Barbecue Chicken Salad

It's no secret, I LOVE a good salad. This happens to be one that ranks among the top. It's super easy to make and great for lunch or dinner. It's not exactly low fat, but hey, it's STILL a salad! :)

• Ingredients:
• shredded lettuce
• 1 can red kidney beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can corn
• red onion, chopped
• tomatoes, chopped
• Olives, sliced
• Cilantro
• Corn Tortillas, cut into strips and fried
• Cooked chicken, diced (I cheat and just use the popcorn chicken or the tyson chicken strips you can buy at Costco)
• Your favorite Barbecue Sauce
• Ranch Dressing

Directions: Layer everything on and toss with barbecue sauce and ranch dressing. Top with crunchy tortilla strips.

Pork and White Bean Chili

2 TB olive oil, divided
1 lb boneless pork loin,cut in 1" cubes
2 c chopped onions
2 TB chili powder
1-1/2 tsp Ancho chili pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano leaves
2 cans (15-1/2 oz ea)cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14-1/2 oz) chicken broth
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
2 TB fresh chopped cilantro
2 TB fresh lime juice


Heat olive oil in large skillet on med-high heat. Add the pork,brown on all sides. Stir onions into skillet and cook untill tender. Add seasonings,cook and stir 1 min or till fragrant. Add pork,beans and broth,mix well.Bring to boil.
Reduce heat to low. Simmer ,uncovered,15-20 mins or till pork is tender,stirring occasionally
Mix avocado,cilantro and lime juice in small bowl. Serve chili topped with avocado mixture.

Berry Cheesecake bowl

A light, delicious dessert that is perfect for serving at a luncheon or as a summer dessert. Sliced fresh strawberries and bananas
Fresh raspberries
2 pkg. (8oz.) Nufchatel Cream Cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 pkg (3.4oz.) vanilla instant pudding
2 cups coolwhip
2 cups frozen pound cake cubes
Milk Chocolate

Combine berries and sugar; refrigerate until ready to use. Beat cream cheese with mixer until creamy. Gradually beat in the milk. Add the dry pudding and mix well.

Blend in 1 1/2 cups cool whip. Spoon 1/3 into your truffle bown. Top with layers of frozen cake, berries and then repeat. Refrigerate four hours. Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the top. Top with remaining cool whip. Add a few chocolate covered strawberries to garnish.

This post is a part of:  Life as a Mom

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust and Pizza Bread

Our family really enjoys this whole wheat pizza crust. We have enjoyed eating pizza bread ever since we lived in Connecticut 10 years ago. Here's the recipe for the crust and instructions on how to make the pizza bread if you decide you want to give it a try! For years it was a friday night tradition!
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough:
2 cups bread flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp. rapid rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 TBSP. olive oil
1 1/2 cups warm water
Add bread flour, wheat flour, yeast and salt in your mixer. Add the warm water and oil and knead dough for about 10 minutes on low in your mixer with a kneading hook. Cover and let rise until double.
Pizza Bread: Split dough into two sections and roll out two thin rectangles. Complete cover the dough in pepperoni, not leaving any space where you can see the dough. Sprinkle with mozzarella and cheddar cheese and roll up cinnamon roll style. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle heavily with Oregano. Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes until done. Let sit for five minutes before slicing into it.

Chinese Chicken Salad

Here is yet another one of my favorite salads. I've tried quite a few different dressings, combining some and I've settled upon two that I really like. I'm listing both the dresing recipes. Either one will be yummy. I love this served as the entire meal. My kids love it when I make scones to go with it. It's perfect for a shower or luncheon. The only disadvantage is that the next days leftovers are soggy if you premix everything. I typically keep everything seperate in ziploc bags in the fridge so I can enjoy it for a few days.Ingredients:
4 Lg chicken breasts (you can cook various ways. If you want fast, cook in a covered dish in microwave in 1 Cup soy sauce and 1 TBSP sugar, cooking in five minute increments and stirring everytime until done) Then cube.
1 pkg won ton skins (cut into strips and fry till crisp)
1 pkg rice stick (oil needs to be very hot. I cook the won tons first and then turn oil up high to do the rice stick. Just drop the rice stick in the hot oil. It will blow up and you immediately remove it from the oil.)
2-3 heads of lettuce shredded
3-4 bunches green onions

Dressing:
1 cup salad oil (I do use olive oil)
1/2 c rice vinegar
8 TBSP sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp accent salt
1 tsp pepper

Combine in a jar and shake. Toss over salad right before serving. The regular recipe calls for twice this much salt. I've found that I'm sensitive to a lot of salt, so I half the salt. Start with this amount that I've listed. Taste it and if you want more salt, go for it.

Dressing #2:
1/4 c. sesame oil
1/4 c. salad oil
4 tbsp. sugar
6 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Combine in a jar and shake. Toss over salad right before serving.

Apricot Chicken

This is one of those standards thats been in our family for years. It's an easy dinner that you can throw in the crockpot or in the oven. It's easy, very few ingredients and the kids eat it up because it's so sweet and yummy. Apricot Chicken:

16 oz. Russian Salad Dressing
16 oz. Apricot Jam
2 packets lipton onion soup mix

Mix it all together and pour it over the chicken and bake until the chicken is tender. Serve over rice.