Hot Chicken Salad

I made this recipe recently for Friends & Family day pot luck at church. It really turned out pretty good. Of course, I had to made modifications because I don't like all of the suggested ingredients. I know others probably do but I wanted to be able to sample my own dish!

Here's the recipe. I hope you enjoy!

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (Tyson chicken is always my first choice! Wonder why??)
2 bay leaves

Place chicken in a large pot & cover with water; add bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cook uncovered, until juices run clear. Remove chicken & cut into 1/2 inch cubes; place in a large bowl. Add next 11 ingredients.

4 cups diced celery
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
2 c mayonnaise
2 c (16 oz) sour cream
2 cans (8 oz) water chestnuts, drained
1 can (8 oz) mushrooms, stems & pieces, drained
1 c slivered almonds
2 Tbsp chopped onion
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 c (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans (2.8 oz each) french-fried onions

Mix well. Transfer to a 13x9x2 baking dish (dish will be full). Sprinkle with cheese & french-fried onions. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Wanna guess what I left out??? You got it...mushrooms & water chestnuts!! I only added about 2 cups of celery and I used 1 tsp (and then some) of pepper. I was thinking I might add chopped black olives next time.

ps. As a word of caution - this dish yields 16 servings!

Carrots kids will want to nibble on!

I made these little Easter surprises last April, placed them in an Easter basket and passed them out to the little ones at church. With Easter just around the corner, I thought I'd share this for those Mothers looking for Easter basket ideas for their little ones!

Craft Materials

Bag of Cheetos or Cheese Puffs

Green Tissue Paper

Wilton decorating/icing bags

different colors of curling ribbon

1. Fill an icing bag with Cheetos, leaving at least 3 inches unfilled at the top.

2. Cut out two 8-inch squares of green tissue paper and lay one on top of the other.

3. Pick up the squares from the center and give them a little twist so you have a cone-shaped carrot top.

4. Place the tissue, twisted end down, into the bag.

5. Gather the bag at the top of the jelly beans and secure with a piece of curling ribbon, wrapping the ribbon around the "stem" of the tissue paper, so the greenery sticks out of the top.

It's as simple as that!

I've also seen this done with orange jelly beans or M&Ms. If you're giving it to someone special, you can attach an Easter greeting.

Hominy Casserole

Mother loved Hominy Casserole. Christmas 2002, she gave me a handwritten recipe book of all her favorite recipes & this was one of them.
Every 4th Sunday following our evening worship at church, we have different themed potluck meals. One particular night was Mexican themed and unbeknownst to me, I got some Hominy Casserole & just loved it! Shame on me for never trying it for Mother!!

Here's her recipe...

1/2 stick butter
1/2 c onion, chopped
2 cans yellow hominy, drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Melt butter in a skillet, add onion & cook until tender. Add hominy, cream of chicken soup & 1/2 c shredded cheese and mix well. Pour into 2 qt casserole dish & top with remaining cheese. Bake on 350 for 30 minutes. She sometimes liked using Mexican velveeta to give it a little spice.

I followed her recipe but added a little garlic, 1/4 c milk & a can of green chilies to give it my own little spice!!!

Go ahead and try it and let me know what you think!

Beef Enchilada Casserole

As many of you know, I am the PTA Hospitality chairperson at my kids' school, so when the teachers have Parent/Teacher conferences, we (PTA) provide luncheons for them which gives me an excuse to try out new recipes!!

I found this recipe on Kelly's Korner and modified it a little to fit my needs for our luncheon!

Here's the original recipe as posted on Kelly's blog:

1 lb hamburger meat
1 small onion, chopped
1 can black olives, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can Enchilada sause
2 c shredded Cheddar Cheese
6-8 flour tortillas

Brown meat & onions until done, drain. Mix in olives & add 3/4 c of cheese - let it melt and mix all together. Fill tortillas with meat mixture & roll up. Place in 9x13 baking dish. Combine mushroom soup & enchilada sauce then pour on top. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Here's my version...
Mushrooms disgust me so I used cream of chicken soup. I cut my flour tortillas into strips. Once my meat mixture was done, I added the black olives and mixed well. I placed half of my tortilla strips in my 9x13 pan and then added meat mixture, Enchilada sauce mixture & sprinkled with cheese. I repeated the layers & topped with remaining cheese. Then, I baked it just as directed.

Ole'