Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

I'm a sucker for all things strawberry!! I couldn't pass up giving this a try. It is SO good. I hope you enjoy it too!

 

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

 

2 -8 ounce containers cool whip, thawed

2 (3 1/2 ounce) packages cheesecake flavor instant Jell-O pudding mix

1 (24 ounce) container strawberry yogurt

2 lbs. fresh strawberries, sliced

1-2 Cups mini marshmallows

 

Ina large bowl stir together cool whip, yogurt, and pudding powder. Let this set up in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Wash and slice the strawberries. Add strawberries and marshmallows stir well and serve cold.

 

 

This recipe could be cut in half as well.

Crunchy Chicken Salad

     It has been sweltering hot here. When it is hot I do not wish to eat. Nothing sounds good, nothing looks good. I decided to try making some chicken salad. I remembered that my Grandma made chicken salad once from a recipe that came from the Hays House in Council Grove, Kansas. The Hays House is known for being the oldest continuous restaurant west of the Mississippi River. It was built in 1857. They serve all sorts of gluteny home cooked foods. (end of history lesson)
     I can't remember if Grandma asked the chef for the recipe, or if they have recipe cards available for purchase in the establishment. Either way, Grandma made their chicken salad and it was yummy. SO I decided to look online and see if I could come up with it...and low and behold I found the Hays House Crunchy Chicken Salad Recipe on the Kansas Magazine website.
     My recipe isn't exactly like their recipe, but it is inspired by their recipe for chicken salad. I hope you enjoy it.

Crunchy Chicken Salad

5 C. Cooked Chicken, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 C. Celery diced into small pieces
1 C. Pineapple tidbits, drained
1 C. Red Seedless Grapes, cut into halves
1/4 C. Toasted Pecan Pieces
Dressing:
1 C. Plain Greek Yogurt
1 C. Miracle Whip
1 tsp. Seasoning Salt

In a large bowl combine the chicken pieces, celery, pineapple, grapes, and toasted pecans. Mix until combined. In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients together. Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and mix until coated. Chill in the refrigerator.

Serve on bread for a sandwich, on lettuce for a salad, or with gluten free crackers.

Wash all the veggies and get ready for prep...it won't take long though

Dice the celery into small pieces

Cut the seedless red grapes into 1/2. If you are serving this to little kiddos, you may want to cut them into even smaller pieces so that they aren't a choking hazard.

Add the pineapple tidbits, I even cut them into 1/2, but you wouldn't have to.

Add the toasted pecans. (to toast nuts, bake at 350 for 5-10 min. until slightly browned and have a toasted flavor. Watch them carefully so they do not burn)

Cut the chicken into small chunks.

Combine the dressing ingredients.

Mix the dressing into the other ingredients until everything is well coated with yummyness.

Serve well chilled with gluten free crackers.

I hope you enjoy my chicken salad recipe. I tried to make it a little more "healthy" by using greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Also, it is something that won't heat up the house too much during this intense heat wave we have been going through. Oh, and it also tastes pretty darn good! Enjoy.

-Jessica

Lemon Berry Pancakes....easy peasy

     I know that this recipe is not a rocket science level of difficulty. However, it is quite yummy so I had to share. I bought a big package of blueberries and thought I would use them in some pancakes. I also had some strawberries in the fridge. SO, that's where the berry portion of this idea happened. I decided to whip up some pancake batter using Gluten Free Bisquick. However, I thought it would be amazing if the pancakes had a lemon flavor to compliment the berries....thus the lemon berry pancake was born.

Lemon Berry Pancakes

1 C. Gluten Free Bisquick Mix
1 C. Milk
1 Egg.
2 T. Oil
1/2 tsp. lemon extract

1 C. Fresh Blueberries
1 C. Sliced Strawberries
Syrup

Combine the ingredients together until no lumps remain. Heat a griddle/ skillet. Pour approximately 1/2 C. of the batter onto the griddle. Sprinkle blueberries onto the batter. Flip the pancake when golden brown. Cook the other side until golden. Remove from the heat and top with more blueberries, strawberries, and syrup.

I heart blueberries

Pour approximately 1/2 C of batter onto the hot griddle.

Top the batter with fresh blueberries and cook until golden.

Flip and cook the other side.

Top with berries

Add a little syrup

Enjoy! These are SO yummy.

I hope you enjoy these pancakes. I think the lemon flavoring gives them something a little different.

-Jessica

Chocolate Fondue, oh so simple and sinful!

     I decided I would hook you up with another "recipe-O-love" before Valentines Day. *insert ooooh's,  ahhhh's, and thank you's here* ha
     This recipe is super easy, however it tastes like it was hard to make. Your Valentines will be fooled into thinking you spent lots of time on this treat for them, when in reality you only spent a few minutes.
     I have made this fondue for parties, showers, and just nights at home. It is a huge hit every time. Leftovers re-heat well. It also makes an amazing topping for ice cream if you do happen to have leftovers.

Chocolate Fondue

3/4 C. Chocolate Milk Chips (I use milk chocolate, but semi sweet also works well)
5oz Can of Evaporated Milk
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
50 Caramels (1-14 oz bag) unwrapped

In a microwave safe bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave on high for 2 1/2 minutes, stir. Microwave another 2-3 minutes or until all chocolate and caramels are melted. Stir to be sure all ingredients are combined.

Serve with your favorite dippers: strawberries, apple slices, marshmallows, gluten free pretzels, gluten free cookies or pieces of gluten free cake.

Unwrapping all of the caramels is probably the most time consuming part of the recipe. Check out my pile of wrappers! ha

I always use my Pampered Chef microwave cooker when I make this, but any microwave safe bowl will work great.

Dump everything into the bowl and microwave.

Serve with your favorite dippers.

   I hope you enjoy this yummy chocolaty treat. It is sooooo good and soooo sinful. Happy Valentines Day to all of my SillyYaks!!

-Jessica

Healthy Licorice???

    I had stopped at Target today to pick up a couple of things. While waiting in a gargantuan checkout line I spotted an endcap that had fruit rollups and these things called Simply Fruit Twists (Made by General Mills). They look just like licorice in the picture on the box. I picked up the box to read while I waited in the looooong line. Right on the front of the box it says "Gluten Free". Ummmm throw these bad boys in my cart!! I don't care if it puts me over the limit for the express lane!! I'll risk it.
     I got home and decided I needed to try out the fruit twists. They are amazingly good!! They are larger around than traditional licorice. I bought strawberry flavor, not sure if any other flavors exist. I would for sure buy these again.
     Oh and I almost forgot to say, they contain a serving of fruit. If you can't get your kiddo to eat fruit, I bet they would happily eat these. You can trick them into thinking they are candy!! ha I love sneaky foods like that.
    I just thought I would share my cool find with you. I hope you can find them and give them a try. Enjoy.

-Jessica