Chicken (Curry) Salad

(The chicken salad is in the blue bowl behind my spinach artichoke dip)
Ingredients:
-4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves - boiled and shredded or cubed (whichever you prefer)
- 1 1/2 to 2 stalks celery diced (fairly small) I'm not big on the taste of celery (or lack thereof) but I like the crunch, so if you like it chunkier, go for it, but I like it diced pretty small.
- red grapes either whole or cut in half. I usually cut them in half. Maybe a 2/3 cup or less
-For 6 chicken breasts about 1- 1 1/2 cups of mayonaise ( a little less for 4 breasts)
- About 1/4 cup orange juice ( to dilute the mayo)
- 1/2 cup pecans chopped
- 11 oz can of mandarin oranges (drained)
- diced apple ( or half an apple) if you like :)
- about a teaspoon of curry or more
- salt and pepper to taste. (SALT IS A MUST- THE CHICKEN HAS NOT BEEN SALTED!)


Directions

- mix the dressing separately
- mix all other ingredients EXCEPT oranges in a large bowl
- pour dressing over mixture in bowl and check to see if it the consistency you want. I sometimes add a little more mayo or orange juice if it looks too dry.
- fold in oranges last.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I have to warn everyone (again) that I RARELY measure things when I cook. This works for me... it may not work for you. This is why generally Cliff is the baker in the family and I am the cook most of the time. With this recipe it is all about the consistency and what YOU like, so if it looks like too little mayonaise - ADD MORE and vice versa. I have also mixed in some mozzarella cheese with my cream cheese/mayo/parmesan base so do what you like! It really is delicious, though :)

Ingredients:
- I think it was about an 8 oz package of cream cheese? Maybe a 1/2 a cup? I just eye balled it.
- About the same amount of mayonaise - maybe a little more or less (this with the cream cheese and parmesan cheese made up the base
- About a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- 14 oz. can of Artichokes drained and chopped
- about a bag of fresh baby spinach chopped and sauteed with a little garlic and then drained of excess water OR about 1/2 bag frozen chopped spinach thawed and WELL drained. ( you might have to squeeze to get the liquid out)
- Parmesan and Muenster cheese to top it (Maybe two slices or so torn? )
- A little minced garlic or garlic powder to taste. I like garlic.
- a little cayenne pepper and black pepper to taste. If you don't like things very spicy you can certainly skip the cayenne all together. I didn't use very much when I made it for the shower.

Directions -

- Grease a small-ish baking dish (I think I used an 8"x 8" or a 9"x9" and pre-heat oven to 375
-Mix the cream cheese, mayo, and parmesan together with a little minced garlic or garlic powder and your pepper. Fold in Artichokes and Spinach.
- Top with muenster cheese and a little extra Parmesan.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble or the edges are slightly golden brown.
- Enjoy!

Lemon Basil Carrots

LEMON BASIL CARROTS

baby carrots, or cut up whole carrots (skinned)

butter

pepper

lemon juice - just a little

basil

garlic powder

^ just use your judgement on amounts

sautee the carrots in the butter until they are as soft as you like, then add the other stuff. yum!

Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Home Fries variations..

20 minute Jamaican Jerk Chicken Awesomeness

2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lite Italian dressing (or dry dressing packet and 2 tbsp olive oil)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all this stuff together. Marinate the chicken for 1 hour to overnight. I've also done a 5 minute marinade and then made more sauce to spread on top of the cooked chicken.

To cook:
Works great in gorge Formans or on regular grills. I also recently broiled the chicken and it was FANTASTIC.

Home fries

Potato wedges (I cut Idaho potatoes in half longways and then in about 1/4 inch wedges)
Keep skins on

Toss the wedges in with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic sauce. Don't get cheap on the seasonings.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 350 for about 15 minutes. Flip them once in the middle.

*This recipe is especially delicious if you substitute Idaho potatoes for sweet potatoes.