Tag Archives: kitchen

Food

Wanna Be CPK ~ BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad

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Always trying to duplicate the Original BBQ Chicken Salad from California Pizza Kitchen…

This will just have to do ~

1 bag romaine, chopped into smaller pieces

1/2 of a rotisserie chicken {or leftover chicken}, cooled and chopped

1/4-1/2 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup {or so} sweet white corn {I use frozen, thawed}

1/4 cup shredded cheese {I used Mexican blend, light}

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped

Chopped cilantro {however much you like ~ we like A LOT}

1/2 of an avocado, sliced or chopped

red onion, finely chopped {optional}

Squeeze of lime {optional}

Dressing:

I just mix a little store bought light ranch and some bbq sauce and toss!

{You can also get fancy and drizzle bbq sauce over the salad like CPK does, but the brand I bought wasn’t a squeeze bottle and I didn’t want to over-do the sauce/dressing}

They have a new Caramelized Peach Salad that I will try to recreate soon!

*****

Nighty Night!

Family, Food, Fun

Sous Chef

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Lately Elliott wants to “help” me in the kitchen…all.the.time.

I hate telling her, “Maybe tomorrow, honey.”, “Not right now.” or “Just let Mommy do it real quick.”

It makes me feel like such a crappy Mom.

So, while I was doing my grocery shopping this weekend, I decided to pick up some rice crispies and marshmallows and enlist her help with making some good old-fashioned rice crispy treats. After all, marshmallows are so Springy to me.

Pouring in the ‘mallows:

And some more…

Holden sneaking crispies:

Waiting:

Ready for an after lunch treat:

In case you forgot (like me!) or never knew just how easy these are to make, here is what you need:

1 stick butter

1 16 oz. bag mini marshmallows

6 cups rice crispy cereal

Here’s what you do:

Melt butter on stovetop over low heat. In the meantime measure out 6 cups of cereal into a large bowl. When the butter is melted, add half the bag of marshmallows and heat slowy, stirring frequently. Add the rest of the ‘mallows and continue stirring until they are melted and combined with butter. Pour mixture over the cereal and stir to combine. Pour into a greased 9″X13″ pan and let cool before cutting.

I wanted to color the marshmallows pink, but Elliott wanted to “keep them white at Easter”. OK. Will do!

I am committed to being a better “executive chef” in my kitchen and letting my sous chef help more.

Hope you’re having a happy, marshmallowy Monday!