one of the last cool days, chicken and wild rice casserole

as I have previously posted in the heat of summer, I do not turn my oven on (especially when it gets in the triple digits here) but this is my absolute favorite dinner of all times...absolutely love it and when I make it, I always make extra to give a pan to someone else...this time I picked Cj's kinder teacher...she loves this too...

so for our size family and one to give away, here is what I do

4 roasted chicken breasts, diced into bite sized pieces
4 envelopes of Uncle Ben long grain and wild rice (the 90 second microwave one is fine)
2 large cans of cream of chicken soup
16 oz of sour cream
slivered almonds
1 bag of frozen peas

Tim has to mix this up for me, it is too much in the bowl...
mix all together and put (I use foil lasagna pan) into pan and enough in a square size cake pan too, if you want to be nice and give to someone else...

once in the pan, I crush up a sleeve of Ritz crackers and sprinkle on top and drizle a little melted butter on top...

bake 350 for about 30-45 minutes...

I am already missing this for the summer...this is little boy's favorite dinner too

leftover huli huli chicken into chicken salad

I on purpose made extra chicken in hopes of making chicken salad with it and Tim and Zoie both loved it this time, they said the extra sweetness really added to the salad, it was gone in 2 days...

I diced into small pieces the left over chicken (3 breasts left)
and then I added
...2 diced granny smith  apples
...diced celery
...chopped walnuts
...cranberries
...just a tad of garlic salt

mixed it all together with just enough mayo to moisten it...

so yummy

morning glory muffins

so glad that I made these today...they will be great for breakfast on the go...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20995/easy-morning-glory-muffins/

so I made a few changes and they still came out so yummy...everyone loved them...

instead of raisins, I added cranberries
I doubled the recipe
I added 1 cup of applesauce instead of grated apples

these were super easy to make, and I will definitely make them again

huli huli chicken and homemade fried rice

this was very good tonight...it is in the 90's here and too muggy and I was going to BBQ, but am not feeling 100% and didn't think that the smoke would be good for my COPD...so I took a chance and oven baked these...
Tim said it was delicious..

.http://therecipecritic.com/2016/05/grilled-huli-huli-chicken/

I made this once before when the cat was alive and he loved it...

for my homemade fried rice, here is what I do...

6 cups of rice, made ahead much earlier in the day to dry out...

then I take 1/2 at a time and fry in a little oil, add seasonings and soy sauce (I like enough soy sauce so there is no white showing...) and I continue cooking for a few more seconds and then start adding:
...green onions
...bacon
...cashews
...frozen peas
...shredded carrots
...scrambled egg

yum, so good

Hamburger soup

I have posted of this previously and is one of my favorite recipes...when the cat was still here, he liked it also...
I had some already browned hamburger in the freezer so this was very easy today...

So here is what I do...

Browned hamburger (I had about 2 1/2 pounds already for me)
6 cups o water
1 large can of tomato sauce 32 ounces
1 packet of onion soup mix
Whatever frozen veggies you like (I use corn, peas, and carrots)bring all of this to a boil and then add 1/2 box of your favorite pasta

I give it a stir and turn off heat and cover with a lid...

We had this for lunch and then again for dinner, it was so good...

getting ready for the upcoming week, weekly menus posted too

well it is only Saturday and I usually do all of "this" on Sunday, but decided to get a good start on the week...we still have one full week and 3 1/2 days left of school and as much as I hate to see the school year come to an end, I am so ready for summer (not the heat, tho)...I just love the lazier days and not having to be somewhere with 2 kids first thing in the morning...
I always make myself goals for the summer and a couple of mine are...
...help out with kids (esp the free movies)
...finally get my house organized and pictures on the walls
...pack up all hubby's things
...sew
...make a ton of freezer meals

trying to not make my goals too hefty or I won't get them done...

so what did I do to get ready for the week?
...boiled eggs for egg salad (it was so good the other week that I have missed it)
...roast in slow cooker
...big pot of hamburger soup on stove
...huli huli chicken marinating (plan on grilling tomorrow and have leftovers for chicken salad too)
...hash brown casserole assembled for slow cooker for breakfast tomorrow
...maple blondies made up, ready for evening when I can turn on my oven
...cut up veggies
...made some rice and put in ziploc bags

tomorrow, I would like to...
...make spaghetti
...roast 2 chickens
...make jello
...make muffins for mornings
...slow cooker pea soup for lunches

weekly menus

saturday..........hamburger soup
sunday............roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, maple carrots,
monday..........huli huli chicken, fried rice, pea pods
tuesday.......... tuna melts, pea soup (if I get it done), raw veggie
wednesday.....supposed to be cooler, chicken and wild rice casserole
thursday.........still cooler, oven baked pork ribs, baked beans, garlic bread
friday.............ground beef stroganoff, buttered noodles, green beans

sounds good to me...hope I am as ambitious as I sound right now...

maple blondies

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/10/maple-walnut-blondies.html

going to try this recipe tonight as soon as it cools down here...92 here today, I guess summer is here and I hate it...will not turn my oven on in this heat...