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I changed the background. I thought this one was more fitting!

Chicken Curry Salad #2

This is another recipe similar to the one I posted before for a curry chicken salad. Roger said he liked this one better.....

	1 package (4.2 oz) Rice-A-Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice
1/2	cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/3	cup orange juice
1 to 2	tablespoons curry powder
1-1/2	cups chopped cooked chicken breast (1-inch pieces)
1/4	cup cashews
1/4	cup raisins

Prepare the Rice a Roni according to the directions on the package. Whisk together the mayo, oj, and curry powder. Mix all ingredients together.

Again, I made some homemade pitas and put the chicken salad inside. YUMMY!

Another Recipe Blog

A friend of mine links to this blog: http://pleasantandplump.blogspot.com/

They have some yummy looking stuff on there in case you are interested. I will put a link on the side of this blog to it for future reference.

Thanksgiving?

So what is the plan for Thanksgiving?

Rocky Road Candy

Another recipe from my ward. This sounds like it isn't too hard to make.

* 16 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

* 3 cups large or small marshmallows

* ¾ cup pecans (or other nuts of your choice). I prefer them whole.

Roast the pecans in the microwave:

Put 2 big fistfuls of pecans on a dinner plate, in approximately 1 layer. Cook on high for 3 minutes. (If you smell burning, take them out sooner than 3 minutes, depending on how hot your microwave cooks.) When they cool they’ll be crisp & delicious. Use the remainder for other recipes or snacking. You can cook whole almonds this way too; they start to pop & crack near the end of the cooking time.

In a medium sized saucepan heat the chocolate chips over LOW heat, stirring often, until smooth. Remove pan from heat & stir in marshmallows & ¾ cups whole pecans.

Scoop out onto a sheet of parchment paper. No need to butter it. You can use foil instead but it needs a little butter. You won’t have to spread the candy much as it will ooze out. Press more nuts into the top of it if you want it more nutty.

Let it cool a few hours; it’s amazing long it stays soft. It’s harder to cut unless it’s really cool. When cool, cut into 1” squares & enjoy.

This is a fun one to fiddle around with; you can add dried fruit or candied orange peel.

Spinach Salad with Fruit and Nuts

Everyone in our ward raves about this salad. I have never actually tried it but it looks good so I thought I would post it :) Since I know how much Dasha like salad thought she might want to give it a try.

The Salad

· ¾ box or ½ large bag of spinach leaves

· 3 cups sliced strawberries

· 2 cans mandarin oranges drained

· chopped gala apples

· 2 cups sliced red grapes

· 1 chopped red onion

· ¾ cup feta cheese

· ½ cup cooked chopped bacon (they sell this pre-cooked, pre-chopped in a bag); heat on a plate, covered w/paper towel in micro for 30 seconds.

· ½ cup Craisins

· 2 cups Roasted Pecans (see directions below)

· (2 cups chopped chicken if desired for a main dish salad)

Nuts

1. Set oven for 350 degrees

2. Dissolve ½ cup white sugar in 2 cups warm water (stir well)

3. Add 2 cups pecan halves, stir well, and let stand for 10 minutes; drain

4. Combine 4 T. white sugar and 2 T. chili powder in large bowl and mix it well.

5. Add pecans and toss and coat

6. Line sheet with foil and spray with Pam

7. Spread pecans in single layer and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, stirring once

8. Let stand until almost cool

9. Chop or simply add it whole on top of the salad

Dressing

½ cup balsamic vinegar

¾ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons of Raspberry Honey Mustard (from Pirate O’s) or 2 tablespoons of Honey mustard and 1 tablespoon of honey

Serving

Put spinach in bowl & layer everything else on top. Drizzle dressing on each serving.

Tips: You can really add anything that you want to this salad. Blueberries instead of grapes, raspberries, shallots to dressing etc.

Candy Corn Chowder

This is so good, everytime I make it I love it all over again

Ingredients:
5 slices bacon
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 medium potatoes, pared and diced
Water
1 box frozen honey-glazed carrots
1 pkg. white sauce mix ( I make my own white sauce from Betty Crocker or Better Homes)
1 17 oz can Cream-style corn
1 t. salt
dash pepper

1. In a large frying pan, cook bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside. Reserve 3 T. bacon drippings in pan

2. Add onion and cook until light brown. Add potatoes and carrots . Add enough water to cover

3. Cook over medium heat 10-15 minutes until potatoes and carrots are cooked

4. Cook white sauce, following pkg. Stir in cream style corn salt and pepper. Add to potato and carrot mixture and heat through about 10 minutes.

5. top each serving with crumbled bacon

makes 6 servings

Chicken Curry Salad

I am not normally a curry fan but this was really good and easy to make. Roger loves curry so I thought I would give this a try.

• 1 cup Greek-style yogurt (you can find this in the grocery store. I think plain yogurt would work fine too)
  
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons curry powder, such as Madras style
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1 pound deli-sliced chicken breast or 1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed from bones and chopped (I used boiled chicken breasts chopped)
  
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1 cup grapes, sliced in half
• 1/2 cucumber, cut in half then sliced into half moons

In a medium-size bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, curry powder, some salt and pepper. (If the dressing is thick, thin it out with a splash of water so it's the consistency of a vinaigrette).

Add remaining ingredients to the bowl and toss well to coat.

I also made some homemade pitas to eat this in. The turned out really good and it is a lot cheaper than buying them. I also used mostly wheat flour so this made a pretty healthy meal!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place all ingredients in bread pan of your bread machine, select Dough setting and start. When dough has risen long enough, machine will beep.
2.	Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set aside on a lightly floured countertop. cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
3.	Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Lasagna

We had this at a friend's house last night and it was very tasty. I guess with 3 cups of cream and tons of cheese how could it not be!

1 (8 ounce) package lasagna noodles 3 cups heavy cream 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup butter 1 tablespoon olive oil 1/2 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, sliced 5 mushrooms, diced 1 roasted chicken, shredded salt and ground black pepper to taste 1 cup ricotta cheese 1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, and rinse with cold water.
2.	In a saucepan over low heat, mix together heavy cream, cream of mushroom soup, Parmesan cheese, and butter. Simmer, stirring frequently, until well blended.
3.	Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in olive oil until tender, then add garlic and mushrooms. Mix in the chicken, and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.
4.	Lightly coat the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with enough of the cream sauce mixture to coat. Layer with 1/3 of the lasagna noodles, 1/2 cup ricotta, 1/2 of the spinach, 1/2 the chicken mixture, and 1 cup mozzarella. Top with 1/2 the cream sauce mixture, and repeat the layers. Place the remaining noodles on top, and spread with remaining sauce.
5.	Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until brown and bubbly. Top with the remaining mozzarella, and continue baking until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Cheesecake Facotry Key Lime Cheesecake

I found this recipe online, we are going to try it this weekend at mom's house... hope it is as yummy. :)

1¾ cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup sugar
3 x 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 tspn vanilla
½ cup fresh lime juice, about 5 limes worth (If using key limes or juice, use half as much)
3 eggs
whipped cream
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Combine crumbs, butter and 1 tbsp sugar in a bowl. Stir well to coat all crumbs. Keep it crumbly. When the crumb mixture seems ready, press the crumbs onto the bottom and half way up the sides of an 8" spring form pan. Then, place the pan in the preheated oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside. Do not turn off the oven. In large bowl combine the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Add the lime juice and eggs and continue to beat till smooth and creamy. Once ready, pour filling into crust. Place the pie in the oven and bake for 60 to 70 minutes. If top is turning light brown, then the pie is done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool until room temperature. Then, put the pie into the refrigerator to chill. Once chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

A Yummy Pizza Idea

We made a yummy pizza the other night. I use the Valentino's Pizza crust recipe Mary's Cookbook. I always add a little rosemary to it, it makes it yummy. Here is the pizza toppings:

Sauce:

Pesto sauce - you can buy or make your own. I made my own using the following recipe:

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
  
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together in food processor. Start with the basil and add he pine nuts, cheese, and garlic. Add the olive oil last.

Toppings:

Chicken Breast, cooked and chopped
Sun dried Tomatoes
Pine Nuts
Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese

Bake on Pizza stone until crust browns.

YUMMY!