Amish Macaroni Salad

My kids always want a container of the Amish Mac Salad before leaving Walmart. So, I decided to find a recipe so that I could make some at home. It was easy and DELICOUS!

2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small red bell pepper,seeded & chopped
2 TBSP dill pickle relish
2 c creamy sald dressing (Miracle Whip)
3 TBSP prepared yellow mustard
3/4 c white sugar
2 1/4 tsp white vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp celery seed, optional

Cook elbow macaroni according to directions and drain really well! Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, stir together eggs, onion, celer, red pepper, & relish.
In a small bowl, stir together the sald dressing, mustard, sugar, white vinegar, salt and celery seed (optional).
Pour over vegetables, and stir in macaroni until well blended.
Cover and chill for at least 1 hour before serving. (Chilling the salad is very important! This thickens the dressing, and the noodels soak some of the dressing up too!)

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

My daughter, Madi, is a huge fan of Chicken Caesar Salad so we gave this recipe a try and it is our new family favorite. It's so easy and deliciouso!


2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 to 1 cup of your favorite Caesar dressing
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley (if you don't have fresh use 2 t. dried parsley)
1/2 t. ground pepper
2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
12 slider buns or 4-6 regular sized hamburger buns

1. Place chicken in a 3-4 qt. slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water, cover and cook on low 4-6
hours.

2. Remove chicken from cooker using a slotted spoon and drain the water from the slow cooker.
Place chicken on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds, discarding any fat.

3. Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, Parmesan cheese, parsley and pepper
over the top. I really make sure that I discard any fat pieces so by the time I am done I only
use about 1/2 cup of dressing but you may need more if you have more chicken. Stir until
mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup mixture onto each slider bun if you are making sliders or more for regular
sized buns. Top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese and lettuce to serve.

Notes: I have also used a 4 lb. bag of bone-in, skin-on thighs and just doubled the other ingred-
ients (except for the dressing which you have to play around with according to taste). I
used Ken's Light Caesar dressing.

Source: Pinterest

Hawaiian Tuna Melt

A delicious twist on the old grilled tuna! This makes for a great lunch at home. I recommend using a thicker bread for this sandwich, so you can pile on the ingredients. A wheat ciabatta bread is pictured here, but you could use a hoagie roll, english muffin or thick sliced french bread.

Servings: 3-4

Ingredients:

2 (5 ounce) cans Tuna, drained and flaked

2 T. mayonaise

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 C. crushed pineapple

1/2 t. salt

1/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

1/2 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Your favorite bread

1 T. butter

Directions:

1. Combine tuna, mayonaise, celery, green onion, pineapple, salt, and lemon pepper in a bowl.

2. Spread tuna mix over bread slice and sprinkle with cheese. Spread a small amount of butter on the top slice of bread.

3. Broil 6 in. from heat for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and top slice of bread is toasted. Serve immediately.

Source: my variation of an allrecipes.com recipe

Easy Chocolate Ice Cream

Can you get any easier than 3 ingredients? This is a favorite of ours. It tastes like a Wendy's Frosty to me.


Easy Chocolate Ice Cream

One half gallon chocolate milk
1 container Cool Whip (you can use the bigger or smaller size-it doesn't really matter)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
Regular white milk, if needed
Ice Cream Salt
Ice
Ice Cream Churn

1-Mix the chocolate milk, Cool Whip, and Sweetened Condensed Milk together.
2- Pour into the ice cream churn up to the fill line (this is where your extra regular milk comes in-you can add a little more white milk to mixture if you need a little more to make it to the fill line).
3-Put the ice cream churn together and add ice & ice cream salt.
4-Turn on ice cream churn and enjoy once finished.

Source: Pauline Branham

Grandpa's Chili

My Grandpa Davis made the best chili.  I have fond memories of him making it, nursing it on the stove top till it was just right.   He loved to use a LOT of chili powder, so you may want to back off on that a bit if you're not into spicy.  Mind you, it's not radically spicy.  I don't like super spicy food, and this is just about as spicy as I want to get with my food.  (I've found that serving some fresh fruit as a side dish can help with that "burning mouth" syndrome.)

Ingredients:
2-3 Tbsp. oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped*
2 pounds ground beef
1 (2 ounce) can chili powder
2 or 3 (1-pound) cans pinto beans, drained**
3 (1 pound) cans tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
water

1.  In a large pot, saute onions and green peppers in oil.  Add ground beef and brown.
2.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer 1-2 hours.***  Use enough water to obtain desired chili consistency.


*I hate green peppers, so I always leave these out.
**Use whatever mix of canned beans you like.  Pinto, kidney, and black beans work well in any combination.
***I tried this the other day in the SLOW COOKER.  I browned the beef, then put everything in the SLOW COOKER.  It worked great!


Source:  my grandpa, James Graham Davis

Scrumptious Apple Pie

If an apple pie and an apple crisp got married, this would be their baby.  A delicious, mouth-watering "pie" baby!

Ingredients:
1 whole pie crust (from scratch or store-bought)

Filling:
6-7 cups peeled and sliced Granny Smith apples (I used 5 large apples)
Juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Crumb topping:
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup quick oats (I used rolled oats because that's all I had)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 jar caramel topping (or homemade caramel sauce)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Peel and slice your apples into a large bowl.  Squeeze juice of lemon over apples and stir to coat.  Add your white sugar, flour, and salt.  Mix.

3.  For the crumb topping, cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter.  If you have a food processor, that would work too.  Add your brown sugar, oats, and salt.

4.  Pour apples into prepared pie crust.  Spread your crumb topping over apples.

5.  Cover edges of pie crust with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.  When time is up, remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes.  Before last 5 minutes is up, remove pie from oven and sprinkle top with chopped pecans.  Return to oven and finish baking.

6.  When pie is done, remove from oven and pour caramel sauce over topping.  Or wait and pour sauce over individual slices.

*Some of the juices started to bubble out towards the end of baking.  I would recommend placing a cookie sheet lined with foil on the rack below your pie. 

*There is A LOT of butter in this pie!  I think I'll try using only 1 1/4 sticks next time I make this.

Source:  The fabulous Pioneer Woman

Ghostly Shepard's Pie

Now that Halloween is upon us, I thought it would be timely to share my next recipe for you... Ghostly Shepard's Pie. I love making holidays fun, and I love making this meal every year. This year will probably be the first time that I'll have a child who will really enjoy it... so that should be fun. This recipe is perfect for the fall, I hope you enjoy it. 

Ghostly Shepard's Pie
1 lb ground beef
1/2 C. chopped onion
1 bag (12 oz) frozen mixed vegetables
2 C. diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained (from 28-oz can)
1 jar (12 oz) beef gravy
1 3/4 C. water
2 Tbsp. butter/margarine
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 C. milk
2 1/4 C. Dried Potato Flakes (instant mashed potatoes)
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, slightly beaten

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12-inch skillet with cooking spray. Add beef and onion; cook over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain.

2. Set 12 peas (from frozen vegetables) aside for garnish. Add remaining frozen vegetables, tomatoes and gravy to beef mixture. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.

3. Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, heat water, butter and garlic powder to boiling. Remove from heat; add milk. Stir in dry potatoes and cheese. Add egg; blend well.

4. Spoon beef mixture into ungreased 2 - 2 1/2 quart baking dish. With large spoon, make 6 mounds of potato mixture on top of beef mixture to resemble ghosts. Place 2 reserved peas on each mound to resemble eyes.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are set and mixture is thoroughly heated.

Enjoy with your little ghosts & goblins!!


Although this recipe only makes an 8x8 casserole serving - it would be very simple to double... just in case you have a lot of little ghosts and goblins to feed!