Harvest Chicken Salad

Wanted to share this great salad with you last week:
Another Pampered Chef recipe...

Dressing
2 oranges
1/3 cup fat-free mayo
2 tablespoons stone ground mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small garlic clove, pressed


Salad
1 (6 ounce) package fresh baby spinach leaves
2 cups diced roasted chicken meat
1 cup celery rib, diced
2 medium red delicious apples
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
3/4 cup dried sweetened cranberries
1/2 cup pecan halves, toasted (optional)
orange section (optional)



Total Time: 20 mins
1 For dressing, zest one orange to measure 2 teaspoons zest.
2 Juice oranges to measure 1/2 cup juice.
3 Combine orange zest, mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, salt, black pepper and pressed garlic; whisk until smooth.
4 While continuously whisking, add orange juice in a thin, steady stream; set dressing aside.
5 For salad, place spinach in bottom of large serving bowl.
6 Dice chicken and celery.
7 Cut apples in half lengthwise; remove stems and seeds.
8 Cut each apple half into small pieces.
9 Chop onion.
10 Layer chicken, celery, apples, onion, cranberries and pecans, if desired, over spinach.
11 To serve, drizzle dressing over salad and toss to coat.
12 Top with orange segments (if you want to add this, you will need at least 1 extra orange) and Whole-Grain Croutons, if desired.
13 Serve immediately.

Lemon Sunshine Kisses

I dropped the ball last week, but still have a few recipes I want to share! I hope you don't mind!



COOKIES*

1 Box Lemon Cake Mix

1 EGG

1/3 cup Canola Oil

4 T Water



Preheat oven to 350.

Combine and mix all ingredients by hand. Drop spoonfuls of cookie mix onto baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes or until cookie top appears to crackle. I always end up baking them for a few minutes more...

Remove to cool completely before glazing.



Glaze*

Powdered sugar

Fresh lemon juice or RealLemon

Mix to smooth consistency and drizzle over cooled cookies!



These are SO LEMONY and GOOD!

Valentines Dinner

Is anyone going all out for their Valentine tonight?  Yep, not me!  Gone are the days that we battle the crowds by going to an actual restaurant on this over-rated holiday.  I got take out Vietnamese Pho and am making these yummy cakes (Fudge lover's cream cheese cake) my heart-shaped pan:

Wendy Poling is going all out on the calorie chart by making these chocolate covered cherries:

Does anyone else have a fabulous dessert they want to share for this lovely day?  

Also, as a side note, I really messed up the schedule and skipped a week.  Suzanne, who is charted for next week, is going to go ahead and post for this week.  Next week will be "Free for all", so anyone is welcome to share a recipe they might have forgotten or a link to their favorite food website.  And to think people trust me with their medications....I'm losing it!

A great link with food for kiddos

Friends, it's not my week, but I wanted to post this link I found with some humdinger ideas for feeding kiddos:
Kids Food At Make it And Love It

Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco

http://mywoodenspoon.com/grilled-chicken-penne-al-fresco/

Believe it or not, I actually do use real recipes with measurements sometimes. This is one of my favorites. A few years ago, I got a stoneware covered baking dish, which can be used in the oven or microwave. I really like it, and I also get a real workout lifting it...which is the only drawback...so heavy! Actually, I use it to cook the chicken first, then set aside, wipe the baker and continue this recipe. The basil is wonderful! If you don't have a stoneware baking dish, try it in any covered glass baking dish.
Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco
Ingredients:
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
3 cups uncooked mezze penne pasta
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup dry white wine such as Chardonnay
1/2 tsp each salt and coarsely ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups lightly packed fresh basil leaves, divided
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups diced grilled chicken breasts
Additional grated fresh Parmesan cheese and coarsely ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Spray Deep Covered Baking Dish with olive oil. Slice garlic into baker. Add tomatoes. Cover; microwave on HIGH 4-5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to burst, stirring after 2 minutes. This is the neat part, because you can hear the little tomatoes POP! Crush tomatoes. Add pasta, broth, wine, salt and black pepper. This is the other neat part, because the pasta cooks right in the MICROWAVE!
2. Return baker to microwave; cover and microwave on HIGH 16-18 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring after 10 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely chop basil. Reserve 2 tbsp for garnish. Grate cheese.

3. Carefully remove baker from microwave and remove lid, lifting away from you. Add remaining basil, cheese and chicken to baker; mix well. Garnish with reserved 2 tbsp basil, additional Parmesan cheese and black pepper, if desired.

Cook’s Tips: An additional 3/4 cup chicken broth can be substituted for the wine, if desired.

Any tube-shaped pasta requiring 9-11 minutes cook time, such as penne or rigatoni, can be substituted for the mezze penne pasta.

To grill chicken, season 2 chicken breasts, about 6 oz each, with salt and black pepper. Heat Grill Pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Spray pan with oil. 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 and Digital Pocket Thermometer registers 170°F...OR JUST BUY A READY BAKED CHICKEN!!!

Super Easy Fake Lasagna

“LASAGNA” Casserole
OK, girls. I don’t have measured amounts listed, so usually it’s just the standard container size or whatever I can find in the fridge, or according to the phases of the moon, or even left up to YOUR own preference. If you like tons and tons of cheese, and are wanting to put an extra inch on your thighs…harharhar…or if you like more pasta for your kids, or you are in a gooey or a salty mood…
I mean, don't you hate the measuring part? Measuring is for lumber, quilt-making, and chemistry lab. Oh, well, I hated measuring in chemistry lab, too..."If a little is good, wouldn't more be better?...or "Hmmm, why is this taking SO long, must need more Sulfuric Acid". Anyway, back to lasagna...

Ingredients:
• Ground beef *brown and drain*
• Jar of Favorite Ragu/Prego type Spaghetti Sauce (I like to use Traditional or with MUSHROOMS, but use a real vegetably kind if you want to be real vegetably.)
• Grated Mozzarella Cheese, also Parmesan if you want
• Any type of flat, BITE-SIZE Pasta (I like BOWTIE or fluffy dumplets). *Start your H2O boiling first thing* Cook it, don't overcook it. Drain. This is the best part of the FAKE lasagna. Easy for kids to eat!
• Ricotta Cheese OR, and this is weird, but I PROMISE, it’s really good, COTTAGE CHEESE. No kidding. You can use the Ricotta cheese if you are of Italian lineage, but I kind of like the texture given by the cottage cheese. If you are brave and opt to use the cottage cheese, I like the small curd.
• 1 Egg, SALT, PEPPER
• Very important optional SECRET INGREDIENT…remember your leftover spinach? Throw some in a pan, steamer, or in the microwave in a covered glass container and lightly steam it. You can sneak it in as one of the layers so your family will eat SOMETHING GREEN!


1. Mix Ragu in with browned, drained HB meat. This is the BOTTOM layer. You can do 1 set of layers, or 2 sets of thinner layers. I usually do 1 set of layers, and use 2 pyrex containers, one to bake and serve that evening, and another smaller one to layer, cover, and place in the freezer for another day.
2. Mix RICOTTA OR COTTAGE CHEESE with EGG & SALT and PEPPER. Again, you decide how much. I love lots of salt and pepper. This layer is 2nd to bottom.
3. Layer of steamed SPINACH. Actually, you can hide this layer ANYWHERE YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT.
4. Cooked PASTA layer
5. Lots of MOZZARELLA layer on top. You can sprinkle on some Parmesan if you want.

I think I usually cover it so the top layer doesn't get crusty, but be careful about covering too tight, or cheese will stick to cover. Place this in 350 oven and bake until bubbly! If you made a 2nd container, cover it tightly and freeze. I have used this recipe since 1978. I realize most of you WERE NOT EVEN BORN THEN! This is the only meal for which I have ever bought cottage cheese.

Popeye Strong To The Finich