A *Loaded* Fried Chicken Salad & The Cutest Lollipop Wreath

I really enjoy a great salad!  I especially love a salad that pleases men and woman alike.  I made my husband and sweet brother in law suffer through a taste test on this Fried Chicken Salad before finalizing the recipe for the blog.  They both gave it their seal of approval, so I hope it's a hit at your home as well.  The fried chicken strips made for this salad are a recipe staple for me.  They've got that delicious Southern fried chicken taste.
You can use them in any chicken salad recipe or just serve them up with dipping sauce. 

So here we go...
Make the dressing:
1 packet Hidden Valley Buttermilk Recipe Ranch
1 cup Mayo
1 cup Buttermilk

Prepare the chicken strips:
Heat about 1/2" of vegetable oil, peanut oil or canola oil in a skillet over med/high heat. You'll know the oil is ready when you sprinkle a drip of water into it and the water pops.

Place desired amount of chicken tenders in a zip lock bag with buttermilk and a dash of Tabasco.


Roll the chicken tenders in self rising flour seasoned with salt and pepper,


coating both sides of the chicken.


Gentle tap off extra flour and carefully place chicken tenders in hot oil.




Do in batches, if needed, so you do not crowd the pan.


Fry chicken until golden brown and then flip to fry other side.


When both sides are golden brown, the chicken is done.  Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.


Prepare the salad:
Combine 1 head chopped Romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup fresh corn, 1/2 cup canned black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 chopped tomato and 2 chopped green onions in a big salad bowl.


Right before serving, add shredded cheddar jack cheese (I do a generous handful) and toss with desired amount of ranch dressing.
Cut fried chicken strips on the biased into bite size pieces and place on salad.  Drizzle your favorite BBQ sauce over the chicken and then sprinkle Fritos corn chips over the whole thing.
YUM!


Now dig into this scrumptious salad and think to yourself, this is better than my favorite restaurant!


The Lemonista's Fried Chicken Salad

Dressing:
1 packet Hidden Valley Buttermilk Recipe Ranch dressing mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup Best Foods Mayo
*Prepare the dressing per the instructions on the packet.

Chicken:
1 package boneless, skinless chicken tenders
self rising flour, seasoned with salt & pepper
buttermilk, seasoned with 1 dash Tabasco
Oil for frying
*Heat about 1/2" of vegetable oil, peanut oil or canola oil in a skillet over med/high heat. You'll know the oil is ready when you sprinkle a drip of water into it and the water pops.
Place desired amount of chicken tenders in a zip lock bag with buttermilk and a dash of Tabasco.
Roll the chicken tenders in self rising flour seasoned with salt and pepper,coating both sides of the chicken.
Gentle tap off extra flour and carefully place chicken tenders in hot oil.
Do in batches, if needed, so you do not crowd the pan.
Fry chicken until golden brown and then flip to fry other side.
When both sides are golden brown, the chicken is done. Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.

Salad:
1 head Romaine lettuce
1/2 cup fresh corn
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tomato,  chopped
2 green onions, chopped
Shredded cheddar jack cheese
*Combine 1 head chopped Romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup fresh corn, 1/2 cup canned black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 chopped tomato and 2 chopped green onions in a big salad bowl.
Right before serving, add shredded cheddar jack cheese (I do a generous handful) and toss with desired amount of ranch dressing.

Topping:
BBQ sauce
Fritos corn chips
*Cut fried chicken strips on the biased into bite size pieces and place on salad. Drizzle your favorite BBQ sauce over the chicken and then sprinkle Fritos corn chips over the whole thing.



Guest Blogging for me today is my fashionista neighbor, Stephanie.

 
Steph has the most adorable lollipop wreath hanging on her front door.
 
Here's her tutorial on how to make this amazingly cute wreath:
 

Lollipop Dum Dum Wreath

The Dollar Tree store is basically a 99 cent store and I went and bought a Styrofoam green

round wreath for 99 cents. Michael's sells them for like $4.00. I also bought three

one pound bags of Dum Dum lollipops to complete the wreath. I have seen this done with

the wrappers taken off so you can see the pretty colors of the candy. I kept the wrappers on

so the guest could grab a lollipop on there way out. I have decided to keep it up for Easter since

it's so decorative and happy!

Items needed:

3- one pound bags of Dum Dum's

1-Styrofoam round circle wreath

1- ribbon that is decorative to hang the wreath

How to:

Cut sticks so there is about an inch to the stick, so you can stick into the foam. I went around the

diameter, then spiraled into the middle, and finished the outside edge last. If you have the

lollipops close together without gaps they will stay in place. The door is where I have mine

and a few have fallen off, and I just re-stick them. I guess if you have no intention of eating them

you could spray an adhesive to help them stay.

It was a hit at my daughters 8th birthday party, which had a craft theme tied to it.

Thanks Holly Hobbie!!!

Have a great week, everyone!  I'm off to Disneyland tomorrow with my family.

~The Lemonista

Tuna Noodle Casserole w/ Potato Chip Topping, New Bento & A Bing Brownie Sundea

I've been making this classic casserole since college and like most things I mess with over time, I've added my own little twist.  I'm not really sure who to credit the original recipe too since this one's been around forever, but one bite and you'll know why it's stood the test of time. This tuna noodle casserole is not only comfort food, it's a meal my kids will gobble up.

Lemonista's Tuna Casserole

1 (12oz) package egg noodles
2 Tbls. butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup milk
2 (6oz) cans white meat tuna, rinsed and drained
2 (10.75oz) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 cup fresh sliced mushrooms
1 cup crushed potato chips

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta in boiling water according to the package and drain.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet, and saute onions and sliced mushrooms until tender.

4. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix noodles, onion, mushrooms, 1 1/2 cup cheese, peas, tuna, and soup. 
Transfer to a 9X13" baking dish, and top with potato chips and remaining 1 1/2 cup cheese.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 min in the preheated over, or until cheese is bubbly.



I did one fun little Bento lunch this week. 

I'm not really sure what to name this one, but the darling kid toothpicks gifted to me from the very sweet Jeanette (aka Kobemom) in Japan, made me think of a choir.  This lunch is stacked all in one container.  On the bottom of the container is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut in the shape of a flower (should have gotten a photo of it before I piled on the rest).  On top of the sandwich are red grapes stabbed with the cute kid toothpicks, carrot slices cut like flowers, and a blue strawberry sauce container filled with ranch. 



I've had a terrible sweet tooth lately, so I broke down and made this yummy brownie sundae!

I went so far as to have my poor hubby get the ice cream maker down from the attic (what can I say, life's rough around here).  I've been wanting to make William Sonoma's Bing Cherry ice cream for a long time and I'm so glad I finally did. 
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/bing-cherry-ice-cream.html
The ice cream was absolutely fantastic.  To simplify thing, I used a store bought brownie mix.  If you wanted to get similar results and really simplify things, you could just buy some Beyer's Bing Cherry ice cream.  Regardless of how you decide to make this sundae, give it a try. 

Now see, honey, wasn't all that fishing around in the attic worth it?


~The Lemonista

Happy Friday!

Oak Alley: The amazing plantation where part of my story takes place.
http://www.oakalleyplantation.com/

I hope everyone has had a fun and productive week.  I'm working hard to wrap up yet another revision on my book.  It's hard to believe how naive I was when I sat down to write this novel almost two years ago.  I've come so far, worked so hard and learned so much since that day.  I've traveled and made some amazing connections in the process as well.  I have a new respect for the craft of writing and for writers in general.  My goal is to query some literary agents next month.  I have no idea if my work will ever see any measurable means of success, but I can honestly say that I feel good about my story, I love my characters and I'm proud of what I've written.  And really, in the great scheme of things, I can't ask for more than that. 
Me in front of Oak Alley on my book research trip.

So I hope you don't mind, but I've decided to document my journey to publication on the blog.  Whether I get insanely lucky with a mainstream publisher or end up self publishing, y'all get to take this ride with me. *grin*


I loved every one of the St. Patty's Day's comments and because I'm a chicken, I just couldn't choose one.  To keep things fair, I resorted back to good 'ol random.org and the random comment winner for today is post #6.  Congrats to JoAnne.  Send me an email at thelemonista@yahoo.com with your shipping address and a box of lemons will be heading your way. 

Have a great weekend!

~The Lemonista

Erin Go Braugh! Leprechaun Bento & St. Patrick's Day Ideas!

Which means, God Bless Ireland.
I've always been kind of partial to that expression. Grin.


This Irish family will all be sporting green come Thursday, but I have a few other simple things planned to celebrate the emerald island's most famous holiday.
My friend Laurel,  of http://petalpusheraccessories.blogspot.com/, sent me over the following Bento idea.  Since I won't be making this until March 17th, I though it only fitting to post the inspiration photo today.  This will give you time to plan if you'd like to do the same.
Leprechaun Bento

The photo is from a family magazine, but I cannot find a link, so I will give you my best guess as to what the items are in the photo:

The Leprechaun is a sandwich cut in a circle shape.  The bottom of a green pepper has been used for the hat. The band on the hat looks like a strip of grape fruit roll-up and the buckle is a piece of hand cut cheese. The leprechaun's beard is shredded carrot.  His eyes are two raisins and his mouth a sliver of red pepper.  His nose looks like a piece of dried fruit but I'm not sure what?  Regardless, you could really do anything here. The rainbow fruit salad contains strawberry, Mandarin orange, pineapple, kiwi, and blueberries.  At the end of every leprechaun's rainbow is a pot of gold. These golden chocolate coins are my favorite part of the meal! You can purchase them at Cost Plus.


I've also picked up shamrock shaped silly straws and green nail polish at Old Navy.
The straws and polish are cute and cheap (one of my favorite combinations). Grin. They do not appear to be available online, but I would imagine that most Old Navy stores have the same seasonal items available in the stores.


My daughter goes to a uniform school, so painted nails are a cute way to sneak in a little festive flair.



As a good Irish girl, I need to get in my corned beef and cabbage for St. Patty's Day dinner.  The traditional Irish stew isn't a favorite of mine, but Reuben sandwiches are! 


This sandwich consists of thinly sliced corned beef, Swiss cheese, crispy sauerkraut and 1000 island dressing grilled between two slices of dark rye bread.   Serve them up with a crisp dill pickle and some salty chips and you've got a winning combination.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it!


Growing up, my Mom would dye the dogs eyebrows green and hide a drop of green food coloring in the bottom of our dinner glasses so that the milk magically turned green when she poured. 

***GIVEAWAY ALERT***

I'd love to hear your family St. Patrick's Day traditions, so please leave them in the comments.  I'll choose my favorite on Friday 3/18/2011 and ship you a box of my homegrown lemons.  Wink. 

~The Lemonista

Happy Mardi Gras!

This post is going to be short and sweet since I'm meeting with one of my husband secretaries in 45 min for editing help with my manuscript. (The very sweet Tara is going to help me with some advanced Word issues I have question on). 

If you are looking for some last minute ideas to celebrate Mardi Gras, then swing by Cost Plus World Market.  They've got a great New Orleans display set up with all sorts of authentic foods!  To round out the family fun, go to a dollar store to get a pound of beaded necklaces for the kids and then have them make crazy masks to wear at dinner tonight.  The traditional Mardi Gras colors are gold, green and lavender. Whip up a few handmade decorations and have fun with it! 

Here's a link to explain the history of Mardi Gras (some material for dinner conversations.)
http://www.carnaval.com/cityguides/neworleans/history.htm

"Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler" or "let the good times roll."

~The Lemonista

Elegant Event & Children's Clothing

I love children's clothing.  It must appeal to my creative side because seeing a perfectly put together outfit makes my heart sing.  My daughter had an Elegant Event at her school Friday. After her class completed etiquette and dance lessons, they demonstrated their new skills for their doting parents. It was such a special day and I'd love to share some photos.

Getting ready to leave for school.


My daughter and her Lil' Man


Formally being presented by two boys in her class


Her curtsy


Dancing the waltz


The spin


Dancing with Daddy





Posing with Mommy


The greatest Kindergarten teacher EVER!



The cupcakes I made for her class





Some of my favorite children's clothing artist made my daughter's outfit.  Her dress is by the very sweet Amy at Loves Me Not Clothing Co., http://www.lovesmenotclothing.com/
I think Amy outshines herself each session with the release of each new line and her FANTASTIC customer service makes Loves Me Not a favorite!


Elyse's handmade "Pretty In Pink" flower headband was made by the talented, Heather, at Chickapee Creations on Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/people/chickapeecreations/feedback
I've asked Heather to make me several custom items and I'm always blown away by her creativity and skill.
Just look at this custom flower necklace she made me for Easter last year!


And in case you were wondering about my daughter's first high heel sandals, they are the corsage wedge sandals from Gymboree.

http://www.gymboree.com/shop/dept_item.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524445997298&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306257374&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395917465&bmUID=1299342565249

Thank you if you've made it this far and for letting me share a glimpse into my world.

~The Lemonista