Almond Chicken Pasta Salad

Thanks, Brit, for the recipe!  I can't wait to try it.

4 c. cooked, cubed chicken
2 c apples, cored and chopped
1 8ozpkg pasta
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1/3 c sliced celery
1/2 c seedless grapes, halved
1/4 c thinly sliced gr onion
Dressing:
11/2 c mayo
2/3 c lowfat plain yogurt
2 Tbs sesame seeds
2 tsp lime zest
6 Tbs lime juice
4 Tbs honey
1.2 tsp salt
1 c toasted sliced almonds

In lg bowl toss together the cooked chicken, apples, cooked pasta, pineapple, grapes, celery and onions. Make the dressing by combining mayo, yogurt, sesame seeds, lime zest and juice, honey and salt. Pour over pasta mixture, toss gently to combine;cover and chill. Top with almonds.

-dressing recipe is doubled so save some of the dressing to add as needed.(Soaks it up as it sits)

Oatmeal Caramelitas

I needed a quick treat to take tonight to pack meeting.  I've been saving this recipe for awhile now so I decided to try it out. 

I did make one change right off the bat because I didn't have caramel just sitting in the cupboard (actually I did but didn't realize it at the time :)  So I used this recipe that we LOVE for caramel:

For the Carmel you will need to mix:

2 cups brown sugar                                                     1 cup Karol syrup

1 cube margarine

Bring mixture to a boil.  Add 1 can of eagle brand milk and boil for 4 minutes.  Set aside.  (You'll actually only need about 2 cups of this prepared so you can save the rest for caramel popcorn, the perfect dip for apples, or whatever you would like.)

 While melting caramel, mix together:

1 cup quick cook oats                                                 1 cup flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar                                       ½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt                                                                     3/4 cup melted butter

Press half of the mixture into a greased 11 x 7 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1 cup chocolate chips. Pour caramel mixture over chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture on top. Bake for 15 minutes more. Refrigerate immediately for at least 2 hours. Cut and eat! 

Mexican Chicken in the Crock Pot

Yesterday I decided I needed something different than was on the menu so I tried this recipe. 

It was delicious!  We will definitely be having this again.  Can't beat an AWESOME crock pot recipe!
1 can black beans
1 can chili (with beans)

4 chicken breasts, boned & skinned (I used 8 chicken tenderloins)
1 pkg. taco seasoning  (I buy taco seasoning in bulk so it was about 2 TBL of seasoning)

Combine all in crock pot and cook on low for 4 hours (I actually cooked it on high for 4 hours since the chicken was frozen). Shred chicken and continue cooking for another 2 hours (I turned it to low at this point). The original recipe says to serve over rice or chips.  We actually ate it in tortilla shells while others of us ate it with tortilla chips.  I added freshly chopped cilantro just before serving.  We added cheese and sour cream inside the tortillas.  Now I'm completely craving the leftovers!  YUM!

Recipe Book

I'm updating my typed recipe book...any additions that are must adds?  I've already added any recipe here that wasn't in the original file.  Send me an email (jhurdsman at cox dot net) or leave me a comment with your go-to recipes :)

Chocolate Chip Cookie WINNERS!

About a month ago, Dave and the kids went to a friends house to help with a science experiment.  Our friend was trying to find the best chocolate chip cookie so her and her mom made several cookies and then invited several taste testers over.  I think it's one of the first times that my kids came home and said they were too full of cookies.  We found out the winner of the experiement this week...so of course I had to make them...and they are delicious!

Kim’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (this was the mom's roommate):
Cream together:
1 Cup Butter, 1 Cup White Sugar, and 1 Cup Brown Sugar
Add to butter mixture:
2 Eggs, 1 tsp. Vanilla
Combine and then add to wet ingredients:
2 Cups Flour, 2 ½ Cups Oatmeal (measure first then pulverize in blender)
½ tsp. Salt, 1 tsp. Baking Powder and 1 tsp. Baking Soda
Add:
12 oz Chocolate Chips
Drop in spoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fruit Pizza

For St. Patrick's day, I wanted to do a little bit more than just dyeing the food green.  I decided to do a rainbow of sorts and made this fruit pizza.

Crust
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Cream together butter and sugar until smooth.  Mix in egg.  Add in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until just blended.  Roll dough onto a pizza pan (I, of course, used a Pampered Chef pizza stone).  Just a tip...you don't want the dough to touch the edges of your pan because it will expand to the end edges as it cooks (ask me how I know..my kitchen probably still stinks from cookie dough dripping off the edges of my pan since I decided I need to make more dough to go all the way to the edge).  Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (lightly browned).  Cool.

Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 to 1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 to 1 cup cool whip (I add this so the "frosting" isn't so heavy tasting)
1 tsp vanilla

Beat together.  Spread on crust when it's cooled.

Add sliced fruit.  Our layers of choice in this picture are strawberries (red), cantalope (orange), pineapple (yellow), grapes (green), blueberries (blue), and blackberries (purple)...our complete rainbow :)

Baby Back Ribs

This recipe is from my friend Wendy on our Healthy Living blog.


4 lbs pork ribs (the man in the meat dept told Wendy 1 lb per person)
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp regular sugar
1 Tbls paprika
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp white pepper (optional)
3/4 tsp ground oregano

Trim excess fat from ribs.  Combine all ingredients and rub over the surface of the ribs.  Place ribs, standing on their edge with the meaty side out (bones in middle).  Cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Remove from cooker and brush with your favorite bbq sauce.

Chicken or Steak Fajitas in the Crock Pot

This recipe is from my cousin Kirsten.  She posted this recipe on our blog here.


2-3 frozen chicken breasts or 1.5 lb flank steak (sliced)
1 cup favorite salsa
1 1/2 tsp Chili pepper powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
Mix together and pour over meat. Cook on low 7 hours, shred chicken after 6 hours and stir. Add sliced peppers and onions (however many you'd like) about 30-45 min prior to serving so they are crisp tender.   Serve with the usual fixings; tortillas, cheese, salsa, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream.

Crockpot Sweet & Sour Chicken

This is a recipe that I need to try from my friend Michelle from the Healthy Living Blog

Add the following to the crockpot:
Chicken breasts
Fat Free catalina dressing
1/2 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix
1/2 cup sugar free apricot jam

Mix the salad dressing with the Lipton Onion Soup mix.  Then add apricot jam.  Add pineapple chunks and some juice towards the end and serve over rice!

Puppy Chow

I meant to post this recipe last month but just forgot about it until I was sorting through pictures today.  It's a yummy special treat at our house!  We use to make this at my house growing up...it's a fun one to make with the kids because of all the shaking :)  I think the proper name for it is Muddy Buddies.
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 stick margarine
1 cup creamy peanut butter
6 cups Crispix cereal or Chex cereal
1 12oz unsalted dry roasted nuts (optional...I honestly don't think I've ever had this with the nuts in it.)
3 cups powdered sugar
Mix Crispix and nuts in large bowl. Put the powdered sugar in large brown paper bag. Melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and margarine. Pour over Crispix and nuts. Mix well. Dump mixture into brown bag with powdered sugar and shake well. Pour into bowl and eat.

Navajo Tacos

So I was really running short on time when we had Navajo Tacos for dinner this week so I ended up making the fry bread recipe on the link I first linked to.  Here's the recipe again...
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp shortening
Warm water

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in shortening and add enough warm water 1 teaspoon at a time to make a dough. Mix until dough is no longer sticky. Pinch off a small handful and roll or pat out to 1/8 inch thick. I fried the bread in a skillet that had about 3/4 of an inch of canola oil in it.  Dave and I liked them this way...the kids not so much (they were expecting our usual scones) so they just used tortillas instead.
I love that everyone can add whatever toppings they like on theirs.  I browned my hamburger and added taco seasoning and salsa (our favorite way for taco meat).  The other toppings included refried beans, avocado, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and salsa.  We had these while we were on vacation between Christmas and New Year's...we used the frozen Rhodes dough (I believe) for the fry bread.  They worked good, too...although, I think most of the kids had more "sweet" navajo tacos than actual real food navajo tacos.

March Menu

At the end of February I purchased a ham (even though it was quite expensive) because I realized I could get a lot of meals out of it...and it really would save money in the long run.  So far, we've had baked ham, double crust pizza, ham and cheese omelets, and ham and cheese/veggie soup.  I still have a ton left!  What's your favorite way to use ham/favorite ham recipe?  Here's what will be cookin' up at the Hurdsman Household this month....
1.  Orange Chicken
2.  Ham and Cheese Omelets
3.  Hard Shell Tacos
4.  Sloppy Joes
5.  Chicken Cordon Bleu
6.  Roast
7.  Spaghetti & Honey Wheat Rolls
8. Navajo Tacos (but I'll probably use this recipe for the bread instead)
9. Sweet & Sour Chicken
10.  Crepes
11.  Fried Chicken
12.  White Chicken Pizza
13. Chicken Enchiladas
14.  Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry 
15.  Chicken & Dressing Casserole
16.  Chicken Fried Steak
17.  Baked Potato Soup
18.  Baked Pasta
19.  Fiesta Stack
20.  Crockpot Porkchops
21.  New Recipe...Still deciding on what to try...any suggestions :)
22.  Crockpot Mexican Chicken
23.  Chicken Kabobs
24.  Creamy Chicken Taquitos
25.  Chicken Enchilada Pizza
26.  Hamburgers & Hot Dogs
27.  Party Potatoes
28.  Whole Grain Pancakes
29.  Garlic Tomato Pasta
30.  Mexican Salad
31.  Mexican Pulled Pork