Chicken Pasta Salad

My daughter Amy just called to ask where this recipe was and I realized I had not posted it yet.  There are several versions of this recipe, but this one comes from Annalisa Glenn, and it is yummy!

Hearty Chicken Pasta Salad
1 pkg bowtie pasta
1 pkg spiral pasta
4 cups diced cooked chicken (or use 2 cans of canned chicken)
1 1/2 cups grapes
1 1/2 cups cashews
1 large can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Optional:  chopped celery, craisins, pineapple (depends on what your family will eat)
1 bottle Kraft Coleslaw Dressing 16 oz

Cook pasta according to package, cool and then add the following:
Chicken, grapes, cashews, and oranges.  Stir in 1 bottle of Kraft Coleslaw (16 oz) dressing, 1/2 cup mayo, and a little salt.  You can add celery, craisins, pineapple, whatever your family likes.  This makes a lot for a big group.  For a small family, cut recipe in half.

My friend Dana Day is also a good cook, and here is her version of the same salad:
Chicken Pasta Salad:
1 cup Kraft Cole Slaw Dressing
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 Tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
2 stalks celery ribs, chopped fine
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
1 Tbsp grated onion
1 can crushed pineapple (14 oz) drained, squeeze out all the juice
1 cup red seedless grapes, sliced
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
Make up the dressing and mix all of this together and best to chill overnight. Sooo yummy. 

And now for the spiritual thought:
I had the opportunity to teach the RS lesson Sunday, so I will share the scripture 1 Nephi 8 :30 talking about the vision of the tree of life
". . . .he saw other multitudes pressing forward: and they came and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press their way forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree"

The key word here is continually.  We must never let go of the "word of God" , of the truth.  No matter what darkness comes our way, we must continually go to church, pray, read our scriptures, learn, help others, be found doing good.  That is how we are saved and get to enjoy the desirable fruit!

Cranberry Breakfast Cookies

I am so so so excited to begin the year 2014 with new pages to write in my book!  This year my book is going to be all about how to be as healthy as possible!  So. . .I have begun searching for recipes that are healthy, and I found Shauna's friend Yvonne who has started changing her food blog to many healthy recipes.
I love her blog, and today I tried this recipe for Cranberry Breakfast Cookies ( so I can take them to work with me) and they are really really good!

Here is the recipe but you can find the pictures and her at this following site:

Cranberry Breakfast Cookies

1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1 Tblsp ground flaxseed
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries (or any type dried fruit, apples, blueberry)
3 very ripe bananas mashed
1/4 cup coconut oil, warm enough to be liquid
1 Tblsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Stir in mashed bananas, oil, honey and vanilla until well combined. Press 2 tablespoons of mixture into a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray or lined with parchment paper or a Silpat. Continue with remaining mixture. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until fragrant and golden. Cool on pan.

These come out on the chewy side.  If you want them a little more crunchy, then cook for 5 minutes longer, but watch that they dont burn!
These are really yummy!  I added chopped almonds and walnuts as well.
Enjoy!

For our thought today:  
I found this on Pinterest:

We are what we repeatedly DO    - aristotle

J Dawg's Hot Dog Sauce

I love a good hot dog every once in a while.  I love to butter the hot dog buns and put them on the griddle until they are toasted. When I saw this hot dog sauce on one of my favorite sites, I had to try it and it was yummy!

You can find a picture of them here

And here is the hot dog sauce recipe!
Homemade J Dawgs Sauce

3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and heat until almost boiling.  Remove from heat, cool, and serve on grilled hot dogs.  Make sure to buy good quality buns – none of this wonder bread stuff.  And absolutely don’t forget to make criss cross X’s all down the dog before grilling to make sure you have plenty of surface area for the sauce!

Serve with toppings:
Pickles, onions, jalapeños, banana peppers, sauerkraut, yellow mustard.  (The restaurant also offers ketchup, celery salt, mayo, relish, and spicy brown mustard at special request)

And for a thought for the day:

It is New Years Today, Happy 2014 to you all. my goal for this year is to be the ultimate healthiest I can be, and in order to do that I plan to do the following :

Read Living the Healthy Life by Randi Gerber, I found her at the Family Home Christmas Show and attended one of her nutrition classes.  She has lots of information to share

Read The Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola.  I like her idea and I love that scripture story.

Re Read my Green Smoothie Book and start drinking daily a green smoothie!

Exercise at least 4 times a week 

Drink more water each day

Ha ha, and all this on a post of HOT DOGS! ha ha, possibly the worst thing to eat, however, life is to be enjoyed, so I think throwing in a hot dog like this every once in a while is a wonderful way to celebrate the joys of life.

Happy new year!

Hash Brown and Sausage Breakfast Casserole

We just had our fun family Christmas breakfast and I offered to make two breakfast casseroles as I love them!  I love this food blog called Tried and Tasty (www.triedandtasty.com) she is a friend of Shauna's and she has been on TV, but so far the recipes I have tried from her site have been good!    Here is her breakfast casserole, these can go quick if you bake the potatoes the day before and put in the fridge, and cook up the sausage the day before as well. Here is a picture of her casserole:

Breakfast Casserole

4 c. hash browns
1 pkg. Jimmy Dean sausage
1/2 onion, finely chopped
6 eggs, scrambled
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 c. cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium size pan brown sausage together with onion until fully cooked. In a separate saucepan melt butter; add salt and pepper. Pour hash browns in a 9×13 baking dish and cover with melted butter; mix together with 1 c. shredded cheddar cheese. Top with sausage and onions. Scramble together eggs and milk. Pour scrambled egg mixture and over casserole. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and top with remaining cup of cheese, bake for additional 15 minutes.

*Note, I Sandee probably did more like five or six cups hash browns, and  8 eggs scrambled.  

to make it vegetarian, leave out the sausage and saute up some onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and put over the hash browns.  YUMMY!

I really liked this casserole.  Also, I sprinkle my potatoes, after I have them grated in the pan, with garlic powder! yum!

And for the thought today:
I found this on pinterest:

Once you learn how to be happy, you won't tolerate being around people who make you feel anything less. -

LEMON WATER

My friend Julie Clark has a really good recipe for the lemon water that everyone serves at weddings and special occasions, there are many different recipes out there, but this one seems to get the most compliments!

Lemon Water
1 gallon water (16 cups)
2 1/2 cups sugar
Stir to dissolve sugar, then add:

1 Tblsp lemon extract
1 Tblsp citric acid

Stir well, then add lots of ice!
Float lemons
(and/or limes!)

You can find citric acid at Kitchen Kneads or specialty stores, it is also found in grocery stores but you have to pay more for it!

A nourishing thought for the soul:
Since talking about lemons which are known to be sour, sometimes in life our experiences can be sour as well.  I found a really good book called "A glimpse of Heaven" by Joanna Oblander.  She shares her experience of going to the other side and she was shown how in the pre-existence we attended classes to learn about what earth life would be like.  she says "Nobody worried about whether they would be rich or famous, beautiful or handsome, tall or short.  We did not even worry about whether we would be healthy or well.  Instead, decisions were being made based on which experiences would help us become perfect like Heavenly Father.  Great concern was given to furthering talents, improving strengths, obtaining greater intelligence, and refining our ability to  love. 
So when we have trials, or hard times, it is to help us to become perfect, and to be more refined.  Only sour things can refine us!
so. . .yay for sour, I guess!

Layered Greek Dip

We just had our annual friend christmas party, to which there is always good food and good fun.  This year Diane made a wonderful appetizer dip that I just had to add to my collection, it was YUMMY, and she bought the pita bread you get at Sam's, used a pizza cutter to slice into wedges, spread some garlic butter on it, baked in oven til it was warm, and served it with this outstanding dip, YAY for food friends and fun:

Layered Greek Dip
Beat until smooth and spread into 9 inch pie plate:

8 oz cream cheese softened
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1 tsp Italian seasoning
3 cloves minced garlic

Top with remaining ingredients in order:
1 1/2 cups hummus
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped kalmata olives
1/2 cup feta
1/3 cup chopped green onions

Cover and refrigerate 2 to 24 hours.  Serve with pita chips or multigrain chips

and for the thought today:
found on pinterest:

The minute  you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on so long.

Love it!

Turkey Gravy

I am not good at making gravy, so I had to find someone who cooks good and I could trust them. 
Here is the recipe that works for me!
Turkey Gravy (for a picture go here:)

Source: Center Cut Cook

1/2 c. butter, cut into about 8 pieces
1 tsp. coarse black pepper
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
4 c. turkey pan drippings OR 4 c. turkey stock

In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium-low heat. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper. Slowly add flour to create a roux, constantly whisking to combine. After a few minutes, the flour will be well incorporated into the butter. Slowly begin to pour in drippings and/or stock into the pan, constantly whisking. Allow the gravy to cook for several minutes, the longer it sits the more it will thicken up. Serve immediately, or keep on very low heat until you’re ready to serve.

[My 2 Cents] From Yvonne from triedandtasty.com
If using drippings from a chicken or turkey: Pour drippings into a gravy fat separator. I specifically made a special trip to the store to pick up one (I LOVE OXO products) and it worked like a charm. I have not idea how exactly it works, but it did! You’ll want to allow the drippings to cool a bit so that the fat rises to the top, then pour out your gravy and leave the fat. If you don’t have enough drippings to equal 4 cups, add enough turkey stock until you have 4 cups.

Because I brined my turkey, my gravy was INSANELY salty!! So, I just kept adding water until it wasn’t so bad any more. I probably added a good 4-5 cups of water to help balance it out. If you haven’t brined your turkey in salt water, you will be fine.