Chicken Salad

For the past several weeks I have been eating salads... pretty much exclusively, and I was burnt out! I wanted to prep something new on Sunday that would give me a few meals during the week. I really liked the chicken salad I came up with! The cilantro in the salad gives it a great freshness that typical mayo salads lack. Try it out! I served mine up as lettuce wraps, using delicious butter lettuce!! Stephen still doesn't understand why grapes are in the salad, and I think it freaked him out a little, but he had to admit that it tasted really good.

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded or cubed

1 1/2 cups grapes, sliced in half

1 teaspoon salt and pepper

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 stalks celery, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons mayonnaise 

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

• Shred the chicken and put in a large bowl
• Add all the other ingredients and mix 
• Serve up in a lettuce wrap, on some bread or in a tortilla (or Stephen just eats with some chips!)

OJ Brined Pork Chops with Warm Apple Slaw

I have had a pretty yucky cold the past few days, so needless to say I got a lot of TV time in. I was inspired to make this dish by a recipe I saw them make on Restaurant Impossible. I am definitely not a fan of pork chops, so what gave me the craving to make this is beyond me, but I am glad I did!

1 cup OJ

1/2 cup water

1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt

2 pork chops

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 apples (I did one granny smith and one fuji)

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

2 tablespoons OJ
1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup red cabbage chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced

pepper

Directions:

• In a large bowl, add OJ, water and 1/2 tablespoon salt and add pork chops and let brine for 3-4 hours.
• When ready to cook, add tablespoon olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter to a pan and add apples, garlic, red onion and salt and pepper and saute until the apples are cooked but still firm.  
• Then add the cabbage and let wilt about 3-5 minutes. 
• In a separate pan, heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter, season both sides of the pork chops with salt and pepper and saute the pork chops. 
• Brown on both sides and let cook. 
• Serve over garlic mashed potatoes and then cover in the slaw!

Anytime Sandwich!

I call this sandwich an "anytime sandwich" because it is delicious for any meal. The first time I had this sandwich was at a coffee shop and I had it for breakfast so of course I re-created it for Stephen and I for lunch a couple days later. It is SO simple and just surprisingly delicious!

Cream Cheese

Bagel

tomato

cucumber

sprouts or arugula

avocado

salt and pepper

garlic powder

Directions:

• Slightly toast the bagel of your choice
• Spread with a generous amount of cream cheese and sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper and garlic powder
• peel the cucumber and cut into very thin slices
• Then layer the sliced avocado, cucumber, tomatoes and sprouts on the bagel and cut in half
• devour! 

Italian Chicken Sausage Rigatoni

I made this meal for friends that recently had a baby. It is super simple, tastes delicious and you can modify it and make it for a crowd. The recipe below is what I used to make the meal for my friends and for Stephen and I (so a lot of food). Try it!

2 packages (2 lbs) of Italian Chicken Sausage
2 jars favorite marinara sauce
2 medium onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 bag mushrooms, chopped
1 cup basil + 4 tablespoons for sprinkling on top, chopped
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 pounds rigatoni noodles
1 bag Italian cheese mix

Directions: 

• Boil and drain pasta according to the directions, and set aside.
• In a large pot, saute onions until translucent. Then add garlic and Italian sausage  (that has been removed from the casing)
• When sausage is brown, drain any excess liquid
• Add diced tomatoes and mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes
• Then add marinara sauce, spices and basil and cook about 15 minutes
• Turn off the sauce and let cool about 5-10 minutes. 
• Add the noodles to the sauce and mix.
• Add 1 cup of shredded cheese and mix
• Pour pasta into a large, greased pan. 
• Sprinkle with more cheese and basil
• When you are ready to cook (and you can freeze this meal for up to 2 months) bake at 375 for about 40 minutes, covered. Remove the foil and then let bake another 10 minutes to get the cheese bubbly and brown. If you have the dish frozen, you will likely need to either let thaw before cooking, or cook about 1 hour and 30 minutes.