A Few Of My Favorites

This makes the perfect dip to serve at a tailgate!

CAROLINA CAVIAR

2 (16 oz.) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed, drained
1 (10 oz.) can white shoe peg corn, drained
1 large  firm tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
4 scallions, chopped
(16 oz.) bottle  Italian salad dressing

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl. Add the salad dressing and toss gently; cover. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!

A Few Of My Favorites

This casserole is super easy to make and is very yummy.  I love taking this meal to new parents.  All they have to do is pop it in the oven for 30 minutes and then it's good to go.  The leftovers are wonderful too!

  source

* I've made this three times since I originally wrote this post, but keep forgetting to take pictures before we devour it - that's how good it is!  


POPPY SEED CHICKEN

5-6 chicken breasts
1 cup sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup   
1/3 cup poppy seeds
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crumbled
1 stick butter, melted

Cook chicken, remove from bone, and shred into bite-sized pieces.

Mix the chicken, sour cream and cream of chicken soup together.  Turn into a 9 x 12 inch casserole.  Mix crushed crackers, poppy seeds and butter together and sprinkle over the top.  Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

A Few Of My Favorites

I have a few "go-to" recipes that seem to appear at all big meals we have.  A few people have requested the recipes, so I thought I would start posting "a few of my favorites" every once in a while on the blog.  Both of the recipes featured below are easy to make and are always crowd-pleasers. 

 Thanksgiving 2009

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

2 cups pretzels, crushed
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
1 (16-oz) carton Cool Whip
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese
1 cup sugar
2 (3-oz) packages strawberry Jello
2 cups boiling water
2 (10-oz) packages frozen sliced strawberries

Mix the pretzels, sugar and butter together and pat into a 9 x 11 pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Set aside to cool.  Mix the Cool Whip, 1 cup sugar and cream cheese together and pour over cooled pretzel crust.  Combine the gelatin and boiling water.  Stir until gelatin dissolves.  Add strawberries.  Let set slightly, then pour over cheese mixture.  Refrigerate until firm.


PINEAPPLE CASSEROLE

2 (20-oz) cans pineapple tidbits
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick butter, melted
1 roll Ritz Cracker crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Drain pineapple, reserving 3 tablespoons juice.  Combine sugar and flour.  Stir in juice.  Add cheese and pineapple mixing well.  Spoon into buttered 1 ½ qt. casserole.  Combine butter and cracker crumbs and sprinkle over pineapple.  Bake uncovered 20 – 30 minutes or until crumbs are lightly browned.


Also, I couldn't resist posting this photo.  This little guy sure has gotten big!

 Thanksgiving 2009

Up next: Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole

Weekend Fun

For the first time in a long time, we didn't travel anywhere this weekend.  We stayed home and had a great time!

Friday, after work, we picked up pizza from our favorite place in the northeast, Pontiac Pizza, and made a quick stop by Lowe's!  We're planning to stain our concrete patio slab and have been researching some different options.

Saturday morning, after a trip to Sherwin Williams to see what they had for concrete staining, we headed back home and were met by Nanette for lunch.  Parker had fun reading some books and showing off his new animal sounds.  I believe the sound he is making below is "Baaaa."

I pulled out the sewing machine Saturday afternoon.  After about two hours of trying to remember how to thread the bobbin, I tried to tackle an apron.   Here are the results:

...not bad, but I learned a few things for the next one I make.



We joined some friends for a barbeque Saturday evening and had a great time.  I didn't have my camera - but Parker was one worn out little boy from all the playing he did! 

With my new apron tied on, I made Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas for lunch on Sunday.  Well, I did the preparing, Jon did the grilling!  They weren't very complicated and they were super yummy.  I also made some pineapple mango salsa to go along with it.  We'll definitely be having these again soon.

 

Vacation Bible School kicked off last night with an ice cream social.  Parker isn't quite old enough to participate, but he had fun dancing around to the VBS songs.  We plan to go throughout the week to help out!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Delicious, Easy and Fun!

-Baste pre-cooked pizza dough with 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce.

-Mix 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken with 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce.
(I shredded two chicken breasts that had been cooking in the Crock-pot throughout the day).

-Pour that mixture over the dough.

-Top with sliced red onion, cilantro/parsley and Monterry Jack shredded cheese.

-Bake until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly (approximately 15 minutes).

Enjoy with a nice glass of red vino!


Haven't quite gotten the food photography down yet...I'll keep working on that.