Chicken Salad (Sandwiches)

This a delicious way to prepare a traditional chicken salad, just in time for this beautiful spring weather we are enjoying! I love all the crunchy veggies that are packed in there, it just makes it taste so summery ;)

 

Chicken Salad

2 cans chicken (have also used shredded rotisserie chicken when I had leftovers)
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 c. dill pickles, chopped (homemade are awesome!)
3 apples, peeled and chopped
1 c. peas
3 green onions, sliced

Sauce:
3/4 c. sour cream
1/4 c. mayonnaise
3 Tbs. heavy cream (I have used milk in a pinch too)

Mix sauce ingredients together and season with garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper and a bit of dry ranch powder (I have used Epicure spices too, and have also omitted the ranch powder, it all tastes delish). Toss chopped veggies and chicken with the sauce. Serve on croissants (the best), rolls or pita bread.

I usually half the recipe for just our family, it makes a fair bit, hope you enjoy :)

Ham & Cheese Sliders

I made these for a quick Sunday night dinner this past weekend, and they were so good that Lyndon said I HAD to make them for lunch on Monday as well (quite a compliment)! Defiantly a step-up from your basic ham and cheese sandwich, and I used my homemade buns to make these.

 

Ham & Cheese Sliders

24 dinner rolls
24 pcs. honey ham
24 slices Swiss cheese
1/3 c. mayo
1/3 c. Miracle Whip

Poppy seed sauce:
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1/2 c. melted butter
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Combine mayo and Miracle Whip (I used only Calorie Wise whipped dressing and it tasted delicious), spread on both halves of sliced dinner rolls. Top with a slice of ham and cheese and place tightly in a baking dish.
Wisk together sauce ingredients and brush pour over sandwiches, let sit 10 minutes. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 2 minutes.
The original recipe said that you can make a day ahead and bake when needed, maybe I will try this next time :)

Awesome Breadmaker Buns

These are my go to, memorized, made weekly buns! They are easy to make and always usually turn out ;) My mother-in-law is an awesome bun maker and when I got married I had never made bread before, so to try and prove my culinary worthiness I was determined to make bread. Well it took two years of failed attempts and hockey pucks before I came across this recipe that turned out perfect for me on my first attempt! It is also very versatile, I have made it into bread loaves, substituted 1/3 of the all purpose flour for whole wheat, added seeds, wheat germ, you get the idea. 

 

Awesome Breadmaker Buns

2 1/4 c. warm water
1/2 c. canola oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 1/2 c. flour
3/4 Tbsp. salt
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. bread machine yeast (I usually use instant yeast)

Layer first 6 ingredients in your bread maker in order listed. Top with yeast, being careful not to touch liquid. Put on dough cycle and leave (I usually check after 5 minutes to make sure it is coming together, sometimes my machine will just spin in the liquid and not draw down the dry ingredients). When dough cycle is done, remove from machine and roll into balls (smaller than tennis balls). Place on greased pans, let rise till double in a warm place about 1 hour (I put my oven on Keep Warm for a few minutes then turn it off otherwise it gets too warm and this temperature seems to be perfect). Bake at 325 for 20 min. (important to note that I remove the buns while the oven is preheating).

Piggies in a Blanket



Sunday nights are my 'no cook night'. We usually enjoy things like nachos, pizza, chicken nuggets or leftovers. But last Sunday the boys helped me whip up a batch of these, we had so much fun and they loved them! Fun way to dress-up hot dogs when you don't have any buns.

 



Here's my little baker (hence the blog name), Mr. T

 



 

Piggies-in-a-Blanket

1 1/3c. hot water

1 Tbsp. yeast

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 1/4- 3 1/2 c. flour

 

Combine water and yeast, allow to dissolve and stir well. Add sugar and salt, mix well. Stir in flour and knead well.

[Now if your lazy like me you just skip the above steps, throw all ingredients into your bread maker, put on dough cycle and come back in an hour :)]

Allow to rise 1/2 to 1 hour. Roll dough into large rectangle ~1/4 inch thick, cut into 1 1/2-2 inch strips, wrap (spiral-type) around hot dog (I used 12 hot dogs). Place on greased baking sheet.

 

2 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. garlic powder

parmesan cheese, to sprinkle

 

Melt butter, stir in garlic powder and brush/drizzle over rolled hot dogs. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Serve with favorite condiments (mustard, ketchup, etc.)