It's Summer Again...

and that means I have time to cook!
Today I decided to make mango bread with the mangos I got in my Bountiful Basket. I got a really great recipe from the internet. http://www.food.com/recipe/hawaiian-mango-bread-30296

Hawaiian Mango Bread
By Lorac on June 03, 2002
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups peeled and diced fresh mango (about 3 large mangos)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup macadamia nuts chopped(I didn't add these)
1/2 cup grated coconut

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.
Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon into a small bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, oil and sugar and mix with dry ingredients until well blended.
Fold in mango, raisins, nuts and coconut.
Pour into loaf pans and bake 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool 10 to 15 minutes, unmold and let completely cool on baking racks.


It tasted really good, but next time I think I will add more coconut and no raisins. I am sure I will be making this again.

Tomatillo Salsa

I bought a mexican pack with my bountiful baskets last week and I had no idea what to do with all the veggies and chilis. So Danno and I decided to make salsa.

What you need:
10-12 or 1 1/2-2 lbs. tomatillos
1 medium yellow or white onion
1 serrano pepper
1 jalopeno paper
1 clove of garlic
hand full of cilantro
1 lime
1/4 tsp sugar
salt
pepper


What to do:
Peel paper husks off tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down on foil lined cookie sheet. Cut both peppers in half and seed peppers. Place cut side down on cookie sheet with tomatillos. Broil for 7 to 10 minutes or until lightly blackened. Chop up peppers.

Chop up onion and cilantro. Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender adding salt and pepper to taste. Pulse until all ingredients and blended.

Super easy and very yummy! Enjoy!

Reflecting

Today I took my comprehensive exam for my master's degree. I felt very confident walking into the exam at 9am this morning. Once I opened the test, I found that some of the questions on the test were ones that we were not given to study. I continued to go over my answers to make sure that I answered everyone. The discussion question that I studied the most was not the one they gave me today. Walking out of the exam I felt a little relief until I realized that I answered one of the questions wrong, I was the first one in my group done, and I finished in only 1 hour and 10 minutes. Now my confidence is gone and I wish I knew how I did. All that is left to do is wait 2 to 4 weeks for the results and pray that I passed and now have a master's degree in Early Childhood Education.

Danno's Favorite

This is one of the easiest meals I have ever made and my husband just absolutely loves it.

Cheesy Chicken Noodles

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - frozen works well and there's no need to thaw
2 cans condensed broccoli cheese soup
2 cups of milk
1/2 cup dried minced onion

Throw all of the above ingredients in your slow cooker and turn it on low for 7 to 8 hours. If you turn you crock pot on high for the last 30 minutes, a lot of the liquid will become thicker.

Pour over your favorite noodles or white rice. I usually make egg noodles to go with this meal or if we have left over spaggetti or pasta.

Strawberry Salad

For those of you that wanted the recipe for my strawberry salad, here it is!

Salad
1 bag of romaine lettuce
1 bag of baby spinach
1 pint of strawberries
1 cucumber
1 bunch of green onions

Combine 1 full bag of romaine lettuce with 1/2 the bag of spinach. Clean and cut up strawberries (I use an egg slicer to cute the strawberries. It's quick and easy clean up.) Peel and cut cucumber in half length wise, then cut each half into think slices. Cut green onions, use the white part and some of the scallions. Mix all ingredients together.

Dressing
Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon milk
2 - 1/4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 - 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Mix all ingredients. I like to put all the ingredients in a container I can seal and shake.

Pour dressing over salad and mix.

For a little variation you can add candied walnuts or sugared almonds. Make sugared almonds by cooking 1/4 cup sugar in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat until caramel in color, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/3 cup slivered almonds and coat. Spread on foil to cool and break into small pieces.
ENJOY!!!

Apple and Onion Chicken

Sounds really weird but it was actually pretty good.

I took:
6 frozen chicken tenders
2 red macintosh apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 medium onion
1 can of chicken broth
1 can cream of celery soup

put all of the above items in the crock pot for 6 to 8 hours on low. Serve over cooked white rice. Yum!!

Got a new cookbook!

I am so excited! I got a new cookbook that has recipes from all my favorite restaurants. I would love to share. Just let me know!