Beet Feta & Walnut Salad

We went out for dinner on Sunday night and there was a salad on the menu which really appealed to me and boy was it YUMMY too!

It had, mixed greens, peaches, beets, walnuts and goat cheese.  I also ordered it with a chicken breast for protein.

Now I really should have asked for the dressing on the side because there was way too much on the salad but it was a tangy vinaigrette and really tasty.  Also this salad was HUGE.... like two people could have eaten the thing and been satisfied.  But Salad isn't exactly appealing the next day so I ate the good parts before I let her take it away!

It was so good that I decided to make my own for work tomorrow.

I didn't have goat cheese so I decided to use feta instead.  And I decided to leave out the peaches as they actually didn't add much to the salad like I thought they would.

So here is what I made...

Organic Spring greens
Chopped canned beets
Feta Cheese crumbled
Walnuts
Chicken breast (cooked with olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper)

I'll be using a simple vinaigrette dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, orange juice and honey.

Can't wait until lunch time tomorrow!

Shredded Chicken Pesto Sandwich

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My Mom's Birthday is today and she decided that she wanted to go to an outdoor Halloween Event here called Enchanted Halloween.  Last year we did the same and ended up having hot dogs and hamburgers as well as cupcakes that I brought to celebrate her Birthday (it was a little more last minute).  But this year I wanted the dinner to be a bit more special and I wanted to try to avoid the burgers and hot dogs this time around so I decided we would have a nice Picnic dinner.  

On the meal plan was Pesto Chicken Croissant-wiches and Pumpkin Cake Cheesecake.  

Here is the recipe for the Pesto Chicken Croissant-wiches I made this afternoon for the picnic. 

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• INGREDIENTS:
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• 2 chicken Breasts, one roasted chicken or 2 cups shredded chicken
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons Pesto (about half a small jar)
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
• Croissants or baguette bread
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• Optional toppings:
• Tomatoes
• Spinach or mixed greens
• Sliced cheese (I used aged applewood smoked cheddar)
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DIRECTIONS:

In a mixer tear off chunks of cooked chicken breast and place into mixing bowl.  Then turn on medium-high until the chicken breast looks like shredded chicken (pictured below).  Alternatively you can do this by hand but this is by far the best way to get your chicken shredded nicely and have a good consistency.  

The Pesto you use is up to you.  You can make your own which I have done in the past or you can purchase a jar of it from the local grocer.  This particular brand I really like.  In fact we tried the Mezzetta Tomato sauce for Spaghetti just the other night and it passed the test!  Typically Spaghetti sauce and as with many processed items have loads of sugar, salt and other unnecessary ingredients listed on the label.  And I have tried dozens of organic and/or ingredient approved sauces over the last few years and most just don't pass the kid/hubby test.  So I move on and try another or stick to my own homemade.  But I picked the Mezzetta one up a few weeks ago and finally got a chance to try it out this week!  

We ALL loved it!  

Shocking really because we all like very different styles of pasta sauce around here!  So I'll for sure be getting that one again!

As for the Pesto, I've actually had it in the fridge for a few weeks and when I pulled it out to use it this afternoon to make these Sandwiches I was happy to see that it was the same brand!  Very cool!

I was simply going to just put pesto in with the shredded chicken BUT after a taste test I felt that it needed a bit more creaminess to it so I added a scoop of mayonnaise to the mixture and gave it another whirl to stir it in. 

Then I packed all the Croissant-wiches up and tucked them into our Picnic bag for our night out!

The Pumpkin Cake Cheese Cake recipe can be found here!

Black Bean Noodles with White Cheese Sauce

Spotted these black Bean noodles at Costco and HAD to give them a try.

Two ingredients:

Organic Black Beans

water

Though beans are still considered a carbohydrate the amount of fibre in these noodles is what sets them apart and helps your body in more ways than one. 

These would be great for diabetics because the fibre content is so high at 11g per 50g dry pasta!

But what do they taste like???

Asher and I cooked up a pot and decided cheese sauce was the most appealing thing to try them with. But I did try them on their own and they were great. 

I think following the cooking instructions on how long to cook them is important because they get soft fairly quickly but are still chewy so leave them longer then you think. 

They came in a huge box for $7.99 which will probably last us quite a while. 

I really enjoyed them and will be taking our left overs for lunch at work tomorrow. Ashe liked them too which is a bonus!

Check them out and let me know what you thought :)

Healthy Team Lunch and Cleaning Assignment for Day 11

Today Asher's team has a Lacrosse game and it's my week to do the after game lunch! 

We decided to make sandwiches! So we hit up the local butcher to get their in house no nitrate or preservative deli meat, we picked ham and turkey. 

We then picked up 4 loaves of whole wheat bread, blueberries, raspberries, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, juice boxes, and veggie chips! 

Last night after the boys were in bed Gord and I made veggie, ham, turkey and egg sandwiches. We baked a batch of cookies, made fruit skewers, cut up veggies and put them all into easy to serve containers. 

We got a lot done and I'm happy with our healthy lunch for all the kids on the team plus siblings and parents too!

The kids loved the Fruit skewers, and we had actually completely forgot to put them out and there were only 4 kids left hanging around when we did.... and guess what?  They are all gone!

I know some of the kids may have chosen not to have a sandwich because we used whole wheat bread, but I don't believe in over processed white bread so I decided that I wasn't going to provide that option.  Most of the kids were quite happy with the Sandwiches and I didn't hear any complaints!



Of course we had WAY too much food, and we will be eating sandwiches for dinner I guess but it was fun and you really see the kids bonding when you get them all together after the game!  So much fun!

We set everything up on the back of the tailgate and Fraser was having a grand old time trying to steal all the food he could reach!  At one point he actually grabbed a cookie and was about to take a big bite!  He did enjoy a bit of bread from one of the sandwiches and he also got a hold of a half a ham sandwich too so we let him gnaw on it a bit ;)

Fun day!

Yesterday was bathroom cleaning day and there wasn't much to blog about other than the usual bathroom stuff but today's assignment is: Clean closets ( hang up clothes, organize mittens, jackets, hats)!

I'll likely do some gardening this afternoon, have some family time, I have a call with one of my coaches scheduled and then do the closets later today so look for my post tomorrow! I've got some closets in serious need of organizing!!