Christmas in the Country

We spent the weekend before Christmas with my family and we had a BLAST!!! We had planned it all out and made all the assignments on Thanksgiving so we'd have plenty to do.

We played basketball on the new hoop the guys installed on Thanksgiving weekend. We went on rides up in the mountains on the new quad Grandpa purchased. Tiff had Bingo all ready for the kids with super fun prizes. The adults played White Elephant and played minute-to-win-it games one night and I admit that I did pee my pants a little laughing so hard. We went skeet shoot-n' on the back hill (imagine me saying that in my best cowgirl twang). We cut out and ironed paper snowflakes and hung them all over my mom's windows (if there was a national competition on cutting paper snowflakes... I'm sure my brother Dave would win it!) The kids rode their scooters and plasma cars down the super long driveway.

I'm so sad that I didn't take any pictures. (Tiff & Ellie - send your pics my way ;))

My family is amazing and we love each of them so much! I can't forget to mention my mom's FABULOUS cooking.... YUMMY! :) It was good times and we are so very blessed to have our family close!

Time 4 Salad!

We LOVE to eat yummy salads this time of year so I thought I'd share some of our favorites. Along with these three we also eat a lot of pasta salad filled with tons of summer veggies, ofcourse Grandma Miller's delicious potato salad, and the broccoli salad with bacon and Craisins (Matt does NOT like that one but I make it anyway ;)).

side note: You may never want to make these salads after you see my photos of them. (This week I've found out that food is very difficult to photograph! :)

Matt's very favorite salad is the most difficult to take pictures of because it doesn't even look really appetizing to begin with. It is seriously so yummy though. You'll just have to take his word for it. ;)

Northwoods Chicken Salad
3 cups cold cooked wild rice (I use a mixture of wild rice and brown rice)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (also cold)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup snap peas, chopped in 1 inch pieces
3 med. green onions, sliced
3/4 cup cashews

Dressing (mix in blender until smooth):
1/3 cup veg. oil (I use e.v.o.o.)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 Tb. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper

I just found the recipe for this next salad about a year or two ago. We sat out on the back porch and ate this on the 1 day we didn't have rain in May ;). We eat both this salad and the Northwoods Chicken salad as our whole meal because they're so filling.

Oriental Chicken Salad

4 - 6 cups cooked chicken, cubed
2 pkg. oriental Ramen noodles, crumbled (save the flavor packets)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
4 green onions, chopped
2 - 16 oz. bags coleslaw (can use shredded cabbage)

Dressing (blend in blender):
3/4 cup veg. oil
1/4 cup plus 2 Tb. white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 packs of oriental seasoning (from Ramen)
3/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt

This last salad is my very favorite of all time. I haven't found anything that tops it yet. I know there are a lot of versions of this one out there but this is the best in my opinion. Make it today and enjoy every bite! :)

Strawberry Spinach Salad
5 - 10 oz. baby spinach
10 strawberries, sliced
3/4 cups sliced almonds
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbed
1/4 cup Craisins
1 cup mandarin oranges
1/2 cup pistachios (I usually put in a little more cause I love em!)


Dressing (serve on the side):
(I blend it in the blender but you can shake it in a bottle)
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I use 1/2 cup)
3 Tb. white vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup whole milk (I use 2% and it works fine)
3 Tb. poppy seeds

Hope you enjoy salad season as much as we are!