| Apple Chicken Salad | Seven Layer Salad | Angel's Non-Regional Chicken 'n Dumplings | Ranch Taters | Coconut Dip | Hummus | Angel's Granola | Easy Bake Cream Cheese Squares | Easy Casserole | Quickie Chickie Enchiladas | Quick Chicken and Rice | Irish Nachos | Strawberry Trifle | Body Paint |

This fresh chicken salad is just the thing to pack for the big game!

2-3 boneless skinless breasts boiled, then shredded (or grab a couple of roasted breasts at the deli and shred them)
2 1/2 teaspoons cubed pickles (adjust this to your taste, I prefer more like 3 1/2 teaspoons!)
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon onion flakes
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Dash lemon pepper
2 teaspoons mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large or 2 small peeled and finely cubed (1/2-inch or less wide) Granny Smith Apple

Put all ingredients into a big bowl and stir. Taste and reseason.

Chill and serve either with crackers and lettuce or on a sandwich with a big ol' t'mater slice!

This is my sister Sherri's recipe and most everyone likes it ... except me. I don't do green peas. Yuck. Anyway, Sherri says that this salad packs well and is better the day after you make it.

1 head lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup green peas (yuck yuck yuck gag! How do you people eat this?)
1 1/2 to 2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
8 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

Layer the ingredients in the following order: lettuce, celery, onions, peppers, and peas (shoo wee). Spread mayonnaise over peas (yuck); put sugar on top of mayonnaise, then add the cheese. Sprinkle bacon on top. Refrigerate four hours before serving to those green-pea-lovin' hordes out there. Sick people.

Here's a dish that takes a while to make, but the good news is that you can have it for leftovers by just adding canned chicken broth and then making more dumplin's!

These aren't Northern dumplings, which are dropped into the soup, and they ain't quite Southern dumplings either, which are rolled out and cut into strips. By not dropping and not rolling out my dumpling dough, I've created non-partisan chicken and dumplings!

3 chicken breasts, skin & bones on (this gives you more white meat than if you stewed a whole chicken)
1 carrot cut half way then in thirds
2 stalks of celery cut the same way as the carrot
1 medium onion, quartered
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 tablespoon salt
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
6 drops Tabasco sauce (you can't taste this and it doesn't make it hot, I promise, it just adds some yumminess to the flavor)
1/2 stick of real butter (you can leave this out, it just makes the broth richer)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of condensed chicken broth (you know, the kind of chicken broth you have to add water)
Water
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk

Put the chicken breasts, carrot, celery, onion, peppercorns, salt, garlic bay leaf, and six drops of Tabasco in a large sauce pan/Dutch oven, and then add water, enough to cover.

Simmer a couple of hours until chicken is tender. Remove chicken breasts to a plate and strain the broth twice;discard vegetables. Pour broth back into your big pot/Dutch oven, then de-bone that tender chicken and reserve it on the side while you make dumplings.

To the broth, add a half a stick real butter, cream of chicken soup, condensed chicken broth, plus one can of water. Taste and re-season broth (if it needs it) with salt and pepper. Turn the heat up and bring chicken broth to a rolling simmer.

While your broth heats up, mix together Bisquick and half of the milk in a smallish bowl (this sure does use a lot of dishes, eh?). Stir Bisquick mixture and add milk until a soft dough is formed. Take a spoonful of dough and roll it into a 1 to 1.5-inch ball shape. As soon as the broth is at a low soft boil drop in about 5-6 dough balls and put on the lid. (If the liquid is at a big fat rolling boil it'll break up the dumplings.) Simmer for 5 minutes - WITHOUT OPENING THE LID - and then use a slotted spoon to turn them over. Put the lid back on and cook the dumplings another 5 minutes (without opening the lid). They will resemble little fluffy clouds floating in a slurry of sunshine.

Next, either push the dumplings to the side of the pot, or remove them to a plate while you cook the remaining dumplings. If you push them to the side you risk breaking them up, I know this from experience!

Out of desperation for something 'different' to do with my taters, I came up with this easy and yummy recipe. It's really popular with my kids!

5-6 medium sized potatoes
1 packet powdered Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix
2 teaspoons onion flakes
1/3 cup melted margarine or butter or softened butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scrub potatoes, cut off bad spots, and quarter. Place taters in large mixing bowl and toss with butter, onion flakes, and dip mix.

Spray 9- by 13-inch pan with cooking spray and put in potatoes. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and tender.

This is another of my sister Sherri's recipes. This is dip is a great way to get the kids to munch on fruit. Sherri said, "Make this dip the day before you plan on serving it." Serve it with your favorite fruit.

1 can coconut juice
1/2 cup coconut, toasted 10 minutes in oven on a cookie sheet
1 1/4 cups sour cream

Mix together all ingredients until smooth and store in an air-tight container. Refrigerate.

This is a delicious way to get your protein! Pack this up with some torn up pita bread, pita chips, or toasted pita bread (you get the idea).

2 cups canned chickpeas (garbanzos)
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 to 2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup lemon juice (use real lemon juice, not that fake stuff!)
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste; you can get this at health food stores)

Rinse beans and then strain. Put the beans in a food processor and purée, then add the rest of the ingredients, except for the lemon juice. Next, gradually add lemon juice until you get the right texture and taste. Re-season as needed.

NOTE: Chickpeas are an excellent source of protein and are great for gout sufferers. Chickpeas have a higher fat content than other legumes, so they aren't great for folks on a diet. However, they are rich in calcium and iron, and are an excellent source of fiber, of course.

I make granola about once a week - I practically live off of it during the fall and spring when spare time is as scarce as hen's teeth!

If you use unsalted sunflower seeds, then add 3/4 teaspoon of salt or so to taste. This makes about 10 or so servings. The kids will love this and it's much better for them than chips! This granola is also yummy on top of ice cream, yogurt, and fruit salad. Make sure you look at the end of this recipe for other dry ingredient suggestions.

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup slivered or sliced almonds
1 cup salted sunflower seeds
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ (un-toasted is fine, too)
1/2 cup honey or maple syrup (pure maple syrup, not Aunt Jemima, now)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup dried cherries, or your favorite dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, cherries, etc.)

Preheat oven to 275º. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, wheat germ and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together honey and oil until well-blended and it looks sort of like apple sauce. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture and stir gently. Sometimes I mix the ingredients by hand to make sure all the nuts and oats are covered.

Pour granola over a large greased cookie sheet or two small greasaed cookie sheets. Toast for 20 minutes, stir, then toast for another 15-20 minutes - until granola is *GBD (*golden brown delicious). Stay close to the oven and don't start playing on the computer so that you lose track of time because you will need to keep the granola from burning.

When the granola achieves the "GBD" stage, remove it from the oven and transfer to a large bowl. Add dried cherries and mix until evenly distributed. Cool to touch, then store in airtight container.

Other dry ingredients to consider adding:

• Stir in 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon to the dry ingredients before mixing. You are welcome to add more - it's your granola! Make it as cinnamon-y as you want!
• Substitute dark brown sugar for the light brown for a sharper molasses taste
• If you are into that molasses taste, you can add a couple of tablespoons of molasses or dark brown corn syrup to the honey and oil mixture
• You can add other goodies to this recipe too, like:
  • 1/3 cup of flake coconut
  • 1/8 cup sesame seeds
  • 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
  • 1/3 cup pecan pieces (or halves)
  • 1/3 cup pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup walnut pieces
• You can leave out the wheat germ, too. I add it because it's rich in protein, B vitamins, vitamin E, iron, carbohydrates, and fiber.
• Visit your local health food store and you can find all kinds of neat seeds, nuts, roots, sticks, dried bugs, and other interesting things to add that are good for you. I recently acquired some flax seed (thanks Momma!) and I added 1/4 cup of it - it is a delicious addition to my granola!

This recipe comes from my sister-in-law Alicia and is a tasty recipe that takes no time to make.

2 (8 oz) pkgs. Cream Cheese
2 pkgs. Crescent Rolls
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg separated
1 tsp. vanilla

I got this recipe from a mom I met online and she said, "This recipe has been in my family for years."

1 pound hamburger
1 large onion

30 minutes before everyone arrives home, put hamburger meat in a skillet on high and burn to a crisp. Fan all the smoke detectors.

5 minutes before everyone arrives, cut onion and deeply inhale the fumes until tears are flowing freely down your face.

Next, sit in the corner next to the fridge, sob uncontrollably and then offer to take everyone out to dinner.

These enchiladas are already cooked, so you just heat them up!

Sour cream
Whole or sliced black olives
4 cups shredded Monterey Jack and Colby cheeses, reserving 1 cup
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded - enough to make 2 or so cups of cooked chicken
1/2 cup salsa - divided
10 (6-inch) flour tortillas
8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Mix chicken with cream cheese, then add in 3 cups of shredded cheese, and 1/4 cup salsa.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla and roll up. Place seam side down in 9x13-inch pan.

When finished, spread remaining salsa on top of enchiladas. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese. Bake 5 additional minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream, olives, and salsa.

This takes no time to make and the kids really like it.

1 can chicken and rice soup
1/2 can water
1 cup of cooked chicken (you can use canned chicken if you're in a time pinch)
3 ounce can sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup uncooked instant rice

Bring soup and water to boil; add rice and stir. Cover and remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.

Add in chicken and mushrooms. Heat through.

This is a good - albeit fattening - meal to eat with your fingers.

1/2 bag frozen French fries
1/2 tomato diced
3 to 5 green tail onions, chopped fine (if desired)
Sour cream
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Sliced or whole black olives
1/2 pound bacon, crisply cooked and crumbled
Salt and pepper

Cook fries according to package directions, seasoning with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese on top of fries, and return to oven. Bake just until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with tomatoes and tomatoes and green onions if desired. Serve with sour cream and olives.

My mom is famous for making this; it is light and very refreshing ... uh, the trifle that is. Of course, Momma can be light and refreshing at times too. :o)

1 Angel food cake, broken into bite-sized pieces
2 (4-serving size) packages instant vanilla pudding
4 cups cold milk (don't use skim milk; it won't work)
12-ounce container Non-dairy whipped topping, thawed of course
2 cans frozen strawberries, thawed

Mix together pudding mix and milk in medium mixing bowl; add in 1/2 cup Non-dairy whipped topping. in one of those pretty trifle dishy-thingys, alternate layers of pudding mixture, angel food cake, strawberries, and top off with remaining Non-dairy whipped topping. Chill and serve.

This recipe isn't edible, but could cause a lot of fun for the kids! This is wonderful for decorating little bodies. You can make clown faces, washable tattoos, masks, wearable jewelry or hand puppets with this paint. Use a muffin tin cup or old foam egg carton for each color.

1 tablespoon corn starch
1 1/2 teaspoons cold cream
1 1/2 teaspoons water
Few drops food coloring

Mix well and paint away.