Mrs. Mary's Chicken Salad

This is the best chicken salad you will ever eat. Period. This recipe comes from Mrs. Mary Garrett, a dear lady who passed away a few years ago. She was the mother of "Little Mary", a friend and co-worker of my Mom. Mrs. Mary made this chicken salad for my wedding (my one request!) and it is SO good! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have/do.

Mrs. Mary's Chicken Salad

6 skinless chicken breasts
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small red apple, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
10-12 grapes, chopped or halved
2 T. sweet pickle relish
3 T. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
Dash of Salt and Pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

Boil chicken breasts for 45-60 minutes, or until done. In a large bowl, add chicken (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), eggs, celery, onion, apple, pecans, grapes, pickle relish, and mayonnaise. Toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with sugar and toss again. Enjoy!!

This is not only a great, flavorful salad but it is also very colorful! Especially if you use the red grapes and red apples. It is also a great salad to serve at showers, get-togethers, or Teas (I will be posting about a special Tea I attended this past weekend in the next few days). YUMMY!!

Eat Mor Chikin ....

Have I ever told you that I LOVE Chick-Fil-A? Not only is it one of the greatest fast food restaurants around, has the best chicken sandwiches ever, and is very affordable....it is also Christian-owned and operated. For this reason, the restaurant is not open on Sundays, which I totally respect (although I do get CFA cravings on Sundays quite a bit and am a little disappointed....but Iget over my disappointment and go on Monday!). You can read about the Chick-Fil-A story here.

Today my husband, little man, me, and a couple of our close friends had a fun day at Joe Huber's Farm. The kids got to play on the slide, climb up in the barn, and pet/feed baby goats. Afterwards, we headed to CFA for lunch. Now I usually get the #1 combo which is a CFA chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and a drink. But lately, I have had a hankering for the Chick-n-Strips Salad.

The Chik-n-Strips Salad includes 3 chicken strips on top of a bed of iceberg/romaine, shredded carrots, broccoli florets, shredded red cabbage, cherry tomatoes, and shredded colby jack cheese. You also get a little bag of honey roasted sunflower kernels and buttery garlic croutons. My favorite dressing for the salad is the fat-free honey mustard. Picture this salad (their Char-grilled salad) with breaded chicken strips. SO yummy!! Chick-Fil-A has a huge menu, and it keeps growing every day! They even have a breakfast menu now. You can check out their menu here. Some more of my faves are the cheesecake, brownie, milkshakes, and fresh-squeezed lemonade. I also like the fact that they are kid-friendly with playgrounds, high chairs, and kids meals. Plus, they even provide those "plastic placemats" that tape onto the table for your little one to eat on. Great job CFA!! :)

If you are ever near a Chick-Fil-A restaurant and have never been, I highly suggest that you go. You will not be disappointed (unless you try and go on a Sunday, that is)!! :)

Tater Salad

I love potato salad. It is just one of those things that must be present at any cookout, in my opinion. I do like cole slaw and pasta salad too, but there is just something about "tater salad" that strikes my fancy. :)

As much as I love this stuff, can you believe that I have never made it? Until this past Saturday, that is. We provided lunch for our new members after church this past Sunday (hot dogs, pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, tater salad, chips, baked beans, Poke Cake) and instead of purchasing a big tub of the stuff I decided to try my hand at it. Of course I called my mom to see how she makes hers and she told me everything I needed to know to make it. (Thanks, Mom!)

There are so many kinds of potato salad out there, and I love just about every one of them. I believe my favorite, though, is the mustard potato salad. It's tangy and sweet and just reminds me of what potato salad should be. Here is my "recipe" (I use this term lightly because I pretty much just added stuff!):

Mustard "Tater" Salad

5 or 6 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 Tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
1 teaspoon onion flakes (or you can cut up a small onion)
1/4 cup sweet pickle relish (or you can chop up a medium size sweet pickle)
1 Tablespoon of sweet pickle juice
Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil potatoes until fork-tender, but not too soft (unless you want a "mashed potato" consistency), drain. Allow to cool. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. You can eat it right away, but it actually tastes better after it has chilled in the fridge overnight or for at least a couple of hours. Enjoy!

By the way, if anyone has any good "tater salad" recipes, I would love to try them!

Some things I have been making lately:

Semi-Homemade Pizza

1 refrigerated pizza crust (I like this one)

1 small jar pizza sauce

1 bag shredded mozzarella cheese

Toppings of your choice (we like pepperoni or hamburger)

Bake dough for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees (for a crisper crust). Spread pizza sauce on dough and top with ingredients. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is cooked through. Enjoy!

Caesar Salad

1 bag romaine lettuce, chopped (I think they come 3 hearts to a bag)

1 small bag shredded parmesan cheese
1 small bag garlic croutons
Equal parts of Creamy Caeser dressing and Caesar Vinagrette

Toss all ingredients together. Enjoy!

Chicken Salad

One of my favorite foods is chicken salad. No, not the "store-bought" kind. The "tastes so good I want the recipe" kind. It is one of those foods that can be eaten on crackers, on white bread, on croissants, or straight out of the bowl.

Chicken salad has many different ingredients. The basic chicken salad starts with chicken (either shredded or cubed), salad dressing or mayonnaise, pickle relish (dill or sweet), and salt/pepper. From here, you can personalize the recipe to make it your own. Here is the recipe for a chicken salad I prepared recently for a bridal shower. I served it on croissants. The crunch from the apples and the sweetness from the grapes makes this version so yummy! I hope you enjoy.

Chicken Salad
5 chicken breasts, shredded
1 medium apple, chopped (I use Fuji or Gala, but you can use whatever kind you want)
1 cup red grapes, halved (or green grapes)
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1/2 cup Miracle Whip Light (or regular Miracle Whip -- I don't care too much for mayonnaise)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook chicken breasts in a Crockpot until tender - usually about 3 hours on Low (or, you can purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery, or even use canned chicken). Shred chicken breasts. Add apple, grapes, relish, and celery. Lightly toss. Add Miracle Whip and fold in until well-blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.

P.S. Some things that I omitted from the recipe:
*1/2 small sweet onion, finely chopped
*1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
*1 tsp sugar

If you have a good recipe for chicken salad, please share it! On a side note, Rafferty's has really good chicken salad and croissants (and yes, they drizzle them with honey butter) as well as a Sunshine Chicken Salad that is awesome. Check it out!