Yummy Homemade Chunky Chicken Salad

As I was home for lunch, I literally threw together some very delicious homemade chicken salad and served it on toasted bread.

I used about 1 1/2 cups of leftover rotisserie chicken, some diced pickles, chopped green onions (2), and maybe a 1/2 cup of mayo.  I salted and peppered to my taste.  And it was tasty.

To add a little zip to the flavor, I added about a tsp of dill pickle juice and one pack of a Stevia based sweetener.  I think this really brightened up the flavor.

It’s a great way to use up leftover rotisserie chicken and it was quick and easy, too!

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Buffalo Chicken Dip

This creamy, tangy dip with a kick tastes a lot like Buffalo Chicken Wings.

I usually serve with corn chips or tortilla chips, but it’s great served warm with crackers and celery sticks.

It’s kinda spicy for some folks, but the delicious flavor keeps’em coming back for more!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

6 chicken tenderloins, cooked and shredded
2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing (I made my own)
3/4 cup pepper sauce (*see below)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat shredded chicken and hot sauce in a large pot over medium heat, until heated through.  Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing.  Cook, stirring until well blended and warm.

Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover and cook on low setting until hot and bubbly.  Serve with celery sticks and crackers, corn chips, or tortilla chips.

* I used Louisianna brand hot sauce:

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This is the birthday of a special lady…my Aunt Mary.

Love and miss her very much!

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Here’s some great low carb dishes that are just perfect for Cinco de Mayo!

(Click on the pictures to go to the recipe.)

Enchiladas

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Beefy Rotel Cheese Dip

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Chiles Rellenos Casserole

Enjoy!

It’s Opening Day!

This is such an exciting time!

I’m rewriting a previous post I did on Spring Training

a couple of years ago.

Hope that’s okay.  Nothing has changed.

I’m still a big-time Cardinal Fan!  :)

This has got to be my favorite time of year.

The weather is starting to warm up some, buttercups begin to bloom, and Cardinal Baseball is on the air.  That lets me know that baseball season and summer time is just around the corner.

Almost every evening is spent in the kitchen preparing dinner and cleaning up while listening to a Cardinal baseball game.  After my shower, hair still up in a towel, it’s off to the porch swing with a glass of iced tea to enjoy the warm summer evening and listen to Mike Shannon call the play-by-play on the radio.

So whether you’re cheering for the Yankees, the Cubs, or the Cardinals, or whichever MLB team…sit back, relax, grab a hotdog and let Spring Training begin!

Another BIG Cardinal fan was my late father-in-law, Freddie “Papa” Golden.  Every evening you’d find him sitting in his bedroom or the darkened dining room with the radio turned down low listening to the Cardinals play.

Grandma would come through and fuss at him.  She didn’t like his attention to be on the ballgame instead of her!  ;)  Grandma misses him today.  I’m sure if she could turn back time, she’d let him enjoy those few hours that gave him so much pleasure.

Love and miss you, Papa!

Papa & Grandma Golden

 

Who’s YOUR team?  :D

 

Warm Cream Cheese and Bacon Spread

This has become one of our favorite cream cheese spreads.

Full of flavor, it is a tasty and quick party or anytime appetizer!

Warm Cream Cheese and Bacon Spread

2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

8 slices crisp bacon, crumbled

3 green onions, diced

1 T ranch dip mix

Heat and soften the cream cheese in the microwave on 70% power.  Mix softened cream cheese and mayo together with electric mixer.

Add all other ingredients and mix by hand.

Shape into 1 large or 2 small cheese balls and refrigerate for about 3-4 hours or serve warm with your favorite crackers, chips, or veggies.

One Saturday my girls had a friend over and we had an appetizer lunch.

It felt like we were having a party!

We had Pizza Rolls, Party Meatballs, Warm Cream Cheese and Bacon Spread, and fresh fruit.  It was delicious and hit the spot!

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For low carbers…serve the cheese spread with Almond Thins.

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I’m joining the parties over at

 

Bacon-Wrapped Lil’ Smokies

Yum, yum!  When I saw these on 2 different sites, I just had to make me some!  Anything wrapped in bacon…can it get any better?!

When these came out of the oven, I had to share!  So I quickly snapped a shot with my cell phone and uploaded it even quicker!

Make these and soon.

I made them like my friend, Grace, but since I didn’t have the Sugar Twin Brown Sugar (she’s right! it is very hard to find!), I used Splenda and added some spices…like garlic powder, bbq seasoning, and some Cajun seasoning I had on hand.

These would be great for a Super Bowl Party! or have them for breakfast with a low carb biscuit and cuppa Joe, like me.

Happy Sunday to you all!

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Holiday Candy and Cookie Trays

Happy New Year!

And Happy Birthday to me!

Yesterday I turned another year older.

Since I was so busy over the holidays, I didn’t get to share with

you the holiday candy and cookie trays I made for my family

and friends.   Here’s just a few that I sent out.

Peanut Butter Balls, Coconut Macaroons, Peanut Butter Fudge

(I used my PB Fudge recipe and added 3 tablespoons of cocoa)

Nut Crescent Cookies (recipe below)

Coconut Macaroon, Choco Chip Oatmeal Bars,

Peanut Butter Balls, Peanut Butter Fudge,

White Chocolate Dipped Pretzels,

& Applesauce Nut Cake

(same items as above)

Hello Dollies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

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Here’s the recipe for the cookies:

Nut Crescent Cookies

• 1/2 cup unsalted softened butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground nuts (I used walnuts and pecans)
• dash salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• confectioners’ sugar

 

Preheat oven to 325°. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar.  Mix in flour, walnuts, salt, and vanilla to make a smooth dough.  Roll into balls and shape into crescents.  (I also flattened some into round cookies.)

Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheets for about 8-11 minutes, or until just set.  Let stand for 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool.

Dredge in or sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.  Keep in air-proof container.  Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

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Over the next few days I’ll be sharing some other dishes I made over the holidays.  Some will be low carb, others not so low carb, but my plans are to go back to the low carb lifestyle full time.  I just feel better that way.

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My family doesn’t eat low carb and insists on the old fashioned Southern-style dishes and desserts that I make on occasion.  So be sure and stop by soon as I’m sure there’s a recipe coming up soon that you’ll enjoy.

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Also this year, I want to focus more on things other than food and recipes.  My daughters want to their rooms redecorated and there’s some ideas I have for redecorating my kitchen that I’ll be sharing.

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Another goal I have this year is to exercise at least 4 times weekly.  I have started walking in the evenings and I want to continue to do that as well as adding some light weight lifting and stretching.  So I may be sharing these updates as well.

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Once again, Happy New Year to you and yours!

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Cuban Sandwich? Hot Ham?

I saw a recipe for a Cuban sandwich the other day and it looked

so good!  I thought I’ve just got to make one of those,

so one day while home on lunch I threw

this together.  It was quite tasty and I will be

making this again soon.

As usual, there is a twist.  My mom always laughed at me ’cause if

I don’t have it, I’ll substitute something for it!  :)

This sandwich is made using my low carb biscuit for the bread

and unfortunately I had no pork roast, so maybe I should

just call this a Hot Ham Sandwich?!

I really didn’t use a recipe (but I will give you a link at the end)

and used more of a process, so I will overwhelm you

with pics and how I did made it.

I thought the sandwich photographed nicely and I couldn’t

chose just one picture to share, so that’s why I’ve posted

several different angles here.

I made up my biscuit dough and actually fried it up like a pancake.

It made 2 good size pancakes or fried bread.

I sliced one of the “pancakes”  into and flipped it over and spread

mayo on both “crusts” of the bread.  I then layered

sliced ham, cheese, and pickles, sprinkled with sea salt and

smokehouse pepper and assembled the sandwich.  I proceeded to

spread with butter and toast on both sides since I don’t own

a sandwich press.  Yummo!

It was great as a quick lunch.  Also, this sandwich would make a

great party appetizer when cut into smaller pieces

or served along with soup would be dinner!

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Here’s more on the Cuban Sandwich:

Celebrate Cuban

Taste of Cuba

Latin Food at About dot Com

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Partying over at:

7 Layer Taco Dip and Party food!

My youngest turned 12 on Valentine’s Day.

We had already passed out party invitations for Saturday, when I found out my mom would be having emergency surgery on her broken hip on Saturday morning.

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Mom came through the surgery just fine!  We are so thankful.

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I spent my morning at the hospital with her and around lunch quickly ran home and started getting the party food together.

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I had already planned the menu along with Brooklyn and we had everything ready to go.  My hubby made the Tuna Sandwiches while I was at the hospital and Brooklyn made the Ham Rolls the night before.

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Everything turned out to be delicious!

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Our Menu:

Cocktail Weiners

7 Layer Mexican Dip and chips

Tuna Sandwiches

Ham Rolls (will share recipe soon)

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (these were yummy!)

Skillet Cake with pourable Chocolate Icing

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So on to the 7 Layer Mexican Dip recipe!

This is my first time making it and believe me, I will make it again!

Combine the refried beans and taco seasoning.  Spread on a large plate or tray.

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Spread the combined sour cream and cream cheese over the bean layer.

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Spread the combined salsa or picante sauce ove the cream cheese/sour cream layer.

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Spread shredded lettuce over the salsa layer.

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Finally, top with shredded cheese and chopped green onions.  Grab some chips and dig in!

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7 Layer Mexican Dip

1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix

 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (16 ounce) container sour cream

1 (16 ounce) jar salsa or picante sauce

1 bunch chopped green onions

1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded

2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained (optional)

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In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.

Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.

Top the layers with salsa or picante sauce.  Place a layer of lettuce over sauce and top with Cheddar cheese and chopped onions.  Optional: Garnish with black olives.

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Super Bowl Party Time!

If you’re planning a Super Bowl Party, here’s some great recipes to get you started.

Whether it’s burgers, wings, chips and dip, cake, brownies…lots of great recipes can be found online.

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Below are some of my favorites places:

The Pioneer Woman Cooking

Tasty Kitchen

About’s Super Bowl recipes and Party Tips

Deep South Dish

Taste of Home Super Bowl Recipes

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No matter what you make, enjoy the game, family and friends and may the best team win!!!

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Glazed Applesauce Pecan Snack Cake (no eggs)

Being blessed with several containers of applesauce,

I went in search of an easy applesauce cake or bread recipe.

I’m all about easy and quick recipes.

I like to know there’s something yummy

baking in the oven

while I’m surfing the web or working

on my ever-growing

pile of laundry,

but I don’t want to spend a lot of time

on a recipe with tons of ingredients

that I probably

don’t have anyway.

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Yesterday the girls and my hubby went sledding (again!)

and so I decided to use

up some of

the applesauce I’d been blessed with.

I thought it’d be nice to

come home to a warm house

smelling like sugar and cinnamon.

I found an easy  recipe here

and  tweaked it

according to my preferences.

The result was wonderful!

(That’s right – no eggs!)

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Quick. Simple. Easy.

Here’s my tweaked version.  Make it soon!

Glazed Applesauce Pecan Snack Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

pecan pieces, optional

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Preheat oven to 350º.   Grease and flour a 9 inch square baking dish.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Dissolve baking soda into applesauce and mix into creamed butter.  Add flour mixture. Mix until smooth.

Pour batter into prepared dish.  Sprinkle pecan pieces over cake batter.  Bake at 350º for 30 -40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 T milk

2 T melted butter

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Mix together and drizzle over slightly cooled cake.

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CLICK  FOR PRINTABLE RECIPE

Beefy Rotel Cheese Dip and Chips

Beefy Rotel Cheese Dip

1 lb Velveeta

1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup prepared taco or chili flavored ground beef

In microwave safe bowl, add cheese and Rotel tomatoes.  Nuke until cheese is fully melted, stirring once or twice.  Remove from microwave and add sour cream.  Stir; then add the cooked ground beef.  Serve with your choice of chips or other dipper.

Chips shown in pic above: Fried low carb tortilla triangles.  Frying them instead of baking them made them crispier.  I cut the tortillas into chip size triangles as best as I could, then pan-fried in about a 1/2″ of oil until golden brown.  As I drained them on paper towels, I sprinkled with a touch of salt.

Enchiladas for everyone!

These are made using low carb tortillas.  No non-low carbers complained.  This is a very tasty dish and higher carb low carb treat. 

I followed no particular recipe, just tried to use lower carb ingredients. 

Enchiladas

Ground Beef

Enchilada seasoning

Enchilada sauce or crushed tomatoes

diced onion

Low Carb tortillas

Mexican blend cheese, shredded

Brown the ground beef and onion.  Drain; add the enchilada seasonings and sauce (follow package instructions if using a prepackaged seasoning blend).  Simmer beef mixture.  Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of beef into tortillas, roll up, place into 9 x 13 dish, sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake at 375 º until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

For the Enchiladas with a side of Caesar Salad, Lime, Avocado, Rotel Cheese dip and LC baked tortilla chips, see my low carb page here.

Grilled Burgers and Spicy Fries

My Grillmaster lights the grill once again! 

It was a weeknight and I was wanting a simple supper, something that didn’t involve messing up a bunch of mixing bowls, pots and pans, and dinner plates.  I didn’t feel like the clean-up. 

So I picked up some burgers, already pre-formed!  I was looking for easy, too.   I glanced at the prices of the french fries in the freezer section and remembered the half bag of whole potatoes I had at home just waiting to be turned into delicious homemade fries.

As I went through my mental list at the grocery, I picked up some buns, a Vidalia onion, some iceburg lettuce (I know), and some hamburger sliced dill pickles, our favorite. 

When we arrived home, my Grillmaster set about preparing the grill…charcoal only for him.   I prepared the condiments for the burgers and my youngest daughter scrubbed and helped slice the potatoes for the fries.

What a meal!  I took my mom (who is fighting cancer, on a bunch of meds, and nothing tastes good) a burger.  She ate half of it and declared it was the tenderest grilled burger she’d ever had.

I know the cheese is not melted.  Poor fellow, I forgot to give it to him and it never entered his mind to put some cheese on the burgers those last few seconds on the grill.  So when he brought them in, I took a few of the hottest ones and threw some cheese on them.  

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TIP: When we light the grill, we usually do enough meat and veggies for more than one meal.  This night we grilled a huge pack of barbequed chicken legs and some deer tenderloin wrapped with bacon to have another time.  Leftover grilled goodies make for a quick and easy lunch!

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Deer Tenderloin

My Grillmaster is at it again!  This time it’s one of his specialties, wild game. 

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Grilled Bacon Wrapped Deer Tenderloin

 

1 lb bacon

1 deer tenderloin, sliced

1 bottle Worchestershire sauce

1 T garlic

1 T lemon pepper

 

Marinate sliced tenderloin in Worchestershire sauce, garlic, lemon pepper for 4 hours or even overnight.  Remove slices from marinade, wrap with 1/2 a slice of bacon and grill over hot coals until done, 8-10 minutes per side.  Serve with a green salad and warm buttered rolls.

 

Optional marinade:  Teriyaki sauce, yum!

 

Tip: If you run out of bacon, skewer the rest of the deer meat with sliced veggies for kebabs.