Fruity Chicken Salad II

Ingredients

3 b/s chicken breasts

rice vinegar

cranberry juice

veggie stock

large handful of red grapes

1/4 c craisins

1 large granny smith apple

1 tbsp mustard

3 tbsp mayonnaise

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

Directions

Clean the chicken breasts and place them in the bottom of a pot.  Sprinkle with rice vinegar.  Add enough water to come about halfway up the sides of the chicken.  Add veggie stock until just below covering the chicken.  Add cranberry juice until well covered.  Cook on the stove on medium heat until it begins to boil.  Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 20 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pot and shred with a fork.  Mix with the ginger, mustard, and turmeric.

Chop the grapes and apple, then add them to the seasoned chicken.  Mix in the craisins.  Mix together the mustard and mayo, then stir the mixture into the chicken/fruit.  

Veggie-Tuna Salad

Occasionally, it occurs to me that I'm not quite eating as many fruits and vegetables as I should be.  I do a pretty good job of having some sort of fruit/veggie at lunch and dinner, and once-in-awhile some fruit makes it into my breakfast, but sometimes my dinner is mysteriously veggie-free, and I often end up with 3-4 servings of fruits/veggies per day, instead of 3-4 serving of each per day.

Since I'm not a huge fan of vegetables, I've started trying to find ways to sneak more of them into my meals. My current veggie-favorite is Carrot-Ginger soup.  I've made several variations of it.  Some use heavy cream, some use veggie stock, some are thickened with pumpkin, some with sweet potato.

Yesterday, I was mixing up a batch of tuna salad and making a macaroni salad.  While grating a carrot for the macaroni salad, it occurred to me that I could grate a carrot into the tuna salad, which wouldn't really be taste-able, but would add just a bit more vegetable to my meal. (Probably a negligible amount, but every little bit counts, right?)

Vegetable - Fortified Tuna Salad

12 oz can of tuna, drained

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 carrot, grated

1 large spoonful mayonnaise

2 large spoonfuls relish

I've found that cucumber slices go well with tuna.  

They are also good on turkey sandwiches.

A Refreshing Summer Sandwich

Whole Grain Bread

Low Sodium Turkey Breast

Garlic-Herb Monterey Cheese

Cucumber Slices

Avocado

Build It!

Eat It!

Sloppy Joe

Ah what a day.  Went for an awesome trail run this morning.  Since the trail has not yet been fixed up after the storm, this run involved a lot of climbing over, under, and around large, uprooted trees.  Slightly annoying, but somehow it wasn't that big a deal.  More of an adventure.  Plus, I got to cool off/clean off with a swim in the creek afterwards. Not to mention the view from the top of the mountain mid-run.  Blue Bend trail has one of the most stunning scenic overlooks ever.  Not sure I've ever had a more perfect summer run.  Now I just have to wait and see if I ran through any poison ivy...

I feel like it has been forever since I concocted something completely new in the kitchen.  I'm so glad I found some time to play this evening!  I was pretty happy with these sloppy joes.  I think the only thing I would really change is the sugar.  They weren't too sweet, but they were close, so I might try half the amount of sugar next time.

Look at that big pile of yumminess...

INGREDIENTS

1 lb ground beef 

1/2 small vidalia onion, chopped

4 large mushrooms, chopped

5 oz tomato soup

2 heaping spoonfuls of plain yogurt

1/8 c ketchup

scant 1/2 c brown sugar

garlic powder, chili powder, cocoa powder

PROCEDURE

Brown the chopped onion in a little bit of olive oil, then add the tomato soup.  Add the ground beef and use a spatula or spoon to break the beef up into small chunks.  Add all other wet ingredients.  Allow the mixture to boil, but stir frequently.  When the meat is mostly cooked, add all of the remaining ingredients except for the mushrooms.  Cook, stirring frequently, until most of the liquid has boiled off and the mixture is thick enough to put in a sandwich.  Add the mushrooms and cook until they are done, then remove pan from heat.  

Build a sandwich.  Eat the sandwich.  Knife and fork required. 

PICTURES

onion

mushrooms

yummy tomato soup ( I used half of this container)

1st spoonful of yogurt

1st spoonful of sugar

boil, boil, boil

finally thick enough to add the mushrooms

yum

whole wheat bun, provolone cheese, fresh tomato

time to eat!

Don't forget to have some vegetables!

(arugula, avocado, carrot, zucchini, granny smith apple, sunflower seeds, homemade dressing)

Fruity Chicken Salad

oh-so-delicious

two chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

one golden delicious apple, chopped

big handful of cherries, pitted and chopped

3 large stalks celery, chopped

small spoonful of sour cream

large spoonful of mayonnaise

Rosemary Garlic Bagels

Absolute yumminess.  Best sandwich bagels ever!

And Cinnamon Bagels.  They're good too. With peanut butter.

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 1/4 c warm milk

1/4 c butter

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

1 c whole wheat flour

2 3/4 c white flour

divide dough in half

add 2 tbsp crushed rosemary and 1 tsp garlic powder to one half

add 1 tbsp cinnamon to the other half

knead 6-8 minutes

rise 1 hr

shape

rise 10 min

drop into boiling water, remove when they rise to the surface

bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes

makes 16 mini-bagels