Disneyland Salad

While we were at Disneyland a few weeks ago, we ate at the Pizza Port. It's definitely one of the best places to eat there. They have good salads and pizza, as well as pasta, which we didn't try. My husband and I split the most delicious salad, and I recreated it at home and added chicken to it. Here's what I came up with:

"Disneyland" Salad

Field greens and baby spinach
Craisins
Golden Raisins
Grape Tomatoes
Croutons
Grilled Chicken
Toasted Sugared Almonds
Honey Dijon Salad Dressing

Okay, so most of this is self-explanatory. But let me tell you about a few things. For the chicken, I bought the pre-cooked grilled chicken strips you can find near the deli meat section, then cut them into bite-sized pieces and browned them over the stove.

To make the almonds, pour some sliced almonds and some sugar into a small pan and turn the heat to medium. Stir the almonds constantly so they don't burn. The sugar will start to melt and stick to the almonds. Cook the almonds until they are roasted a nice light brown. Take the almonds off the heat and spread them out on wax paper or a paper plate until they cool.

I looked for the right dressing for a while, and I think that the Honey Dijon dressing I found in the bagged salad section of Wal-mart is the best flavor for the salad. It's made by Marketplace.

Throw everything together and toss it with the dressing. A lot cheaper than at Disneyland, and just as yummy!

Holiday Popcorn

I know this looks like caramel corn with pepper, but it's actually white chocolate popcorn with black sprinkles, and it's super easy.

You will need:
1 box of Baker's White Chocolate (the box is smaller than the regular boxes, but found in the same place)
1 bag of microwave white popcorn (no butter) or air-popped popcorn
parchment or wax paper
sprinkles, opt.
food coloring, opt.

Melt the chocolate in a small bowl, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Pop the popcorn and let it cool down. Add food coloring to the chocolate if you want. I added orange cake gel for the Halloween popcorn. Now coat the popcorn in a large bowl with the chocolate. Lay it out on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. Add sprinkles if you want. Put in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes until the chocolate has hardened. Then break it up and enjoy!

For Christmas popcorn, I leave the chocolate white, then drizzle some red or green melted candy melts over the popcorn. Such an easy and cheap gift or snack!

Freezer Jam

What do you do when strawberries are 44 cents a pound at Basha's? You make jam! At least if you're me, you do.

Yep, that's right. I found strawberries for 88 cents for a 2 lb. clamshell and bought up a whole bunch. I already had the sugar and the containers.

If you have never made jam and it sound intimidating, it is not! It is so easy, especially if you make freezer jam. I actually prefer freezer jam; it has a yummy taste. And you don't have to seal jars for it to stay fresh. In fact, I use glad plastic containers because they stack well and don't take up a lot of room. You can also make jam from a variety of fruits and even jelly from apple juice! Just follow the instructions inside the Sure-Jell box.
Here are the quick instructions:

1. Wash and hull all of the strawberries, then blend them up in a food processor until there are only small chunks.

2. Measure the right amount of berries and sugar and combine them both in a bowl. Let that sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Heat a package of Sure-Jell and 3/4 cup of water on the stove to a boil; boil rapidly for 1 minute while stirring.
4. Add the Sure-Jell to the strawberries and stir for 3 minutes. Pour into containers and cover them.
5. Let it sit on the counter for 24 hours before placing them in the freezer. Make sure you put one in your fridge too!

Of course after I made all of this jam, I found out a way to use less sugar and buy a cheaper pectin. If you live in Arizona, you can buy a product called Ultra Jell at Shar's Kitchen/Bosch Center in Gilbert. Apparently, it is only $12 for a small bucket and so it is cheaper than buying boxes of Sure-Jell. You can also use less sugar with the Ultra Jell and still make freezer jam (non-cooked jam).

Christmas Goodies

I just thought I'd share some recipes for the goodies that I make every year. Sometimes I try a new recipe here or there, but these ones always make the cut!

Connie's Peppermint Bark

2 or 3 bags of milk chocolate chips
2 or 3 bags of white chocolate chips or vanilla melting bars
red starlight mints or peppermint candy canes, enough to make 1 cup when crushed
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Melt the milk chips in the microwave for 1 to 1.5 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. When melted, spread on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Put in the fridge and let harden, about 30-45 minutes. Melt white chips the same way. When melted, add crushed candy and stir. Add about 1/2 tsp. of peppermint or however much you want, to taste. Spread on hard milk chocolate and refrigerate until hard. Break into pieces with butter knife. Store in airtight container in a cool place.

Sugar Molasses Cookies (similar to Paradise Bakery's Ginger Molasses Cookies, but better!)

1 1/2 c. shortening
2 cups sugar
1/2 c. molasses
2 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda

Melt the shortening in a saucepan and let cool. Set aside. Cream eggs, sugar and molasses. Add remaining ingredients, then melted shortening. Store dough in the fridge 1-2 hours. Roll dough into about 1.5 inch balls. Roll into sugar. Cook on lightly greased cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Don't overcook! These are supposed to be chewy, not crunchy.

Spiced Pecans

2 1/2 c. pecans
1 large egg white, beaten in a small bowl

Add pecans to egg white. In a separate bowl, mix:

1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix dry ingredients. Pour coated pecans into dry ingredients and coat. Spread out and bake on a jelly roll pan lined with parchment paper. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Slide paper onto counter to cool. Store in airtight container. Great on salads or as a snack.

Lemon Bread (you can 1/2 this recipe)

2 c. shortening
4 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 1/4 c. milk
6 c. flour
1 Tbs. salt
1 Tbs. baking powder
4 lemon rinds, grated

Mix in order given. Pour into loaf tins. Bake for 50-55 minutes at 300 degrees.

Topping:
2 c. sugar
lemon juice from lemons

Mix together and pour over hot bread. Makes 4 regular loaves.