Curried Chicken Salad

Omigosh Omigosh Omigish!

So I have been forcing myself to stay away from the pre-made lunch section at Trader Joe's.  Why?  Because I cannot resist the Curried Chicken Salad.  It is soooooo yummy, but not cheap and rarely do I portion it out into more than one serving (Yep I eat that whole thing, sometimes before I get home from the store!).

I hit that craving meltdown point this weekend where literally every thought was about that damn chicken salad.  So I researched a few recipes and finally came up with one that to be honest, is so darn close I won't ever need to buy it again.

And now for the recipe share!

Quick note - I rarely measure exact amounts unless I am baking, so use this as a start and adjust to taste.

Curried Chicken Salad

6 oz chopped up chicken breast
2-3 tbsp plain greek yogurt
handful of diced green onions
1 stalk chopped celery
1/4 cup raisins
handful shaved carrot
2 tsp honey
1 tbsp ground tumeric
2-3 tbsp curry powder (to taste, I like the extra kick with more)

Mix it all in a bowl and EAT!  Works on sandwiches or with crackers at a party.

Enjoy!

Muffins!

AWESOME GLUTEN FREE MUFFINS with Pamela's mix



I used to be one of those "from scratch" people.  If it wasn't made from scratch I somehow wasn't really baking.  What that really meant was that I only baked at most 3-4 times a year, and when the kids showed up, maybe once a year.


Now that my kids are a little older, and I have a mildly larger level of time to spend in the kitchen, I am learning that shortcuts are ok especially when you find an awesome baking mix like Pamela's.


I love these muffins because they are super fast to make, my kids LOVE them and I whip up a batch anytime my bananas or apples are getting too close to the end or more often, after buying a large batch of fruit my kids decide that is no longer their favorite (ugh).

I use Pamela's baking mix as my start.  We are not celiac, or even a gluten free home, but I have noticed over the years a mild sensitivity with excessive gluten consumption, it just makes me feel bad.  So I try to balance it by using gluten free products part of the time and I feel soooo much better. And honestly, I think this mix tastes wonderful, even better than traditional mixes.

I keep frozen blueberries in the freezer so all of this I pretty much have around in my kitchen.  My next try will be pumpkin spice!

So here is the first in my series of posts called So Easy I Have To Share!

First, follow the muffin instructions on the back of the Pamela's bag.

Preheat oven to 350 and mix together the following -

1-1/4 cups pancake mix
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional and I leave out)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

My additions -

Apple Cinnamon muffins
add 1 ripe banana, 1 dices apple, 2-3 tbsp flax* and a whole lot of cinnamon (several tbsp)

Blueberry muffins
add 1 ripe banana, 2-3 tbsp flax* and 1 cup frozen blueberries

*I really like the milled flax with blueberry from Trader Joes

Bake for 18-20 minutes.  I usually do 18 for mini muffins and 20 for full size.

And here is the skinny!  I can only eat about 2 mini muffins before feeling satisfied and it looks like this on a dietary scale -

1 Mini Muffin
Calories - 38.75
Fat - .8g
Carb - 7.1g
Sugar - 2g
Protein - .8

Enjoy these modifications and please share yours!

Inexpensive Kids Hat Rack Solution

Despite the fact that my OB told me during my pregnancy that neither of my giant headed children (cruel right??) would ever be able to wear a hat, my girls LOVE hats.  And they are everywhere.  Out of desperation and a lack of expendable cash to buy anything, I found a wonderful solution.  And since the hats cover up the assembly, the materials you use can be whatever you have around.

Take a look!

MATERIALS
1-2 inch ribbon
plastic hangar clips or clothespins (from dollar store)
Needle and heavy thread


HOW TO
Measure your ribbon to the wall length you want.  Then sew a clip every 6-10 inches (Depending on the type of hats).  I just used 2 push pins at the top and bottom to attach the ribbon to the wall.  You can use the clip to hold onto the hat rim or hang the hat on the top of each clip.  THATS IT!