Day 16 - Macaroni & Cheese....among other things

I have been working my tail off lately, trying to get Christmas presents done. I have a couple of sewing projects that I can post (a pair of jammies I made for Saya & her halloween costume), but everything else is mum until Christmas is over, sorry! Don't want to ruin surprises :-)

But I made dinner the other night for my family & father in law. He had asked for meatloaf, so we had meatloaf & cornbread, & macaroni & cheese. I wanted to share the macaroni, because I have been asked by some people to post it....so here you go!!


4 Cheese Macaroni
courtesy of Emeril Legasse

Ingredients:
4 tbsp butter (plus 2 tbsp plus 1 tbsp)
4 tbsp flour
2 cups half and half
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp hot sauce
8 1/2 oz parmigiano-reggiano cheese (grated)
1 lb elbow macaroni
1/2 tsp garlic (minced)
4 oz cheddar (grated)
4 oz fontina (grated)
4 oz gruyere (grated)
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp essence


Method:

In a heavy sauce pan melt 4 tbsp butter over low heat. Add the flour & stir to combine. Cook stirring constantly, for 3 min. Increase heat to medium & whisk in half and half little by little. Cook until thickened about 4-5 min, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, season with salt, pepper, hot sauce, & 4 oz grated parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted & sauce is smooth. Cook & set aside.

Fill a large pot with water & bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt to taste while stirring, add macaroni. Return to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil & cook for about 5 min, or until macaroni is very aldente. Drain in a colander & return the macaroni to the pot. Add 2 tbsp butter & garlic. Stir to combine. Add sauce & stir until well combined. Set aside.

Using 1 tbsp butter, grease 3 quart baking dish.

In a large bowl combine parm cheddar, fontina, & gruyere. Toss to combine; layer like lasagna. combine bread crumbs & essence & sprinkle over top. Bake 40-45 min; allow 5 min for cooling.

Day 15 - Peach Cobbler

All I can say is YUMMY!!! This will be something you will want to make & take because you don't want to have it linger....you won't stay out of it :-)

Peach Cobbler - from Paula Deen

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
8 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour*
1 1/2 cups milk
ground cinnamon, optional

*if you do not have self rising flour, do not fear!! You can use 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.

Directions:
The easiest way to peel peaches: Get a pot (most likely the saucepan you are going to use to make the peach syrup) full of water, heat it to a rolling boil. Put the peaches in the pot for about 30 seconds to 1 min. Then immediately take them out and into an ice bath. In just a couple minutes, the peel will be so loose you just spread the skin & pull it off!!


Preheat oven to 350

Combine peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 min. Remove from the heat.



Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour and milk slowly to prevent clumping (it will be thin like pancake batter). Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir.



Spoon fruit over top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with cinnamon, if using (I use a sprinkle of cinnamon and some fresh grated nutmeg). Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake 30 to 45 min.




YUM!!!

Day 14 - Blueberry Lemon Muffins

They are just as delicious as they sound!!!

Ingredients:

2½ cups flour
¾ cup sugar, white or light brown, plus more for sprinkling on top of muffins
1 tbsp baking powder
⅛ teasp salt
fresh grated nutmeg
½ cup butter, 1 stick
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp lemon zest, finely grated
½ teasp vanilla
1½ cups fresh blueberries, rinsed & dried



Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners and set aside.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together in a medium bowl; set aside.



put the butter in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave until melted, about 30 seconds. (Or you can melt it in a saucepan.) Whisk the milk, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla with the butter.

Make a small well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the well, then stir with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moistened but still lumpy. Do not overmix the batter or your muffins will be dense. Gently stir in the blueberries.



Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin and sprinkle the tops generously with sugar.

Put the muffins in the oven and immediately reduce oven temp to 375.




Bake until golden brown, about 25 min, rotating the pan halfway through the cooking. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack for a couple minutes. Turn the muffins out of the pan and cool on the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Day 13 - Enough is Enough

OK, I am truly sorry for my break. I had a chocolate party a week ago, then had family visit & then went to visit family. VERY BUSY week!!! So now I am back at my computer with a couple of FABULOUS recipes for you!! But first, on a more personal note, I have decided that I am going to do some radical & different recipes. I need to be very creative in what I do with food now. Some of you may know that my husband lost his job last year, but now he has a new job (which we are SO thankful for), but it pays less, so I need to figure out how to stay on a strict budget & to make YUMMY and healthy food for my family during this time. So enough of that!! On with the food!!

This first one is PERFECT for any get together/potluck etc!!

Fruit Salad in a Watermelon Basket

So, first I took a whole watermelon, laid it how it wants to lay & cut about 1 1/2 inch on each side of the midline to make the handle. Then I cut from the stem lengthwise to meet the first cut, then the other side. So you are left with half a watermelon on the bottom & a little 3 inch piece on the top.




Then I took my knife & cut the flesh off the top part. You can then scoop out the bottom or try to cut it out, your choice. I scooped it.








I cut up some of the watermelon & put it in another bowl to make my salad. I cut up a pineapple, some strawberries, blueberries, grapes & kiwi. I would rinse the basket & pat dry. If you're not going to use it right away, I would refrigerate it & the salad too.



Next is the most awesome treat ever!!!

Profiterole Puffs - in layman's terms CREAM PUFFS!!!! Unfortunately they are SO easy to make it is unbelievable!!!! :-)
From the Pampered Chef
For the puffs you will need:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat your oven to 375. Combine the water butter & salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the flour all at once. Using a spatula, stir vigorously for about 1 minute until the mixture leaves the sides and forms a ball. Remove it from the heat; place dough into a bowl, preferably glass, but metal is fine too. Add eggs and whisk until smooth and very thick using a whisk.

Lightly spray a mini muffin pan with oil. Using a slightly mounded teaspoon scoop batter into cups. Bake 22-25 min or until a deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven and make a small cut into the side of each puff to release excess steam. Remove puffs from pan and cool completely.






For the filling:
1 containter (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting, melted
2 tbsp chopped pistachios or almonds

Combine whipped topping, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix gently until well blended using a spatula. If you have a pastry bag fill it with filling & pipe into puffs. If you don't have a pastry bag, you can use a large zip-top bag, and put the filling into the bag & then cut off a small corner & pit it into the hole you made in the puffs & pipe it in. You should feel the dough tighten around the cream. For the topping, place frosting in a microwave safe bowl, cook on high for 5-10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle frosting over puffs and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Serve immediately. Makes 24 puffs.





I do the filling just a little differently. I use a cup of whipping cream & use my whisk attachment on my Kitchen Aid & make whipped cream then I add the vanilla & powdered sugar & stir it in gently. I also don't use frosting, I use some of my Dove chocolate & melt it. It doesn't drizzle as well, but it does harden.

There ya go!! Two great dishes that are perfect for get togethers!!

Day 12 - Back to Business

Sorry it took a couple days to get back to this. Our 4th was an awesome day!! I hope yours was too!! On Monday I did some sewing projects that were piling up on me. I didn't think to take pictures while I was doing it, so I didn't blog about it. I did rebuild a hem on my husbands shorts, which was something that I had never done before. I did pretty well. But, on to today's yummy-ness :-)

Strawberry Popcicles

2 cups strawberries (topped)
1 cup milk
sugar to taste

Wash & top strawberries, put them & the milk in a blender. Blend until smooth. Taste it, if it isn't sweet add some sugar. Blend & taste. Repeat as necessary. Pour into popcicle molds. Freeze 6-8 hours or until competely frozen

Day 11 - Blankets

I decided early in the year that I was going to make blankets for everyone for Christmas. Today I finished 2. They are very simple little blankets.

This one is for my nephew





THis one is for Saya, but it is for her new friend Pandy, her new Build-A-Bear friend.




The blankets aren't the no-sew ones. They are knotted at the top & bottom, but have a small hem on the sides. Saya has one that is similar to the one I made for Pandy, & I have more fabric to make one for her.

I have used about 2 yards for the large blankets. It might be a bit big to begin with but as the kids grow it will be perfect to just curl up with.

That's it!! I hope you enjoy this project. I just wanted to inform you that I am taking the day off tomorrow to have fun & visit with family & friends. Have a HAPPY & SAFE 4th!!!!

Day 10 - Fun with Food Coloring

I had a lot of fun today!! It was a lot of work but it was well worth it!!!

I made Star Wars sugar cookies with cookie cutters from William Sonoma. They are SO cool!!! I made some a week or so ago. I liked them, but couldn't figure out how to frost them. They have the cutter, but then there is a stamp that stamps the face on it. If you frost the cookie you will cover up the stamp, unless you are professional & use tiny brushes & are extremely patient & don't have a 2 year old running around ;-)

So I decided to dye the dough & them frost the hightlights. It worked out very well. Also, there is a reason why I did this. My husband & I watch a podcast called The Totally Rad Show. I was out of town when my hubby watched the episode that featured the hosts making these cookies & it was a frosting fail because of the same issues I had originally. So, my plan is to send pictures in to the podcast & maybe they will show my picture on their show :-) We'll see.

I know that most people won't have the cookie cutters, but I thought that I would share William Sonoma's sugar cookie recipe. You can use it with any cookie cutters you wish.

Sugar Cookies from William Sonoma

1 cup sugar
12 tbsp (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method:

Sift together flour & salt. Set aside.
In another bowl mix together, butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.
Add flour mixture in 2 parts.
When the dough comes together, form it into a ball. Split that ball into 2. Form the balls into discs & wrap them in plastic wrap. Put them in the refrigerator for 2 hours up to 2 weeks.






When you're ready to make cookies, bring the disks out of the refrigerator & allow to rest for 5 min. Roll the dough out to 1/4" thick. Preheat oven to 350 & bake for 10 - 15 min.


Before putting the dough in the refrigerator was when I added the food coloring to make my desired colors.








So, while they were baking I made the icing:

3 egg whites, at room temperature
4 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
a pinch of salt
a few drops vanilla or lemon juice
food coloring, if desired

IN the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites, confectioners' sugar, cream of tartar & salt on medium-low speed. Add the vanilla or lemon juice and turn up the speed to medium-high for 7-8 minutes until stiff peaks form & it triples in volume.








Next, I decided to make a No-Cook PlayDough for my daughter. I thought it would be a nice thing for her to play with from time to time.

No-Cook Playdough from Cooks.com

3 cups flour
1 1/2 CUPS salt
1/4 cup oil
1 cup water
food coloring



Blend until it forms a dough ball. You can use a stand mixer or a food processor with a dough blade.
This was the point that I broke the dough into balls & dyed each one a different color.

Day 9 - Meatball Subs with Homemade Hoagie Rolls

I absolutely love this meal. It is a bit lengthy, but it is well worth it!!!!

First start with the hoagies:

Ingredients:

1 cup water
2 teasp sugar
4 teasp vegetable oil
1 teasp salt
2¾ cups bread flour
2¼ teasp yeast

Method:

Place ingredients into bread machine.
Use dough cycle
Remove dough to a lightly floured surface & dust the top with flour.
Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces
Place dough pieces evenly spaced apart on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.
Shape dough into an oval shape.
Cut a "snip" in the center of each roll, about 1-2 inches long & 1/4 inch deep




Cover & let rise for 20 minutes.






Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.











After the hoagies, make the meatballs. I just used pre- prepared meatballs. I had some from Costco that I used, so heat them according to the directions on the package.












While the meatballs are in the oven, warm up some spaghetti sauce.











After the meatballs are done, I cut the hoagies in half, but left part of the crust attached. I split the meatballs in half & placed them on the hoagie, then took some provolone cheese on top & put the whole thing on a baking sheet & broiled it until the cheese was melted & browning. (In the picture, the lasagna dish was my daughter's, I didn't want to broil her bread.)








Pull it out of the oven after 4-5 min & top with spaghetti sauce, green peppers and black olives, if you wish.






SO DELICIOUS!!!

Day 8 - Tortilla Bake

This is completely different. Easy & delicious!

Tortilla Bake

1 lb ground beef
1½ cups salsa
1 can black beans, drained
4 flour tortillas
2 cups cheese

Method:





Cook beef; drain.





Add salsa & beans.





In a round casserole dish, layer 1 tortillas, 2/3 cup meat mixture & 1/2 cup cheese.





Repeat 3 times.





Bake @ 400 for 30 min or until heated through



This is a favorite around our house. I hope you enjoy it also!

If you have any special requests, please don't hesitate to ask. I have been asked for a couple things that I will put on in the next week or so. It doesn't have to be anything specific, maybe a food item (i.e. strawberries, fruits, etc.) you would like highlighted.

Enjoy!

Day 7 - Grilled Steak Tenderloins

Tonight is a kind of variation on last night's post.

I started out with Beef tenderloin steaks probably about 4-6 oz a piece. I made about 7 of them just to be sure it was enough, because they are small. I poured a little bit of olive oil in the bottom of a shallow dish and cut up some fresh rosemary & sprinkled half of it in the bottom of the dish, then I added minced garlic. I stirred it around a bit. I then added the steaks. Then repeated the same process over the top. Drizzle with olive oil, add rosemary & garlic. Let it set for around a half hour or as long as it takes to heat your grill. Heat the grill to med-high. Grill for 5-7 min per side for medium.

I added corn to the grill and steamed some green beans.

I made parmesan twists to go along with it tonight.

Parmesan Twists

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water
2 cups bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp bread machine yeast or active dry yeast
3 tbsp melted butter
1-2 tbsp parmesan cheese
garlic powder (optional)

Method:

Using a bread machine, put ingredients in machine as instructed by owner's manuel. Do not add the parmesan or butter.
Set machine to dough cycle. When the machine signals to add other ingredients, you can add a tbsp of parmesan & a tsp of garlic powder, if you wish.
When cycle is over, spray a bowl with nonstick spray & turn dough out into the bowl turning dough so oiled side it up. Cover & let sit for 30 min.
When the dough has doubled cut into 20 equal pieces. Roll each piece out to about 6" "snakes" Take 2 pieces press tops together & then twist them like making a braid. Press the bottom ends together & place on a oiled cookie sheet. Repeats with all pieces. When all of them are made, melt butter in a microwave, add parmesan, and garlic powder. Brush over the newly formed twists. Cover again & let sit for 20 min.

Bake 400 for 12-15 min.


Hope you enjoy!!

Day 6 - Easy Grilled Chicken Dinner

Today kind of ended up being a meal that I threw together, but it is a very good meal!! And Easy!

I start off with chicken, enough to feed all. I use a McCormick's marinade (powdered) There are many different flavors. Usually you can find them 10 for 10. Marinate the chicken for a half hour at the minimum. It has better flavor if you let it sit longer. Heat your grill to high & cook 10 min per side.

For the vegetables, I have found corn at our local farmer's stand & it is so good & sweet I would highly recommend it, if you don't have fresh you can always use canned. The corn I husk & get as much of the silk off & put it on the grill, if you have a gas grill & an upper rack, that would be perfect or a charcoal grill on the outer edges. Also green beans, I steam mine, or nuke 'em if they're canned. You can prepare any vegetables you like. Corn and green beans are our favorites, but I sometimes make Saya broccoli too by steaming it.

You can pair it with a salad if you feel it's a bit wimpy on the vegetables, or add a nice loaf of french bread.

I told you easy peasy!! Hope you try it & enjoy it!

Day 5 - Banana Bread

Today I took the day off as far as cooking goes. I needed it. I have a recipe that I made earlier in the week that I wanted to share.

Moist Banana Bread

1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 large, very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter or shortening

Preheat oven to 375.

Spread walnuts on a flat baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 5-6 min. Midway through, toss them around on the pan so that the tops and bottoms brown evenly. When they are done remove the pan from the oven and then remove the toasted nuts from the pan and set them aside to cool.

Combine the dry ingredients.
*IMPORTANT: Make sure the walnuts are thoroughly cooled before adding them to the dry, as the heat will activate the baking powder too early.

Melt the butter until it is thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.

Peel the bananas. Use a potato masher, mash the bananas in a separate mixing bowl.
Add the vanilla to the bananas.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the beaten egg to the banana mixture.

Thoroughly grease and flour a loaf pan.

Pour a tiny bit of melted butter into the wet mixture and sit it in. Repeat 3-4 times, adding a slightly large amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.
*IMPORTANT: Don't add hot melted butter to the egg mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix for NO MORE THAN 10 SECONDS!! The batter will be visibly lumpy. That's OK! It's extremely important not to over mix the batter, or it will be too hard.

Pour into the pan and bake immediately for 50 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Once the pan is cool enough to touch, invert it & let it cool on a wire rack.



This bread came out very very well. I hope you enjoy it too!!

Day 4 - Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

For today, I went easy. I have been pushing myself a little too hard I think & have worn myself out. So, it may not be my shining moment, but it sure was tasty!!

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salads with Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients:

4-7 boneless skinless chicken breasts
romaine lettuce (enough for everyone you're feeding)
1 bottle caesar dressing (your choice of brand)
Croutons
Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Method:

Chicken:
Cover the chicken with dressing and marinate for at least an hour. Prepare the grill to high heat. Grill 10 min per side.

Salad:
Cut romaine into bite sized pieces. Add croutons. Put into a bowl & set aside.
Cut chicken into thin strips & add to salad. Put dressing on right before serving.

Parmesan Crisps:

On a parchment lined baking sheet, place small mounds of shredded parm about 2 inches from each other. Press down on the centers of the mounds to make disk shapes. Preheat oven to 375. Bake for 10 min.

Allow to cool for 10 min. Serve along side salad.





This is a very savory meal. It was gone in minutes. Hope you enjoy!

Day 3 - Banana S'mores

This is a sinful dessert especially if you really like sweet stuff!!! In my opinion, it would be better with milk chocolate chips than the semi-sweet, but it is still good. The chocolate makes it richer & to me is almost not needed, but then it would just be bananas & pudding with marshmallows, all still yummy!!

Banana S'mores
Ingredients:

¾ cup graham cracker, crumbs
½ cup bisquick
2 tbsp sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
2 med banana
2 tbsp lemon juice
1⅓ cups milk
1 pkg pudding, vanilla or chocolate
¾ cup mini marshmallows
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

Mix crumbs, bisquick, & sugar in a bowl. Stir in butter until moistened. Press in bottom of ungreased square pan. Bake 350 for 10 min. Cool 20 min.
Peel & slice banana; dip into lemon juice. Arrange on cooled crust.
Beat milk & pudding mix with whisk until smooth. Stir in marshmallows, spread over bananas. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Refrigerate 1 hour.


Ok, so when I made this I did it just a little differently. I didn't dip the bananas in lemon, I can see the reasoning in it if you let them sit for a long time. I didn't put the chocolate chips over the top of it, which probably was what made mine too rich to me, I used a double boiler & melted the chocolate & poured it over the top. I didn't get it to the drizzle phase, probably should have added milk, oh well. Things to try for the next time!!

I hope you enjoy this recipe, I know that my daughter loved it!!

Day 2 - Peanut Butter & Bananas

So, today, I decided to kick this thing off with a bang. I decided what goes best with strawberry jam?!?!? It's best friend, peanut butter. I had recently purchased a mass amount of roasted peanuts from the bulk section of my grocery store, but they weren't salted. Instead of throwing them out, peanut butter came to be!! It is very easy, in a food processor. A blender might do ok, but it might be a bit cumbersome.

Peanut Butter courtesy of Alton Brown
The recipe:

15 oz roasted peanuts
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp honey
1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil (I used more!!)

Method:

Place the peanuts, salt, and honey into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 min. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Place the lid back on and continue to process while slowly drizzling in the oil and process until the mixture is smooth, 1 1/2 to 2 min. Place the peanut butter in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

I ended up using more peanut oil, because it wasn't smooth. Just eyeball it & make it the consistency you like.

Also for today is a delicious banana muffin. I had a bunch of ripe bananas hanging around, and needed to use them!! So here you go!


Oatmeal-Banana Muffins

1 cup quick oats oatmeal
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup white flour
1 teasp baking powder
¾ teasp baking soda
2 tbsp walnuts, optional
½ cup brown sugar
2 banana, ripe
¾ cup milk
1 egg
1½ tbsp oil
½ tbsp peanut butter
Method:

Preheat oven to 400. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. In a food processor mix banana, milk, egg, vegetable oil, and peanut butter. Add wet to dry ingredients and stir until moist.
Spoon batter into muffin cups to 2/3 full.

Bake 15-20 minutes

So there you go! Day two!! I hope you enjoy!

I just wanted to say a little aside, we do not eat fish in our family, so the bulk of my recipes are chicken & beef with some pork mixed in every once in a while. Also, I am having a problem getting my pictures off of my phone & on to the computer to upload, so once I figure it out I will start posting pictures. Enjoy!!!

Day 1 - Thai Chicken Salad

Today is my first blog. I'm not quite sure where this blog is going to go, but my goal is to post at least 1 food item a day & sewing projects as I get to them. So the past couple days I have been SO excited about strawberry season. I have been busy making strawberry jam. I would however like to share the dinner that I made tonight. It is my favorite go-to meal for get togethers. It is yummy as well as easy to make. (I did not get a picture of the finished product, because it was promptly devoured by my family.

Thai Chicken Salad, compliments of Pampered Chef

¾ cup creamy poppy seed salad dressing
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 1 inch fresh gingerroot, grated & juiced
1 pkg fresh baby spinich
1 pkg broccoli slaw mix
1 cucumber, scored, seeded & sliced
1 sml red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
1 lb chicken, flattened and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, snipped
¼ cup peanuts, chopped


Method:

For dressing, in a mixing bowl combine salad dressing and garlic. Grate gingerroot. gather gingerroot in hand and squeeze over bowl to release juice, discard flesh. Whisk until well blended and set aside.

For salad, place spinach, slaw mix, cucumber, and bell pepper in a large bowl, refrigerate until ready to serve.

For chicken mixture, heat skillet over med-high heat. Lightly spray with nonstick spray. Add chicken to skillet in a single layer. Cook without stirring 2 min or until chicken begins to brown. Stir-fry 2-3 min or until chicken is no longer pink; remove from heat. Add basil peanuts and 1/4 cup of the dressing; toss to coat.

To serve, toss salad with remaining dressing; top with chicken mixture and serve immediately.


I hope you enjoy this meal. It is very yummy!!