Chicken Salad Pasta

Serves 36 People

12 chicken breast 

1 can of cashews

1 bunch of red grapes halved

3 cups of celery chopped finely

1 cup mayonnaise

1 cup miracle whip

1 tbsp. lemon juice

3 to 4 shakes of curry powder

½ cup of sugar (or to taste)

1/8 to ¼ cup of cream to thin to right consistency

1. Boil the chicken in 4 cups of water with onion, celery ends, salt and pepper. Cut chicken in bite sized pieces and spread chicken on big piece of tin foil. Season chicken and celery with salt, pepper and onion salt until desired flavor. (This is an important step for the flavor of the salad)
2. In a separate bowl combine mayonnaise and miracle whip, sugar, and curry powder. Thin with lemon juice and cream. Dump chicken and celery in bowl and chill. Just before serving stir in grapes and cashews.
3. 2 boxes of bowtie pasta (may need to add more dressing) mix in before chill.  

Courtesy of Kim Matthews

Brown Rice with Grilled Vegetables

Yield: 6
Prep Time: 10 min.
Cook Time: 20 min. (not including rice)
Total Time: 30 min

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups of brown rice, cooked per instructions
Cooking spray
2 thick slices of red onion
1 baby red bell pepper, sliced
1 baby orange bell pepper, sliced
Handful of mushrooms, quartered
1 zucchini, cut into spears
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Soy sauce, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Cook the rice per instructions; set aside.
Heat a grill pan over medium high heat then coat it with cooking spray. Place the veggies into the grill pan and let them sit for 4-5 minutes before flipping. Cook for another 3-4 minutes then remove from the pan. Let the vegetables cool a bit before dicing them up.
If you use leftover rice, heat the rice in the microwave. Place the rice into a large mixing bowl then add the grilled veggies, sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, and garlic powder, to taste. Toss well then taste; re-season if needed. Serve with a drizzle of soy sauce. Enjoy.

Recipe and photos by For the Love of Cooking.net

Courtesy of: For the Love of Cooking

Misti's Sugar Cookies

My sister-in-law makes the best sugar cookies so I finally asked her for the recipe, maybe one day mine will turn out close to what her's do.

Best Sugar Cookies

1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
-cream-
Add 3 eggs
-cream-
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice or lemon zest
3 1/2 c. flour(can add up to two more cups depending on texture)

Mix together. Bake at 375' for 6-8 minutes. I like mine more soft...so I only bake them for six.

Courtesy of: Misti Stoddard

Homemade No Bake Granola Bars

I got this recipe while participating in an 8 week weight loss challenge of which I lost by 1% to my friend Jessica Harvey. We absolutely love these and especially how healthy they are.

2 C Oats
1 ½ C Unsweetened Coconut (bulk section at Good Earth or Winco)
½ C Uncooked, multigrain hot cereal (bulk section)
1 ½ C nuts and seeds (whatever you have on hand i.e. almonds, cashews, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, Chia Seeds)
1 ½ C dried fruit and/or chocolate chips (I used sugar-free chocolate)
¾ C honey or agave
1 ¼ C Peanut Butter and /or almond butter
Cinnamon and vanilla to taste (optional)

Mix it all together and press into a 9x13 pan and refrigerate.

Courtesy of: Mackenzi Smith

Homemade BBQ Sauce

1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and whisk well to dissolve the sugar. Place in a squeeze bottle and dress the pulled pork sandwiches to taste.

Yield: about 2 cups

Courtesy of: www.foodnetwork.com

Injection Liquid

3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce


Courtesy of: Food.com

Marinara Sauce

I recieved this recipe the summer of 2011 from a neighbor, Melissa, who was canning it. My husband thought this recipe was amazing so we proceeded to can this sauce and have loved every bite of it. The recipe orginally came from Mat Mcbride who also lives in the neighborhood and he received it while on his mission in Italy.

This recipe is to fill one stock pot full of sauce

Tomatoes, run them through a juice press to get rid of the seeds and skins. (Roma are best but whatever you have works.

Sautee onions, garlic in the butter until the onions are translucent.
1 1/2 - 2 Yellow or White onions
2 Tbls garlic
2 Tbls butter
2 Tbls basil
2 Tbls oregano
Balsamic Vinegar, Swirl in pan 2 times.

Boil down to half and the sauce is thick and the water has boiled out. You will need to stir periodically and be aware this will make a mess as it splatters, so you might want a shield for your pan. A lid works for a while but as it gets closer to half you need to take the lid off so the moisture leaves.

Add 1 1/2 tsp Salt and 1 Tbls Sugar to taste, add more until it doesn't taste earthy.

Eat an enjoy or fill jars and process in a canner.