Thanksgiving Eggrolls

Do you have any turkey and dressing left over from Thanksgiving? If you're lucky enough to have even a little bit, you can make these. And I sure hope you've got some gravy and cranberry sauce left, too...because you're going to need it for dipping! I'm a cranberry sauce girl myself but IT Guy went with the gravy. Seriously, guys...these are SO fun and yummy! It's just a different twist on heating up a plate of leftovers and you should try it!

Thanksgiving Eggrolls




Equal amounts turkey and dressing (I used 2 cups of each)
Eggroll wrappers
Leftover gravy
Leftover cranberry relish or sauce
1 egg ~ beaten

Dice turkey.

In a large bowl, crumble the dressing then add the diced turkey.

You want to be able to press the mixture together to it holds it's shape so if your dressing is dry, add some gravy as the "glue".

Measure out about 1/2 cup or so of the turkey mixture and form it into a "log".

Place the mixture about an inch or so from one corner on the eggroll wrapper and fold wrapper up over the mixture. Fold in the sides. Brush some of the beaten egg at the top corner and roll to enclose.

Place eggroll seam side down on a cookie sheet and continue until all ingredients are used.

Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium heat and fry eggrolls until browned on all sides.

Serve with leftover gravy and cranberry sauce for dipping.


 

The cast of characters.

 

In a large bowl, crumble the dressing 

then add the diced turkey.

 

Measure out about 1/2 cup or so 

of the turkey mixture and form 

it into a "log".

 

Place the mixture about an inch 

or so from one corner on the eggroll 

wrapper and fold wrapper up over 

the mixture. Fold in the sides. Brush 

some of the beaten egg at the top 

corner and roll to enclose.

 

Ready to fry!

 

Fry until light golden brown.

 

See?

 

Serve with leftover gravy 

and cranberry sauce!

Grilled Corn Tomato and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

I was at my mom's today when she got a knock on her back door. It was neighbor passing along some of the bounty from his garden. He gave her a whole sack of beautiful tomatoes. Now with it just being my mom and dad, I knew they wouldn't eat them all so...being the good daughter that I am, I helped myself to a few. I knew just what I was going to make because at home...sitting on my counter...were three pretty avocados just waiting to be used. I've been wanting some kind of salad lately, so I knew this was it! If you've got any tomatoes left in your garden, try this yummy salad. It's light...refreshing and so simple to make. I can eat the whole thing by myself....but that's probably TMI, isn't it?

Grilled Corn Tomato and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Dressing



1 10-ounce bag frozen corn ~ about 2 cups
1 cup large diced tomatoes
2 avocados ~ large diced
1 small red onion ~ diced
Salt & pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey

Heat a large grill pan or skillet over medium heat with a little olive oil.

Add the corn to the heated skillet and cook corn until hot and slightly grilled. Cool the corn.

In a medium bowl, combine the corn, tomatoes, onion and avocados.

In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, oil, honey and salt & pepper.

Drizzle over salad and toss to coat.

 

Okay...here we go. Except the honey. 

Oops. But I'm sure YOU'LL remember it!

 

Grill the corn then let it cool.

 

Mix together the cooled corn, 

and the rest of the veggies.

 

Mix up the stuff for the dressing! Yumm-o!

 

Drizzle, toss and eat!!!

Summer Salad with Poppyseed Dressing

IT Guy and I went out to eat not long ago and I had a salad. I love a GOOD salad. And the salad I had was GOOD. I knew I had to make it for myself at home and I did. This was the result. I think I ate the whole thing in two days. I couldn't stay out of it. #1 Son works nights so when he came home from work one morning, I was eating it. He went to bed and when he got up later that afternoon, I was eating it again. His words to me were, "weren't you JUST eating that this morning?" My response was "yeah, what of it, punk?". Okay...not really. I just nodded my head and kept shoveling it in. Really, really, REALLY good!!!!

Summer Salad



1 bag Romaine lettuce
Strawberries
Blueberries
Mandarin oranges
Pineapple slices
1 - 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast ~ cooked and sliced
Pecans

Poppyseed Dressing
4 teaspoons cornstarch
6 tablespoons cold water
1-1/3 cups orange juice
1/4 cup white vinegar
4 teaspoons honey Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons honey
1-1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth.

Stir in the orange juice, vinegar, mustard and honey.

Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.

Stir in poppy seeds and salt.

Cover and refrigerate until chilled. 

Combine lettuce, pecans and fruits in individual serving bowls.

Lay some sliced chicken top and drizzle with dressing.

 
Here's what you'll need for this yummy salad!

 
Combine the cornstarch and the water.

 
Add the orange juice, vinegar, mustard 
and honey. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 
for 1 minute or until thickened.

 
Add the poppyseeds and salt. Chill.

 
Store in a covered container.

 
Assemble the salad, pour on the 
dressing and go to town!

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

Some days are just like *that*, you know? You wander around your kitchen hoping something...anything.... will jump out of the pantry and say "make me, make me!!" And sometimes, when the wind blows just right and all the stars align, it happens. Things come together and a wonderful dish is born. I opened my freezer and saw some uncooked, leftover cornbread dressing from Thanksgiving and some cooked, boned chicken just waiting to meet. You certainly don't have to wait until Thanksgiving to have leftover dressing. Make it fresh for this dish. This is IT Guy's grandmother's dressing recipe and it's so simple to prepare. A rotisserie chicken...one of my BFF's...is perfect to use in this, too. A great meal for a winter's day.

Chicken and Dressing Casserole



3 cups cooked chicken, large diced ~ set aside (you can cook a couple of large chicken breasts for this or use a rotisserie chicken)

1 cup cornmeal
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup oil
1 eggs
1 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients together.  Add oil, milk and eggs and stir well to combine. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes until golden brown and done in the center.  Crumble when cool.

3 cups Bisquick
1 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, combine Bisquick and milk. Drop by large spoonfuls into a 9x13 greased pan. Dough will all come together when it’s baked to resemble a lumpy cake. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and done in the center. Crumble when cool.

In a large skillet, sauté the following in some butter or olive oil:

3/4 cups chopped celery
3/4 cups diced onion
3 hard boiled eggs ~ grated
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
1 32-ounce can chicken broth

Sauté the celery and onion in a little butter until tender.

In a VERY large bowl, mix together the breads and sauteed veggies.  Add grated hard boiled eggs, 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning (more to taste), and salt and pepper. Pour in enough chicken broth to be wet but not soupy and stir well. 

Transfer half of the dressing to a greased 9x13 inch pan. About 1 inch thick.

Sprinkle cooked, diced chicken on top.

Top with remaining dressing...again about 1 inch thick.

Bake, covered at 350 for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake another 30 minutes until lightly browned on top and set in the middle. 

*NOTE: If you feel like you have too much dressing, you can always freeze it, UNBAKED. I put mine in Ziploc freezer bags and freeze them lying flat. Then you have some for next time!!

Here's the stuff. The amounts you 

see here are for a double batch but 

you will use the amounts listed in the above recipe.

Cook up your cornbread and biscuits.

Crumble the bread in a large bowl.

Saute the veggies.

In the bowl with the crumbled bread, 

add the hard boiled grated eggs, poultry

seasoning and salt and pepper.

Then pour in enough chicken broth 

to make the dressing really wet but not soupy.

Spread half of the UNCOOKED 

dressing in the bottom of your pan. 

Sprinkle with chicken.

Layer the remaining dressing on top of the chicken.

Bake and eat!

Bacon Sour Cream Dressing

This yummy dressing is so easy. Other than frying a few pieces of bacon, you don't need to prepare anything. All of the ingredients go into your food processor and it's done! I mean...how much easier can that be? You can use this on sandwiches but we used it on a salad. I served this along with a homemade pizza but IT Guy said he liked the dressing better than the pizza! You could have knocked me over! Make sure you leave in the fridge for several hours...or overnight is best!!!

Bacon Sour Cream Dressing

(Now...no comments on the plain 

looking dressing. It's hard to dress up dressing.)

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
4 slices cooked bacon ~ crumbled

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Allow to sit for a few hours or overnight for flavors to blend.

Here's what you need.

Fry the bacon until crispy then blend 

everything in a food processor until smooth.

Serve over salad or a 

spread for sandwiches.

My kids LOVE ranch dressing. #1 son heated up some leftover pizza the other day and asked if we had any Ranch dressing to dip his pizza in.  Of course, I did. Then he said he wished the store bought stuff tasted like what you get in restaurants. Well..that's all I needed to get in the kitchen and make my own. Here you go.....#1 son and IT Guy both declared it a success!!

Homemade Buttermilk 

Ranch Dressing

1 clove garlic - minced

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

¾ cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon mustard powder

1/8 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons dried parsley

2 teaspoons dill

In a medium bowl, combine the garlic and ½ teaspoon salt with a fork.

Add the buttermilk and the mayonnaise and whisk until smooth.

Add the lemon juice, ½ teaspoon salt, mustard powder, paprika and pepper and whisk until combined.

Add the herbs and adjust for taste. Mix well.

Store covered in the fridge for up to a week.

Let's get going!

 

Combine the minced garlic with some salt.

 

Then add the buttermilk and mayo with a whisk.

 

Then add the paprika, mustard, salt and pepper.

 

Pour into a covered container and pop in the fridge to chill!

 

 

I've been making this salad dressing for years. My mom gave me this recipe a long time ago. I served it to IT guy and #1 son the other day and they wiped it OUT! Okay..I admit..I ate my fair share but girls are usually okay with salads for dinner. But the guys really enjoyed it, too so that told me they were happy guys!

Spinach Salad



1 bag fresh spinach
1 red bell pepper
1 cup pine nuts - toasted
1/2 pound bacon - diced and cooked crisp
4 eggs - hard boiled and grated
1 small red onion - thinly sliced

Combine all ingredients in a large salad bowl. Pour dressing over the top and toss or serve dressing on the side.

Here's the stuff for the salad and the dressing.

Toast the pinenuts and fry the bacon.

Mix all the salad stuff together in a bowl.

Dressing

1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon grated onion

Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until combined. Serve with salad.

Dump all the stuff for the dressing in a blender and whizz it around. Stick it in the fridge for a while.

Serve it up drizzled with dressing or serve the dressing on the side.

Remember our Chicken Tropical Salad we had the other day? You know the one....with the Chipotle Ranch Dressing? Well, here's another dressing I made to go with that salad. Oh so good! I mixed the Chipotle Ranch with this Spicy Avocado and was pretty tickled with the results. Having it by itself on a salad is delicious, too!

Note: I was in a hurry when taking pictures so there are not a lot. But I figure you're smart people and can figure this out.

Spicy Avocado Dressing

2 large Avocados  peeled and pitted
3 - 4 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon dried cilantro
2 serrano chilies - seeded
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup olive oil


Combine everything except the olive oil into your food processor and blend until smooth. Slowly pour in the olive oil and process until smooth. Makes about 2 cups of dressing.

 
The line up.


 
Put everything into a food processor, except the olive oil.


 
After everything's combined, 
slowly pour in the olive oil and whirl until smooth and creamy.


This dressing is best used right away. You CAN cut it in half if you don't think you'll use the whole thing. But, store it in the fridge if you've got some left over then stir it up before using it again. We all know avocado turns dark and this dressing will do that a little bit. It doesn't change the flavor though.