Chris Wouden's Chicken Salad

Boil 4 large frozen chicken breasts in 4 cups water with 4 chicken bouillon cubes for 1 hour and 20 minutes over medium heat. Check on occasion to make sure water doesn't get too low, add as needed.
Cool breasts. Slice lengthwise in thirds and shred with two forks. Reserve.

Sauce:
In a large bowl, add:
     2 C. Best Foods Mayonnaise (I use the Light version)
     1/4 C. whipping cream or Half & Half
     1/4-1/2 t. salt (I omitted the salt on accident and it was fine)
     2 Tbsp. Sugar (or more, to taste)
     1 tsp. lemon juice
     1/2 tsp. pepper (Yes, this much!) :)
     1/2 C. finely chopped green onions (1/2 to full pkg.)
     1 C. semi-coarsely chopped celery
     1 C. red grapes cut into fourths
     1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, sliced & coarsely chopped
     (*Opt.: water chestnuts, chopped or slivered almonds)

Stir shredded chicken breasts into sauce and spoon mixture into crescents or pita bread.

Serve with Ruffles potato chips or barbecue flavored chips.

German Pancakes (Muffin-style)

Once You’ve Tried German Pancakes Muffin-style, You’ll Never Go Back

Thanks- Julie Myers!

Recently I discovered the awesomeness of German pancakes muffin-style! I’ll never go back. Here’s why:

• Easier clean-up – Less middle surface area makes it less likely to stick to the pan (at least that’s been my experience).
• Easier to serve – You don’t have to cut it. It’s already in individual pieces for the everyone to help themselves.
• Easier to eat – A finger food that’s great for parties, camping, and when you have feed the kids on the go.
• You can do so much more with it – Each muffin forms a nice little pouch that can hold all sorts of creative fillings – while still keeping it a finger food (click here for creative ideas for toppings!)
• And best of all, no more fighting over who gets the yummy edge pieces because every piece has edges now!

So here’s the recipe!

German Pancakes Muffin-Style

Makes 24 regular sized muffins.
*I don’t have 2 regular muffin pans, so I used 1 regular muffin pan (12) and 1 large muffin pan (6).
What you’ll need:
6 eggs
1 cup flour (I’ve tried using whole wheat flour to make it healthier but it doesn’t turn out quite as good).
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick butter
2 muffin pans
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, beat together all the ingredients except for the butter. Slice the butter and evenly disperse between the muffin pans, as shown in the picture below. Put the pans in for a couple minutes while it’s preheating to melt the butter, then pour some batter into each compartment in the muffin pans until each muffin compartment has amount the same amount. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, or until it is golden brown, or as dark as you like it. Also, bear in mind that the muffins will rise substantially, so make sure your rack isn’t too high (I’ve made that mistake before). I also wouldn’t recommend trying this in a toaster oven.


That’s all – Easy as cake! Then once it’s done, bring it out and eat to your heart’s delight!

 

Cafe Rio Sweet Pork

(Adapted from Oh Sweet Basil's Website)

I agree, this is the best recipe I have tasted yet--very close to Café Rio :)

 

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Yield: 2 lbs pork

Serving Size: 1 Cup Each

Tender, juicy pork that tastes just like Cafe Rio!

Ingredients

 

• 2 pork loins- (3 to 4 lbs. total) --comes in a two-pack at Costco
• 1 Old El Paso Sauce Packet (Roasted Garlic)
• 1 Cup Root Beer (A&W) --try 1 1/2 C. Root Beer
• 2 Cups Light Brown Sugar--try 3 C. Brown Sugar, if I dare!
• 1 sm. can Tomato Paste (preferably low-sodium)

Instructions

1. Place the pork in a slow cooker. Mix the sauce, Root Beer, brown sugar and tomato paste in a bowl and pour all over the pork. Cook on low for 6 hours, remove the meat and shred (it should be quite easy and tender). Place the meat back in the sauce and cook on low for an additional 2 hours.
2. Serve immediately.

Notes

Rumor has it that Dr Pepper or Coke are the preferred pops for Cafe Rio, but with this roasted garlic sauce Root Beer seemed to bring out the best flavor.

(I serve this pork on corn tortillas with sour cream, sliced avocado, & shredded Mexican cheese--from packet. I also crisp a little of the shredded cheese on the outside of the tortilla. :) Yum! This pork would also be great served on a roll!)

Broccoli Bake

From: Taste of Home Cookbook

2 pkgs. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, partially thawed
   (can substitute 1 pkg. broccoli for cauliflower)
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Cream of Celery Soup, undiluted
   (or Cream of Chicken Soup)
1-1/2 C. (6 oz.) shredded sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 C. chopped onion, sauteed until golden with garlic
small amount minced garlic, optional
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t. pepper
1/2 to 1 C. crushed Ritz crackers
2 T. butter

Saute onion with a small amount of minced garlic, add into large bowl with: broccoli, soup, 1 C. grated cheese, Worcestershire sauce and pepper. Pour into a greased 3 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers over top with remaining cheddar cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for about 1 hour or until heated through and golden brown.

Makes about 8 servings.

Homemade Ice Cream- Personal Size :)

Sarah and I were craving ice cream last night but we didn't have any...so we pulled out this old recipe. Sarah said she made this in elementary school and was excited to do it again. I have to admit, it was pretty easy and we just happened to have all the ingredients on hand! Perfect!

Put the following ingredient into a quart-size Ziplock bag:

1/2 C. cream (I used half & half)
1/2 C. milk
1/4 C. granulated sugar
1/4 t. vanilla


In a gallon-size Ziplock bag, fill about half-way with:

crushed ice
1/2 C. kosher salt or rock salt

Add filled quart-sized Ziplock bag and seal inside the larger bag.

Shake the pair of bags vigorously for 10 to 15 minutes.  The bag will get very cold as the ice melts
with the salt. Use gloves or a kitchen towel to handle. :)

When ice cream has reached desired consistency, rinse the bag with cold water, especially the seal to avoid salt from coming into contact with the ice cream as you empty it.

Note: The shaking is what will give your ice cream the creamy texture.

Top with crushed cookies, berries or chocolate chips.

Blondies

(Blond Toffee Brownies)

Recipe from: Taste Of Home


1/2 C. butter, softened
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1 1/2 C. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/2 to 1 C. Guittard, vanilla chips
(1/4 to 1/2 C. English toffee bits or almond brickle bits)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs, beat well. Add vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in white chocolate chips or toffee bits.
(I prefer to use less toffee bits and vanilla chips)

Grease 13x9x2" pan with Pam baking spray. (I made a double batch and spread it into a 17.25x11.5x1-inch pan with waxed paper sprayed with Pam baking spray.) Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. (Watch closely)

These cookie bars would be great served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream--Yum! :)

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Cream of Broccoli Soup:

3 T. unsalted butter
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 pkg. shredded carrots
1/8 t. minced garlic
1 pkg. frozen broccoli
1/4 c. flour
8-9 C. water
8 chicken bouillon cubes
pepper
1 t. Worcestershire sauce, optional

garnish with:
shredded cheddar cheese

In a large pot, melt butter. Saute garlic an onion for a few minutes before adding remaining vegetables. Continue to sauté vegetables until tender, adding pepper. Stir in flour to coat vegetables and heat for another minute. Add water and bouillon cubes, bring to boil. Use hand blender to chop up any large pieces of broccoli. Stir in one pint of whipping cream or half and half. Simmer for about an hour on low heat. As serving, garnish with grated cheddar cheese and Worcestershire sauce, if desired.

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For cream of potato soup, start out the same way except omit broccoli. Add about 6-8 diced potatoes after you add the broth and bring it to a boil. Also, can add a bay leaf.