Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Yes, this is a very simple recipe and everyone has their own version of it, but the reason I’m putting it out there is because it’s the recipe that reminds me that if I think to change one seemingly little ingredient in a recipe, especially if I don’t have something that a recipe calls for and I need to substitute, it ends up adding a different twist to the same old thing. I have always made chicken salad the same old way, (chicken, celery, onion, once in a while, and mayonnaise) until I bought it at a grocery store and it had grapes and walnuts added to it. I made my own, with much less mayonnaise and I loved this new chicken salad! So, I have made chicken salad that way up until I tried this recipe from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook. Even just adding spinach leaves or lettuce as a bed to put the chicken salad on was a new thing for me. I love the added crunch and also the added vitamins. In this recipe, tarragon, is the one seemingly little ingredient that makes all the difference.
Leave a commentMother’s Day
We’re having a bad week and it looked like it pull through and get better, but wishing is pretty ineffective. I’m spending almost all of my free-time alone, which makes this week harder.
With Mother’s Day coming up, I’ve been thinking of what I can do to make my mom happy. I can’t afford to travel up to her. Instead, I had a special gift to send in my stead. Something tells me USPS isn’t going to be enough.
My mom is adopted. In my opinion, by the best possible couple. My grandparents are the most loving people I know. So loving, in fact, that Gram (my grandma) flew out my mother’s biological mother, Beverly, for her big 4.0.
She’s known her less than 7 years and is now flying out to say goodbye to her. Bev has tumors in her lungs, heart and liver–4th stage liver cancer. I’m not really sure what words to use for this since the only ones I can think of aren’t family friendly. I don’t understand how these things happen.
She was never a drinker and her only unhealthy sin was tanning a lot as a young woman. How is it fair that my mother is going to lose her mother around Mother’s Day less than a decade after meeting her? What’s the great philosophy behind that?
I thought cold season was over?
Don’t you hate it when you try to do something good and somehow you get burned in doing so?
Volunteers were needed for my church’s childcare during services this last Sunday. I signed up thinking nothing of it, glad to help out with the cute kiddos. Several other friends were also volunteering in the same classroom, so it was good to see them and chat.
It wasn’t long before I noticed nearly all of the children had very runny noses and some were definitely coughing and not feeling well. During that hour, I was focused on reading to the kids and playing with toys. It didn’t even dawn on me until I was nearly done that I may catch whatever illness these kids had. Great.
I just knew it was inevitable. I haven’t had a cold since January and here it is in warm, sunny May and I now have a cold that took me down hard. I would have so much rather been busy working away at my job than in bed (all day and night) feeling awful, with my throat on fire, sipping chicken noodle soup and counting down the time until I could take more medicine to feel better. Continue reading
spaghetti Bolognese
This recipe also comes from Real Simple magazine (February 2012) slow cooker meals. I have found that meals made in a slow cooker really make a difference when it comes to getting dinner together at night. I just have to remember to have all my ingredients the day before for whatever I want to make. It’s great knowing that dinner is at least half made when you’re busy doing other things all day and then realize that it’s dinnertime. The sauce has subtle flavor notes, however, if you want to boost the flavor a bit, you could add red pepper flakes, more tomato paste and a very rich red wine. It’s a slightly chunky sauce which makes it perfect for spaghetti. Also, for me, it has come out a little watery than I like, so I drain a little of the juice from the tomatoes before adding them and I add a little more tomato paste. With a little (or a lot, if you’re like my husband) Parmesan and some crusty bread it’s a great simple meal. Oh, and a glass of wine.
Leave a commentFifty Shades Sucking My Life Away…
I’ll be honest and say that it’s been several years since I read a book. Between having two kids, who are 19 months apart, working full time, recently starting a business AND just being a human being with other life happenings…I haven’t had time to read. I’ll be the first to admit that I really love to read. And when I latch onto something good, I’m hooked…
Like nearly every other warmblooded woman over 30, the book Fifty Shades of Grey has become a household hit in a matter of a few months. I learned today that it was originally released as an e-book and was kinda supposed to mirror Twilight, without vampires. Interestingly enough, I hated Twilight, but can’t seem to stop thinking about Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. Seriously. It’s become an addiction.
As I said, I haven’t read much in the last few years. My husband bought me the entire Sookie Stackhouse series for our third anniversary and I promised I’d read it. I read the first two books and haven’t picked up the other four (I think there are six altogether). I’m a HUGE True Blood fan, but I just couldn’t find the time to read the books. I had better things to do…like surf the internet, play on Facebook and have babies. Continue reading
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