Kid Tested and Brother Approved

So, last night we had Dee Jay's brother Craig and his son Cameron over for dinner. I decided to make Paula Deen's Hot Chicken Salad for dinner and Lazy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Balls for dessert. Both of these recipes I pulled off my Pinterest board and they were delicious! I'm a fan of pretty much ANYTHING Paula Deen whips up and I let Craig choose our dessert! So here is how I got ready for our small family dinner...

I started with the peanut butter balls because they needed to cool and come together before they were served. You take 3/4 of a cup of honey and one cup of peanut butter and heat this up on the stove until it starts boiling. Be sure and stir the ENTIRE time because it takes a second for this gooey mess to burn the bottom of your pan. Once your mixture is boiling remove it from the heat (where I had DJ stir now so it wouldn't burn) and you will pour in one teaspoon of vanilla and mix together. Then add 3 cups of Rice Krispies and 1 cup salted peanuts if you would like (we left them out but we did add some oatmeal)!

Mix this all together and then scoop a tablespoon or two into muffin tins. It's probably best that you spray some cooking spray in the liners before hand so they don't stick to the wrapper. Let it cool (I popped mine in the fridge and took it out right before dessert time) and then serve it up! It is a very rich dessert, which is good because one is about all we could eat!

Side thought: We thought adding a banana slice or two on top would taste fantastic as well as some chocolate chips or you could get fancy-pants and drizzle some chocolate over the top!

Here is the direct link to the recipe
Lazy Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Balls
3/4 c. Honey
1 c. Peanut Butter
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 c. Rice Krispie
1 c. Salted Peanuts (optional)

1. Combine honey and peanut butter in a saucepan and heat to boiling, stirring constantly
2. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir in Rice Krispies (and peanuts if desired).
3. Place mounds (about 2 tbs.) into small greased cupcake liners in a cupcake pan, and let cool.
4. You can also press into a greased 9" x 12" pan, cool and cut into squares.

Now onto Paula Deen's hot chicken salad. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a big bowl, you are going to mix together two cups of cooked chicken (cubed), one cup of diced celery (I used two stalks), 1/2 cup of slivered almonds, 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, two tablespoons of lemon juice, one cup of mayonnaise (I of course thought we had more mayo than we did so we added a little bit of Ranch dressing to make the cup), and finally one cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Place this mixture into a baking dish....I'm going to stop right here for a second. This recipe says it serves 8-10 people. I understand that as a very tiny side dish this would serve more people, but the recipe mixture fit nicely into our meatloaf pan and we barely had enough to feed four of us. So if you're thinking about making this make sure you make enough because it is delicious and you will want seconds and thirds! Okay, back to cooking we go! Once the mixture is in the dish you are going to crumble up potato chips and sprinkle over the top! Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes and Ta-Da!! The celery, the almonds, the lemon juice, all of it comes together to make your mouth happy! 

 These were my sides tonight

Here is the direct link to her page with the recipe
Hot Chicken Salad
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup diced celery
2 cup cooked chicken breast meat, cubed
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2/3 cup crushed potato chips

Mix all together (except for chips), put in baking dish and cover with crushed chips and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Tonight's dinner has been cooked for you by Shelly, and has been kid tested and brother approved!!
~Happy Cooking~