, lettuce and a squirt of ranch dressing.

For plain Chicken Salad, add:

Heaping tbsp mayo

3 tbsp horseradish sauce

Serve on bun, croissant or bread with swiss cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Meal Planning Monday in Podunk

Continuing what I started two weeks ago, I will again be participating in Meal Planning Monday, over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie".  You should really go visit her - TONS of menu ideas.

First, let me start by telling you about the recipe from last week that is getting added to the rotation, and the one that I'm probably never going to make again.

The clear winner was Sunday brunch with Bacon, Egg and Cheese Casserole.  I did use my own biscuit recipe, but this one is a winner.  I did not make it the night before, and next time I will as it's a little time consuming, but sooooo worth it!

The one that I will not make again was the Snickers Brownies. You will need to love crazy, ridiculously SWEET things for this recipe. We are a chocolate, caramel loving bunch here, and it was just too sweet (for us).   

This week, we have family coming to town, and DD#2 graduates from high school on Thursday.  Also, I have lots of leftovers in the fridge to use up, as well as one recipe from last week that I didn't make as we had a last minute school function to attend that included dinner. 

Sunday - Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad {P}, Chips & Salsa

Monday - Grilled Burgers, Potato Salad and Brussel Sprouts (cooked on the grill in aluminum foil)

Tuesday - Grilled BBQ Pork Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Wednesday - Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta, French bread

Thursday - graduation night - Carry-out Pizza, Chips & Salsa, and graduation cake

Friday - Monterey Chicken  {P}(on the grill in foil instead of oven), Hash Brown Casserole {P}, Mad Hatter Salad

Saturday - Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad, French Bread

{P} = found it on Pinterest

This is going to be a crazy, busy, fun week in Podunk.  Hope you enjoy what's for dinner!

Egg Rolls Because I Can!

I am a huge fan of the egg roll.  Something about the crunchy outside, and the warm and slightly crunchy veggie inside, and of course, the dipping sauce.  YUM. 

Friday, on my revamped weekly menu called for Bourbon Chicken and Egg rolls.  Sometimes I buy egg rolls, but this time I had purchased the ingredients to make egg rolls.  I am trying to find any reason to use my new kitchen gadget, the Chop 'N Prep.  I love this little thing! 

I don't have an official "recipe" for egg rolls.  In my mind, it's a bit of a "wing it" sort of food.  For the purposes of this blog, I've attempted to capture the steps, and will give approximate quantities (but no promises here!). 

You will need to start with egg roll wrappers (one package). If you have never purchased them before, they can be found in the refrigerated produce section.  DD#3 went grocery shopping with me last week, and had no idea where to find them.  She could simply not believe that was where the grocery store "hid" them.  I asked her where they should be, she just shrugged, and said "well, not there."

Next, for my egg rolls, I used about 1/2 a small head of cabbage, one carrot and four mushrooms. 

Using my Chop "N Prep, I chopped them up into little pieces (no kidding, little pieces!).

And I almost forgot, half of a yellow onion.  You can add any other vegetables you want.  If you want spicy egg rolls, add a jalapeno.  If you have some vegetables you need to use, add them.  No right or wrong combination - I think the only necessity is the cabbage. 

If you don't want to chop up all this stuff, because you don't have a fun little kitchen gadget, or because you are short on time, or just because, buy a bag of coleslaw mix and add a diced onion.

Normally, I would use some ground pork or small shrimp as the meat in the egg rolls.  This time, I had a leftover grilled chicken breast.  I chopped it up and added it to the vegetables.  You can also just make these veggie.

Then I added about 1/3 cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp sesame oil (I like sesame, so you might want 1tbsp), 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tbsp sugar, and a little salt.  I'm trying to cut back on salt, so just do a taste test for the salt. 

Lay out an egg roll wrapper so it looks like a diamond, and put about 1/3 cup or so in the middle of the wrapper.

Then fold the bottom point up over the mixture.

Then the right and the left sides in so it looks like a little envelope.



Wet your fingers with water, and moisten the flap (just like an envelope) and roll from the bottom to the top.

Heat at least 2" of oil (peanut is preferred, but canola is OK too) to about 300 degrees.  I don't think I every really check the temperature, instead I cut a tiny piece of egg roll wrapper off and drop it in the oil.  If is starts to fry, it's hot enough.  If the wrapper sinks to the bottom of the oil, it's not hot enough yet.  This is the medium setting on my electric stove, preheated for about 10 minutes.

Fry for about 2 minutes per side, rolling the egg roll over in the oil to get an even fry.  Good luck with this one.  Sometimes they stay rolled over, and sometimes they are stubborn.  Just trying to get an even brown.


Please don't judge the dirty stove top!

Place a couple of paper towels on a place, and CAREFULLY remove the egg roll from the HOT oil.  If your kiddos are helping make these, this is an adult step! 



I got this one a little too brown - taking pictures, I forgot to get out the paper towels!  But trust me, it was still delicious! 

Make or purchase your favorite dipping sauce.  Serve hot.  Enjoy!

Flexibility

I've mentioned before, that I am not a particularly organized person - I'm a want-to-be organized person.  I am a work in progress, and some days are better than others.  I am very proud that for the last two weeks, I've had a meal plan, and used it!  I have also found the time to do a few things around the house that I've been putting off and gotten in the habit of checking my calendar every night before I go to bed, so I know what the next day will hold. 

That being said, when you have teenagers, some days you just gotta go with the flow. 

This is the note that was next to my computer when I woke up.  DD#3 wrote in sharpie, and DD#2 wrote in pen.  Love notes, as it were.  Do your teenagers leave you love notes?  Apparently they did not know this last night before I went to bed - we are out of calf feed, pig feed and chicken feed and the calf is almost out of milk replacer.  Oh, and I need this skirt fixed before 3:15 today, because there is an FFA banquet tonight. 

There is no mention if I need to make something to take to the FFA banquet - I don't think the parents of seniors bring anything, but we have a sophomore too, so I'm going to guess they will spring that on me around 3pm. 

In any case, between conference calls for my "real" job, I need to run to the feed store and pick up food for the animals and then fix the skirt.  At least the skirt is an easy fix.  I did need to change the menu board to reflect the fact that we are not eating at home tonight.  I love the fact that if I do need to take something, I know exactly what I will make! 

I went to my new menu board and slid the Bourbon chicken down to tomorrow, and took off the Bacon Cheeseburger pasta.  Flexibility.  That's big in my world.

It Slices, It Dices, It Makes Julienne Fries!

Meet my newest kitchen gadget.  Maybe I exaggerate a lot just a touch in the post title, but this thing is NIFTY!

It's a Tupperware Chop 'N Prep (I love my tupperware) and my kids won it at a 4-H horse show!  I like the horse show prizes, the kids, not so much!  See the little white handle on the top of the lid?  You pull it, just like starting a weed whacker, to chop up your vegetables - chop only (no slicing, dicing or julienne-ing. I just thought that was a catchy title). 

You put your vegetables in (or I guess it could be whatever kind of food you want chopped) and close the lid.  It's kind of small (you get about a cup of the chopped whatever), but we'll call it fun sized.  Then you pull the cord 5 or 6 or 10 times, and voila, chopped up stuff!

I chopped up cabbage for these pictures, I'm going to make egg rolls later.  DD#3 made fresh salsa last night in about 5 minutes, which we scarfed down in under 5 minutes! I am also going to try chopping up a leftover grilled chicken breast to make chicken salad for lunch today. This would be a great gadget for a younger child to be able to help in the kitchen.  Self-contained - no mess and no chance of chopping off your fingers!  Would also be great to take camping, no electricity required.

I am so excited about my new little chopper - I added it to a blog party over at "The Johanson Journey".  Go check it out! I say it's mine (even though the kids won it) since I'm sure I will be the one using it and washing it.  Oh, and it's dishwasher safe too - at least when I ran it through the dishwasher it didn't fall apart or anything.  The only down side to this (in my opinion) is the price if you have to buy it - retails for $45.00.  Personally, I'm hoping there is another horse show soon with Tupperware prizes!  

 

Meal Planning in Podunk

Continuing what I started last week, I will again be participating in Meal Planning Monday, over at "I'm an Organizing Junkie".  You should really go visit her - TONS of menu ideas. 

I'm an Organizing Junkie

Sure made my life easier last week. I'll take every bit of easier I can get!

I started out by checking my local grocery store's weekly ads to see what was on sale. I gotta say, that for Podunk, our grocery store is pretty great.  Looks like a great deal on chicken breasts, hamburger and vegetables, so that is the foundation of this week's menu.  I also kept in mind that our hens have started laying, and I have eggs that must get used, Cinco de Mayo is on Saturday, and finally, I have lots of recipes I've found on Pinterest that need to be tried!



Two of our free range hens



I hope you enjoy!

Monday - Hamburgers, Sweet Potato fries {P}, deviled eggs (use those eggs!)

Tuesday - Spicy Chicken Rigatoni {P}, roast vegetables {P}, French Bread, Snickers brownies {P}

Wednesday - Breakfast - scrambled eggs (hens again), bacon and Cinnamon rolls{P}

Thursday - Bourbon Chicken (see recipe below) and Egg rolls

Friday - Bacon Cheeseburger Pasta, Roast vegetables {P} French bread,

CINCO DE MAYO - Chicken Tacos {CR}{P} Mexican Rice, Tres Leches Cake and Margaritas

Sunday - brunch - Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit casserole {P} (more eggs!)

Sunday - dinner - Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Tomato basil soup {CR} (see recipe below)

{CR} = Crock pot
{P} = Thank you, Pinterest




Recipes

Bourbon Chicken - From Food.com

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 -2  tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 3/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup apple juice
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil in large skillet.
2. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly brown.
3. Remove chicken.
4. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.
5. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.
6. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Serve over hot rice and ENJOY.

***NOTE:  I usually add some fresh vegetables (broccoli, peppers, sugar snap peas) the last 10 minutes of simmer for some additional nutritional value.

Tomato Basil Soup
2 cans (14.5oz) crushed tomatoes (I also like fire roasted diced tomatoes)
12 fresh basil leaves (may use dried basil, or Italian seasoning, about 2 tbsp)
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

Pour tomatoes into small crock pot on low for 2 - 3 hours. Puree, with the basil leaves, in small batches, in blender or food processor. Return to crock pot and add cream, butter, salt and pepper, cover and cook on low another hour or until ready to serve. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with your favorite bread.

When a light bulb goes off!

*** UPDATE - New and Improved Menu board - see bottom of post for additional details! Sometimes I even amaze myself! LOL. 

My new menu board!

Have you ever had a moment when a light bulb just went off, and something you've been struggling with suddenly seems so simple?  I'm not talking about world peace here, my issues in Podunk are much more minor than that, but issues none the less.  Maybe I should call them annoyances rather than issues - you get the point.


I love to cook, but how to organize my recipes and recipe books and clipped recipes and pinned recipes and recipes in my head and on my computer drive me crazy.  Crazy to the point that a few months back, before Christmas, when I was cleaning (this doesn't happen often!) I got completely fed up with my current non-system and threw the whole mess away.  Well, not the whole mess, but a good portion.  Some of the cookbooks I donated to the local DAV. 


That leaves me with no system at all, which up until now, I've been OK with.  In case you hadn't guessed, I'm not an organized person by nature.  I am a want-to-be organized person, just sometime don't know where to start. 


This led me to Pinterest (is anyone else addicted to this site?  Of course you are, don't lie!) in search of ideas.  The first one I found was wonderful, fabulous, spectacular from a blog robbygurl - it just wasn't for me.  Too organized (is there such a thing?) and too time consuming for me to think I would actually get it done.  I see now where she sells them, so if you want to purchase one, I'm sure she would love to sell you one.  I don't know her, but that would be my guess!


picture from robbygurl


 Then I found another organizing idea on Pinterest, this time from a blog called The homes I have made, which I think is great.  She saw the board from robbygurl on Pinterest too!  Her recipe calendar is a little simpler (which I liked) and still colorful and easy to manage. 

picture from The Homes I Have Made

Isn't it great?  And the real beauty of this calendar is that it somewhat resembles how my recipes were organized way back when.  I thought I might be able to manage something like this, but my one concern was that I just don't have any space in my kitchen for the calendar board.  Plus, I'm kind of cheap frugal, and really didn't want to go out and buy a board if I didn't think I would use it long term.


I did, however LOVE her idea to use magnets with the recipe names on the board.  This is when the light bulb went off.  I would do a weekly calendar (more manageable for me) and instead of using a special board, I would clear a spot on my refrigerator, and use the front of the fridge! 


I happened to already have magnetic paper (did I mention I work for a paper company!) and I already had some 3 ring binders and clear page covers, so no need to run to the store for supplies, BONUS!

I started with looking for a label template that I liked, and found an Avery template that fits labels 3261, 8257, 8760 and 8987 which are 30 up, and are about 1" x 2.5".  I like the size, and very little wasted paper.  Magnetic paper is not inexpensive! 

I started by typing in all the days of the week using a fun font.  Gotta make it fun, right?  Then I pulled out my recipe clear plastic tub (don't laugh! OK, maybe just a little) and started typing in names of my most used recipes/meals.

clear plastic tub of recipes - what a mess!

Not all of your meals need a recipe, right?  For me that's stuff like fried rice (way to use up leftover meats) or spaghetti & meatballs ('cuz I buy the sauce and meatballs).  You know what those meals are for you. 

I also typed in all the days of the week.  If you want, you could add "lunch" and "dinner" too.  I'm generally the only one home for lunch, since I work from the house, but if a "lunch" menu helps you, by all means, add it.

Once I was done with a sheet, it looked something like this:

Magnets

I really liked the colors that "The Homes I Have Made" used, but my printer was low on ink, and remember earlier I mentioned how cheap frugal I am?  I figure I will dig out the markers later and maybe add a colored border.  

Then I cut them apart, and headed to the fridge to see what they looked like.  I had already planned my menu for this week, so it was easy to assemble, once I had cleared a spot of pictures and coupons and the such.



Fridge with a split personality!



After I decided that I liked it, I took my recipes and began to put them into the clear sleeves and when I did that, I numbered the sleeves.  Each recipe gets a number and I wrote the recipe number on the little magnet (if it had an actual recipe).  This keeps all of my recipes in one 3 ring binder instead of needing several binders.  If I find I need another binder, I will continue with the numbers, and just label the outside of the binder number 1 - 100, 101-200, etc.

I will eventually need to organize my magnets, but for now, they are going into a Ziploc bag.  You know the kind with the label area on the outside, and I will sort them by entree, side, dessert and whatever other category makes sense to me.  This is a bit of a work in progress, but one that I think I can manage.  Yeah me!!

** UPDATE **

I was going to start adding my colored borders, you know, like I mentioned above, with markers, but then suddenly, it hit me (not literally of course) scrapbooking paper!  I have some a lot of unused, lone sheets of scrapbooking paper.  I went rummaging thru my semi-organized file of scrapbook paper, and found 5 single sheets of paper that I liked for this project.  Nothing too dark, I was afraid the type would show very well on paper that was too dark.  Then I cut the sheets that were 12 x 12 down to the same size as the magnetic paper, which is 8.5 x 11.  I used scissors, because there were only two sheets to cut, so I wasn't getting out the paper cutter for that.

Then I printed my recipe/menu titles out.  I didn't take time to sort them into categories before I printed this first sheet - I was excited to see if this would work, and look great.  I'm inpatient that way!

Once printed, I pulled out the spray adhesive and a piece of newspaper.  If you haven't used spray adhesive before, be sure to spray either outside with a piece of newspaper behind it, or inside with LOTS of newspaper behind it.  This stuff is sticky - they aren't kidding about the adhesive part here people!

Spray it really well, because you will be cutting this into little rectangles, and you want this to stick.  Once you have the back of your recipes/menu sprayed, stick it to the white side of your magnetic paper.  I rubbed the top of the scrapbooking paper down really, really well on the magnetic paper, and then let it dry for a few minutes, before I cut them apart the little rectangles.  They stuck just fine to the magnetic paper, and the true test, they stuck just fine to my fridge.  No plain, white, boring menu board!  I am pumped about the easy addition of color, and also about not having to pull out the markers.  I am also pumped about finding some scrapbook paper with Chinese writing on it (why did I think I needed that originally?) and printing all of my Chinese recipes out on it!  Yes, I'm officially a menu board nerd! :)



Grandma Sarah's Cupcakes

*** If you are coming here from Simple Living by Diane Balch "Foodie Friday" welcome!  If not, be sure to visit her for tons of great recipes! ***


Grandma Sarah is my mother in law, and she's probably the best cook I know.  Not the fancy, never heard of the ingredients kind of cook, but the wow those are the best chocolate chip cookies I ever had kind of cook.  She cooks with lard and bacon grease and butter and sugar and lots and lots of love.  You will never go hungry at her house, or anywhere near her. 


She gave me this recipe when we got married, and I have made it many, many times.  I don't think they ever taste as good at her's though.  I have made them using a boxed mix for the cupcakes and then adding the filling when I'm in a hurry.  I have even frosted them with a can of frosting from the store (something I am sure she would N.E.V.E.R. do). 


Recipe

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese (soft)
1 egg
pinch salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Mix and set aside.

Combine in large mixing bowl:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup chocolate drink mix
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

add to dry ingredients in mixing bowl:

1 cup water
1/2 cup oil (canola)
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla.

Mix well with dry ingredients.  Fill cupcake liners 1/2 full with cupcake mixture.  Add a blop (directly from her recipe, "blop" maybe a tablespoon-ish) of filling in the middle of each cupcake. 

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Cool and frost with frosting of your choice.  I usually frost with chocolate butter cream frosting, but this time, the request was for cream cheese frosting.  I didn't argue...any reason to make cream cheese frosting is fine with me... yummmmm.

You will not use up all the filling for one batch of cupcakes.  You can refrigerate the filling up to a week (never lasted this long at my house!).  I made a double batch of cupcake this time and came out with 34 regular size cupcakes and a little extra filling.


I took them to school for DD#3 16th birthday, and both pans came back completely empty.  Not that I am surprised! 

Menu Planning in Podunk

This week in Podunk is going to be a busy week, not that every week isn't a busy week!  I have been so lazy distracted lately that I have not been posting like I had planned, but that's got to change.  And it's not because I have been lacking for content either!  So, one of my favorite organizing blogs, "I'm an Organizing Junkie" has Menu Plan Mondays, and I have decided that this is exactly what I need to do for my upcoming week and to jump start my blog again :)  My menu is simple, but simple is good, RIGHT??

Monday
Activity: Dr appointment, grocery shopping and buy fabric for baby shower gift.
Dinner:  Jambalaya (from zatarain's mix on sale at local grocery store) with smoked sausage and left over birthday cake for DD#2 birthday last week.

Tuesday 
Activity:  Another birthday (DD#3 will be 16!!).
Dinner:  Roast chicken (cheating and picking this up from Sam's) and mashed potatoes, and Grandma Sarah's cupcakes.

Chicks for the FFA petting zoo

Wednesday
Activity: Pick up hay and fence for tomorrow's FFA petting zoo.
Dinner:  Baked Spaghetti and French bread (I am hoping for leftovers for lunch the rest of the week.)


Baby ducks for the FFA petting zoo

Thursday 
Activity:  FFA petting zoo. 
Dinner:  Fried rice, using leftover roast chicken.


Baby calf and baby pig for FFA petting zoo.  They <3 each other!

 Friday
Activity:  Finish sewing gifts for tomorrow's baby shower.
Dinner:  Tacos with homemade taco seasoning.



DD#3 getting ready for FFA petting zoo.

Saturday
Activity:  Friend's baby shower. 
Dinner: Pizza with homemade pizza crust

Sunday
No Activity!  Unless you count laundry and dishes.
Dinner: Crock pot southwest soup (from pinterest) and french bread.