Chicken Taco Pasta Salad

1-12 oz pkg. Tri-color Pasta (I like radiatori or rotini)
3-4 Chicken Breasts
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning Mix
1 can Kidney Beans-drained
1 can Garbanzo Beans-drained
1 pkg. Frozen Petite Corn
1 small Onion, finely chopped

Chopped Tomatoes
Grated Cheese
Corn Tortilla Chips
Olives

Dressing:
2 Cups Mayonnaise
1 Cup Buttermilk
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch Dip Mix (if you can't find this, use a pkg. of regular Ranch Dressing mix and 1/2 a pkg. Taco Seasoning Mix).
Mix together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool. Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Brown in small amount of oil. When chicken is cooked, add taco seasoning mix and 1/4 cup water. Simmer about 5 minutes. Drain and cool. Cook corn in small amount of water, drain and cool. In large mixing bowl, combine pasta, chicken, beans, onion and corn. Mix with dressing. Place salad in bowl. Arrange chips around edge of salad. Garnish with grated cheese, olives and chopped tomatoes.

*Notes: To make this easier, I either use chicken I have already cooked, or I throw the chicken and the taco seasoning and water in the crockpot and cook on low until done.
You can substitute milk for the buttermilk in the dressing. I usually make the dressing a day ahead.

I serve the tomatoes, cheese, olives and chips on the side and let people add their own...otherwise the salad can get kind of soggy if you have leftovers to store.

Autumn Fruit Salad

2 Granny Smith apples
Zest of 1 lime
1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments, drained
1 cup halved seedless red grapes
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 carton (8 ounces) vanilla low-fat yogurt
2 T. chopped nuts (optional)

Peel and cut up apples. Combine yogurt with lime zest in a large bowl and mix in apples, mandarin oranges and grapes. Add marshmallows and mix gently. Sprinkle nuts over top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Yield: 12 servings

Kalua Pig in the Slow Cooker

1 (6 pound) Pork Butt Roast

1 1/2 Tbs. Fine Ground Sea Salt (Hawaiian Sea Salt if you have it)

1 Tbs. Liquid Smoke Flavoring

Pierce meat all over with a carving fork. Rub salt, then liquid smoke over meat. Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place roast in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 20 hours or high for 10 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

Serve over rice, or as a sandwich filling.

(luv5kdz originally shared this recipe on the MB)

The original recipe calls for Hawaiian Sea Salt, which is a little difficult to find.

You can see if there is a retailer in your area at:

Hawaii Kai

Creamy Italian Chicken (crock pot)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
1/4 cup water
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 4 oz. can mushroom stems & pieces
Hot cooked pasta, rice or potatoes

Place the chicken in a slow cooker. Combine salad dressing mix and water and pour over chicken. Cover on cook on low for 3 hours. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and soup until well blended. Sitr in mushrooms. Pour over chicken. Cook one hour longer or until chicken juices run clear. Serve over pasta, rice or potatoes.

4 servings

*My chicken is always done after 3 hours. I shred it into bite-size pieces before adding the sauce & then stir well before serving.

All fruit strawberry jam

2 C Sliced fresh strawberries
1/3 C Apple-grape concentrate (see below)
2 T Water
2 T Orange juice

1. In a medium pan combine the strawberries, apple-grape sweetener, water and orange juice. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly and cook at a low boil 10 to 15 minutes, until very thick. Stir often. (To test for gelling, put about 1/2 teaspoon jam on a chilled saucer and place in freezer for 1 minute. If, when cooled, jam wrinkles when touched, it is done.) Skim the foam from the top of the jam.
2. Transfer to a bowl, cool, cover, and refrigerate.

Apple-grape sweetener:

1 12 oz. can apple juice -concentrate, thawed
1 12 oz. can grape juice -concentrate,

In a large saucepan, combine the apple and grape juice concentrates. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly and cook at a low boil 15 to 20 minutes. Measure; you should have about 2 cups. Transfer to a jar and cool. Cover and refrigerate.

Blender Wheat Pancakes

Pour into blender:

1 C Skim Milk

3/4 C whole kernel wheat (I prefer white) (uncooked)

Liquify for FOUR minutes. While still running, add:

3 egg whites

1 T sugar

1/4 t salt

2 T melted butter or olive oil

1 t soda

2 t baking powder

Stop blender as soon as thoroughly mixed. I usually combine all of the last ingredients and dump in together.

We LOVE these.

You can stir banana pieces, blueberries cinnamon, peaches or anything else into the batter.

Also, you can reduce the wheat to 1/2 C and add 1/2 C of quick oats for an oatmeal pancake (if you do this replace the white sugar with 2 T brown sugar).