chocolate fruit dip

Have you heard of chocolate cream cheese?

I bought some strawberries at the store yesterday(and today and the day before yesterday...etc) and the cashier told me that I should try them with chocolate cream cheese and cool whip. I didn't even know there was such a thing as chocolate cream cheese, but of course I ran back and got it and the cool whip. We LOVE strawberries...we love them plain, with this dip and this dip and like this....but.... I think we have a new favorite around here!!

Chocolate Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

1 8 oz tub Cool Whip

1 8 oz tub Philadelphia Indulgence (chocolate cream cheese - I used the Dark Chocolate)

Directions:  Beat ingredients together until smooth.

Thanks Maria!!  :)

Homemade Granola Bars

I LOVE granola bars, my kids LOVE granola bars and we all LOVE sweetened condensed milk :)...when I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it and I am glad I did!!  I really love the taste of these and the fact that MOST of the ingredients are healthy...AND  they were very easy to make.  I have been storing these in the refrigerator.  I was afraid that they would be hard, when I took them out to eat, but they are not at all.

A little tip...if you are buying flax seeds and/or wheat germ at your grocery store, look for it in the bulk bin area.  It will be much cheaper there.  Also I found my sliced almonds much cheaper in bags in the produce isle than the nut isle...go figure:)

Homemade Granola Bars

slightly adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup flaked coconut(I used sweetened)

1 cup sliced almonds

1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup flax seed

1/4 cup wheat germ

Directions:   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.  In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sweetened condensed milk, butter, coconut, almonds, chocolate chips, flax seed and wheat germ) with your hands until well blended. Press flat into the prepared pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, depending on how crunchy you want them(I took mine out at 20 minutes so they would be nice and chewy, not crunchy). Lightly browned just around the edges will give you moist, chewy bars. Let cool for 5 minutes, cut into squares then let cool completely before serving.      

The original recipe called for sweetened dried cranberries instead of the flax seed and wheat germ.  I love dried cranberries in my salad, but I am not a big fan of fruit in my granola bars...

How about you?  Do you like dried fruit in your granola bars?           

quick and easy chicken marinade

So...the other day (or week) when I was planning to make my friend's  Won ton Salad, I wanted to marinade and grill some chicken to add to it.  Of course...I started thinking about dinner about an hour and a half before dinnertime.....so I needed something quick that used ingredients I had on hand.

I marinated 2 large chicken breasts which I cut in half first, so they would be thinner and cook quicker.  If you are marinating more, just double..triple...quadruple the recipe :)  I would recommend that you only marinate the chicken for any hour or so...you don't want the lime juice or the vinegar from the dressing to start 'cooking' the chicken. 

Chicken marinade

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Italian dressing

1/8 cup soy sauce

juice from 1/2 of a lime

Directions:  Mix marinade ingredients together.  I reserved 1/4 cup of the marinade to baste the chicken with while grilling.  Place chicken and marinade together in a large plastic bag or glass bowl and let marinate for approx. 1 hour.    Grill until chicken is fully cooked.

hmmm...it is marinate, marinated, marinating....marinade, marinaded, marinading?   Spell check is not saying any of them are wrong....too bad I was not an English major...maybe I would know.  Hopefully you are not here to check my grammer and if you are, I'm SO sorry :)



Wonton Salad

I LOVE salad!!  I had this salad at a friend's house and it is delicious and SO pretty.

Wonton Salad

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or chopped

1 head lettuce (I used half green leaf and 1/2 spinach)

2-3 green onions chopped

toasted almonds

1 can mandarin oranges (I can't remember the can size...11ish oz.)

1/2 pkg. wonton wrappers cut into quarters and fried (cut from corner to corner so that you have triangular pieces)

Dressing: 

2 TBL vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil (I used canola)

Directions:  Mix salad ingredients together(except wonton wrappers).  Mix dressing ingredients with fork until sugar is dissolved.  Toss salad with dressing.  Top with fried wontons.



Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

I have only been to Macaroni Grill once and it was awhile ago.  I remember that I LOVED their bread!  When my sister told me about this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it!

 She got the recipe here, from Creations by Kara.  The recipe says to bake at 450 for 20 minutes.  The first time I made this bread....I cooked it for the full 20 minutes and the bread was very dark!  I baked the bread in the picture above for probably 13 or 14 minutes.  I would definitely watch it after ~10 minutes and take it out when it is a nice golden brown.

Not sure why mine fell in the middle...didn't happen the first two times I made it.  Must have been to rough with it when I put it in the oven....oops...still delicious!

Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp SAF yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
Topping:2 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
Coarse salt

Directions:  Mix yeast, sugar, and water till frothy. Add 2 cups of the flour, salt, oil and rosemary and mix till smooth. Add enough flour to make a soft dough. Form into a round loaf and place on a lightly greased pan. (I used my pizza stone, so I didn't grease it, just dusted with a little cornmeal.) Brush the loaf with butter using a pastry brush. It will be really wet. Sprinkle with rosemary and coarse salt. Let rise till doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake in a 450 oven for about 15-20 minutes. Serve with balsamic vinegar and olive oil if desired.

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

It has taken me long enough....I am FINALLY posting the honey mustard dipping sauce to go with the Chick-fil-A Bites that I posted a few weeks ago....I am a terrible blogger!  The recipe comes from Iowa Girl Eats...same as the chicken bites.

Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons honey

Directions:
Stir together ingredients and serve with hot chicken bites.  If you don't have Greek yogurt, you can substitute sour cream.

Chick-fil-A Bites

I came across these little chicken bites over at skinnyrunner.com.  The recipe comes from iowagirleats.com. 

I made these for dinner last night and next time I am going to have to triple(at least) the recipe!!  Of course, then I may have to buy another jar of pickles eat them all by.myself, so that I will have enough pickle juice....hey, whatever(that's right this recipe calls for...pickle juice).  My boys LOVED these!!  My 3(almost 4) year old started C-RY-ING.... when he saw my husband eat the last one.  First thing this morning he asked me if we could make more today.

Iowa girl also shared a recipe for Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce for these.  I was out of Dijon Mustard, so I am going to have to save that one for next time.   Click HERE if you want the recipe for the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce.

If you like Chick-fil-A....or if you like chicken...period, you should definitely try these!!  They are SO good!!

Chick-fil-A Bites

Ingredients:

2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces and seasoned with salt & pepper
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup dill pickle juice
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup peanut oil, divided (or canola or vegetable oil)

Directions:  Whisk together egg, milk and pickle juice, and pour into a large Ziploc bag or bowl. Add chicken pieces and marinate in the refrigerator for 2-4 hours.

Combine flour, powdered sugar, salt and pepper in a large Ziploc bag. Shake to combine. Remove chicken from the marinade and add into the bag. Shake to coat the chicken completely.

Heat half the oil in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat (6 or 7 out of 10.) Test the oil by dropping in a bit of the flour mixture. If it sizzles, the oil is ready, if it pops, lower the temperature a bit.

Gently place chicken pieces into the oil with tongs. Do this in 2 batches, as you don’t want to overcrowd the pan. Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown on one side. Turn the chicken over and allow to cook for 3-4 more minutes. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate. Heat the remaining oil and continue with the other half of the chicken pieces.