Egg Salad

I know, egg salad... boring, right? I made some for a work lunch today and I've had a few requests for "what's in that??" -- so here we go!

12 hard boiled eggs

Wait... I realize, this is going to be really difficult... I didn't measure a thing. Nothing. It's really about feel, texture, and taste. Okay, let's start again.

12 hard boiled eggs
mayo (not miracle whip)

Golden Harvest 3 Pepper Mustard (just a smidge)(by the way, this is SUPER yummie)

sweet relish

celery, small dice

onion, small dice

smoked paprika

chili powder

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

bacon (yes, I said bacon) =]

Once you get the eggs all hard boiled, peeled and cleaned up - this is what needs to happen, it's mucho importante... Put all the yolks in a large mixing bowl and put the whites aside. Now mash those yolks with a fork until it's really fine. It's not cute, at least not to me, to have huge pieces of yolk starin' back atcha! Next, dice the whites up fairly small... You want sizes to be consistent... so egg, onion, and celery should be fairly similar in size.

Mix in the whites with the yolks and add mayo--this is your first texture test. You want it to be creamy, but NOT runny. Then, add the sweet relish, onion, celery, and spices. At this point, you can choose to use or not use the 3 pepper mustard. I love it's zingy taste, but it can be overpowering for some people, so it really depends on what you like. I would taste it without it first and if you think it needs a little something, just add a teenie bit at a time.

Cover and put in the fridge for AT least an hour, or overnight if possible. I forgot the bacon, right?? Nooo... I would never forget that... You want to cook and crumble (small crumbles, remember what I said up there about consistent pieces?) about 6 slices of bacon and let it cool. You can also cheat and use Real Bacon bits, but it has to be REAL bacon... Add that just before you serve and viola! You have egg salad!

Fourth of July!

It's the Fourth of July and I have no plans. I'm not sure how or why that is, but such is life. I did help a friend host a party over the weekend, which had a HUGE slip n slide for adults (that was great!!), so I guess I had some plans for this important celebration. We also had some yummy food! I will share one of the recipes, but it isn't mine... I borrowed or found it and was in such a rush that I didn't even have time to make it my own. (I feel like Simon Cowell or Randy Jackson every time I say that!)

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

• 3/4 large bag of fresh spinach (You can adjust this according to how many mouths you're feeding)
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced (again, adjust your servings as needed)
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1/4 c white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar (the recipe called for 1/2 c, but I thought that was too much)
• some paprika
• 2 T sesame seeds
• 1 T poppy seeds

I would suggest to NOT put this salad together ahead of time. I wanted until right before the meal to toss it all. The last thing I wanted was gross, mushy spinach!

In a large bowl, toss spinach and strawberries.

In a separate bowl, or in your Pampered Chef dressing mixer, mix the remaining ingredients and pour over salad. If you don't have a dressing mixer, get one. Really. I love it. =]

The other dish I made was simple grilled veggies in a foil packet. I know we've ALL done this before so it's nothing new and/or exciting. I used onions, tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, mushrooms, and red peppers. To season them, I used olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Oh, and I used some minced garlic. Put some oil and rosemary on the foil, add the veggies, top with a little more oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Fold up the foil and cook until tender. Easy enough, right?

Happy Fourth of July!!

Chicken Salad

I took some chicken salad sammies to church one day for something we were doing and Sharleen really wanted the recipe for the chicken salad. I've been telling her for about a year now I would get it to her... the problem is, I don't remember what I put in it because I didn't write it down.... so I am going to guesstimate and not give any measurements because I have no idea... it's all to your own liking...

I made a lot so I probably used 3-4 large cans of chicken
mayo to taste
chopped onion
relish
chopped pecans
Fugi apple, chopped
dried cranberries

I think that was it. I will try to remember if there was anything I missed! =] Enjoy.

7 Layer Salad... (Gooseberry Patch - Comfort Foods)

1 head of lettuce, torn (I used iceberg this time, but any would work)
1 head cauliflower, coarsely chopped (I had a really large one and only used about 2/3 of it)
10 oz package frozen peas, thawed
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/2 lb. bacon, cooked to a crisp then crumbled
.7 oz package Italian salad dressing mix
2 c. mayo (I used light mayo)

In a large bowl (I used a glass 13x9 baking pan - but, a nice LARGE glass bowl would be great too!), layer ingredients in the order given except the mayo. Spoon mayo over top and seal the edges. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Serve layered or toss before serving. Serves 8 to 10.

** The mayo step at the end is kind of messy... as hard as I tried to make it neat, it just grabbed some of the bacon and pulled it in. It's sort of like frosting a cake before it cools down all the way! =] It may not look super pretty, but it sure was yumma! I took it to work and everyone enjoyed it a lot! It's fun trying to get them to guess the layers. The men just shrugged - and easily guessed six of them, while the women examined it closely and could almost always name all 7!


This is how it looked before the mayo topper!


This is how it looked after the mayo topper!


This is some in a bowl. =]

I really AM going to figure out why all my pictures are coming out blurry! I took quite a few of this dish and I couldn't use most of them.. the ones I did choose to use aren't very good either, but I had to put something in here! Enjoy!