Chicken Salad Sandwich Spread

I found the best chicken salad recipe a couple of days ago.  It's easy, I usually have the ingredients on hand and it's ready to eat immediately.  You can add some of your own ideas to it, if you want to...but it's perfect as is.  You can spread it on some toast or bread or it would be great as a dip with crackers or pita chips.  Here's the recipe:

1 pkg. cream cheese, at room temp.
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. onion powder or onion flakes
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
dash of cayenne pepper or more to taste
2 tsp. worschestire sauce
2 lg. cans chicken breast chunks (drained)

Place all in a large mixing bowl and mix together until spreadable.  Serve on toast, bread or with crackers.
I didn't try it myself, but you might want to add curry powder or black pepper also.  It might also be good with sweet pickle relish too.  Try it, I know you'll love it.

The Best Roast Beef Dinner

 I love roast beef and searched for years after my mother passed away for the perfect roast.  My mother always used the onion soup mix and water and a 3 or 4 lb. chuck roast.  It always turned out good, but Bill hates fat on or in meat of any kind, so I always had to buy arm roast and they are not fatty at all and if you don't cook it right, they come out tough and dry.  So with some experimenting and getting tips from other cooks recipes, I came up with my own and it turns out perfect every time, nice and juicy and melt in your mouth heaven.

I use a heavy MAGNALITE dutch oven (the one I have is older than Bill, at least 67 yrs. old, it was his mothers) and it must have a tight fitting lid. (This is key to keeping the meat tender).  I put it over a medium flame, add 1/4 cup bacon grease and sear all the sides of the roast, then I turn on the oven to 250 degrees F and sprinkle a pkg. of  Liptons Beefy Onion Soup Mix over the roast, 1 tsp. crushed Rosemary, 1 tsp. ground Thyme and 3 cups water.  Cover and place in oven for 3 hrs.  You want it to cook low and slow and whatever you do, DO NOT REMOVE THE LID.  Some people want to add carrots to the roast and potatoes while cooking, but since the roast has to cook so long, my potatoes have turned to mush by then.  So, after 2 hrs. of baking, I get my carrots and potatoes ready.

CARROTS:  1 lg. pkg. of baby carrots, 1/2 stick of butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and cinnamon each, enough water to just cover the carrots.  Add all ingredients to a heavy saucepan, place over a medium/high heat and let boil down.  You don't want to burn your pan, but just watch it carefully, until the liquid is syrupy.  Turn off heat.

POTATOES: I used to use the whole peeled potatoes, but now I prefer mashed.  Everyone has their own mash potatoe recipe, but here's mine.  Peel  7 or 8 lg. golden potatoes, dice into large chunks, rinse, and place in a heavy pot, add water, just enough to cover potatoes, add 1/2 tsp. salt, and bring to a boil, continue to boil, until potatoes are soft, remove from heat, drain water, add 1/2 stick butter, salt and pepper to taste, and whip with an electric mixer, add milk to fluff.

GRAVY:  After the roast is done, place the pan on top of the burner and remove the roast from the pan onto a serving plate.  Let rest.  Take a large bowl and strainer and strain herbs from drippings, return drippings to pan and turn on high heat, add 1 to 2 cans (undiluted) Campbells Golden Mushroom Soup to the drippings and stir until smooth and creamy.  Do not add anymore liquid, and stir gently with a whisk.  You don't need to add anymore seasonings.

This is the best roast beef dinner I have ever made, and it always turns out perfect.  Just remember the key hints, like don't peek, or remove the lid until done, serve with homemade bread is the best.  I hope you enjoy my recipe.

Another recipe my hubby makes with the leftovers, is Hash.  He'll dice up the carrots and 3 or 4 small potatoes, boil those seperately and add to the carrots and chop up the leftover roast and add the gravy to it and heat it up.  It's sooo good with biscuits or cornbread the next day. 

Mexican Dinner

This recipe is from my old HomeEc Teacher Mrs. Winifred Blackwood.  The recipe is in an old community cookbook that my mother used all the time.  Mrs. Blackwood was a good HomeEc teacher and she probably taught most of the women in Hominy to cook and run a home. 

Chili:  makes 8 servings

2 lb. ground beef

1 lb. 12 oz. can tomatoes or juice

2 (15oz.) cans kidney beans

1 envelope chili seasoning mix

Salad:

small head lettuce

2 tomatoes

Cheese:

grate or use Parmesan cheese

Brown 2 lbs. ground beef in a large skillet or heavy saucepan.  Add  can tomatoes or juice to the browned ground beef, envelope of chili seasoning mix and 2 cans kidney beans (drained).  Let simmer 30 minutes.  Serve chili over taco flavor tortilla chips and lettuce and tomatoe salad.  Top with cheese.

Learn from the mistakes of others ~ you can't live long enough to make them all yourself.