Pinteresting – July’s Recipes

Over the past few months, I have fallen into the Pinterest craze along with millions of other people.  At first, I didn’t know exactly what to do… but once I got the hang of it, I found myself spending hours on the weekends checking out neat Do-It-Yourself tricks for around the house, finding cute clothes that I needed to add to my wish list, learning interesting beauty and hair techniques, and probably my biggest downfall, discovering recipes that I absolutely must try.

Now it’s time for this month’s Pintersting post where I share a few Pinterest ideas I have grabbed from other users and share whether or not they work.

Today, we’re taking on a few of the recipes…

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Chicken Salad

I love refreshing foods during the hot summer months… salads, fruits, sandwiches, etc…  But up until recently, I only knew how to make a tuna salad that I liked.  I enjoy a good chicken salad; I just never had a recipe that sounded easy enough that I wanted to try.  So, instead of making it fresh, I’d trek to United Market Street and grab a container of already made chicken salad with grapes.  I love my chicken salad with grapes.

And then came Pinterest…

I wasn’t sure how my guy would react to my making chicken salad for a Monday night dinner, but he played along nonetheless.  He even helped me chop everything.

And let me just say… we both loved it!!  The grapes are my favorite part (surprise, surprise), and he likes the crunch of it all (celery, onion, and pecans).  It was so tasty; we’ve even made it a second time this month!  Twice in one month!

3 cups of cooked chicken
1 cup of chopped celery
½ cup of chopped pecans
1 cup of chopped grapes – we used purple grapes
¼ cup of finely chopped green onion
¾ cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip – we used regular mayo
½ teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of pepper
½ teaspoon of onion powder

In a large bowl, mix chicken, celery, pecans, grapes, and green onion.

In a small bowl, mix the mayo, salt, pepper, and onion powder.

Cover the chicken mixture with the “dressing” and stir until well mixed.

Cover and chill until served.

We toasted some challah bread from Whole Foods Market, spread mustard on each piece, and covered it with large mounds of the chicken salad served open-faced.  Perfecto!

I do wonder though, what will Granny Smith green apples taste like if added?  Maybe next time…

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Crock Pot Italian Chicken

I’m a crock pot cooker.  Dump, cover, and cook.  How easy is that?  Give me any recipe to try in the crock pot and I’ll give it a chance… especially chicken.

Sadly, the last chicken dish we tried was extremely dry.  But not this one!  The Crock Pot Italian Chicken dinner is melt-in-your-mouth good.  Especially when served on Hawaiian sweet rolls.  And the peppers?  Oh, the peppers give it just the right amount of sweetness and spice.

2 pounds of chicken – we used frozen chicken breasts
1 jar of pepper rings (12 ounces) – we used mild
2 envelopes of Italian dressing seasoning and/or spice mix (.7 ounce)

Dump the chicken into the crock pot, cover with pepper rings, and sprinkle in both envelopes of Italian dressing.  Cover and cook for four hours on high (or eight on low).

Shred the chicken and turn the heat to low or simmer until ready to serve.  If low on the liquid, add broth or water.

Serve on buns with feta, peppers, and olives if desired.

My guy went with the feta…

I stayed away from all three…

And I’m glad I did.  YUMMY!!  Seriously.  So good.

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Your turn—have you tried any Pinterest recipes that you would like to share?  Did it taste as good as its picture looked?  I’d love to hear from you!

Original Pinterest recipes found on these sites:

http://www.skinnymom.com/2012/04/25/skinny-chicken-salad/?_szp=163117

http://beyerbeware.net/2012/09/hunk-of-meat-monday-crock-pot-italian-chicken.html

And, feel free to follow me on Pinterest.