::Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad::

Did you buy croissants from Sam's Club to make the Egg:Cheese:Croissant Sandwiches and now don't know what to do with the rest of the croissants? Here ya go. A recipe that will match perfectly on those croissants. Even if you didn't buy the croissants, make this anyways! Like I had mentioned in a previous post, about my sister and I talking about cooking blogs, this is where the recipe comes from; http://www.smittenkitchen.com/. But there is a story behind my sister finding this recipe and making it; I hope she (& Mike) doesn't mind me sharing. My lovely sister is engaged to a guy (Mike) who, in baking terms (cause of course that's what I would use), is the pinch of salt to the chocolate chip cookie dough; if it's missing you can tell, so you always have to have it with the dough to make the perfect cookie! We can't wait for their wedding and we love Mike dearly; he will fit well in our crazy, goofy family (which we found out at the lake last summer :) ) Anyways, back to the story. So Liza was up for the day when Mike called from work saying "I forgot we were having a potluck today at work, can you make something?" So of course, being the lovely fiance' she is says "Sure!" Click. Type. Type. Type. She goes onto Smitten Kitchen's website and finds this recipe "Canberry-Walnut Chicken Salad." It sounds good, seems fairly easy to make, has some unique ingredients and in the end, it was hit at the potluck! Liza made a couple changes to the recipe that I will share with you as well. Liza, personally, loved it and couldn't get over the flavor it had so she made me some and I knew that the recipe was definitly a keeper! Enjoy!

::Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad::

4 cups cubed (1/2 inch) cooked chicken (about 1 3/4 lb)

1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

1 celery rib, diced into small bits (1 cup)

2 or more tablespoons finely chopped shallot

1 cup dried cranberries

2/3 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons tarragon vinegar, if you have it, or champagne or white wine vinegar works well, too

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon or herb or your choice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl until combined.

Because Liza was in a time crunch she bought a rotisserie chicken. She has made it with both the regular chicken and rotisserie and likes the rotisserie better because it adds more flavor. When I bought it I went to for the garlic one.

4 cups of the shredded chicken.

This is what Liza used when she made it for me, so that's what I did too.

Putting the ingredients together.

Liza, & I did too, used a purple onion instead of shallots.


Craisins add a nice texture and flavor to the mix.

Almost ready to mix.

Tarragon vinegar which I found at Dan's Supermarket with all the other vinegars. When I checked at Wal-Mart to see if they had it; they didn't.

Fresh tarragon which can be found by the produce.

Ready for the final toss!

Yum!

Ready for the croissant...or whatever you want to eat on! My sister sent it to the potluck with a package of pita bread, which she liked too and so did I. Eat on a salad, regular bread, buns, plain...or whatever you can think of!

::Betsey's Shells::

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and was able to not just enjoy perhaps a long weekend, but remember those near and dear to your heart and the everlasting memories that you shared with them.

Do you ever type, then erase it all and do that same thing over and over again? Well that's what I keep doing! Where do I start with this post? I guess I'll start here. When Jamyson and I were dating, he would "make fun" of me when we would go out to eat and I would order something chicken. "Chicken? You are getting chicken? Do you have something against beef?" And actually, keeping that dating "flame," he still does it. It's all fun and games (until someone gets hurt of course) and we get a good laugh out of it. Cause of course, I love beef, and most every meal I cook is made with it, so when we go out to eat it seems like I order chicken most of the time. Not to mention the fact that we live on a ranch and should support our livelihood! Anyways, with this recipe the table is turned. This is Jamyson's favorite (favorite being an understatement) meal made with chicken. Just to show you how much he likes this, and mind you it makes quite a bit, here is an example. So I was going to be making dinner for the guys and the night before I said I was thinking about making the stuffed shells. About as soon as I said "stuffed....." Jamyson says "Don't make stuffed shells, because then they will eat them all and there won't be any left over and I want to eat them all week!" On a more serious note, I have made these multiple (about 5-8) times and they turned out each time. So, this recipe is in fact "tried & true" and is liked by all (if they have nothing against chicken of course :) ) Enjoy!

This recipe comes from the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church cookbook. I use this cookbook all the time. Thank you to Liz Schumacher for the wonderful recipe!

Shredded chicken. I usually just use the frozen chicken breasts (4 of them). The recipe says to boil in 1 cup of water but I'm not sure how that is possible. Anyways, I just boil the chicken breasts in a big pot of water, drain, and shred. I usually don't let them cool that much.

Sour cream and cheese. Recipe calls for cheddar but it always seems like I use shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese. Whatever works!

Stuffing all ready. I usually start boiling the chicken and while that is cooking I make the stuffing according to the box and then mix up the cheese and sour cream. After I have removed the chicken from the water I add the shells to it and boil. While the shells are boiling I shred the chicken and mix everything together.

JUMBO SHELLS!

Boil shells until "al dente." Don't know what that means? Don't boil them until they are super soft, but until they are a little tender still. I usually drain them and drizzle a little olive oil over them and toss them up a little. Some shells will be inside each other (you will know what I mean when you make them) so I usually try to go through them all and separate them.

We got this as a wedding gift. We had registered at Macy's and this was one of the Martha Stewart pieces. I use it ALL THE TIME, I love it, and would highly recommend it!

Okay, so here's the deal. I boil 1 box of the jumbo shells and I still have left over shells. The problem, I just stuff the shells too full and can't get out of that habit. So, you don't have to stuff the shells like I do! Also, it usually makes a full 9x13 pan plus another small pan.

Before the sauce is poured over! Yums in my tums (I just made that up).

Sauce to go over top! And then on top of this goes the cheese, which I didn't get a picture of...must have been too excited. Also, if you only use 1/2 cup of cheese like the recipe calls for; you are officially no fun! I never measure I just sprinkle about.

Final product! For some reason, the picture doesn't make it look like what it really does in person. It must be the lighting or something because it looks like there is hamburger and carrots in it....can light do that to a dish? Add carrots and hamburger? hehe....

Notice the tin foil things in the back? I baked potatoes (baking & sweet) to go with this.

::Catalina Chicken::

It is so nice that the weather is warm and we are able to grill! Looking for something different to grill this weekend? I think the first time I had chicken this way was when my Mom made it. This is a great, unique, and easy way to make chicken. The simple marinade gives this a great flavor. I cooked for the guys for dinner the day they worked calves, and I knew there was going to be a few extra people here, so I marinated 6 chicken breasts. Long story short, they were all gone before I was able to get a picture of the finished product; but oh well...I guess that means they were good! Also, I hadn't made this before, but I decided to make a little dipping sauce to go with it, and it turned out good. Have a great weekend and enjoy the recipe!

Catalina Chicken

Chicken Breasts

Catalina Salad Dressing

Directions: For about 4 chicken breasts use one bottle of Catalina Dressing. I put these in the marinade at about 7:30am and grilled them at about 1pm. Just throw the chicken in a Ziploc bag and pour in the dressing. Roll the chicken around in it and place in the fridge; rolling it around a couple different times when it is marinating.

Tips: I have read/heard that if you marinate meat too long it can break down and make it tough. I also pounded the chicken a little before I put the marinade on.

Sauce:

I never measured when I made it so i'll guess the approximates:

1/2 Catalina Dressing

3-4 Tbsp. Ranch dressing

Mix and serve.

I heated a little in the micromave before I served it.

Fresh chicken breasts.

Catalina dressing that is used.

Marinating