Recipe: Chicken Salad

I was tempted to call this, “Everything But The Kitchen Sink Chicken Salad,” but as you can see, that name is WAY too long. lol… I came up with this recipe this morning, basing it off others I’ve made before, but changing it up a bit and it was so delicious, so I have to write it down [or... type it out]. I’m only going to include the ingredients and method for the chicken salad itself. I ate it over a regular green salad with a light oil & red wine vinegar dressing. I’ll have a picture uploaded when I eat the rest of it – this made 2 servings for me. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 Chicken Breast, shredded into chunks
1 Tbsp Miracle Whip [use whatever mayo you prefer]
1-2 Tbsp Greek-Style Yogurt [to your desired creaminess...]
2 Tsp Whole Grain Mustard
1 Tsp Frank’s Hot Sauce
1 Med Celery Stalk, diced small
2 Mini Kosher Dill Pickles [or use one regular sized pickle], diced
1 handful Red Seedless Grapes, diced [8-10 grapes]
1 Tbsp Fresh Italian [Flat Leaf] Parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp Feta Cheese, finely crumbled
1 Handful Roasted Hazelnuts, coarsely chopped 
Fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Method:
- Shred up some pre-roasted chicken breast into bite-sized pieces [room temp to cold]
- Add mayo, yogurt, mustard, hot sauce and mix until incorporated
- Chop up the rest of the ingredients and add them in, folding in as you go
- Sprinkle feta and freshly ground black pepper over the top and serve 

 Notes:
- You can sub out anything you don’t like – leave out the hot sauce and/or mustard if you just like a creamy chicken salad
- I usually use walnuts in chicken salad, but didn’t have any on hand – substitute your favorite roasted nut for hazelnuts, or leave them out if you don’t like added crunch to your chicken salad
- I like parsley for that added freshness, but it can be left out if you’re not a fan…
- You can sub out the grapes for granny smith apples – which is what I normally use, or any semi-crunchy fruit – pears would work, too…
- this makes for a great sandwich, or as part of a salad, or it can be eaten as-is
- I didn’t add salt because I had the pickles and the feta cheese in there… but if you leave the feta out, you may want to add a little salt to taste – you could use blue cheese or gorgonzola in here, too, or goat cheese – this is a versatile recipe that takes well to changing things up so you can have it fairly often and not get bored with it…

Thoughts: 8.25.08

It’s been a full week of eating healthier and I feel great. I sleep much better – no more waking up several times a night. I also noticed a boost in energy and strength on Saturday during my usual circuit workout. Eating healthy is pretty easy and the only reason for that is this: FRUIT. If I couldn’t eat fruit, I couldn’t do it. What I’m doing isn’t technically ‘low carb’ because I eat fruit all day long. But the natural sugar in fruit is in the form of fructose, not glucose, so it needs to be processed by the liver and converted to glucose before it hits the blood stream – and that takes time, so the sugar in fruit is naturally a slow release vs. eating something like bread, rice or anything with refined sugar in it, which is essentially glucose from the start… so it hits your blood stream very quickly. I can usually feel it too – for me it feels like being drugged. It’s definitely relaxing at first as that feeling washes over me – which explains why food has been a sort of ’self-medication’ when I’m stressed out… but then comes dizziness, heart palpitations, low-lying anxiety feeling, and the need for MORE… NOW! 

Before I understood how things worked and was eating a low-fat diet for years, I knew something was wrong with me when I’d have a pounding heart every day around 3:00, and I’d look up from my desk and couldn’t read the giant clock on the wall because my vision was so blurry [I have nearly 20/20 vision]. Scared out of my mind, that was when I started researching my symptoms and figured out I was insulin resistant/pre-diabetic [which was later confirmed by my doctor]. That was 10 years ago. It’s taken THIS LONG to accept it and to finally be ready to do something about it. I definitely cut down and paid more attention to how I was feeling since that time 10 years ago, but I never truly committed myself to eating healthy and exercising until now. 10 years… when I think about all the things I’ve missed out on because I felt I was too heavy to do something [like go skiing with friends], it’s kind of a bummer. Luckily I never dwell on the past for very long. And I’m learning not to look too far into the future either. Each day is another step in that proverbial ‘journey of 1,000 miles.’.  =)

Recipe: Summer Fruit Salad

I’ve been playing with different combinations of fruit for fruit salad lately and this one is my favorite right now, while all these delicious summer fruits are in season. It’s so simple – only 4 ingredients:

Ingredients:
1 Cup Fresh Pineapple, cut into chunks
1 Nectarine, cut into chunks
6-8 Med Strawberries, halved
1/2 Cup Blueberries

Method:
Toss together in a bowl! =) 

Notes: 
- You can make a bigger batch of it and toss it with some fresh squeezed lemon juice so that it stays fresh for several days in the fridge. I do that so my husband and I have it ready for breakfast, or a snack for work…
- You could jazz it up if you’re having a party with some fresh mint… even add a little Limoncello liqueur.
- This is also just as delicious with peaches instead of nectarines – I use whichever I have on hand.