Chicken Salad

2 chicken breast cooked and chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 green onions chopped
1/2 Granny Smith apple chopped
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped pecans
One tablespoon of lime juice
Pinch of salt and black pepper to taste

Salmon Patties

My family has always liked fried salmon patties with biscuits and rice. I gave up making them a long time ago because I hated picking the bones out and removing the skin from canned Salmon. I recently discovered that you can buy pink canned salmon in the little cans like Tuna comes in. Skin removed and Bones picked out.  So here's my recipe.
2- 5 oz cans of salmon
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 green onion, finely sliced
1/4 cup of plain bread crumbs
Stir together and form into 4 patties.  Heat oil in frying pan. Cook the salmon patties in the oil until golden brown.  About 2 minutes on each side.  They are ready to eat.

Cut Off Fresh Corn

My mom always made the best corn.  She only used field corn and slowly cooked it forever in the oven in an iron skillet.  My sister is still insistent on field corn but I have long since abandoned that notion.  May not be as good as Mama's but it's good, nonetheless.

4-6 ears of corn
1/2 stick butter
1 tablespoon bacon drippings
salt and pepper to taste
First, I pop the corn, one at a time, shucks and all in the microwave for 3 minutes.   The silks will come off with the shucks.  So easy and the corn will be a little precooked.   May want to work under cool running water while shucking.
I use to use a knife to cut the kernels off and then scrape the cob for the juice.  Today I used a new tool I bought from Pampered Chef and it worked great.  You can do it either way.
Meanwhile I melt the butter and bacon drippings together.
(I save bacon dripping when I cook bacon in a pint jar in the fridge).  Add the corn to the pot and cook on low heat till done. About 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir often and add a little water if the corn starts to get a little dry.

Easy Caramel Icing

1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup milk
2 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon  vanilla
Melt butter, add brown sugar and cook until it reaches a boil. Stir often.   Add milk and bring back to boil.  Remove from heat and stir in confectioners sugar.  It's ready to spread!  It will thicken as it cools.

Zucchini Casserole

2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 lb of zucchini, slice
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 onion diced
1  teaspoon dried basil
1 can diced tomatoes. drained
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Sautee' zucchini and onions in olive oil. Add one can of diced tomatoes. Add salt pepper garlic powder and basil. Cook until onions are done. Pour into a casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Mix one cup of Hellman's mayonnaise with one cup of Parmesan cheese. Spread on top of zucchini mixture until it covers the entire dish. Cook at 350 degrees until cheese is golden brown.  About 30-45 minutes. Let it set a few minutes before serving.

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup of softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup coconut
2 cups self rising flour
1 teaspoon almond flavoring and 1/2 cup chopped almonds both optional.  I added both.
Cream butter.  Add ingredients in the order listed.  Drop with a spoon onto a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with PAM.  Bake at 350 degrees till golden brown.  For me it was 14 minutes.  

My Version of Hashbrown Casserole

There are only a few slight differences from the original recipe but they make a huge difference
1 bag of Alexia shredded hashbrown potatoes
1/2 onion diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
1 stick butter
2 c. grated cheese
1 tube ritz crackers
1/2 stick butter
Let the hashbrowns thaw. Meanwhile, melt stick of butter and add diced onion. until onions are cooked.
In a bowl mix sour cream and cream of chicken soup.  Add the cheese and then the thawed hash browns.  Lastly fold in the melted butter and onion.  Pour into casserole dish that has been sprayed with PAM. Melt the half stick butter and add the tube of ritz crackers that have been crushed.  Stir until crackers absorb butter. Sprinkle on top of the casserole.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until it's bubbly and cracker topping is golden brown.
NOTE...be sure and use the Alexia potatoes.  They are made with Yukon Gold potatoes and are already seasoned. Trust me, it makes a difference.

Jalepeno Poppers

18 jalepenos
16 oz roll of sausage
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup motzerella cheese
Wash peppers. Cut ends off. Slice in half lenthwise.Remove seeds and membrane. Place halves on a baking sheet.
Brown sausage in a skillet and drain. In a bowl cream together softened cream cheese sour cream and mozzarella. Fold in the cook sausage. Stuff the jalapeno halves with the sausage mixture. Top each one with a little extra mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
I haven't tried this yet, but I believe this mixture would also work good with stuffed mushrooms.

Pesto Chicken Pasta

One and a half pounds of chicken breast (about 2 large)
Half teaspoon of salt
One-fourth teaspoon pepper
One cup of Jarred pesto
One fourth cup of salted butter
One half lemon
1 lb of rotini pasta cooked and drained
One half cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella
Spray your slow cooker. Add chicken breast which can be
Frozen. Add salt and pepper to chicken breast. Poor pesto over the breast. Add lemon juice on top of pesto. Slice the butter and lay on top of the breast. Cover and cook on low for 3 to 4 hours until chicken is done. Remove the chicken and Shred. Add mozzarella and the cooked pasta to slow cooker and stir to mix. Return chicken to the slow cooker and stir to distribute the chicken. Cover and cook a few more minutes till cheese is melted. Top with grated Parmesan before serving.
The second time I did this with angel hair pasta and I liked it better.  Fresh parmesean on top is definitely nice.

Pimento Cheese

I'm kind of a purist when it comes to pimento cheese and quacamoli.  I add very few ingredients to either.  With all the interest in a new "store bought" pimento cheese, I decided it is time to post my recipe.

1/2 cup mayonaise
smallest jar of diced pimentos
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz bag of finely grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Add black pepper and the whole jar of pimentos, juice and all, to the mayonaise. Stir.
Fold in the grated cheese.
That's it!  Ready to go.
Use your favorite mayonaise, I prefer Dukes, and by all means grate block cheese, if you wish.  I'm just all about doing things the easiest way.

Sausage and cheese dip

Today velveeta cheese was on sale at Publix and I was reminded of a recipe I haven't made in a long time.  I had forgotten just how good it is.
1 8 oz block of velveeta
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 pound sausage
Diced onion optional
You'll also need your favorite tortilla chips.
Cook the sausage and onion together until sausage is no longer pink.  Drain grease if necessary.  Add can of Rotel.
Dice up the cheese and add to the pot.   Simmer over low heat until cheese is melted.
Serve with tortilla chips.
You control the heat with the sausage and the rotel.  I used mild for both.   You do what suits you.

Mexican shredded meat

Easy crock pot recipe for making meat to do tacos, quesadillas, taco salad, etc.
3 large chicken breast
1 envelope of your favorite taco seasoning
Can of rotel tomatoes, you choose the heat.
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil
Place in crock pot and cook until meat is done.  Shred meat and return to crock pot.  Mix and serve.
Can also use roast or pork loin the equivalent of about 3 pounds.

Baked Spaghetti

Half box angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
Jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1 pound of Italian sausage
1 small Onion diced
small package of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup (or more) shredded motzerella-enough to cover
1 cup (or more) shredded parmesean-enough to cover
4 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
Spray a deep casserole dish with PAM.  Add the cooked noodles.  Cream together the cream cheese and sour cream and spread on next.  Springle the parmesean cheese on next. Cook the sausage, onion and mushrooms together until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain and then add the pasta sauce.  Mix well and then pour into the casserole.  Top with the motzerella cheese.  I baked it cover on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, then I removed the top and let it cook a little longer till the cheese is completely melted and maybe even a little brown, if you like it that way.
I've eaten baked spaghetti before but the cream cheese/sour cream in this made it special.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Saw this recipe and thought it sounded good so I set out to create my easy version

1-32oz carton chicken broth
2 cans of canned chicken
3 cups wide egg noodles
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp parsley Flakes
salt and pepper to taste
Bring carton of chicken broth to a boil. Add noodles and cook for 10 minutes.  Add chicken, soup, sour cream and parsley. Simmer till it's hot and it's ready to eat.