BBQ Chicken Salad

So this is our new favorite-super easy and affordable!

2-3 chicken breasts
1 can drained corn
1 can drained black beans
favorite bbq sauce
favorite ranch dressing
lettuce (I use romaine)

Have your hubby grill the chicken breasts with your favorite barbecue sauce. While it's cooling off, drain your corn and black beans. Shred/chop your lettuce. Then cut the chicken up into chunks or cubes.

I like to leave everything seperate so I can put it away in seperate containers for leftovers. Add everything together, then I do a half ranch/half bbq sauce for the dressing. Super yummy. It's even better with some fried onion strings! (We have a recipe for the batter if you're interested.)

(You could probably cheat and use those precooked/grilled chicken strips-like at Costco and throw it in the microwave with some bbq sauce on it.)

Never-Fail Taco Soup

1 lb of ground beef or turkey (I use turkey)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can corn
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 packet Taco Seasoning


Brown meat, drain and simmer with a dash of the seasoning. Open and dump all the canned food water and all (except drain the black beans so the soup isn't black) into a large pot. Bring to a boil and continue stirring. Add browned meat and the rest of the seasoning. Lower heat cover and simmer at least 10 minutes, but you can let it simmer as long as you would like.


Serve with tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream.


This recipe is very forgiving. If I do not have a certain type of bean, I throw in whatever I do have. This is my "go to" recipe because even I cannot mess it up.

Hawaiin Haystacks

You can make this meal however complex you'd like. We make our chicken mixture with a can of chicken breast and then mix that with cream of chicken soup. You can be flexible with the soup. I know people use the celery or mushroom soups as well. If it's thicker than you'd like add some milk.

Start with white rice as a base. Then add your chicken mixture along with any delicious toppings you'd like. We say the more the merrier. Sauteed shrooms, celery, cubed carrots, pineapple, peppers, cheese, chow mein noodles and tomatoes are some of the things we like. (I have this handy kitchen tool called the alligator which chops anything into perfect tiny cubes - makes cutting lots of veggies so simple.) Whatever you use get creative and enjoy a super tasty and quite healthy meal!

Posted by Shelley

Peggy's Chow Mein

3 chicken breasts-cut in bite size pieces
4 T. soy sauce
1 T. minced garlic

6 T. cornstarch (about)
1 bag frozen stir fry vegetable mix (your favorite kind)
2-3 pkgs. chow mien noodles-fresh in produce section

Place chicken pieces in bowl w/ 4 T. soy sauce, 3 T. water, and garlic (I also will put it all in a large Ziploc bag). Let marinate for at least one hour (I marinated it all day once and thought it was too salty, so I wouldn't recommend marinating it longer than 3 hours). After marinating add cornstarch until there is no liquid left in the chicken.
Stir fry chicken in 2 T. oil. Cook noodles according to package directions. Add the thawed veggies to the chicken and stir fry them until they are cooked through. (I usually cook the chicken separate in a saute pan. I then stir fry cook the frozen veggies in a large skillet and when they are cooked I remove them into a separate bowl and set aside and then cook the noodles in the same skillet. When the noodles are done I add the veggies and then the seasoning that comes with the noodles and then mix in the chicken) Here is a picture of the noodles I buy for the Chow Mien recipe. The recipe asks for 2-3 bags and this pkg comes with 3 bags so I just use the whole package. The package gives you directions for 1 bag so you have to triple the water and oil it asks for. At Stater Bro.'s I find these by the cheeses. At Von's they are on the back isle towards the produce.

****Kyra's Recipe

Recipe Assignment

Shakes, smoothies, and other stuff to sip on a summer's day: