Grilled or Broiled Chicken Salad

This is an old favorite of mine that I haven't made in a long long long time!!! My husband is not a fan of salads so I have never made it for us, hence there are no green salad recipes on my blog, until today!! This is a favorite of mine. We (my parents and I) use to make it all the time, so much so that I had the marinade memorized. There are so few ingredients in this and nothing out of the norm, but for some reason when they all come together..yum! Anyway I hope you enjoy!

5 T. lemon juice, you can sub any citrus juice but lemon is my favorite
3 T. soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced (just use the preminced)
1/8 t. pepper
1 t. basil
2 chicken breasts
1 red onion, sliced into rings
1 lb. mixed greens

Combine first 5 ingredients and set aside. Tenderize chicken with a mallet (I stick it in a ziploc bag and use the flat side to pound the chicken) Add chicken to marinade and marinade at least 30 minutes if not longer. Grill of broil chicken with red onions on top for 5 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and let set for a few minutes. Thinly slice and serve over mixed greens with ranch dressing.

Raspberry Pretzel Salad

Ok so I know a lot of you probably already have this recipe, but if there are some out there who don't have it, here it is. And if you have no idea what I'm even talking about, it's probably because you don't live in utah:) If that's the case let me just tell you that this salad is awesome! If you love sweet and salty, this is for you. I'm sorry I don't have a picture, I hunted for my camera and couldn't for the life of me find it until just this afternoon. My husband has a habit of moving things on me and usually not in a place I would ever look, so when I found it on the refrigerator I knew it wasn't me who put it up there. Anyway needless to say, I have no picture and we licked the dish clean so there's no leftovers to take a picture of either, but take my word on it this is really good.

First Layer:
2 c. crushed pretzels
2 T. sugar
1/2 c. chopped nuts (you cann't even taste the nuts, so unless someone has an allergy I wouldn't worry about someone not liking nuts)
3/4 c. melted butter

Second Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sugar
2 c. cool whip

Third Layer:
6 oz. pkg strawberry or raspberry Jell-O
2 c. boiling water
1 16 oz pkg. of frozen strawberries or raspberries, depending on what you want

First layer: combing all ingredients and press in 9x13 pan. Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes. Allow to cool.
Second layer: Beat cream cheese and sugar. Stir in Cool Whip and spread on top of cooled pretzel layer.
Third layer: Mix jello and boiling water until Jello is completely dissolved. Add Frozen fruit and stir until thawed. Let Jello set up slightly (you may need to put into the fridge for a minute or 2, but if you have enough frozen fruit it shouldn't take too long) Spoon over second layer and refrigerate until completely set up, at least a couple hours.

Best Macaroni Salad

So you know how everyone kind of has their designated dishes they bring to every family get together? Like my husband's grandma is always expected to do a potato salad or baked beans, rain or shine, barbecue or banquet, it's always there. And my mother-in-law is like queen of anything fruit and pudding salad. And now I am officially in charge of bringing this macaroni salad. Honestly macaroni salad is macaroni salad, but if you want the best macaroni salad this is it!

1 lb cooked elbow noodles
1 red pepper minced
1/4 c. onion minced-you won't even notice the onions if your not a fan
1/2 c. celery minced
1 c. coleslaw dressing
1/2 c. mayo
2 t. mustard
1 t. cider vinegar
1/4 c. sweet relish
2. t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 T. celery seed (I've made it without and it still turns out good)
1/2 lb cooked bacon, chopped (I used precooked and just quickly do it in the microwave)

In a medium size bowl combine pasta, red pepper, onion, and celery. In a separate bowl combine
the next 9 ingredients- ending with celery seed. Pour over pasta and mix. Fold in bacon and voila!

Grape Salad

Since you all hopefully know how to make spaghetti, I won't waste a post in saying that's what I had for dinner last night. I did on the other hand make this grape salad last Sunday, and to be honest I've only ever had a small bite of this salad last Summer, again the whole dairy thing for me:( It must have been good though because the whole bowl was gone in minutes and nobody could stop talking about how good it was.
This is one of those so called salads that are more like a dessert than a salad. These are a staple to a Sunday dinner at my in-laws. My mother-in-law is kind of like the queen of all jello, pudding, fruit salads. My family on the other hand would only see something like this if I happen to bring it over, and would then proceed to tell me "this is more like a dessert." Kind of funny the differences you notice in each others families after you get married. Sometimes I think I'm kind of the odd ball in my husbands family. I think they always worry what I'm going to come up with to bring to family get togethers, my husband included. I've always tried to be respectful of their differences so I think they've finally started to trust me to bring more than just a bag of chips:) My family on the other hand is where I try out all my new and sometimes different recipes. The only bad thing about this is that my family has no censor in telling me how they felt about it. They have no problem telling me how something didn't turn out or that I should have done it a different way. So whether your more like my in-laws who live on these salads, or your more like my family who thinks of this as a dessert, I say give it a try!

2 lbs red seedless grapes (I just used a bag from Walmart)
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla

Topping
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. pecans

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in grapes. Transfer to medium serving bowl. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over salad.