Ultimate Chicken Salad

 Summer snuck up on us and surprised us with limitless options for fun and exploring. One of our favorite things to do is have little picnics and pack sandwiches. A few weeks ago I felt a little miffed because we ran out of lunch meat and I wasn't sure what to throw in the cooler to eat on our picnic. All I could find in the fridge was leftover chicken breast from grilling the night before so I created this recipe. Since our family loves it so much I thought the only thing left to do was share it! I also made it with leftover roast beef instead of the chicken and my father-in-law said it was delicious!

Just be warned- I am a little picky so I tried to share exactly what I used.

Ultimate Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, marinated with Daddy Hinkle's Original Instant Meat Marinade and grilled over charcoal, cooled, and cubed into about 1/4" cubes
• 5 large boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 C cheese, cut into 1/4" cubes
• 4 Claussen pickle spears, pureed with approximately 1/4 C sugar
• 1 to 1 1/4 C Miracle Whip
• Approximately 2 T mustard

After you grill your chicken, immediately wrap it in tin foil to lock in the juices. Put the chicken in the fridge and start boiling your eggs. Once the eggs are done and cooled back down a little bit start chopping the chicken, eggs, and cheese. Throw it in a large bowl. Puree the pickles and sugar (I used my Magic Bullet). Put all the ingredients into the bowl and just stir it all up and you're set for sandwiches!

If you don't know me very well, then I will clear one thing up- I hate gas grills. I think they are so disgusting and if you're gonna cut corners like that you may as well cook your food inside on the stove. No one has ever successfully convinced me otherwise. I love charcoal grilling. It is simply the only way to go.

Obnoxiously Rich Chocolate Cake

Every now and then I make something that is so naughty I just have to share. Today I made my own spin on the Black Magic Cake off allrecipes.com. I cut the recipe in half and then baked it in a pie pan. Once it completely cooled, I flipped it onto a platter and added my own frosting.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1 block cream cheese at room temp

3 T coco powder

1 1/2 c powdered sugar

1T lemon juice

3-4 T milk

1 tsp real vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients with a mixer on high for 3-4 minutes. Adjust the amount of milk according to the texture you want your frosting. 

Smear the frosting all over your cake, top with rasberries, and drizzle with melted dark choclate. Refrigerate and serve cold!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 C softened butter

3/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 C vegetable oil 

2 C flour

2 tsp corn starch

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 T coco powder

1 1/2 C chocolate chips

1/2 C chopped walnuts 

•Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

•Cream the butter and sugars. Next add your vanilla and egg and mix well. Then add in the vegetable oil. 

•Next you can either combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl, or do like I do and just put all the dry ingredients on top and then use your beaters to just stir it around before turning it on to mix it all in. 

•Mix well.

•Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts and using a large cookie scoop place the dough on a lined air-bake cookie sheet. 

•Bake the cookies for 12 minutes and allow them to cool before eating. 

With a large cookie scoop you will have around 15 cookies.

(I don't even buy parchment paper anymore- you can get reusable liners almost anywhere these days! I found mine on amazon for around $6 and with my prime account I didn't even pay shipping!)

BLT on Steroids

Just a little food post.

I love food. All things food. Yesterday my husband wanted a BLT for lunch, but I wanted more so I started with a little bacon from Kansas Premium Meats over in Belvue. 

I threw the bacon in the oven and threw some bread on the griddle to get perfectly crisp. 

A little Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoe is always wonderful, but I decided to amp mine up by throwing some sauté'd shallots and mushrooms on top! 

You'll need a fork to eat this monster, but man is it worth it!

Easy Chicken and Avocado Burritos

I wasn't in much of a cooking mood again tonight so I threw together some easy chicken burritos.

1.25 lbs of organic chicken 

2 small avocados, sliced

1/2 can black beans, rinsed

1/2 can whole sweet corn

2 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2-3 T sliced chives 

5-6 burrito sized tortilla shells

Sour cream & salsa

After I cooked the chicken I sliced it up and then just threw a bit of each filling into a tortilla shell and then wrapped them up and put them on a 9x13 baking dish. I added a little more cheese and some chives to the top before baking at 350 for about 20 minutes. I stuffed mine pretty well and ended up with 5 burritos. Before we ate them we added sour cream and salsa! Simple and quick!

Fresh Veggies for Lunch

I recently began only eating vegetables I have purchased from the local market or grow myself. I haven't had the opportunity to explore growing all year in a green house so right now I am limited to what they have stocked at the Eastside Market in Manhattan.

I threw together a mess of vegetables last week inspired by a spread in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine that consisted of whole carrots, asparagus, pearl onions, oversized mushrooms, sliced garlic, parsley, & rosemary. I started with extra-virgin olive oil and put the carrots in while I prepped the rest of the vegetables. Then I tossed it all in and let it cook for a few minutes. Last week I topped it with salt, pepper, and a bunch of freshly grated Parmesan. What a rare treat that was because I'm used to eating whatever toddler food is left on the kids' plates after lunch is finished. Waste not, want not.

This week I used the same veggies except I subbed shallots for the pearl onions. Then at the end I put a generous amount of honey and a bit of soy sauce right at the end and shook it up to coat then placed the pan to the side for a few minutes while tended to a rather foul smelling diaper. Mommy-duties call...

I am obsessed with this particular mix of vegetables and today's version was so delicious! 

Variegated Chunky Yarn

My sister and I were talking about yarn yesterday. She bought a fun, variegated, chunky yarn to make a scarf for a friend. She has tried a few knitting patterns and cant seem to love any of them. I had this problem a few weeks ago when I wanted to knit a scarf with the yarn shown above. I had invested about $80 in this yarn and I wanted the scarf to look amazing. I tried knitting several different stitches, but it seemed like the stitches were so small that they took away from the beauty of the different colors. 

Finally I pulled out a crochet hook and just crocheted it length wise in a half-double-crochet (HDC or hdc). I was amazed it worked and it is lovely. I am trying to convince my sister to get a crochet hook and start crocheting again. See, back in high school we both used to crochet, but she was always so much better at it. She had a very even, consistent hand whereas mine was literally a mess. Ah, how the tables have turned. After a few years of practice, I mastered crocheting even and beautifully. Now to convince her to get back to it with her naturally beautiful crocheting skills...