Chicken Ala Crescents

This is a good one but just takes some time with all the cutting. I usually do that in advance so I can just throw it all together at dinner time.

Submitted by: Jessica

4 stars

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts-cooked and diced
• 12 oz cream cheese- which is a packet and a half
• 2 cups cooked broccoli-chopped
• 1 green bell pepper-chopped
• 1 cube butter melted for dipping
• 2 1/2 cups croutons, butter and garlic flavored-finely crushed
• 3 pkg crescent rolls
• 2 envelopes of turkey gravy mix

Directions

1. Mix chicken, cream cheese, bell pepper, and broccoli together
2. Put mixture on rolls and roll from short side and roll to point.
3. Seal good and dip in butter.
4. Roll in  crushed croutons and placed on a sprayed cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375* for 20-25 minutes
6. Serve with gravy over crescent rolls

This makes a lot (using all 3 packages of rolls) I usually make all of the chicken mixture but only use half of it one night and half of the rolls. Then cook the other half the next night or later in the week, for fresh left overs!

Chicken Marinade

Sorry no picture. This marinade is great. The chicken always turns out so moist. Sorry the measurements are a little weird the original recipe is to serve 32. I scaled it down to serve 8 (this would probably not be enough marinade to cover 8 servings of chicken). I would give this a 4 star.

Chicken Marinade (submitted by Shelly)

1/4 cup plus 2 T of oil

3 T soy sauce

2 T worchestershire sauce

2 T red wine vinegar

1 T plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (I don't have dry mustard, so I just use a good squeeze of regular stuff)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon finely mince fresh parsley (or a shake or two of dried)

Whisk all ingredients together in bowl. Then I like to pour into a sealable plastic bag with the chicken. I let marinade all day in the fridge, shaking it a couple times throughout the day (not necessary).  Pull it out and grill it up.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Yum! This salad is great. It perfect for summer when you don't want to heat the house. The first time I ever had Jicama, was when I ate this salad. If you have never had Jicama or have no idea what it is, Google it and make sure you add it. The Jicama adds a lot. P.S. Jicama is pronounced (He-ka-ma) just so you don't embarrass yourself when you ask for it in the produce section.

BBQ Chicken Salad (submitted by Shelly)

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded fine
1/2 head romaine lettuce leaves, shredded fine
1 pound jicama, cut into thin strips
2 cups Monterey Jack (or any) cheese, shredded
1 cup black beans - rinsed and drained (canned works)
1 cup corn kernels
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
2 pounds tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1-2 pounds shredded chicken

homemade or store bought ranch (make sure it is good it will make or break the salad)
wontons cut into strips salted and baked or fried tortilla strips
lime (optional, to squeeze on top, I always seem to forget it)

-Cook chicken, shred and add BBQ sauce.
-combined first set of ingredients to make salad
-To serve: dish out salad, top with BBQ chicken, drizzle with ranch, top with wontons or fried tortilla, Enjoy!!

Steak Salad

This is a recipe I stole from my in-laws too. It is so, so good!!

Submitted by: Jessica

5 stars

Ingredients:

• Beef sirloin steak

Dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

• Romaine lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Avocado
• Green olives
• Sliced Almonds

Directions:

1. In a bowl whisk together all ingredients in dressing. Mix in the cheese after all other ingredients have been mixed. Cover and refrigerate dressing until ready to use.
2. Season steaks according to liking. Lightly oil grill and cook steaks 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Slice steak. Right before serving, put meat in pan and grill up a little bit more.

Picture from my Mother in-law.

  

Salmon Tacos

Okay guys! This is a good one! We've had it 3 times in a week and a half! 

I got this recipe from my in-laws. 

Submitted by: Jessica

4.5 stars

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp lime zest
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp seafood seasoning such as Old Bay
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp hot pepper sauce
• Salmon (I used four fillets, but there is enough marinade for more)
• Whisk all together and pour on salmon in a Ziplock bag. Marinate in the fridge for 6 hours.

Prepare Salmon your favorite way. We thought it tasted best on the grill.

Dressing:

• 8 oz light sour cream
• 1/2 cup adobe sauce. (I couldn't find this so I used Pace's Chipotle sauce)
• 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 tsp lime zest
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp seafood seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

• corn tortillas
• Tomatoes
• Cilantro chopped
• Coleslaw with dressing. You can buy jarred dressing but homemade is better. I made it with 3/4 cup mayo, 2 Tbsp sour cream, 2 Tbsp sugar-or to taste, 2 Tbsp white vinegar, 1 Tbsp dry mustard, salt and pepper. Or use your favorite recipe.
• Lime wedges
• Black beans

Directions:

1. After Salmon has marinaded and cooked, shred into bite size pieces with a fork.
2. Assemble tortillas with salmon, coleslaw, and dressing. I started with my beans on the side but ended up putting them in the taco and it was good that way!

Homemade Oreo Cookies

These are a fun treat and easy to make! These look like whoopie pies but they taste completely different. Less cake-like and more cookie-like. I made the frosting for these half white and half blue for the 4th of July. We always freeze ours and eat them right out of the freezer. They taste the best that way!

Submitted by: Jessica

4 stars

Ingredients:

• 2 (18 ounce) boxes devil's food cake mix
• 4 eggs, beaten well
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Cream cheese frosting

• 2- 8oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Mix cream cheese and butter together until well blended. Mix in vanilla then gradually add powdered sugar. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Directions:

1. Mix cake mixes, eggs, vanilla and oil together well.
2. shape into balls
3. Bake at 350*F for 8-10 minutes. They are done when the tops looked cracked.
4. Move cookies to a cooling rack
5. Once cookies have cooled, add frosting to bottom of one cookie and sandwich with another cookie on top.
6. Freeze.

Cafe Rio Pork Salad

This is definitely one of our favorite meals! We even like it more than the "real" Cafe Rio Salad because we can add/take away anything we want to.

Submitted by: Jessica

5 stars

Meat:

• 3 lb pork roast or 1/2 pork loin
• 1 cup water

Cook in a crock pot on low overnight until tender. (I cooked mine for about 7 hours on low) Shred meat.

Mix and add to pork:

• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup sugar

Cilantro Dressing:

• 2/3 cup salsa verde
• 1 1/2 Tbl sugar
• 2/3 cup mayo
• 2 Tbl lime juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Put in blender on high and slowly add:

• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 cup vegetable oil

Other Toppings:

• Tortillas-unbaked
• Black beans
• Cheese-mozzarella or yellow
• Lettuce-spring mix
• Spanish rice or white rice
• Olives
• Guacamole
• Tin bowls

This is a bad picture. I will post a better one next time I make it. We usually makes ours in those tin bowls but I didn't have any on hand!

Fourth of July Pudding Pops

submitted by chris
Using Jessica's Chocolate Pudding Pop recipe, I made Fourth of July Pudding Pops. I used white chocolate instant pudding and dyed 1/3 blue, 1/3 pink, and left the last third white. I spooned a little of each color into my Walmart popsicle mold. I think I'd make them in a paper cup like Jessica did next time--they are hard to get out of the mold.

They were delicious! Thanks for the recipe, Jessica.