GOING GREEN...A HUGH SUCCESS

THE CHICKS

Salsa Verde Creamy Dressing

LeAnn Skeen

1 pkg hidden valley ranch mix

1 8oz jar salsa verde (green salsa) such as la victoria

1/2 bunch cilantro

2 cloves garlic

3/4 c mayo

3/4 c sour cream

1/8 tsp hot sauce (such as Tabasco)

Mix in a blender. Good as a salad dressing or as a dip of cracker and vegetables.

Crunchy Bacon Coleslaw

Paula Kelsey

1 1/2 c miracle whip or real mayo

2Tbs sugar

3 tsp cider vinegar

1 head of cabbage, shredded

1 bag of broccoli slaw

1/2 c chopped peanuts

8 slices crispy bacon, crumbled

Mix first 3 ing. together in a large bowl. Toss with cabbage and broccoli. Add bacon and peanuts just before serving to preserve crispness.

Greek Salad
Patty Mahan via (niece DeDawn Lovett)

16 oz. of mixed salad "greens" (such as Arugula, Red Batavian Endive, Mizuna, & dark green lettuce(s))
(all lettuce greens need to be washed and dried)
3 diced plum tomatoes
1 cup cubed cucumber
2 small avocado diced
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup lime or lemon juice (your preference)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup feta cheese (crumbled)

*optional ingredients to add -
1/3 cup cut up green onion or diced red onion
2 shredded carrots
1/3 head of red cabbage (shredded or cut up thin)
1 can of sliced olives (your preference)
8 oz cold cook fresh peas

serves: approx. 8

In a small bowl mix together the oil, juice, garlic salt and pepper. Let the dressing set aside while you mix the dry ingredients. In a large salad bowl combine & mix all the dry ingredients. (except the feta cheese) Drizzle the dressing over the salad mixture and toss. Add more garlic, lemon or lime juice and pepper to suit your taste. Chill 10 - 15 minutes and serve. *note: this is a salad that tends to get soggy/juicy as it sets, so I recommend making it as close to time to serve as possible.


PISTACHIO MARBLE BUNDT CAKE
□ 1 pkg. yellow cake mix□ 1 pkg. instant pistachio pudding□ 4 eggs□ 1 c. water□


1/2 c. oil□ 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring

Mix together all of the above. Pour 2/3 of batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. To remaining 1/3 of batter add 1/4 cup chocolate syrup. Pour chocolate mixture in 3 mounds over batter in pan. Run knife through to marbleize. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

(Adding real pistachios to the mix is optional.)

Glaze:

¼ cup of orange juice
1cup of powdered sugar
¼ tsp. of almond extract
Mix together and pour on cake while still warm.

(From friend, Sandy)

Cool Cucumber Salad

1 med. Cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 med. Tomato, chopped
½ c. chopped green pepper
1/3 c. chopped sweet onion
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. Red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
¾ tsp. dill weed
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper

In a large bowl, combine the cucumber, tomato, green pepper and onion. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, vinegar, dill, salt and pepper. Pour over cucumber mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Serve with a slotted spoon. Yield 4 servings.]

Connie's

Mandarin Orange Almond Salad

Head of romain lettuce
1/2 cup craisins
Chopped green onions
Toasted sesame seeds
1/4 to 1/2 cup canalized sliced almonds (break into small pieces after cooled)
1 can cold drained mandarin oranges

Dressing

1/4 c cider vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil or veg. oil
1/4 cup sugar
Put in container and shake well until dissolved. Chill in refrigerator
ahead of time shaking every few hours to dissolve well. Pour on right before serving.

Natural Homemade Fabric Softener--Vicki Wardell

4 c. Hot Water

1 c. Baking soda

2 1/2 c. White Vinegar

20 drops of essential oil in your favorite scent---optional

Mix hot water and baking soda together. Gradually add vinegar to mix, being careful to watch this as it will foam up quite a bit. Shake lightly, being careful not to shake enough to blow the top off your jug. After mixing this part add in the essential oil and lightly shake again. I used an empty clean gallon milk bottle to mix this in, but I am storing it in an empty vinegar gallon. ( Do not store this in a milk bottle they are not strong enough plastic to hold up) You could also store it in an empty fabric softener bottle. This will make just under a 1/2 gallon of fabric softener. Use 1/2 cup per load of wash. I just fill up my fabric softener dispenser on my washing machine. Some people fill their downy ball with this mix. lightly shake mixture just before putting into your wash. Can add directly to your rinse water if you prefer.



Lemon Lime Muffins--Vicki Wardell

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place in bowl:

2 c. all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

heaping 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. instant vanilla pudding powder

Mix together and make a hole in middle of mixture

Then in a separate bowl mix well together:

2 large eggs--room temperature

1 --6 oz. container key lime yogurt

3/4 c. sour cream

6 tbsp. canola oil

1/2 c. milk

finely grated rind from 2 limes

Add this mix to the dry ingredients and mix just until all is moistened.

Be careful not to over mix. drop into muffin tins lined with cupcake liners. Will make 12 large muffins or 48 mini muffins. Bake at 400 until very lightly brown on top. The mini muffins cook very quickly about 10 minutes or so. Watch carefully. Take out of oven and let cool slightly.

Icing:

2 tbsp. butter

4 oz. cream cheese

1 c. powdered sugar

Mix together and add enough lemon juice to make a runny glaze. Dip top of cool muffins in this glaze and let set. Can top muffins lightly with green sprinkles or lime zest if desired

get ready to GO GREEN!

MARCH COOKIN NIGHT

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010

6:30PM

THEME: GO GREEN

*BRING A RECIPE THAT CONTAINS SOMETHING GREEN*

PARTY TIME

Fun times at our January Cookin Night! What a turn out! We had 20 chicks come to share and sample Party Foods.

I will post pics and recipes that have been emailed to me and as more recipes come in they will be posted as well. Thanks for coming and sharing.

Sticky Carmel Corn

1 1/2 c pop corn--popped and salted and place in a large bowl...1 cube butter--place in a 3 qt. or bigger pan and melt...then add2 cups Karo syrup,2 cups brown sugar & bring to a boil...take off heat, stir in 1 tsp. baking soda and stir well... Mixture will puff up, pour over popcorn and stir until well coated. Serve sticky...Bev's addition...if you want to make it more crunchy spread out on cookie sheets bake at 275 and stir every 15 minutes for about an hour...

GOLDEN GRAHAM TREATS

1 BOX GOLDEN GRAHAMS
1 BOX CORN CHEX
3 CUPS COCONUT
2 CUPS CHOPPED PECANS
MIX 3 CUPS BUTTER, 2 CUPS WHITE CORN SYRUP AND 2 CUPS SUGAR. HEAT UNTIL ALL IS MELTED AND TOSS WITH THE CEREALS. ENJOY!!

BACON WRAPPED SMOKIES

There really are not measurements to this recipe. You use how ever many smokies you want.

Wrap each lil' smokie in a half a piece of bacon. I cut a pack of bacon down the middle when I opened the package. Secure with a toothpick. Place all the wrapped smokies in a baking pan and sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar on each one. Bake at 350 for 45 min. You want the sugar caramelized and the bacon crisp.

Nibbles Bev MacKay

2 cups sugar

2 cups butter

1/2 cup white corn syrup

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds

2 pkg plain corn pops (from chip section of grocery store)

In a heavy saucepan combine sugar, butter, syrup and water. Stir and bring slowly to a boil. Stir constantly, add nuts and cook over medium heat until mixture reaches 265-270 degrees. (hardball stage)Remove from heat and pour quickly over corn pops. Stir quickly to coat. Break apart as it cools. Enjoy.

JANUARY COOKIN NIGHT

OUR JANUARY COOKIN NIGHT IS FAST APPROACHING.

THURSDAY, JAN. 14

6:30PM

MICHELLE'S HOUSE

THEME:

PARTY FOODS

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE

Recipes From November Cookin Night

Here are some of the recipes that came from our November cookin night. Thank you Vicki, for typing them up for us. Photos can be found in the previous post.

Cranberry Chutney--Mary
1 bag (16oz) of fresh cranberries
2 apples peeled, cored and cut into chunks
2 pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup golden raisins
2/3 c sugar
1/2 c honey
1/2 c orange juice
1 tbsp. orange rind
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
walnuts--optional
1/2 c. black raspberry liqueur--optional
Combine all ingredients except liqueur in a large saucepan and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until desired consistency.Remove from heat and add liqueur if desired.(recipe from Las Vegas Review Journal)

Chocolate Balls--Suzi
3 large hershey choc bars w/almonds
1 8 oz. cool whip--frozen
vanilla wafers crushed
Using a double boiler, (or a makeshift one) melt the chocolate. Add the coolwhip and blend. Mixture will be soft and sticky. Drop by teaspoon or small cookie scoop into bowl of crushed vanilla wafers. Roll and place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate
Helpful Hints:**Don't let the chocolate get tooo hot. Just needs to be warmed**Best to use frozen cool whip**May need to shape the chocolate into balls by hand after rolling in wafers
GOOD LUCK!!!


Almond Pinecones--LeAnn
1 1/4 c whole almonds
8 oz cream cheese--softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise
5 crisp bacon slices crumbled
1 tbsp. chopped green onion
1/2 tsp. dill weed
1/8 tsp. pepper
Combine cream cheese, and mayo. Add bacon, onion, dill and pepper. Cover and chill overnight
Shape mixture into two pinecone shapes and press almonds into mixture just enough to stick, overlapping the almonds. (completely cover the outside of the pinescones) Garnish with pine sprigs

Holiday Fruit Salad--Connie and Her Mom
Beat together 2 eggs, 1/2 c sugar, 1 1/2 tsp flour and juice of one lemon. Add 1 cup of pineapple juice and cook until thick. Cool. When ready to use fold in 1 cup of whipping cream that has been beat until stiff. Salad Part:
3 bananas cut into pieces
4 slices of pineapple cut inot pieces or you can use the tidbits if not using fresh
red seedless grapes cut in half
marshmallows
dates cut into pieces
walnut pieces
Add all of this to first mixture to make the salad. Most delicious!

Thanksgiving Raspberry-Cranberry Jello--Paula
1 lg. pkg cherry jello
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce (crush with a fork)
1 sm can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 pt. sour cream
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese--softened
1 lg. pkg raspberry jello
2 pkg. frozen raspberries ( about 16 oz. )
Dissolve cherry jello in 1 1/2 c boiling water, add cranberry sauce, and pineapple. Chill until firm. Next mix sour cream and cream cheese well with an electric mixer. Spread over chilled layer. Final layer, dissolve raspberry jello in 1 1/2 cups boiling water, stir in raspberries.Pour over sour cream/cream cheese mixture. Chill until firm. This looks nice in a jello mold, but fits better in a 9x13 pan. Great for Thanksgiving.

Red and Green Cheese Ball--Michelle
8 oz. cream cheese--softened
1/4 c mayo
1 tbsp. fresh parsley chopped fine--could substitute dried
3 chopped green onions
2 pkg. of Buddig lean Pastrami or can use lean pastrami from the deli
about 4 oz garlic
salt to taste

Holiday Recipes

The CHICKS

Bev and her cuter than ever gingerbread house.

Our November cookin night was so much fun! We had a pretty good group there this month..about 16 chicks. Bev showed us her gingerbread house making skills. She made it look soooo easy. The night before, her husband even decorated one....a redneck gingerbread single wide trailer. It was the best. Many shared some family recipes that were very close to them. Connie lost her mom last month to cancer and she shared a recipe that her mom always made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She even brought a picture of her mom to show. The cheese balls were a hit as well. It really got us excited for the holidays...everyone wanted to go home and set up their Christmas tree when the night was done. I will post the recipes that were emailed in, that saves me from having to type them on the blog. If your recipe is not here, email it to us so I can post it.

Bev's husband's redneck house.

Connie with a picture of her mom and her fruit salad.

Le Ann made this cheese ball shaped like pine cones...it was not only cute but yummy too!

Annette made some delicious pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. That's what I call holiday tastes!

Susie made some melt in your mouth chocolate balls....so sweet and so good.

Michelle, describing her delicious cheese ball.

Mary shared a Cranberry Chutney. It was full of fresh fruit and the smells of the holidays.

Vicki also made a cheese ball. All the cheese balls had different flavors and they were all delicious.

One of our chicks, Donna, could not be there, but she sent her peanut brittle and her recipe. This candy always reminds me of Christmas.

Dixie Peanut Brittle
2 C Sugar
1 C light Corn Syrup (Karo)
½ C Water
1 pkg 16 oz RAW Peanuts
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Butter or Margarine
1 tsp Vanilla
Candy Thermometer (a must!!!)
Heavily butter a cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Combine sugar, corn syrup and water in heavy sauce pan. Cook slowly; stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook to soft ball stage (240 degrees – about 30 minutes).
Add peanuts and salt. Cook to hard ball stage (295-300 degrees). Stir constantly. DO NOT ALLOW MIXTURE TO BOIL OVER.
Remove from heat. Add baking soda, butter and vanilla. (Mixture will bubble) Stir completely.
Pour mixture evenly on cookie sheet. Spread as evenly as possible. Work quickly – mixture is hot. Once spread, soak sauce pan. (This will save you a lot of scrubbing.) When completely cool, break into pieces. Store covered.
Note: Buy your peanuts early. They only come out once a year and go quickly. I start looking for them in October. I buy my supply and put them in the refrigerator. Walmart usually has them in their Baking Aisle.
This is my Mother’s recipe and she has made this since I was a child.

The following cheese ball recipe is from Vicki--

Sharp Cheese Ball

12 oz. cream cheese softened

1 jar old english cheese spread

2 tbsp minced onion, 1/4 tsp coarse grind pepper, 1/4 tsp salt,

1/3 c. blue cheese salad dressing

Mix together, shape into cheese ball, refrigerate. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

NOVEMBER COOKIN NIGHT

Hello Cookin' Chicks!

Mark your calendar! Tuesday, Nov. 10th, 6:30pm, at Michelle's home.

Our theme is "Holiday" cooking and baking, and our demonstration will be Gingerbread Houses. We Chicks are waiting to sample all of your Yummy recipes and add them to our books! You are welcome to bring more than 1 dish if you wish. We know that you all have some delicious idea's to share.

Don't forget to invite all your chick friends too. The more, the merrier!

Don't forget to bring copies of your recipes to share or you can email them to us so we can post them on our blog.