Fattoush Pasta Salad

When I first found this prize-winning salad, I wasn't sure my family would like it, even though everyone reviewing it raved about it; it contained ingredients we've never been drawn to, such as radishes and "Greek Seasoning" (whatever that is). However, I'm very happy to report we loved it! I made it as a trial-run for a potential graduation party salad, loved it, and then made it again for the party.

I found the recipe via this Pinterest pin. I was a little put-off about the number of ingredients (Was this recipe complicated?), but it's actually very simple, so don't be intimidated. Just get your prep dishes ready :)

For a printer friendly version of this recipe, click here.

Ingredients:
In my photo, you'll see portions for quadrupling the recipe, since I made it for a graduation party. Missing from the photo are the mint and the red onion, which Mr.4444 was shopping for when I took the photo:

1 box Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad Classic pasta salad mix

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsps Greek seasoning
the seasoning packet from the Suddenly Salad mix

The Rest:
1 1/2 cup coarsely-chopped cucumbers (one good-sized but skinny cuke)
1 cup coarsely-chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup thinly-sliced zucchini
1/3 cup thinly-sliced radishes
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 cups garlic-flavored croutons or pita chips
1 tbls finely chopped, fresh mint leaves

Mix the seasoning packet, olive oil, lemon juice, and Greek seasoning in a small bowl. Set aside.

Cook the pasta.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the remaining ingredients. When I made this, I didn't have any mint, so I left it out, but I look forward to trying it next time.

Lettuce

Grape Tomatoes

Cukes

Zucchini

Radishes

I just got these stainless bowls (Pampered Chef--killer deal because I sold a bunch of stuff in a book party) the day before the party, and I am totally in love!! Notice the measurements inside the bowl; that made prepping a lot easier, especially since I was making so much.

Feta Cheese

Parsley

(Don't forget the red onion and the mint.)

Garlic-flavored croutons or Pita Chips

I broke them into small pieces.

Throw everything together.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll confess that I mixed mine in this:

In my defense, it was brand-new, and it is called Homer's "All-Purpose" Bucket.

Add the dressing. Stir.

and refrigerate "for at least an hour." I didn't have an hour the first time I made this, so we ate it right away and found it to be deliciously flavorful. I had some again the next day, and it was still wonderful. I brought party leftovers to work two days later, and people still raved about it, so it holds up well.

Reviewers of this recipe noted that croutons or pita chips get a little soggy after a while, but I didn't think that took away from the salad.

***

As stated previously, I quadrupled this recipe for the party, and in case you're interested in doing the same, here are the amounts I ended up using:
3-4 skinny cukes
4 small, skinny zucchinis 

1 whole red onion
1 full head of Romaine lettuce
2 of the containers of grape tomatoes
3 4-oz containers of Feta cheese
2 bags of pita chips
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of radishes

This made more than enough for 50 guests.

Crock-Pot White Chicken Chili

This chili is sooo good that I'm typing this in the middle of my meal. I got the recipe from school; it  was judged the best in our annual staff chili cook-off this year. I have another white chicken chili recipe that people rave about, I gotta tell you, though, this one is my new favorite, as it is very, very good and super-easy to throw together.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts (or one bag of Schwann's cooked chicken pieces)
1 large can (29 oz) black beans, drained
2 15 oz. cans of sweet corn (leave one undrained)*
1 29 oz. can RoTel tomatoes
2 pkgs Hidden Valley Ranch dip mix
2 tsps onion powder
2 tsps ground cumin
2 tsps chili powder*
2 8-oz pkgs light cream cheese

Place the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot. Drain the beans. Add them and everything else (except the cream cheese) to the crockpot and give it a little stir. Lay the cream cheese on top.

Cover and cook 6-8 hours on low. Stir the cream cheese in.

Shred the chicken with a couple of forks. Serve with chips (optional).

This recipe can be halved, but I have a big crock pot, so I went all-out.  I cooked mine on high for four hours, but the recipe calls for 6-8 hours on low.

*My only change that I made to the original recipe was to cut the chili powder in half. The orginal, prize-winning recipe called for two tablespoons of chili powder. I have reduced it to two teaspoons, and my family thinks it has plenty of kick.  Also, in subsequent preparations of this recipe, I have drained one of the cans of corn; otherwise, it seems to soupy to me.

For a text-only copy of this recipe, click here.

Mini Key Lime Cheesecakes

I found this recipe via this pin on Pinterest. That pinner got it from here, and it's important to note, because the two recipes vary in that one calls for beaten egg yolks, and the other calls for beaten egg whites. (I chose whites, since I figured they're healthier than yolks, and we all know this recipe is otherwise healthy, right?haha)

 Ingredients:

Since Mr.4444 cannot come home from the store with just one of what I ask for, I decided to double the recipe! Here follows the list of ingredients for a single batch:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers (about 18 squares)
3/4 cups lime juice (Key Lime is preferred, but I don't know the difference, and it doesn't matter)
1/2 cup butter (originals called for 3/4 cup, but that was wayyyy too much, as you will see later)
3 egg whites, beaten
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
3 Tbls. sugar
1 Tbls. lime zest

By the way, you should be able to get 3/4 cups of lime juice out of 4 or 5 limes.

First, crush the graham crackers inside a baggy, like so:

Then add the melted butter. Use your judgement about how much to use; the recipe called for 3/4 cup, but it turned out to be way to much butter, as you'll see in a moment.

Put a couple of tablespoonsful of the crust mixture in cupcake liners and press them down with the bottom of a small drinking glass or measuring cup.

Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees and allow to cool while you prepare the rest.

While the crusts are baking wash your limes if you're fresh-squeezing them. Don't think that's necessary? Consider where the produce boy's hands have been, not to mention the customers who touched those limes before you did. (Yeah, I thought so!  You'll never not wash your produce again, will you?! You're welcome.)

Before squeezing lemons or limes, I always poke them with a fork and then microwave them for about 30-45 seconds to warm them up a little, which gets them to let their juice go easier.

Now, here's where I'm going to help you avoid making the same mistake I did--You are going to need lime zest, and I forgot that it's a lot easier to zest a lime before you squeeze it than after, so zest your limes before you nuke them, or you'll end up doing this (trying to hold the lime's shape while pressing it against the grater. (Note to self: Buy a lime/lemon zester.)

I'm told you can buy already-squeezed lime juice, but where would the fun be in that?!

By the way, for some reason, it took this many limes for me to get a tablespoon of zest: 

(Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough (I was a little worried about grating the skin off of my knuckles...) 

If you buy lime juice, you're not going to have zest, so keep that in mind. I'm sure it's not absolutely necessary, but it does add a little bit of color and texture. My subsequent lime-zest research revealed that you should be able to get a tablespoon of zest from two limes. (Go figure!)

Now prepare the cheesecake batter. I was confused about the "beaten egg whites," as the only time I've beaten egg whites was when they had to be beaten into a meringue, so I started to beat them in my Kitchenaid mixer, and by the time they were at a froth, I'd changed my mind and stopped. As a result, I ended up with enough for two pans of mini-cheesecakes and a pie! Next time, I will probably just beat the egg whites a little and see what happens.

Add the sweetened condensed milk, sugar, yogurt, and lime juice and zest to the egg whites.

Stir well and pour into the muffin tins. The recipe said to make them 3/4 full, but I had way too much batter to hold off, so here's what I did. (This is where you'll note evidence of how I know there was too much butter in the crust mixture.).

Bake 15 minutes. They're done when you can stick a knife in and pull it out without much on it. They shouldn't be brown or be cracked.

After they've cooled, serve with whipped cream and lime garnish (if you want to; I just used a little piece for the photo and had sent Mr.4444 to the store for the whipped cream, so it's not in this shot, but you get the idea.)

 I will definitely be making these again, as they have just the right amount of lime in them, 

and everyone here (and at work) loved them.

"Best Muffin Ever!"

The name of this recipe is inspired by Mr.4444's declaration while eating one of these moist, somewhat-healthy muffins.

I really should call them "Everything But the Kitchen Sink Muffins," because that's what I added,

but the recipe on which I based this one is called Banana-Blueberry Buttermilk Bread. Regardless, these muffins are wonderful, so if you're looking for something yummy to make for breakfast, you've come to the right recipe! (They are also, apparently, delicious without my additions of chia seeds, flax seeds, pecans, and oatmeal, so don't feel like you can't make them without those.)

I always feel guilty throwing bananas away. Yes, I'm aware that they can be frozen, but I often do that and never use them. This morning, I decided to actually do something with the beautifully-ripe bananas on my counter.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup white flour
1 1/4 cups wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup (plus a splash) low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup (plus a splash) your favorite oil (I used grapeseed, because that's what I had.)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used Splenda brown sugar.)

1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans, optional, of course.)

Whisk buttermilk, oil, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl. Add bananas.

Mix dry ingredients together.

and fold into banana mixture, just until blended. This is when I decided to throw the extra splashes of oil and buttermilk in; I knew I had added one and a half cups more of dry ingredients that weren't in the original recipe, so I felt it needed a little more moisture. If you leave the chia seeds, oatmeal, pecans or flax out, don't worry about the extra moisture.

Spoon into greased muffin tins; it'll all fit, like this:

and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Cool before eating 

or take your chances :)

Dave's Spinach and Turkey Lasagna

Having made this for the first time, I'm considering changing the name to 23-Dish Lasagna, because that's how many I dirtied making this wonderful meal. Part of the reason is that Mr.4444 is always hounding me to to prep my ingredients first, and seeing how many ingredients this one had, I figured it was a good idea.

Before you start prepping, though, put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. You may also preheat the oven, though it'll be on for a while, as there's plenty of prepping to do with this recipe.

Ingredient snapshot:

Lasagna Noodles Sidebar: I've really been trying hard to avoid white flour, so I bought wheat lasagna noodles for the first time, but I was so apprehensive about it that I also bought the usual kind of noodles. I finally decided to use the wheat noodles for one row of the lasagna (three strips stacked atop each other). Mr.4444 begged me not to "wreck" the lasagna by doing that, but you know I never listen; I assured him that I would remember which side of the pan the wheat noodles were on and would serve him from the other side. Well, little did I know that all of the noodles would look the same after the lasagna was done, and I forgot which side had wheat noodles, but guess what? None of us noticed a taste or texture difference. And now, back to our show!

I found it helpful to prep the ingredients and separate them into two groups:

Sauce Ingredients (in order of use):

1 Tbls. olive oil

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 1/2 lbs. Italian turkey sausage (I like Jennie-O, about 7 or 8 sausages)

2 tsps minced garlic

4 cups Prego Tomato and Basil spaghetti sauce*

Cheese/Spinach Mixture Ingredients:

3 cups mozarella cheese, divided

2 cups cottage or Ricotta cheese, drained (I forgot to drain my cottage cheese, but it was fine.)

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 box Lasagna Noodles

Put the sauce ingredients near the stove, as you'll need them for the meat mixture:

 

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil, peppers, and onions.

Saute about five minutes, "until the peppers begin to sweat." 

(I wasn't sure what that meant, so I just went with the clock!)

Add the turkey and garlic to the pan. 

Stir and cook about 10 minutes, til turkey is cooked through.

I drained the juice/grease off at this point.

Add the spaghetti sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat.

When the water is boiling, add the lasagna noodles. 

Cook for seven minutes or until they're al dente. Drain them. 

Dave suggested laying them flat on a greased cookie sheet, so I did that, 

and it worked out nicely, but I'm not sure it was necessary. 

While the meat sauce is cooking, mix the cheese/spinach stuff together, these first...

(but save half of the mozarella for the top of lasagna!)

and then add them to the spinach (use a large bowl) and mix well.

Okay! So now you're ready to assemble this thing! 

Congratulations for making it this far--It is a trip worth taking, so hang in there; 

yum is right around the corner!

For what it's worth, you will end up with about six cups of sauce.

Put one cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan.

  

Top with one layer of noodles, followed by a cup-and-a-half of sauce.

Then top that with half of the cheese/spinach mixture,

and repeat the noodles, sauce, cheese/spinach mixture again.

Top with the last layer of noodles and sauce.

 You'll want to make sure the noodles are covered with sauce, 

so use more from the jar if you need it.

Bake 45 minutes.

Top with the other half of the mozarella cheese

and bake for another 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to set 10-15 minutes.

Serve with a salad featuring Dave's delicious Bleu Cheese Dressing!

I will definitely be making this again; it was a big hit!

*I bought two jars of sauce and used all of one and part of the other.

Dave's Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing

I have a memory of the only time I've ever ate bleu cheese on purpose in the last 50 years. In my childish innocence (and likely exuberance), I'd poured a generous amount on a lettuce salad and apparently didn't like it, because the rest of that memory includes me sitting alone at the diningroom table for what seems like hours, just me and that salad. I don't know how the story ended.

Ever since that day, I have avoided bleu-cheese anything. Last summer, though, I accidentally, unknowingly, bought blue cheese crumbles instead of feta cheese crumbles for our favorite salad.  Only after I had eaten my salad and proclaimed it "delicious, as usual!" did I realize my "mistake." Who knew that bleu cheese was actually palatable?! Dave Anderson did, apparently, as he shared this wonderful recipe in a family cookbook that was published years ago. Today, another cousin raved about it, so I bravely shed my childish fear and made a batch. Boy, am I glad I did; it's delicous!!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup real mayonnaise

3 dashes of Worcestchire sauce

3 dashes of Frank's Red Hot Sauce

3 dashes of garlic salt

4 ounces of bleu cheese crumbles

Shake all but the cheese in a dressing container. Stir in the cheese. Chill.

Serve over leafy greens and salad fixins of your choosing.

Chicken Divine Hotdish

Wow--This casserole from my cousin's wife, Karen, is so delicious! I'll leave it up to the dieters to healthy it up. As for my family, we generally eat healthy meals, so I'm fine with the occasional cholesterol-and-sodium bomb now and then. Besides, there's broccoli and chicken in this one, so it can't be all bad!

Ingredients:
3-4 cups cooked chicken
3-4 bunches of broccoli, cooked to your liking (recipe called for two pkgs. frozen, but I used fresh)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cram of chicken soup
3/4 cup real mayonnaise
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese (Of course, I'm from Wisconsin; I used a little more.)
1 box of Stovetop Stuffing, prepared

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the chicken, broccoli, and stuffing. I had a bag of diced, grilled chicken pieces in the freezer from another meal, so that part was simple.  I cooked the broccoli for four minutes in the microwave, as we like our vegetables firm; it turned out perfectly in the long run.

Spread the cooked broccoli over the bottom of a glass cakepan. Sprinkle the diced chicken over that. Mix the soups, mayo, and lemon juice and pour over the chicken and broccoli. (Grind pepper over that if you like.) Top with cheese, and then the stuffing. Bake 30 minutes.

Mmmmmmmmm.