Honey Pecan Chicken Salad

I made this new recipe a few days ago, and we ate it all week! Honestly, I think it was better a few days later after all the flavors blended. Great easy recipe for a sweet and crunchy chicken salad to serve on a sandwich or with crackers.

Honey Pecan Chicken Salad

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 1 & 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 1 cup Craisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 onion, chopped (optional)
• 1 & 1/2 cups light mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place shredded chicken, celery, Craisins, pecans and onoin in large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together light mayonnaise, honey, salt and pepper. Combine well with chicken mixture and refrigerate until serving.

DIY Christmas Ball Wreath

Decorating for Christmas is something I have looked forward to each year ever since I was a child. Now that I have my own home, I have enjoyed making some of my Christmas decorations myself. Here is a Christmas project that I did a few years back, and it still is one of my favorite things to get out and hang up each year. It is very inexpensive and easy to do but does take a few hours, but it is worth making yourself over paying upwards of $50 for one from a store. 

DIY Christmas Ball Wreath

Start with a white round styrofoam wreath of the desired diameter, I used a 14'' wreath from Hobby Lobby.

Next you need assorted balls of at least 4 different sizes of whatever colors you would like on your wreath.  I recommend buying the cheapest ones you can find. For mine, I used silver and red 2.5'', 2'', 1.5'', and 1'' balls from Dollar Tree. The number you need will depend on how many layers of balls you use, so buy plenty, and keep your receipt, or you can put the extra balls on your tree like I did!

Then heat up your glue gun, and you are ready to go! Start by gluing the largest 2 size balls randomly around the front and outer edge of the wreath, and then fill in any holes with the smaller 2 size balls. Then glue a piece of thick ribbon onto the back at the top to hang it. There definitely is no right or wrong way to do it, just have fun and be creative!

Easy Crock-Pot Roast

Tonight, I hosted my first Thanksgiving in our new home for my husband's side of the family. I was excited to break out my china and formal linens, but didn't brave making a turkey especially since my husband and I already had 2 turkey dinners and drove 9 hours over the past 3 days. So instead, I went with a classic favorite... pot roast. I looked around at several different recipes online and settled on this one simply because it had the fewest ingredients and looked easy. (I passed up one recipe that used Dr. Pepper because I was terrified to ruin my $30 worth of meat.) It was delicious, super easy, and not overdone...just as a good pot roast should be!

In the pot:

• 1/4 cup water 
• 4 medium red potatoes, cut in quarters 
• 1 medium yellow onion, cut in quarters 
• 1 bag (16 ounces) fresh whole baby carrots 
• 1 envelope (about 1 ounce) dry onion soup and recipe mix 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves 
• 1 boneless beef rump roast (2 1/2 to 3 pounds) 

Place meat in Crock-pot and sprinkle with thyme and pepper. Put in cut potatoes, onions, and carrots. Mix dry onion soup mix and water and pour over all. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. 

Move Over Pumpkin Pie for Gooey Chocolate Cobbler

This year for my family's Thanksgiving dinner, I was in charge of bringing dessert. I was really excited to try a new recipe that I have been wanting to make, Gooey Chocolate Cobbler. Trust me, this one I had to see to believe. It worked out perfectly and everyone thought it was delicious! It definitely may become a new Thanksgiving tradition at our house!

Gooey Chocolate Cobbler

Batter

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Topping

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups hot tap water

Combine the ingredients of the batter and place in an ungreased 9-inch square or round Corningware baking dish. Combine and sprinkle the DRY ingredients of the topping evenly over batter then pour hot tap water over all. Without stirring (I know it seems weird), bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve hot out of the oven with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! I hope you will try some of my easy & delicious recipes coming soon!