Deviled Eggs & Fluffy Fruit Salad

It's so funny how food brings back memories for me.  For example, these two dishes remind me of dear friends (you know, friends that you had before kiddos, which now seems like a lifetime ago!!) and every time I make them it reminds me of those friends, those events, or those people that I shared that food with.  Isn't it wonderful how food does that?!?  I felt that I needed to share that little extra tidbit with these easy peasy recipes that are great - not only for Easter, but to bring to any event or get together.

These deviled eggs remind me of my dad - who can eat a dozen deviled eggs in one sitting :) - but also of an Easter we spent with several friends, who were all far away from family, and I brought these as a taste of home - such a fun memory!

For the deviled eggs, you'll need:

• 6 hard cooked eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 tsp vinegar
• paprika

I made 2 and a half times the amount of eggs, so I adjusted the above recipe accordingly.  I needed a lot of eggs, my dad & husband & I eat WAY too many of these eggs!! :)

Halve hard cooked eggs lengthwise and remove yolks.  Collect yolks in a bowl & mash with a fork.  Add mayo, mustard, and vinegar, mix well.  Stuff egg whites with mixture.  Sprinkle paprika for a bit of color :)  

Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.  Then, if you're like me, eat way too many!!  Enjoy!!

• This next recipe I found several years ago when I was looking for a recipe for fruit salad that didn't have mayo as an ingredient - to take to a friend's house who didn't like mayo.  I found this fruit salad & now every time I make it, it always reminds me of them!  I've also been told that this fruit salad reminds people of the old school pink fruit salad that old ladies used to bring to church events (but in a good, comforting way - haha!).

For the fruit salad, you'll need:

• 12 oz Cool Whip
• 21 oz cherry pie filling
• 8 oz crushed pineapple
• 11 oz mandarin oranges (drained)
• 1/2 bag miniature marshmallows

Mix together, chill for at least an hour, and serve.  Easy, easy, easy!!  And yummy, yummy, yummy!!

Feel free to share any recipes that bring back a memory or two in the comments!

Cheesy Pasta Primavera

This is yet another recipe from Everyday Food magazine - can you tell where I went for my recipes this particular week!! EF volume 91, thank you!! Ha! I loved this recipe bc it was very much like comfort food, but with all the veggies it kind of felt healthy, too :) I love it, too, bc I strayed away from the original recipe and it was still so yummy. I think you could add whatever you like to suit your tastes & you'll still love it!

For this recipe, you'll need:

• coarse salt and ground pepper
• whole wheat fusili or other short twisted pasta (I really wanted to try wheat pasta, but I only had regular fusili on hand, but I will be trying the wheat at some point)
• 3 tbs butter
• 1 onion (I used sweet)
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 zucchini or yellow squash (I used yellow squash), cut into 1/4 inch half moons
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 grated parmesan, plus more for serving
• 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves (I didn't have any of these, therefore didn't use them :)

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta, but reserve 1 cup pasta water for later in the recipe...

Melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onions & cook until translucent. This is where I threw in some mushrooms I had to add more flavor to the sauce (And I cut them big enough for the hubby to pick out, since he doesn't like mushrooms, but is okay with using them in sauces :)

Add flour and whisk to combine

Add milk and cook, whisking frequently, until simmering and thickened, about 10 minutes - doesn't that look yummy??? Season with salt and pepper (and garlic powder if you'd like, just sayin').

Add yellow squash and cook until crisp-tender, about 6-8 minutes.

Stir in pasta, parmesan, and tomatoes (I saved the tomatoes for later bc hubby doesn't like tomatoes & I put them on the side so he wouldn't have to pick them out :). At this point, I used the remaining pasta water to make the sauce the right consistency (I didn't use the full cup bc I like sauce on the thicker side).

Here's my bowl! I added the tomatoes, mixed it up, and added the avocado on top since I had one in the fridge - isn't it pretty?? And it tasted so fresh and yummy! The avocado added a nice buttery addition to the pasta - to go with the butter & cream already in the dish :) Enjoy!

Oven Baked Chicken Nuggets

Here's another recipe from my Everyday Food magazine - and another super easy one that my family gobbled up! I doubled the dry ingredients from the original recipe & added my favorite garlic powder (bc that just makes everything better, no?), and it worked just great for us.

For this recipe, you'll need (quantities have been doubled, so if using less chicken, cut dry ingredients in half):

• about a pound of boneless, skinless chicken (I used almost 2 lbs of boneless, skinless, tenders, which is why I upped the dry ingredients, to coat all the chicken)
• 2 cups Panko (japanese breadcrumbs)
• 2/3 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 tbs garlic powder
• coarse salt
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread panko on rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown (6-8 min). Immediately put in a separate dish and add parmesan, garlic powder, and salt. Add oil and mix to combine. Increase oven temp to 450 degrees.

Organize your food prep station: cut chicken into 2 inch pieces, place flour, eggs, and panko in separate dishes. This is easiest for me when I have everything in order and it ends up at the baking sheet, ready to pop in the oven!

Set up a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet, coat with cooking spray (I used olive oil again), at the end of your assembly line. Then coat chicken with flour, dip in egg, coat with panko, place on rack.

Here's what my nuggets looked like before I put them in the oven.

Bake chicken at 450 degrees until cooked through, about 12 minutes (two 6 minute increments), but flipping halfway through. This step is somewhat annoying, but I used tongs & it was relatively easy, then I popped it back in the oven for the remaining 6 minutes.

And here's a quick picture before we ate! Good food enjoyed by all!