Chicken Salad Recipe

Yesterday a very rare thing happened... I was cooking in the middle of the day. This chicken salad made me do it.

I LOVE chicken salad. My MIL made this one for Father's Day using The Pioneer Woman's recipe. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. Several months later I've finally made its deliciousness. The greatest part: it's so easy even I can do it! :)

You'll need:

1 whole cut up fryer chicken (or about 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts)
2-3 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 whole green onions, chopped
2-3 cups green and red grapes, halved
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
Small handful of fresh dill, minched
1-2 T Lemon juice
1-2 T Brown sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
Bacon bits (optional)

I went the boneless skinless chicken route because I hate bones (and chicken was on sale at Meijer!). Place your chicken in a large pot covered in water and bring to rolling boil for about 45 minutes (or whenever you get back to it. I love no-rush recipes!)

Take 2-3 stalks of rinsed celery and slice right down the middle.

Chop as fine or as chunky as you'd like.

Take your green onions, chop off the hairy end and discard. Chop up all the rest of your onions. (Don't forget to be wearing your contact lenses at this point or your children will wonder what the onions did to make you cry).

Halve or quarter your grapes. Eat a couple. You're probably hungry.

Put your fruit and veggies in a bowl big enough for the complete salad. Get out a separate bowl and mix your mayo, sour cream/plain yogurt, lemon juice, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Next time I'm going to go lighter on the brown sugar and use real mayonnaise instead of Miracle Whip.

Add fresh dill and a dash of cayenne pepper.

I was too lazy to mince my dill.

Mix together.
Taste test.

Oh, the chicken. This can be done at any point but would probably be wise to do it earlier so it can cool a little before mixing with the fruits and veggies.
Remove the chicken from the pot, pull apart with your fingers or a fork.

Add chicken to the fruits and veggies, pour dressing over top and gently mix together. Add bacon bits of your choosing, find a place for your delicious salad in your fridge and let chill for several hours (or for as long as you can stand waiting... It does taste best fully chilled. I tell you this from experience).

See, so easy! And scrumptious! I know this is a summery recipe, but my excuse is we've been having an Indian Summer around here. (But really it's because I love chicken salad summer, winter, fall, and spring!)

Now I'm going to go enjoy myself some before I get my wisdom teeth pulled and don't get to eat for awhile.

A Colorful Reminder in a Godless Neighborhood.

The other day I spotted this tree.

It's just gorgeous with its layers of color.

When I first noticed it a few days ago, it was the most colorful tree on the block. I pointed it out to Derek and said, "Such a beautiful tree in such a Godless neighborhood."

Even in the midst of one of the ugliest, meannest, scariest, seemingly Godless neighborhoods in Elkhart, God IS there.

He is here. Where we live.

Thank You, Father, for that reminder.

Baby Girl Time

I've been spending so much time lately on my jewelry business that poor Marie has gotten a little neglected. Yesterday I decided to drop everything and have some baby girl time. She never complains for it, but it melts my heart to see how much she enjoys it!

First we worked on tossing a ball into a box. The other day my mom and Marie were playing with a bouncy ball... Marie kept putting it on the floor and kicking it. While I'm so proud of her soccer skills, I thought it was time she learned that balls can be used for other things too!

Just as we stepped outside, Daddy came home! So I got to take pics.

I love this one because Derek was trying to teach her to underhand toss the ball but she wasn't even getting close to the box. So she decided to throw it as hard as she could. Miss Independent.

Then she came up with her own game - throw the ball down the sidewalk then bear crawl to get it...

I have no idea how her little mind comes up with these things.

Of course I had to get a pic of Jack...

Later, Marie got her grocery cart out and began using it the only way she ever has - to chase down the dogs. Time to teach her what it's really for. I lined up some chairs in the kitchen and put all her "groceries" on them. She walked down the "aisle" and put her "groceries" in her cart...

Yes, this is what we did instead of mommy doing dishes.

Then we headed off to pay the cashier...

Who, of course, was Daddy...

"Uh oh!" All out of money.

She tried to take the money right out of Daddy's pocket, but he made her clean up her toys to earn it back. She was such a good girl!

I love Baby Girl time. Looking forward to more of it today!

I am a woman

and as a woman I have the right to change my mind... again.

I don't like the idea of combining this blog with my jewelry blog. It just doesn't make sense.

So head over to my new DandLs DangLs blog to keep up with contests and giveaways, tutorials and tips. You'll love it there! :)

Also a prayer request...
The people selling the house that we LOVE decided they were willing to accept our offer! Please pray that -

- the loan goes through quickly
- the house passes all inspections (the sellers condition was that we buy it as is)
- our landlords will be willing to return our deposit even though we will be breaking our lease
- all the little details fall into place
- we will continually be sensitive to God's desires.



Thank you!!

3 Months

3 months ago today, my sweet, wonderful, adorable, handsome, precious son was pulled out of his comfy cozy home (my belly). One look at his squishy, chunky, dimply cheeks and I burst into tears. I was grateful they didn't tie my arms down this time so I could mop up my tears.

My heart burst with love for this little dude.

My heart bursts with love for this little dude on a regular basis.

I'm not sure how much more my bursting heart can take.

I love this little dude.