The Best Chicken Salad

Arby's sells amazing chicken salad. You can get it on bread or wrapped up in a tortilla. It has grapes and nuts and a tangy sweetness that keeps you coming back for more. Then Arby's closed. Well, the one near my house closed. The next closest one is almost an hour away. I had to figure out how to duplicate this awesomeness at home, and I finally nailed it. It's a little different, and I think it might actually be better than the original. I could eat this every single day and be a very happy Mama. Let me know what you think.

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

Andrew makes the most amazing beef enchiladas. He uses corn tortillas and a ton of cheese, and they are so, so good. He knew somebody whose sister had a friend who was from Mexico and she made "authentic food". She was kind enough to share a few of her recipes with him. Because of this, Andrew is the go-to guy around here whenever we want mexican food.

I make tacos. From a packet. That's about where my expertise ends. But I decided to give it a shot and see what I could come up with. Andrew looked at me kind of funny when I told him I was making enchiladas and no, it wasn't his recipe. It only got worse when I started talking about beans and rice and such. But when it was all over, he was hooked and we were fighting over the leftovers. K even cleaned his plate before I was half done, and that's saying something. Move over Andrew, Mama's going south of the border.

Chinese Chicken & Broccoli

Andrew loves chinese food. Sweet and sour chicken, barbecue spare ribs, pork fried rice, and egg rolls are some of his favorites. I personally can't live without crispy cheese wontons and crab rangoon (look for these soon - they are on my 2013 cooking bucket list). Anyway, he's been craving chinese food almost daily these past few weeks and our favorite take-out place is a little on the pricey side. A quick freezer raid turned up some chicken and broccoli and suddenly dinner was born. I believe his exact words were "This is the best chinese food I have ever had." While we were stuffing our faces, we decided that the only thing that could make this dish even better would be to throw some cashews in it next time. Try it both ways and let me know which one you prefer.

Chicken Caesar Salad Bites

I come from a large family. I have three sisters and we all have our significant others. Add our parents and kids and we are a hungry bunch. To make sure no one person is responsible for feeding everybody, we tend to do our get-togethers potluck style. We all make and bring one or two things and ta-da! Instant buffet. Appetizers, main dishes, sides, and desserts - we've got it all covered. It works out pretty well. Last time we had a party, I wanted to make something different and this is what I came up with. They looked quite impressive on the plate, and everyone loved them.

Black Bean Chicken Quesadillas

I grew up in a meat and potatoes house. But dinner does not have to be a separated affair, with the food groups all in their respective corners on a plate. It has taken me a long time but I am finally starting to let go of this concept. I also have to remind myself that meat is not the only source of protein. Not that I truly forget these things, I just fall into a rut now and then.

Oven Fried Chicken Tenders

Fried chicken is one of my weaknesses. The crispy coating, the moist chicken, the finger-licking goodness. Heck, who am I kidding? The crispy coating is all I really care about. (I may have even been caught in the kitchen eating the crunchy castoffs from the bottom of the bucket once or twice. Maybe.)

Guess what? Re-creating this crunch-tastic-ness in your own kitchen is totally possible! And it doesn't come from potato chips, crushed up butter crackers, or corn flakes. It comes from...

Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, and Rice

In honor of Crock Pot Thursday, I really wanted to make Ranch Pork Chops, but my slow cooker is a 6-quart beast and I don't think it would handle 3 tiny pork chops well. I really need to get a small one for those days when I'm not trying to make enough food to feed an army AND hoard leftovers in the freezer for another day, since that's about all this one is good for.

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken - 3 Ingredients!

I have a slow cooker. I have a few of them, actually. But I really only use it for two things - chili and pot roast. I know I should use it more because it is so nice to have a home-cooked meal at the end of the day when all I had to do was spend five minutes throwing it together in the morning. So, to bring it out of hibernation, I added "Slow Cooker Thursdays" to the food schedule.

Tangerine Chicken and Veggies over Jasmine Rice

We are big on meal planning around here. My worst nightmare is eating the same 5 or 6 dishes over and over again, week in and week out. Since today is Try Something New Tuesday in our house, I had to get creative. I knew I wanted chicken, and I happened to have a dozen or so tangerines that were taking up space on the counter. A quick search online gave me this recipe from Rachael Ray (love her!). But since I don't like hot sauce or curry, I didn't have green onions or cinnamon sticks, and I have this love/hate relationship with couscous, I changed the recipe to my liking.

Unrolled Chicken Rolls (or Cheesy Skillet Chicken)

So I found this recipe the other day where you roll a chunk of cheese up in some flattened chicken breast, tie the rolled-up chicken, brown it in a pan, then finish them off in the oven. It sounded amazing. I immediately took some thin-sliced chicken out of the freezer and started debating on cheddar versus mozzarella while I waited.

When the chicken finally thawed, I pulled out my favorite kitchen string and heated up the oven. I pounded out the chicken to the required thinness (thickness?) and started tucking beautiful cuts of mozzarella inside. With my son's help, I tied up the prettiest little chicken parcels you've ever seen. The rolls took their turn in the pan and then I parked them in the oven. In 15 to 20 minutes, we should have been in cheesy chicken heaven. Note my use of the phrase "should have".