Crazy Wonderful: Chop Chop Salad (An Azuls Knockoff)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Chop Chop Salad (An Azuls Knockoff)

We had a girls night this weekend. Well a girls night with 5 moms and 11 kids YIKES! It was CRAZY! But it was also very FUN!

For dinner Amy made a delicious baked pasta with Rotini, ground turkey, a marinara, mozzarella, and grated zucchini. Kelsey made Cheese bread which was heavenly. Mollie made her knocked off version of Azul's Chop Chop and it was SO good! Here's what she did.

Chop your lettuce nice and small. Mollie got this really cool chopper at Target. It is a Genius Salad Chopper I didn't see it on the Target website, but they did have it on QVC.com I think I need one :) check it out at this link
Genius Salad Chopper on QVC

Dice your Avocado

Dice Tomatoes and cucumbers

Crumble Cotija Cheese (if you can't find it ask your local supermarket they almost always carry it.)

I bought bacon crumbles from the salad dressing section, the peppered kind was delicious!

Throw it all together in a big bowl.

Mix Italian dressing with Ranch dressing.

This is the kinds Mollie used but I think you could really use any brand.

ENJOY!

This is PART of the group. It was a full house! Everyone was happy and fed and full though!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: Thank you, my wife and I are big fans of Azuls and could not figure out the recipe for the chop chop salad. How much dressing was used? Thanks again, great blog!; December 28, 2011 at 8:00 PM
Ashley said...: Hi Sorry I am just getting back to you. I have been out of town and just am getting back into the swing of things. OK so I am not always good about measuring but we just made this for my cousins wedding. And I did how much Italian I wanted and then added the ranch to taste. I know that isn't very helpful probably, but maybe 2 parts Italian to 1 part Ranch. I will try it again soon and reconfirm but my rule of thumb is when in doubt just taste! Hope you like it!
enJOY!; January 7, 2012 at 7:56 PM

Living Gluten "Fwee" :)

Resources: I will continue to update as I think/come across things. You will note the products I am showing are all convenience foods. My son is 7 he needs to be able to feel like a 7 year old and have a treat that comes out of a wrapper at some point. I cook from scratch most things but every once in a while you need some toaster waffles and microwave mac & cheese :)

App:
Find Me Gluten Free
Locates within in 20 miles of you, Gluten Free Establishments; Restaurants, stores and more. They give you links to their menus as well as directions and more. The app even has a bar code scanner that can sometimes tell you if the product is safe, if it can’t, a lot of the time it will send you to the products website so you can check it out. It also provides Gluten Free News Updates and more.

Cookbooks:
THE KID FRIENDLY
ADHD & AUTISM COOKBOOK
the ultimate guide to the gluten-free, casein-free diet

This cookbook not only tells you good kid friendly recipes but WHY going gluten free helps.

You can find it at Janell's Gluten Free Market or if you don't live in Everett :) on Amazon

Websites:
http://www.glutenfreemom.com/
This website has more family friendly ideas. I read her when we first took Cam GF and felt much better prepared. In very simple terms it gave me some direction.

http://glutenfreegirl.com/
This website is for the food lovers as well as families BUT is definitely more for the gourmet.

About.com has a lot of info on Celiac Options. I look to them when I am not sure on ingredients.
http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/glutenfreefoodshopping/

www.Pinterest.com and www.google.com

There are a million GF pins on Pinterest. When I am looking for something specific to make GF I either search Google or Pinterest and you can almost always find it. One word of advice...read reviews...and not one or two like TEN. Hearing what people who have tried the recipe say can help you be more successful.

Products:
Here I say, to each there own, but below are some products that have cut it in a 6/7 year old's (and a foodie mom’s) eyes :) Some of these I found through trial and error, some I found through talking to friends, well versed in Gluten Free Living

Pamela’s Baking Mix- From this you can make waffles, pancakes, bread mixes etc. Figure it’s your GF Bisquick Equivalent

On that note:
Gluten Free Bisquick is actually really good. It just comes in a tiny box

Pirate Booty- Gluten Free and at Costco! Can’t beat that for an on the go snack. Not the most nutritious but remember I am trying to keep a little kid interested in this lifestyle.

Van's- They have cereal, waffles and chewy granola bars. The cereals are great and the granola bars are AWESOME! Finally something Cam will take and enjoy and it fills him up enough at snack time.
Glutino- Oreo Like cookies- These actually might taste better then the real thing
Fruit Bars similar to Nutri-Grain Bars, Breadcrumbs and more

UDI’s bread and products- Udi’s (not to be confused with Rudi’s) provides us with bread that Cam would say is “MOST like weal bwead” They have sandwich bread, hamburger and hot dog buns, muffins and more.

Amy's- has great frozen pizzas and frozen mac & cheese

Simple Truth Label from Krogers- Really good toaster waffles. All my kids eat them.

Nature’s Path Organics- Envirokids Cereals -Koala Crisp, Gorilla Munch and Amazon Flakes. They also have Koala Bars that are like chocolate Rice Krispy Bars. These have all been known to go on sale 2 for $5. Which is great for GF snacks

Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta-This is a great GF pasta we have found.

Pasta Update! We just tried Schar Brand Pasta and my not GF kids LOVED it! Cam thought I messed up and gave him regular noodles! YUM! Finally a pasta we all can eat!

Bob's Red Mill Mixes: These make great brownies, cookies, pancakes and more

Namaste Pizza Mix- This was a good tasty mix. It handles well and bakes up nice and thin