Light chicken taco salad

not my photo

This is a beal family special. Strange at first... And then terribly addicting! Even my kids will eat lettuce thanks to this recipe! A great way to sneak in a ton of veggies!

1/2
 head of lettuce chopped small
1/2 head cauliflower chopped small
2 diced tomatoes
2 carrots chopped small
1 large avocado diced
2 green onions sliced
I can olives sliced
1 can kidney beans
1 cup part skim mozzarella shredded cheese
2 chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning
Nacho Doritos
Light Ranch dressing

Cook and shred chicken. Add taco seasoning with 3/4 cups water and simmer briefly.
Combine chicken and all salad ingredients. Toss until well combined. Serve with crushed Doritos and light ranch dressing. Enjoy!

* feel free to sub ground beef or turkey or leave meat out completely!

Ham & Swiss Sliders

INGREDIENTS

 Print This Recipe

• 24 white dinner rolls I LOVE King's Hawaiian Rolls
• 24 pieces honey ham
• 24 small slices Swiss Cheese
• 1/3 cup mayonaise
• 1/3 cup miracle whip
• . POPPY SEED SAUCE . .
• 1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. mustard
• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 1 Tbsp. minced onion
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and miracle whip.
2. Cut Rolls in halves. Spread mayonaise-miracle whip mixture on each side of the roll. Place a piece of honey ham and Swiss cheese on one half of each roll. Fold back into sandwich form.
3. Place rolls close together in a greased 9x13 pan until pan in completely full.
4. Mix together all ingredients of Poppy Seed Sauce. Spread evenly over the tops of all the rolls. *NOTE* I did not use all the sauce. Let the rolls set until the butter has set up a bit. Cover with aluminum foil and Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.
5. Rolls can be made a day ahead and stored in fridge until ready to bake.

Summer squash pancakes with goat cheese dressing

Over at Rachel Cooks they have an impressive variety of sweet and savory pancake recipes! I coudnt resist posting this one - its on my to try list now!

Summer Squash Pancakes:
8 ounces shredded summer squash (zucchini & yellow squash)
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
1 large egg – beaten
3-4 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Vegetable oil

Using a food processor shred your squash. Add squash to a large bowl and add shallots, egg, flour baking powder and spices.

Heat vegetable oil over medium heat and drop batter into oil (about tablespoons) and fry until crispy on both sides.

Top with goat cheese dressing and serve with salad and hot capicola.

Makes about 10 small pancakes.

*Note: If you notice the batter start to get runny just add a little more flour. The longer the batter sits the more water the squash will give off.
Source: Nutmeg Nanny

Creamy Goat Cheese Dressing:
2 ounces fresh creamy goat cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon champagne vinegar
3 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

In a blender combine all ingredients and blend until creamy.

Toffee Grape Salad

 (image from nutmeg nanny, recipe from yahoo voices)

Toffee Grape Salad
1/2 c. brown sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. Cool Whip
8 oz. Sour cream
2-3 # grapes

Topping:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. toffee bits

Mix brown sugar and cream cheese. Add in Cool Whip, sour cream and grapes. In another bowl, mix the topping. Add topping right before serving.In a mixer whip together SOFT cream cheese and brown sugar until well blended. Stir in cool whip and sour cream. Fold in grapes. 

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over the top right before serving. 

* I like to double batch this and use one bag of green grapes combined with a bag of red grapes. 

Annettes Gazpacho

(Image: www.whatscookingamerica.net)

This is the best Gazpacho Ive ever had. The prefect acidic dish to fix those pesky pregnancy cravings if you are having a girl :)

Annette's Gazpacho

Place in a blender and puree:

2-4 tomatoes (can use canned tomatoes if fresh ones are not available)

2 T. lemon juice

1 t. oregano

Small amount of snipped fresh rosemary (or I sometimes use rosemary olive oil)

3 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic

V-8 – maybe about 1- 1 ½ cups

Pour this over chopped up veggies of your choice – mushrooms, tomatoes, avocados, celery, cucumbers. Add more V-8 to make it the consistency you like. I also sometimes put finely chopped spinach in the Gazpacho.

Cowboy Salsa

This recipe comes from Lisa. It is so yummy and sure to be a hit at any party!
Do this first ~

Boil together:
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
let cool then add:
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix together in bowl:
1 can black-eyed peas, drained & rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 can shoepeg corn, drained
1 small jar (2 oz) pimentos
green onions (2-4) chopped
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup finely chopped celery (about 3 stalks)
1 small jar/can chopped jalapenos

Pour liquid sauce over veggies. Let sit awhile - overnight is best.
Serve with tortilla chips (blue are best!)

The first time follow the recipe; after that you can experiment adding or taking away ingredients.

On the Farm ColeSlaw

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes that I trifed from "The Farm" aka - my Mother in Law's kitchen! I was so impressed with how easy (and cheap!) this recipe was that I often bring it to pot lucks, family dinners, BBQs, and church functions. Trust me, you'll be making this over and over again once you try it. 


Shopping List:


2 16 oz bags of shredded cabbage mix 


Sauce:
1 cup of mayo (Or salad dressing or miracle whip, any variety. My favorite is best foods full fat mayo - Of course!)
1/3 cup sugar
3-5 T of vinegar (again, any variety will do!)


Mix well until sugar isn't grainy. This recipe is all about tasting until its right. If its too tangy add more sugar. If its too runny, add more mayo. If its too sweet, add more vinegar. 


Once you get the sauce right, evenly coat shredded cabbage. You can toss it in a bowl, shake it in a baggie, shake it in a bowl with a lid - however you want. 


And then - the finishing touch....
Stir in 1 1/2- 2 cups of salted peanuts. The amount is up to you, depends on how crunchy you like it. 


WANT TO  MAKE THIS CHRISTY STYLE? ADD IN 3-4 SLICES OF CRUNCHY CRUMBLED BACON and 1 OR 2 SLICED LITTLE GREEN ONIONS!


Voila! You are ready to go for a ride on the 4 wheelers and take a hike up to the swinging tree!

You wish it were healthy Broccoli Salad

Ingredients:
3 Bunches of Broccoli
1/2 lb bacon - cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup salted sunflower seeds
1/2 of a red onion - diced very fine
1 cup of grated mozzarella or monterey jack cheese


Sauce:
1 cup of Mayo (you can sub any variety, it doesn't matter)
1/3 cup of sugar
2-3 Tablespoons of vinegar (any variety)
mix above ingredients together until sugar is no longer grainy. If needed, add more vinegar until it tastes right to you.


Prepare:
Wash and separate broccoli florets into bite size pieces
Dump sauce over broccoli and coat well
Toss in remaining ingredients and serve


This is the best kind of salad. Completely unhealthy but hidden under a blanket of Broccoli to fool yourself into thinking you met your folic acid quota for the week. perfect!