Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I was at a friends house and she made us these amazing chicken salad sandwiches. I love chicken salad and have compiled several favorite recipes . My friend put them on croissants but I did not have any when I made it for my family, so I used the sandwich thins.

Chicken Salad

1-2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cooked, cooled and cubed
1/3 c. mayonnaise
1 t. mustard
9-12 red seedless grapes, halved
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
Dash of Mrs. Dash seasoning
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve on bread of choice.


Tips:

-I like to buy the big packages of chicken breasts on the bone and cook them in the oven with the skin still on and seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil. I bake them at 375 degrees F. for about 30 minutes or until the meat is not pink in the middle anymore. I let them cool and peel the meat off the bone for salads and freeze the remaining breasts in a freezer bag until I want to make another chicken salad. The chicken tends to stay more moist on the bone and I can reheat them in minutes to make another salad.

-I use Dijon mustard for this recipe but I am sure you can use whatever your family likes.

-The pecans are optional. If you are allergic or simply do not like them omit.

-Season to taste. If you like more Mrs. Dash add more. This recipe is pretty flexible.

Ham and Cheese Roll-ups

One night I was looking in the refrigerator for something to make my family that I thought they would eat.
(I do this a lot in the summer because I don't tend to cook as much due to the heat and because I would rather be doing something else. :) )
I glanced around and saw crescent rolls, ham and cheese and thought quick and easy ham and cheese sandwiches.

So super easy and the kids all liked them. I am sure someone out there has done the same thing a million times, but for us it was a first.

Ham and Cheese Rollups

1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
8 slices ham
4 slices Swiss cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Unroll rolls and pull apart. Cut ham and cheese in half crosswise and place on rolls. Roll up just like you would if making the rolls alone. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

Tips:

-Make extra and serve with a dipping sauce for parties.
-Place a small amount of mustard inside the rolls before rolling to give them tang.

Hawaiian Chicken

My parents brought this recipe back from Hawaii when they went 18 years ago. I remember they loved it so much and made it so often that we all got tired of it. But now that 18 years have passed I love it again. It is the perfect summer dish. And it can be baked in the oven in the winter if you are craving a dish to liven up the table. Served with fresh fruit and rice it is so wonderful. A nice salad goes well too.

Hawaiian Chicken

Chicken thighs and legs
1 c. pineapple juice
1/2 c. Dijon mustard
3/4 c. honey
1/4 c. water
2 T. cornstarch
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place chicken on large baking sheet. Salt and pepper lightly. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in oven for 2 hours. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Remove foil and peel skin off of the chicken.
While chicken is cooling preheat grill. Combine pineapple juice, honey and mustard in sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add slowly to mixture in pan. Stir constantly until the cornstarch has cooked in completely. Place cooked chicken on the grill and brush with pineapple Dijon glaze. Turn over after about 4-5 minutes and brush on the glaze again. Continue to heat for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve hot. Serve extra glaze on the side for guests to put more on or add to their rice.

Tips:

-If you are baking, do not precook the chicken. Instead, marinate in glaze for about an hour and then cook in 350 oven for 20-25 minutes until chicken is done.

-If you like the chicken skin you do not have to remove it. We prefer not to eat it and if you leave it on and then glaze, the flavor goes with the skin when you peel it off later.

-The glaze will be very thick. Keep stirring or it will stick to the bottom.
You will know the cornstarch has cooked in when the sauce no longer looks milky.

-You can cook the chicken on the grill but do not brush the glaze on until the end of cooking. The honey and pineapple juice in the glaze will make it burn.

-Precooking a the low temperature with the foil keeps the chicken nice and juicy and allows the skin to act as a natural moisture retainer. Then you can peel it off for the final heating on the grill and you do not have to worry about flare ups on the grill from the grease and your chicken will be done and not dry.

Cherry Cheese Cupcakes

For the Fourth of July we had a BBQ at our house and I wanted to make a treat. I saw all over the blogs these amazing cupcakes. So I thought I would follow suit and make cupcakes for our get together. In college, I went to a graduation party and they served this wonderful sheet cake. It was a white cake with a fluffy icing and cherry pie filling. So yummy. I asked my friend for the recipe and thought these would be perfect because they are red and white. And I could easily turn it into cupcakes.

Cherry Cheese Cupcakes

1 box white cake mix and ingredients to make the cake

2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

4 c. powdered sugar

16 oz. cool-whip topping

1 can cherry pie filling

Prepare cupcake pans and make cake mix according to package directions. Bake cupcakes and allow to cool.

Combine cream cheese and sugar. Mix until it is light and fluffy. Gently fold in the cool-whip. Using a butter knife cut a small x in the top of the cupcakes. Fill cupcakes using a decorator's tip and piping bag or plastic bag, push tip into x and squeezing filling in. Frost cupcakes and top with a couple cherries.

Tips:

-For the Fourth of July I wanted red and blue too. So I colored some of the batter blue and red. I used the paste food coloring so the consistency of the batter was not altered.

-We had a lot of kids coming so I also made mini cupcakes and filled them the same. Each got one cherry and they were perfect for little hands.

-To make this a sheet cake bake the cake in a large sheet pan for 20 minutes and let cool. Spread frosting and top with the pie filling.

-I can imagine that these would be wonderful with fresh strawberries, raspberries or blueberries instead of the pie filling. Any of those pie fillings would also be delicious too.

Monster Cookies

When my husband was in PT school, we made some great friends with another couple and she is a great cook. She taught me so many things. I am so grateful to her for all she imparted. One of the recipes she gave me is for an amazing cookie. My favorite cookie ever. I can eat these until I am sick I love them so much. But I figure they are a little healthy because they have peanut butter and oatmeal. (Smile.)

Monster Cookies

1 c. brown sugar

1 c. white sugar

1 cube butter

3 eggs

1 1/3 c. peanut butter

1 c. M & M's

1/2 t. vanilla

1 T. corn syrup

1 c. chocolate chips

3/4 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

4 1/2 c. oatmeal

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine sugar and butter and mix until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add peanut butter, vanilla and corn syrup. Add M & M's and chocolate chips. add dry ingredients and mix completely. Scoop onto cookie sheet with large ice cream scoop and flatten slightly. top with additional M & M"s to make it look good. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and move to cooling rack.

Tips:

-I use butter, but you can use margarine.

-I use crunchy peanut butter, I love the little pieces of nuts, great texture.

-I use the large scoop from PC, but my friend always made them with an ice cream scoop to make them true Monster cookies. I love the bigger size but I make them smaller to help them last longer. I would make them huge if it were for a special occasion.

-Try them with a scoop of ice cream smashed between two cookies. The best ice cream sandwich EVER!

Thanks to Melissa for this amazing recipe. It is a favorite in our house.

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

I love Chicken Caesar Salad. It is one of my favorites. I found this recipe in a Pampered Chef cookbook and modified it to work for my family. I make my own crust and try to make it easy to assemble. And it is a great way to sneak veggies in for my kids who do not realize that there are red peppers all through it. I think you could sneak others in too, I just have not tried.

Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza

Crust:

1 c. hot water
1 T. sugar
1 T. dry active yeast
2 T. olive oil
1 c. flour
1 T. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. salt
3-4 c. flour or 1 cup wheat flour and 2 c. white flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Pour hot water into mixing bowl. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast on top. Let soak and start to grow. Add olive oil and flour. Mix with dough hook for 1 minute. Add seasoning and salt and 1 cup flour. Start mixer and gradually add remaining flour until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and no longer sticks to the bottom. Let knead with mixer for 2 minutes. Remove from bowl. Sprinkle pizza pan, or stone with cornmeal. Roll dough out to large circle. Pierce crust with fork a lot to keep crust from bubbling up. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Topping :

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3/4 c. Caesar Dressing
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 red bell pepper
Romaine lettuce, torn

Cook chicken breasts until done. You can grill or bake in oven. Let cool slightly. Put cream cheese in mixing bowl. Chop bell pepper finely and add to cheese. Chop chicken finely as well and add to cheese and pepper. Add dressing and Parmesan cheese. Mix until well blended. Spread evenly on crust. Top with lettuce. Cut and serve. You can sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese and top with additional chicken and Caesar dressing if desired.

Tips

-My kids make a mess if I put too many things on top, they just fall off. So I opted to put it all in the spread. To make it more fancy for adults you can certainly put more chicken and peppers on top.
-For the crust I use hot tap water. I let it run to the hottest it gets and pour immediately into my Kitchen aid mixer. The cool bowl and the stirring in of the sugar help the water to cool slightly making it the perfect temperature for the yeast.
-We talked about it and are thinking of adding bacon next time we try this to jazz it up. Bacon makes everything better right?
-Often I will not top the entire pizza. I will cut the crust and top each piece individually, so then my left over crust can be used the next day for lunch and will not be soggy. And my kids then get to top it themselves and food always tastes better if they get to do it themselves! You could also make smaller pizzas.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. It is a great summer recipe! Nice and cool and not too hard to assemble. You will not be stuck in the kitchen for hours instead of playing in the yard with the kids!

Homemade Gourmet Cookie Collection

When I was growing up my mom had big parties all the time. She made food for two days and bought an assortment of fancy foods (brie, special crackers, pate) to serve to her guests. One of those items was the box of assorted cookies from Pepperidge Farm. You know the ones. The box is full of paper liners and fancy little cookies in all shapes and sizes. I LOVED THOSE!!! It was such a treat to eat the left overs and I still consider Milanos my favorite store bought cookie ever.
A group of friends and I did a cookie exchange a couple of years ago and one gal gave me a great recipe for shortbread cookies with chocolate chips in them. They are so fabulous and when I made them last week I kept thinking that they tasted a lot like the Milanos.
So I thought what if I changed these up and rolled the dough out and sandwiched them with chocolate truffle sauce? Maybe I could make my own Milanos. Then as I worked on them I thought that I could also make more of the varieties of cookies and create my own gourmet cookie collection.

Here is what I came up with.

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

1 1/2 c. butter, softened to room temperature
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
4 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
4 1/4 c. flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar and mix until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing completely after each addition. Add vanilla. Add dry ingredients. This will make a soft dough. Shape into two balls and roll each out separately. Roll to 1/8 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool on pan for 2-3 minutes and remove to cooling rack. Cool completely before topping.

Chocolate Truffle Sauce

3/4 c. whipping cream
2 T. butter
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat cream and butter until the butter is completely melted, careful not to boil the cream. remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Let stand for 1 minute and whisk until smooth. Let cool for about 30 minutes before using to decorate cookies.

To decorate:

For one type I frosted the cookies with the truffle sauce and then sandwiched another cookie on top.

For the next one I frosted and them topped with chopped pecans.

The last one I pulled some of the truffle sauce and flavored it with orange extract. I then frosted the cookie.

Tips:

-If you are going to sandwich the cookies make sure you turn some of your cookies over before baking to ensure the can be flipped over. You want the pretty side to be up on both sides.
-You can use any type of flavoring to flavor the chocolate. I used orange, but mint, raspberry or blueberry would be delicious too!
-I used pecans because I love them, but you could also use peanuts, or almonds and even cashews.
-Use a small bite size cookie cutter. The ones I used were larger which resulted in a larger cookie. (Someone told me this was good because it meant they only ate one instead of more than one!)
-I think I am going to try topping them with a little caramel and them frosting them. Yummy! Also I am going to try the dough in my cookie press.

Thanks Jenn for the amazing recipe! And for letting me use it to make these wonderful cookies!