Aunt Pearl's Taco Salad

So I was at the store and saw ground chicken in the meat department. I was very intrigued. I had no idea what in the world to do with ground chicken, but for some reason I had to have it.

I decided to try it out in a taco salad. It was pretty good! Nothing can beat good ol' fashioned ground beef (we use ground turkey for everything, so it's a rare treat to have ground beef), but this was pretty darn good. Ground chicken has a different texture than beef - much softer. But it didn't taste all that different after seasoned up.

Taco salad has been a favorite of mine since I was a little girl. I remember my Aunt Pearl making taco salad every summer for the party we had after my piano recital! When I got a little older, my mom would make the salad for all of our post-cheerleading-competition sleep overs!! It was always a hit at a party -- I might go so far as calling it the Buffalo Chicken Dip of the 90s!

It's very simple to make - and even though I made a few alterations tonight based on what was in the pantry, I'll post Aunt Pearl's "original".



Aunt Pearl's Taco Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 head iceberg lettuce
• shredded carrots
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup shredded cheddar (or a Mexican blend)
• 1 cup slightly crushed Doritos (per the original - any nacho or tostito chip will do)
• 1 lb ground beef, browned (or ground chicken or turkey!)
  
• 1 packet Old El Paso taco seasoning (or homemade taco seasoning - see recipe below)
• 4 oz Catalina dressing (I use fat-free)
• 4 oz mild or medium taco sauce (smooth, not chunky)

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef well; drain.
2. Add taco seasoning and 2/3 cup water; simmer on medium for 3-5 minutes.
3. In a small canister or jar, mix the Catalina dressing with the taco sauce. Shake or stir until well blended (mixture should be half and half). Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, toss lettuce, carrots, cheese, and tomato. **I only mix the carrots and lettuce - I keep everything else in separate bowls for serving**
5. Mix in cooked/seasoned meat, if desired (I usually leave it in a separate bowl because the warm meat makes the lettuce wilty if left together too long).
6. Serve with dressing mix and top with crushed chips.

Homemade Taco Seasoning
("Taco Seasoning I" on allrecipes.com)

Mix together the following and store in an airtight container. Two heaping scoops of this stuff is probably equal to one pre-made packet.

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

Honey-Mustard Glazed Chicken

After a complete gorge-fest on Super Bowl Sunday (complete with buffalo chicken dip, naturally), we had a relatively healthy dinner tonight, consisting of baked chicken glazed in a honey-mustard sauce, chicken-flavored rice (the easy microwave pouch kind!), and baked asparagus. So good and no guilt!



Honey-Mustard Glazed Chicken
(Adapted from "baked honey mustard chicken" on allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• black pepper and Italian seasonings, to taste
  
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup honey mustard (store-bought, or see my recipe in the Tailgating section)
• 2 tbsp coarse ground mustard - I used Grey Poupon brand
  
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Slice chicken breasts (at an angle) into 1-inch-wide pieces and place in a lightly greased casserole dish.
3. Sprinkle chicken breasts with black pepper and Italian seasonings to taste.
4. In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustards, and paprika. Mix well.
5. Pour this mixture over the chicken, and brush (with a silicone basting brush) to coat well.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
7. Serve with a side of chicken-flavored rice and Baked Garlic-Parmesan Asparagus Spears.

As for next time, I think I'd use less of the yellow mustard and more of the honey mustard and coarse ground mustard, to give it a less dramatic color. It was quite tasty though!

Chicken Stew and Dumplings

My beef and dumplings recipes both came from my grandma. I recently tweaked the recipe to make it chicken-friendly.

My grandma used to make the beef version all the time when I was a kid and she shared the recipe with me a few years ago. Only it wasn't a recipe like the one below, it was more like, "You add some of this, and just enough of that, and boil it until it looks done...." :)

After a few attempts, I feel I've perfected it ... at least the way that Bill and I like it. It's one of those meals I always just "make" - just like Grandma does. I finally forced myself to write down some ingredients and instructions, although I don't think I'll ever actually follow this recipe exactly.

Try it out and taste as you go - make it perfect for you. I use green beans, carrots, corn, and potatoes, but you can use any veggies you like.




Now for the chicken version of my stew:

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed and trimmed of fat
• Black pepper to taste (you can add other seasonings, if desired)
  
• 1 tbsp minced onion (I used dried)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (dried or fresh)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes (this is optional, but I love the extra chickeny flavor)
• 2 large potatoes - peeled and cubed
• 1 cup chopped carrots (I use baby carrots cut in half)
• 1 small can of yellow corn (I prefer the no-salt-added kind), WITH juices
  
• 1 small can of cut green beans, WITH juices
• 1 cup water
• 1 packet McCormick's chicken gravy mix
  
• 2 cups Bisquick (I use the Heart Smart kind)
• 2/3 cup milk
• margarine

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, heat oil over med-high heat. Add chicken. Season with black pepper (and other seasonings if desired). Add minced onion and garlic. Cook until browned.
2. Add chicken broth, bouillon, potatoes and carrots. Let simmer on medium heat until potatoes and carrots are soft (I let mine simmer about 20 minutes).
3. Add canned veggies (with their juices) and let simmer another 15 minutes. **I keep tasting the broth to see if any other seasonings are needed**
4. In a separate sauce pan, mix gravy packet and water (according to directions on packet).
   
5. Once ready, pour gravy into stew mixture. Let simmer about 5 minutes, to thicken. **Here is when I take my last taste and add whatever I feel it needs**
6. In a small bowl, mix the Bisquick with milk (Sometimes I add some garlic powder and oregano to the dough).
7. Drop by spoonfuls into the bubbling stew. The dumplings should rise to the surface. Cover each dumpling with a small sliver of butter.
8. Place lid on the pot and let simmer on medium for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid in this time, or the dumplings might not raise properly!! If it sounds like it's boiling too hard, turn the heat down to medium-low after about 6 minutes.
9. Remove lid and serve!
   

To repeat my notes from the Beef version:

I haven't found a side dish that goes well with this meal, because it already has everything in it! This is a great cold-weather, lazy Sunday meal. We like to make it early in the day and chomp on it for both lunch and dinner.

My only complaint is that the dumplings themselves don't re-heat well (they get a little "grainy"). We try to eat all of the dumplings in one day (lunch and dinner) and then just add more dumpling mix to the left over stew the next day.

Feel free to add some water or chicken broth to the leftovers, depending on what you have left.

Beef Stew and Dumplings

This is a meal that I actually switch up between chicken and beef, depending on our mood and what we have in the freezer! I'll be posting the chicken version, as well.



Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 1 lb beef, cubed and trimmed of fat
• Black pepper to taste (you can add other seasonings, if desired)
  
• 1 tbsp minced onion (I used dried)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (dried or fresh)
• 4 cups beef broth
• 3 beef bouillon cubes (this is optional, but I love the extra beefy flavor)
• 2 large potatoes - peeled and cubed
• 1 cup chopped carrots (I use baby carrots cut in half)
• 1 small can of yellow corn (I prefer the no-salt-added kind), WITH juices
  
• 1 small can of cut green beans, WITH juices
• 1 cup water
• 1 packet McCormick's brown gravy mix
  
• 2 cups Bisquick (I use the Heart Smart kind)
• 2/3 cup milk
• margarine

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, heat oil over med-high heat. Add beef. Season with black pepper (and other seasonings if desired). Add minced onion and garlic. Cook until browned.
2. Add beef broth, bouillon, potatoes and carrots. Let simmer on medium heat until potatoes and carrots are soft (I let mine simmer about 20 minutes).
3. Add canned veggies (with their juices) and let simmer another 15 minutes. **I keep tasting the broth to see if any other seasonings are needed**
4. In a separate sauce pan, mix gravy packet and water (according to directions on packet).
   
5. Once ready, pour gravy into stew mixture. Let simmer about 5 minutes, to thicken. **Here is when I take my last taste and add whatever I feel it needs**
6. In a small bowl, mix the Bisquick with milk (Sometimes I add some garlic powder and oregano to the dough).
7. Drop by spoonfuls into the bubbling stew. The dumplings should rise to the surface. Cover each dumpling with a small sliver of butter.
8. Place lid on the pot and let simmer on medium for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid in this time, or the dumplings might not raise properly!! If it sounds like it's boiling too hard, turn the heat down to medium-low after about 6 minutes.
9. Remove lid and serve!

I haven't found a side dish that goes well with this meal, because it already has everything in it! This is a great cold-weather, lazy Sunday meal. We like to make it early in the day and chomp on it for both lunch and dinner.

My only complaint is that the dumplings themselves don't re-heat well (they get a little "grainy"). We try to eat all of the dumplings in one day (lunch and dinner) and then just add more dumpling mix to the left over stew the next day.

Feel free to add some water or beef broth to the leftovers, depending on what you have left.