6 chicken breasts (or two large cans of chicken, works great, I promise)
3 c. grapes
2 c. celery
1 c. mayo
1/4 c. sour cream
1 (8oz.) pkg cream cheese
1 lemon (or you can use lemon juice from fridge)
1 T lemon pepper
1/2 T seasoned salt
1/2 c. chopped almonds (optional)
If you're using chicken that's not in cans, boil it on high for 30-45 minutes, cool for 1-2 hrs, then cut into cubes and squeeze the lemon over it. If you're using the cans, open them and sprinkle lemon juice on the chicken. Let the chicken sit while you make the rest of the salad.
Cut grapes into quarters, chop celery (I like it in small pieces). In a small bowl, combine softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, lemon pepper, and seasoned salt. In a large bowl, combine with grapes, celery, and chicken. Is great as a sandwich or over lettuce as a salad. I like to toast the bread.
As a sidenote, this makes a cubic buttload. I half the recipe every time I make it. You can also make the full amount of sauce (using the cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, lemon pepper, and seasoned salt) while halving the rest of the ingredients and add a two cups of your favorite cooked pasta and eat it as a cold salad.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Really Easy Pumpkin Cookies
1 spice cake mix
1 small can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 bag chocolate chips (semisweet/dark chocolate is the best)
Mix cake mix and pumpkin together. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
It seriously works, folks. Don't be tempted to add an egg or anything, just those three ingredients. Temperatures and times may vary, of course, by oven.
1 small can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 bag chocolate chips (semisweet/dark chocolate is the best)
Mix cake mix and pumpkin together. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
It seriously works, folks. Don't be tempted to add an egg or anything, just those three ingredients. Temperatures and times may vary, of course, by oven.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Easy Yogurt
4 cups milk (any variety -- 1% is about as low on the fat as I go. skim milk makes kinda slimy yogurt)
1/2 cup instant powdered milk
Combine in large saucepan and heat to almost boiling. DO NOT boil the milk. When it starts to get those little bubbles around the edges, it's ready. Remove it from the heat.
Let the mixture cool to around 80 degrees. (This is so you don't scare off your culture.) Then add whatever culture you want to use. For those of you who may be confused at this point, some examples of culture include some pre-made plain yogurt (yes, it must be plain. Yogurt that has already been flavored will not provide an adequate culture due to the sweetener and other stuff in it. Comes out slimy.) powdered yogurt or kefir cultures you can buy at healthfood stores, or actual kefir grains which is what I use. Just tip them in to the top of the plain yogurt mixture before processing.
I have made a lot of yogurt that I flavored before processing and the texture just isn't as good. For that reason, I highly recommend you wait until you eat the yogurt to flavor it. We use vanilla splenda. (Splenda that sits in a jar with a vanilla bean and periodically gets shaken.)
I strongly encourage a yogurt maker, as they keep temperature in the proper range automatically and require zero effort. I bought mine at bedbathandbeyond for around $30 and it's worth it, I promise. If you're pinching pennies or just starting out making your own yogurt and are not sure you can commit, some instructions for making yogurt can be found at http://chetday.com/howtomakeyogurt.htm As always, if you have questions, leave a comment and I can try to help you trouble shoot.
1/2 cup instant powdered milk
Combine in large saucepan and heat to almost boiling. DO NOT boil the milk. When it starts to get those little bubbles around the edges, it's ready. Remove it from the heat.
Let the mixture cool to around 80 degrees. (This is so you don't scare off your culture.) Then add whatever culture you want to use. For those of you who may be confused at this point, some examples of culture include some pre-made plain yogurt (yes, it must be plain. Yogurt that has already been flavored will not provide an adequate culture due to the sweetener and other stuff in it. Comes out slimy.) powdered yogurt or kefir cultures you can buy at healthfood stores, or actual kefir grains which is what I use. Just tip them in to the top of the plain yogurt mixture before processing.
I have made a lot of yogurt that I flavored before processing and the texture just isn't as good. For that reason, I highly recommend you wait until you eat the yogurt to flavor it. We use vanilla splenda. (Splenda that sits in a jar with a vanilla bean and periodically gets shaken.)
I strongly encourage a yogurt maker, as they keep temperature in the proper range automatically and require zero effort. I bought mine at bedbathandbeyond for around $30 and it's worth it, I promise. If you're pinching pennies or just starting out making your own yogurt and are not sure you can commit, some instructions for making yogurt can be found at http://chetday.com/howtomakeyogurt.htm As always, if you have questions, leave a comment and I can try to help you trouble shoot.
Wheat Bread
In large glass measuring cup or bowl, let the following ingredients proof for about 10 minutes until yeast is activated well.
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs yeast
5 cups warm water
Be careful not to get the water too hot or the yeast will die, too cold and it won't activate. Generally accepted temperature I think is somewhere between 80 and 98 degrees. Take that for what it's worth.;) In the meantime, in large mixing bowl combine the following dry ingredients.
1/2 cup wheat gluten
1/2 cup milled flax (you can use wheat bran instead if you like. I just like the flax better.)
2 cups dry oats of any kind (old fashioned and quick oats work equally well)
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
Mix in the yeast mixture and stir well. Then add:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbs salt
1/2 cup honey (you can use granulated sugar instead, just add it with the dry ingredients above)
Stir well. Add 5-6 cups white flour until dough is firm but still fairly sticky. Let raise one hour and punch down. Let raise another hour, then punch down and form four loaves. Let the loaves raise to however big you want them, then cook at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
A tip: it stays moister in the freezer if you cook for the lower end of the time. It has more of a soft, store bread consistency and the crust doesn't tend to get as hard. I will tell you also that I've worked with this recipe at least every other week for over a year now, and the flax and the honey combination is really what makes it hold up in our freezer the best. That may not work for you, but it does for us. I greatly encourage experimentation. If you run into problems, leave me a comment and I'll see if I have any bread making wisdom to share.
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs yeast
5 cups warm water
Be careful not to get the water too hot or the yeast will die, too cold and it won't activate. Generally accepted temperature I think is somewhere between 80 and 98 degrees. Take that for what it's worth.;) In the meantime, in large mixing bowl combine the following dry ingredients.
1/2 cup wheat gluten
1/2 cup milled flax (you can use wheat bran instead if you like. I just like the flax better.)
2 cups dry oats of any kind (old fashioned and quick oats work equally well)
2 cups wheat flour
1 cup white flour
Mix in the yeast mixture and stir well. Then add:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbs salt
1/2 cup honey (you can use granulated sugar instead, just add it with the dry ingredients above)
Stir well. Add 5-6 cups white flour until dough is firm but still fairly sticky. Let raise one hour and punch down. Let raise another hour, then punch down and form four loaves. Let the loaves raise to however big you want them, then cook at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
A tip: it stays moister in the freezer if you cook for the lower end of the time. It has more of a soft, store bread consistency and the crust doesn't tend to get as hard. I will tell you also that I've worked with this recipe at least every other week for over a year now, and the flax and the honey combination is really what makes it hold up in our freezer the best. That may not work for you, but it does for us. I greatly encourage experimentation. If you run into problems, leave me a comment and I'll see if I have any bread making wisdom to share.
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