BBQ Chicken Salad with BBQ Ranch Drizzle

I often think of salad as a side dish and not an actual meal.  I think there's ways to dress up a fun salad and make it more substantial, but most of the time I just find myself feeling unsatisfied.  Which is ironic because if I eat the protein and the salad separately, then my body is fine.  But put the meat on top and boom...no longer enough.  Well finally I have made a salad that is enough to stand alone as a full meal.  In fact, I actually felt full about half way through the salad...don't worry though, I still powered through and finished every last bite!  So, enjoy this salad...eat it as a full meal...or even as a side.  Either way, it is delicious, satisfying, and oh so nutritious!

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 boneless, skinless thin-sliced chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 3/4 cup canned corn kernels, drained
• 3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 Avocado diced or sliced small
• 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup Mayo
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 tbsp Ranch Mix Seasoning
• 1 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
• 1/4 cup tortilla strip

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, to taste. Add to skillet and cook, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Baste with BBQ sauce and then let cool before dicing into bite-size pieces.

To assemble the salad, place romaine lettuce in a large bowl; top with chicken, tomato, corn, beans, onion, avocado, and cheeses. Drizzle BBQ ranch dressing on top of the salad and gently toss to combine (you don't need too much because of the BBQ sauce all over the chicken).

Serve immediately, topped with tortilla strips.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

My kids love maple bars...like love them.  If they didn't like my hips so much I would love them too.  When we lived with my parents last year we were very spoiled and my kids got maple bars every Friday when my dad bought them for his seminary class.  Well now we don't have seminary donuts and my kids have been playing their sad, sad song for too long.  So when the opportunity to make cinnamon rolls presented itself, I figured I would have to incorporate maple somehow.  These pumpkin cinnamon rolls with maple glaze are seriously finger licking good!  Like toss the maple bars aside good.  Relatively easy to make too!  So give them a try...you won't be sorry!

Dough
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
about 3 cups of flour, divided
⅔ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup milk
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
1¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon vanilla

Filling
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
4 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small sections

Glaze
1½cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon maple extract
1 tablespoon maple syrup

To prepare the dough: Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl and let stand five minutes. Add ⅔ cup flour, pumpkin, milk, butter, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla to bowl and mix well. Transfer to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead on low 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Add flour 1 tablespoon at a time until dough forms a ball and is mostly no longer sticky. (May still be a bit tacky)

Coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and cover. Place bowl in a warm place and allow dough to rise 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

To prepare the filling: combine sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice in a bowl. Cut in butter with two forks or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs.
Punch dough down. Allow to rest 10 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle, about 12x12 inches. Sprinkle with filling. Roll tightly, pinch ends to seal, and slice into 9 sections. Place sections flat side down in a well greased 8x8 inch square pan. Cover and allow to rise about 30 more minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly.
Prepare the icing by mixing together powdered sugar, milk, maple extract, and maple syrup. Drizzle over rolls and serve warm.