Summer Food

Those of you that know me even a little bit, know that I do NOT consider myself a cook at all.  I like to eat, but cooking has never been my favorite thing.  My domestic talents seem to lie with sewing rather than creating interesting meals, so recipes need to be easy, and not involve a bunch of unusual ingredients.  I tend to eat the same things over and over, particularly for breakfast and lunch.  I also know myself well enough to know that if I don't have my meals planned out a little bit, I am NOT going to take the time to prepare something that is healthy, but will instead turn to filling myself up on unhealthy snacks from the pantry.

So, here it is summer (a somewhat eternal summer for me, now) and I'm home a good part of many days.  I've been trying to have healthy foods available in my fridge (fruit and such), and have planned several dinners to cook each week so that I won't be eating out as much or snacking.  This morning, I realized that I had a grilled chicken breast in my refrigerator that needed to be used right away, so I invited Callie over for lunch and whipped up my favorite chicken salad.

For those of you that find yourself struggling with difficult recipes and not enough time, this recipe is super simple and quick to mix up.

1.  Using my mini food processor, I finely chopped the chicken.  

2.  One chicken breast was more than the two of us could eat at one meal, so I bagged up half of it and popped it into the freezer for another day.

3.  Since my chopper was out, I also chopped up a handful of pecans and added them to the bowl of chicken.

4.  I like grapes in my chicken salad, but only had 3 grapes in the refrigerator??  What's with that??  Well the grandkids did just leave a few days ago.

5.  No one in my family likes mayonnaise, including me, so I use it VERY sparingly--just enough to make things stick together.

6.  That's it!  Stir it up and spread it on a sandwich round.

After sharing that with Callie, she shared a simple recipe with me---Zucchini Frittata.  Using this recipe as inspiration, I adapted it to fit what was in my refrigerator this evening.  I used eggs, 2% milk, 3 slices of cooked bacon, sliced yellow squash and fresh cherry tomatoes from my garden.   The recipe works best using a cast iron skillet (which I don't have), so I used a stoneware quiche pan instead.  It was super simple to make and looked really nice when I took it out of the oven.    

The best part, though, was how tasty it was!!  Yum!!!

Day 17 - Obsession

What is your latest obsession?   I have a couple, actually.  The first is not really anything new, but the second is kind of silly, but I sure am enjoying it.

The first is my embroidery/sewing machine, or "sewing computer" as Bernina likes to refer to it.  I've always enjoyed sewing, but this machine makes it extra fun for me.  With young grandchildren, I have lots of reasons to sew again---and embroider. (and someone to help me with it from time time)

Here are a few of the projects I've completed recently (of course, there are quite a few more, but I don't take photos of everything).

My second obsession is my brand new blender.   I know, it's kind of crazy to be obsessed with a kitchen appliance, but I am really enjoying the power of my Nutri Ninja in making frozen drinks!

I have been making healthy smoothies with fruit, greek yogurt and a touch of honey. and have even begun blending my morning ZipFizz with a few ice cubes in the morning.  It makes a yummy, slushy drink that hits the spot in this warm weather.

I only wish I had splurged on this appliance at the beginning of the summer.

A Week of Birthdays

The first week of March always brings lots of birthdays in our family.  Dan's birthday is on the 2nd, but since it was during the work week this year, we had to settle for phone wishes.  A couple of days later, Ron and I celebrated his birthday together by opening a few gifts and then going out for his favorite dinner---steak!

Adellelyn shares her Papaw's birthday, so we were able to wish her well through a Facetime chat.  Technology has certainly made being far away from family a little easier.  Chad's birthday was the next day!

Yesterday, I was able to drive down to take Dan out to celebrate his birthday.  He'd really been looking forward to lunch at his favorite place, the Dugout, and enjoyed his steak very much.  Steaks seem to a recurring theme where birthday dinners are concerned.

On the way back to his group home, we stopped for a mini-photo session.  It was a beautiful day and I thought it would be great to get a few good pictures of the birthday boy.

The older he gets, the more he looks like my dad.  Yet, only his mustache shows any sign of gray.

Back at the house, the guys gathered round while Dan opened a few gifts from family.

They sang "Happy Birthday" to him and cheered as he blew out the candles.

I think I'm pretty lucky to have both of these guys in my life!

Holiday Highlights - Part Two

On Wednesday of Thanksgiving week, I picked up Dan and we headed towards Atlanta as soon as Ron got off work.  It was quite a journey, but so worth it!  Not long after we arrived on Thursday, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving Feast with both my entire family and most of Sally's as well.  It was quite cold outside, but we all just bundled up and enjoyed being together and the delicious food Sally had prepared.

On the following days, we joined Jana, Rob, Callie, Jordan, Luke and Toby for a walk at Piedmont Park, went on a 6-mile run/walk there the next morning, worked a puzzle, hiked up Stone Mountain with David, Leslie and Laura and played with the new baby in the family.  It was the first time all of my family had been together since my dad died in 2009 and it was wonderful!!!

(don't worry, he didn't really do it)