Homemade Soft Pretzels

I had the pleasure of learning how to make easy, homemade soft pretzels last night with my young women. One of our Laurel's taught us this easy recipe that she learned in her homemaking course in high school. Let me just say IT IS BETTER THAN THE SOFT PRETZELS AT THE MALL!

My daughter is a HUGE fan of the pretzels at the mall, so I knew this would be a hit! It was also so easy for her prepare with me. She had a blast!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. yeast

Directions: Add dry ingredients to 1 cup of hot tap water. Mix together and form into a smooth ball. Place in a plastic bag and let rest 30 minutes at room temperature. Divide dough into 6-8 pieces for small pretzels, 4 for large pretzels. Roll into long ropes (on a flour surface) and form into twisted pretzels. Dip pretzels into mixture of 3/4 c. hot water, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1 tsp. baking soda. Place on greased baking sheet and sprinkle with coarse salt (optional). Let rise approx. 10 minutes. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes. While hot brush with melted butter. ENJOY!

Notes: I used this recipe to a "tee' since it was the first time I have ever attempted bread that involved yeast! I did however have the dough sit longer in the bag, mistakenly. It still turned out perfect. We also sprinkled cinnamon & sugar on one pretzel for a change. It was so yummy! This is definitely a hit in my house. My daughter LOVED them!

Mexican Chopped Chicken Salad

6 cups of shredded lettuce
3 cups of tortilla chips
2 cups cubed chicken
1 1/2 cups canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
tomatoes and black olives for garnish

Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Garnish with tomatoes and olives. Makes 6 servings.

Notes: This salad was OH SO GOOD! If you like taco salads but really don't like to consume all the calories in that big huge shell, this may just be the salad for you. I didn't use the full measurements for the lettuce, chips, and cheese. I just kind of "eyed" it to get a good proportion. The more you cut back, the healthier too. If you'd like to change it up a bit, I would probably use corn, avocado,and bacon bits. I grabbed this recipe off of a hidden valley label. My whole family LOVED it! Sorry no picture.