I have the worst luck this week. My fridge freezer decided to stop freezing food over the weekend resulting in soft “frozen” veggies that I fed to my chickens. The peeps were overjoyed with the demise of the veggies, however, since they got a super …
I’m just going to hit pause on the awesomely easy summer strawberry salad for a sec… I get to go dancing in two days!!! Maybe that’s not exciting for you, but it is for me 🙂 The hubby and I used to do fun things like take latin …
Happy almost Easter! I survived having the kiddos home on Spring break last week and also hosted four of my daughter’s nine-year-old friends for her birthday sleepover. It never fails to surprise me at how rambunctious and LOUD a small group of young girls can be. And gross… because, of course, they’re at that age where bathroom humor is INCREDIBLY funny so despite my efforts to curtail any mention of bodily bathroom functions, they still managed to crack a bunch of jokes about it and end up in a fit of giggles on the living room floor. Seriously. Ugh. Anyway, this awesome chicken avocado lime salad is nothing to laugh at. It’s light, refreshing and makes a fantastic use of leftover chicken for an easy lunch.
Salads are always a great way to get in your daily dose of greens and this one is no exception. Pack on a little protein in the form of sliced grilled chicken. Add a little julienned carrot, diced avocado, cilantro and some slivered almonds. Toss with a yogurt and avocado based lime dressing and you’ve got an awesome answer to spring in a delicious chicken avocado lime salad!
My two daughters left to spend a week on my dad’s farm yesterday which is one of the things they have come to look forward to most during the summer as it’s become an annual trip for them. They will be hanging out with the …
Adventures in landscaping part 2: I turned my back from my planting project for a moment while the kids were out exploring the outdoor space between the large pine trees which is full of loose dirt perfect for digging and mud pies. I should have known …
Inspiration comes in very odd forms sometimes. For example, I mixed up the main ingredients of this orange pomegranate holiday salad and was debating what sort of dressing would pair well with it. It happens that my daughters were making up some hot chocolate right next to me and the scent of the cocoa along with the scent of the oranges and pomegranate smelled divine together. So I got to thinking… what if I made a dressing that had cocoa in it? I love the taste of chocolate and oranges and so I began the dressing based on a traditional vinaigrette combining red wine vinegar, olive oil, orange zest and unsweetened cocoa powder. Cocoa is considered a health food these days so with that kind of rap, why not indulge! It makes this healthy salad seem a little bit naughty, but I promise you’ll still stay on Santa’s nice list.
I was feeling in the mood for something a little tangy, something a little sweet… and bright and sunny! How about raspberry vinaigrette! This recipe was a request by my sister to create a fresh raspberry vinaigrette that was healthier than the store bought varieties and easy to …
Funny story… this actually started as an attempt to make a vegetarian sushi roll but instead of nori, I was going to use nice big leaves of romaine lettuce. Mostly because I just don’t like the flavor of seaweed. Everything started out really well. I …
I am refusing to believe that summer is nearly done for another year. It seems that the summers are whizzing by faster each year. I took my kids out to the beach for the last splash in the lake before school starts tomorrow. Then, I’ll be left with a somewhat quieter house and looking forward to a few more camping trips before the end of September. By then, maybe, just maybe I’ll finally admit that Fall is really here. Honestly, Fall is my favorite season so I’m looking forward to it. The only catch with the season change is that all that delicious fresh produce from my garden (or my neighbor’s) will soon no longer be available.
Speaking of my neighbor, he has a wonderful little garden and has become my garden buddy. We share our extra produce or herbs or whatever we can’t get around to eating right away. It’s a great system, I think. Really, I probably benefit from this more than he does. The past few weeks I’ve been blessed with many, many cucumbers from his garden so thought I’d share one of the easy ways to use up a few cucumbers in one sitting. This summer cucumber salad is so fresh and is made with a lightly sweetened balsamic honey vinaigrette. I could probably drink the vinaigrette plain it’s that good!
