Pea Salad

I'd never had pea salad until I met Matt's family.  His Grandma serves it at some of the family Holidays.  There isn't much of a recipe for it and it's really not much of a dish but it is pretty tasty. Plus, you're getting a serving of veggies, right? :-)

I wasn't there for the year that Matt's Grandma served them frozen pea salad, but they definitely reminisce about it each time we have pea salad. Oops!! 

Pea Salad
Recipe from: Family Recipe

Ingredients:
Bag of frozen peas, thawed
Mayonnaise
Roasted peanuts for topping, optional
Salt & pepper, to taste

There isn't much of a recipe as I said.  You use as much or as little mayonnaise as you'd like.  Mix together the mayonnaise and peas. Top with the peanuts.  Serve.

You could prepare this a day ahead of time, keeping the peas frozen and allowing them to thaw overnight in the refrigerator.  Maybe that's how she accidentally served them frozen pea salad?!  If you use this method, make sure your peas are thawed by taking a little taste test before serving!

Cheesy Green Beans

This is a recipe from my Grandma.  I remember she would always make these when we were up visiting at her house and they were most definitely at each Holiday meal.  As Grandma has gotten older, she's not cooked as much and usually Holiday meals are now at my Mom's house.  We were visiting her recently when she made lunch for us and these beans were on the menu.  I love green beans to begin with, but these were nothing short of nostalgic.

Some people might shrug their shoulders or turn their nose since these are made using canned beans and processed cheese slices.  I, however, will continue to make them and share them with my kids.

They look like a pile of mush, and not very appetizing in this picture, but trust me.  They're good! 

Cheesy Green Beans

From: Grandma 

Can of french cut green beans (as many cans as you'd like to serve)

Pasteurized american cheese slices (such as Kraft) 

a couple tablespoons of butter

Prepare the beans on the stove-top as directed.  Drain the water.  Put your beans back in the pot you used to cook them.  Keep the stove on warm-low. Tear your cheese slices into small pieces and place in the beans.  Add one tablespoon of butter.  Mix the cheese & butter into the beans.  Stir the cheese around in the beans until it and the butter melt.  Add more butter if you think it's necessary until you reach a creamy consistency.  The beans should not be runny. 

When you've got the consistency that you want, transfer to a serving dish and serve! 

Chicken Mandarin Salad

I first had this salad when Matt and I were dating and I was at his house for dinner.  It's SO good.  His Mom makes it pretty often and I can see why! It's a lengthy recipe but SO worth it.  Please don't hesitate to make this salad, despite it's long list of ingredients, it's pretty easy to make!

We made this for dinner on one of the nights that we were having a 90* heat wave.  It was nice to have a cold, refreshing salad for dinner.

This recipe is featured in a family cookbook that Matt's family made to raise funds when his Grandpa was diagnosed with Leukemia. In the front of the cookbook, they have a page dedicating the book to his Grandpa, Dallan Walter.

The second paragraph says "In our homes today, as always, life is centered around the kitchen.  It is with this thought in mind that we have compiled these recipes.  Some of the recipes are treasured family keepsakes and some are new; however, they all reflect the love of good cooking."

The picture on the bottom is of a cabin, the woods and a fish jumping out of a lake.  All things that Dallan treasured. I love the stories that Matt would tell me of his Grandpa. They'd spend time up north, Grandpa would take them fishing, Grandpa would tell them stories, overall, Grandpa was their Guy.  Matt is the oldest Grandchild on that side and so he got to spend lots of great, quality time with his Grandpa.

Now, after getting a little sentimental, let's get on to the recipe!

Chicken Mandarin Salad
Recipe from: Family Cookbook

For the chicken and marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup orange juice
4 green onions, cut into rings
1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast

For the salad dressing:
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 1/4 tsp onion juice
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp dry mustard
salt to taste
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 tsp toasted sesame seeds (I left these out because they were so expensive at the store!)

To marinate the chicken, combine the soy sauce, orange juice, half the green onion and garlic in a large plastic bag. Add chicken, seal & refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.  Grill or broil chicken until cooked.  Chill thoroughly, then cut into strips.

To make the dressing, combine the sugar, vinegar, onion juice, soy sauce, mustard and salt in a medium bowl. Start mixing with an electric mixer on medium speed. Slowly add oil and mix until thick. Add sesame seeds and beat thoroughly. Cover and set in the refrigerator to chill while you finish preparing.

For the salad:
5 strips of bacon, cooked and chopped
5 tblsp diced roasted red peppers (can use canned)
1 (8oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained (I omitted these because Matt doesn't like them)
1 (11oz) can mandarin orange sections, drained
1 cup frozen pea pods, thawed and patted dry
2 1/2 cups of romaine lettuce
2 1/2 cups of iceberg lettuce
1 cup flat thick cut chow mein noodles (we used wonton strips)
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
5 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Combine the chicken, bacon, red pepper, water chestnuts, orange sections, pea pods, remaining green onion, and both varieties of lettuce in a large bowl.  Add 3/4 cup of the dressing and toss lightly. Add wonton strips or chow mein noodles and toss again. Before serving, garnish with almonds and sesame seeds.

Makes 4 servings 

Mom's Banana Bread

My Husband's coworker brought him some bananas that were ready for baking. I know, I know, your first thought is... what? This guy is single and doesn't do any baking for himself. But, he knew the bananas could be used by someone and he knew that I liked to bake so he brought them to work for my Husband to give to me. I thought it was a very nice gesture.
As I was looking through my recipe books, my recipe box & my blog, I realized that I did not have a recipe for banana bread. Growing up, my Mom often made banana bread and it was so good. Moist, flavorful and delicious. I couldn't believe that I didn't have it written down somewhere!

Luckily, when I text her "SOS -- I need your banana bread recipe!" she was happy to oblige and called me with her recipe. Although we don't know the origination of this recipe, we assume that it came from my Grandma, her Mom. My Mom has been using this banana bread recipe for many years. It's the banana bread I've grown up with. As soon as I tried some of my fresh banana bread, I was happy that it tasted just like Mom used to make.

Mom's Banana Bread
Recipe: Amy's Kitchen Creations Family Recipe

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups of Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking soda
3/4 cup Butter
1 1/4 cup Sugar*
4 Eggs
2 cups Banana

Mix all ingredients into a bowl until well combined. You can add raisins or nuts if you'd like. When adding them, put a tablespoon or two of flour in a separate bowl, add the raisins/nuts and mix them up with the flour a little. They'll be coated with the flour. This will keep them from falling to the bottom of the bread when baking. This recipe makes two loaves of bread. If you're like me and only have one loaf pan, you'll be baking bread for a couple hours. It's worth it though!

Bake at 350 for 60 minutes.

Enjoy your slice with a little bit of butter or plain, whichever you prefer!

*My Mom said that she does half Brown Sugar and half White Sugar in her recipe. I did 1 cup White sugar, 1/4 cup Brown sugar.

PS- I now have the recipe securely in my recipe box! I will definitely be making this more often now that I have the recipe stored.