A Few More Salad Recipes...

We did not demonstrate these at cooking club, but considered them! The first 2 are Krista's and the last is mine (Jackie's). Please add your own!

Spinach Salad

1 9oz bag of baby spinach
3/4 lb grated swiss cheese ( I use mozarella because I like it better)
3/4 c sliced mushrooms
1 red onion
1/2 lb bacon, crumbled
1 8 oz can mandarin oranges
1/2 c sliced almonds toasted with 3 T sugar (remove from heat and pan when toasted. They will continue to cook and burn if you leave them in the pan. Watch closely!)

Dressing:
1/3 c white vinegar
3/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 T poppy seeds
3/4 tsp salt
2 T mustard
1/3 c sugar
1 T minced onion

Combine all ingredients in jar and shake well. Pour over salad




Feta Pear Salad

1 large bag of European salad Mix
2 pears, chopped
1 cup carmelized pecans (add 1/4 c sugar to chopped pecans in saucepan over med. heat)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup craisins

Dressing: (it is very similar to the one above)
1/2 c chopped red onion
1 cup sugar
1 tsp slat
2/3 c vinegar
blend above ingredients in blender
Add 2 cups vegetable oil
blend again
Stir in 3 T poppyseeds


"Craisins Salad" from "The Essential Mormon Cookbook"

The star of this salad is definitely the BACON and the sweet tangy dressing. The recipe makes a ton. I only used 2 heads of lettuce, and don't use the parmesan cheese.

salad ingredients:
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 head iceberg lettuce
1 (8 oz.) package shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (8 oz.) package shredded parmesan cheese
1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 (8 oz.) package Craisins
1 C. sliced almonds, toasted

Break up red and green leaf lettuce into pieces, shred iceberg. Toss with other ingredients, just before serving. Pass dressing with salad. Makes 12 servings.

Craisins salad dressing:
1/2 C. red wine vinegar
1 C. sugar
1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 t. salt
2 t. mustard (I used dijon)
1 C. salad oil

In blender mix all ingredients, except oil. Add oil and blend again.

Feel free to post your own favorite salads in the "comments" section!

Jam Session

We had a jam lesson from Sandra Houchin, the Jam Queen! Sandra showed us how to make, and can, cooked jam. We made strawberry and pineapple - strawberry. Yum! Sandra uses the "SUREJELL" fruit pectin, which has a whole bunch of recipes in the package, and complete instructions. They also have recipes and directions on their website (click here) if you are interested in making some of your own, and want to see what you need to get started. Also, Sandra has offered to COME to YOUR HOUSE and help YOU make jam, if would like! That's so great, thanks Sandra!

Here is Michelle mashing the strawberries with a potato masher. You want to leave it pretty chunky.

Mash mash! You also want to be as EXACT as you can with your measuring, to ensure that your jam sets up correctly.

Sandra uses a juicer to grind up some of the fruits she uses for jam - such as the pineapple. She used the pulp and the juice to make the jam.

This is really all you need to get started! And fruit, of course. The jars are the biggest investment at about $8 for 12, but you can reuse them forever, just get new lids.

After lots of stirring and boiling (not really THAT much, maybe 20 minutes worth), the jam is ready to go into the jars. Ladle HOT jam into clean jars. You keep the lids and rings in a simmering pot of water to steralize them and get the seals soft...

After ladeling in the jam, you wipe the top and threads off...

[...making jam is so much fun!]

This is the COOLEST part, I thought. Sandra taught us the INVERSION method of canning - SO EASY!!! To seal the jars, all you do is flip them over like this and let them sit for 30 minutes or more. THAT'S IT! The hot jam on the lid seals it. Isn't that so great? You don't need a water bath and bla bla bla. Just flip them over, and make sure the lid doesn't go in and out, it should stay put. I love that, thanks Sandra! So easy.

There are also these plastic screw on lids you can buy to put on the jars once you break the seal and have it in the fridge, so you can open it eaier.

Special thanks to Dani for letting us use her kitchen, and Michelle F. for making her awesome bread, so we would have something to eat the jam with!
Let us know if you have tried to make the jam!

Super Summer Salads!

Krista Hurt hosted our SALAD cooking club! We made 4 awesome salads and a yummy dessert! We love salads for lunch AND dinner - so great on a hot summer night! Enjoy!

Barbecue Chicken Salad - Krista Hurt

Romaine lettuce, chopped
Red onion, chopped into small pieces
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, washed and drained
Jicama, peeled and diced
1-2 avocados, chopped
cilantro- as desired
2 Chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (good way to use leftover grilled chicken)
1 cup pepperjack cheese (or your favorite mexican style cheese)
few limes- squeeze lime juice over salad
tortilla strips- sprinkle over top of salad

Dressing: equal parts ranch dressing and barbecue sauce
pour over salad and toss. Enjoy!
Great with corn bread

Krista sliced her chicken breasts in half, so they were not as thick and took less time to grill. She also said that when she cooks chicken, she will do extra to use for another meal. Smart!

A hicka-whata? Krista uses jicama in her barbeque chicken salad, which was new to some of us. Here Dani and Kira are checking it out, smells like a potato was the concensus.

Here is Krista's finished salad!

Fiesta Salad - Jackie Costabile

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved (you can use regular or plum tomatoes)
1 cucumber,peeled, cut into chunks
1 red pepper, cut into chunks
1 avocado, cut up
1 giant handful of cilantro, chopped
zest and juice of 2-3 limes
1/2 - 1 t. adobo seasoning (Dani found it at Wal-mart, or use cumin)
salt to taste, at least 1/2 t.

Toss everything together. Can also add chopped lettuce (add a bit of veg. oil if you add lettuce), or grilled chicken. Also yummy if you take out the black beans and add black olives. I don't know why, but I don't like them in there together.

Lots of the ingredients, chopped, and ready to go!

Black beans and chopped avocados on top. Then zest the two limes and juice over everything.

Nutty Salad - Jackie Costabile


salad:
1 head romaine, chopped
1 head curly leaf or green leaf, chopped
1 head boston bibb, chopped (just used a little variety, it doesn't have to be these exact 3)
1 bunch greeen onions/scallions (about 6)
1 big handful of cilantro, chopped
sliced strawberries, grapes, and/or mandarin oranges
1 cup sliced almonds
5-6 T. sugar

Prepare salad ingredients, set aside. Place almonds and sugar in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Stir continuously until sugar melts (takes awhile, but keep stirring so it doesn't burn!), coats almonds, and gets nice and golden brown. Cool on wax paper, then crush. Prepare dressing.

Dressing:
4 T. seasoned rice vinegar
3 T. sugar
1 t. salt
dash of pepper
1/2 C. oil (I use vegetable oil for salads)

Combine everything, but oil. Whisk until sugar is dissolved mostly, then slowly stream in oil. Toss with salad just before serving. Save some fruit and nuts for the top.

Almonds and sugar into the skillet. Watch closely!

Turnip & Apple Salad - Michelle Mulford


Ingredients:
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons walnut or olive oil
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1 1/2 cups grated white turnip
2 small apples, diced with peel
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 cup walnut pieces
2-3 cups chopped lettuce
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a salad bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil and green onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix together the turnip, apples, and lettuce and toss with the dressing. Top with the cheese and walnuts.



Fruit Pizza - Krista Hurt


Sugar cookie crust- one roll of refrigerated sugar cookie
Spread evenly on bottom of 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 min. Cool completely.

Next layer:
1 8oz tub of cool whip, thawed
1 8oz cube of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
powdered sugar, optional

whip cream cheese until smooth and creamy. fold in cool whip with spatula until blended. Sprinkle in some powdered sugar, if desired, to sweeten.
Spread mixture evenly over cooled cookie crust.

Top with favorite fruits! Strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, peaches, nectaries, blackberries, raspberries, bananas.... whatever you like.
So yummy

Krista used a wooden spoon to spread the cookie dough into her pan.

Beautiful!

A Deceptively Delicious Cooking Club!

Our May club was spent discussing nutrition and how to get more healthy things into our family's meals. We sample many tasty recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook too!
If you are interested in trying any of the recipes check out this link on
recipezaar.com. They also have reviews there too, which is helpful.

April, our resident expert on nutrition, spoke to us about the new and improved food pyramid! She showed us how to determine how many servings of different foods we should be eating each day. She also had some great tips for healthy snack alternatives for kids, such as yogurt covered raisins instead of candy, and frozen "yogo's" instead of popsicles.

Michelle Fisher was our host for evening! Thanks for having up Michelle! Here you can also see the spread we had to sample. Michelle F. made peanut butter and banana muffins with carrot, Carol made mashed potatoes with cauliflower, Michelle M. made a healty veggie dip with chickpeas and artichoke hearts, Krista made deviled eggs with carrot (or was it cauliflower?), Megan made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with zucchini and banana, Megan's friend (sorry I forgot your name!) made a peanut butter chocolate dip with carrot, and Jackie made spaghetti pie with broccoli/turkey meatballs and carrot. It was all really good! Thanks for
bringing stuff, ladies!

Diggin' in! Yum!

Jackie did a little demo on pureeing the veggies - not as big a deal as it might seem like. You basically steam (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli) or roast (butternut squash, sweet potatoes) your veggies, then puree them in the food processor. This is how I package them up for the
freezer. I measure out a 1/2 cup (which is what most of the recipes call for) and put them
in a little "plop" on a piece of "press 'n seal". Then I put another piece over the top and seal it all the way around, label it, and stick it in the freezer. Once frozen you can cut them apart and keep them all in a big zip top bag. When you need to use it, zap it in the micro for about 30-60 seconds and add it to your recipe. I have also found that 1 pound of carrots yields 1 1/2 cups puree. Some of you also suggested using baby food. Often you can also find purreed veggies, like squash, in the frozen veggie section at the grocery store.
Let us know what you have tried and liked! You can also post the recipes in the comments section!