PLANNING FOR THE WEEKEND - September 29 - Oct. 3

I'm still on the hunt for apples. I would love to find a 1/2 bushel. That would give me plenty to make apple butter, apple sauce and apple pie filling.

In my honest opinion, nothing you buy in the store compares to homemade. And making apple butter or apple sauce is not difficult. With a slow cooker, the task is not even really time consuming. Put the mushed apples in to cook down and go do something else. Though I prefer low and slow in the big roasting pan in the oven.  I like to use apple sauce in place of oil in a lot of my baking and is good on top of low carb pancakes - which are almost like a crepe in consistency.

Bob and I like apple crisp as oppose to apple pies. Not big on the crust. Though Bob would prefer I did not put oatmeal in the crisp. I made THIS peach crisp and turned out great so thought I'd try the same with apple pie filling instead.

Okay.. off track.. Planning for the weekend.
I need to go to Springfield (2 hrs away) for a writers meeting tomorow. I think I'm leaving early enough to go by the Farmer's Market. I'll stay in town overnight which means eating out. I have coupons for my birthday from various restaurants. My favorite is going to be Applebees. I like their 2 for $20 menu... especially since they've added the Wonton Taco as an appetizer option. I can pick 2 light entrees. Eat one for supper and bring the other one home to put in the freezer to eat during Nano. I also get a free shooter dessert. Oh yeah, and Sat. night supper will be crab legs at the chinese buffet. Lots of protein in the crab legs and the mussels in black bean sauce.

I hope your weekend goes as planned..
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly

CHICKEN SALAD

Finally getting to a point where I can at least post things on the days they are suppose to post... even if not early in the day. Baby steps here until the Texas Music Awards are over on Saturday and I can focus on EVERYTHING instead of one particular subject.

I've been picking up some recipes on Pinterest and found a Chicken Salad to modify to fit my tastes. The link takes you to my FOODIES Board, so you'll need to scroll til you come to the Chicken Salad recipe. It was uploaded by a user - not linked to a website.

What caught my attention was that offered Craisins as an added option. The local Memories Sweet Shoppe Cafe where I go to eat at least once a week makes the most amazing Chicken Salad on Croissant. Everything Cindy makes it from scratch. Soups, salads, sandwiches.... Yum! And she always tries to make sure there is at least a 'healthy' option on her menu. She is a retired line boat cook so she knows her way around a kitchen and how to satisfy hungry appetites.

So when I found this recipe on Pinterest I wanted to try it. I eliminated the pecans but added the Craisins.

Here's the recipe I came up with:

1 - 13 oz. can Shredded Chicken (I get the 3-pk cans from Sams Club)
1/2 - Gala Apple - cored and chopped
1/4 C Craisins
1/4 yellow onion - diced
1/4 C shredded Fiesta Cheese (I like the fiesta cheese for the blend but you can use whatever you like)
4 T Light Miracle Whip
2 tsp. minced garlic (or 1/4 tsp. garlic powder)
Seasoning Salt/ Fresh Ground Pepper

Drain the can of chicken and put it in a bowl.
Fork the chicken apart.
Add the Miracle Whip and mix. (You could also use plain yogurt or a blend of the two)
Next add the spices. (If you do this BEFORE adding the chunky ingredients you'll get a more even distribution of the seasonings.)
Also - I used Seasoning Salt because I didn't have any fresh CELERY... which I would have prefered for taste and texture. 
Add the fruits and mix. (I used an apple corer/ slicer for the apple but found I still wanted the sections narrower so sliced them again before chopping into chunks)

I served mine on a bed of Spring Greens and fresh spinach with ROMA tomato wedges. I used a full cup of the chicken salad as I've not eaten much today and probably the reason for my headache... that and too involved in my current Kindle read. hehe

I cored and chopped the entire apple but only put 1/2 of it in the salad. I can snack on the other 1/2 apple chunks while I'm working on here tonight.

Try this recipe and let me know what you think! Also.. I hope to add a PIN button in the next couple of days so if I post it here, feel free to PIN it.

Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly