Fruit and Seed Chicken Salad

This recipe is not your typical onion and celery chicken salad. It is adapted from my mama's famous cream cheese-based chicken salad, which is heavenly. She usually serves it warm, either by itself or on a croissant roll. Her original recipe includes grapes and pecans or walnuts. My husband is allergic to nuts, so I modified it to have toasted seeds instead for the same yummy crunch. I also tweaked it to make it a little bit more health friendly ;) 

You can make this with any kind of fruit - diced pineapple, chopped apples, cranberries, cherries, etc. Mix and match as you please. The goal is to be healthy and sweet and delicious, all at once! 

Ingredients:

These amounts are mostly guestimates. We usually just make it to taste. Start off with a little, and keep adding until it feels right.

- 2 lb rotisserie chicken, hand shredded (you can also cook 1-2 lbs of chicken meat yourself, but a rotisserie chicken makes the process a lot easier)
- 1/2 block of cream cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil based mayonnaise
- 1/2-3/4 cup chopped fruit (I used grapes this time)
- 1/4 cup mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds, toasted
- 2 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp thyme 
- 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

Set out block of cream cheese to soften. Hand shred your chicken into small pieces and put in a large mixing bowl. Put mixed seeds into a frying pan over medium-high heat. Mix until they start to sizzle and brown, and then pour over chicken. Add chopped fruit. In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. You want more cream cheese than mayo - the mayo just helps it all "hold together." Mix cream cheese and mayo into your large bowl with chicken and toppings. Add thyme and salt, and then mix thoroughly. Voila! 

Serve in a croissant, in a lettuce wrap, over cantaloupe, or by itself for light lunch or snack. 

Hugs, 
Madi

Nut-Free Granola With Chia, Flax, and Sunflower Seeds

This morning I was seriously craving some cereal or granola. Unfortunately, all I had on hand were some old-fashioned rolled oats. Then an idea came to mind - why don't I make my own? I had never made granola before, but I had seen some girls in my old dorm do it from time to time. It is cheaper and (usually) healthier to make it yourself than to use store-bought brands. 

My husband is mildly allergic to nuts, so I needed to add some other ingredients to give it that delicious crunch and nutty flavor. I also wanted to bring in some of the healthy fats and proteins that nuts provide. I ended up going with a blend of chia seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ. Alas, due to the wheat germ, this recipe is not gluten free. However, you can always emit it and use GF oats to make it friendly for those of you with sensitivities. 

Nut-Free Granola

Ingredients:

- 3 cups rolled oats

- 2 tbsp chia seeds

- 1/4 cup flax

- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

- 1/4 cup wheat germ

- 1/3 cup honey

- 1/3 cup coconut oil

- 1/4 cup butter

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions: 

- Preheat oven to 350 F. 

- Mix the oats, seeds, and wheat germ in a large mixing bowl. Add cinnamon and salt. 

- In a separate, microwave-safe bowl, place your honey, oil, and butter. Heat in the microwave or on the stove top until the butter is melted. Whisk the mixture together until it is emulsified. 

- Pour wet ingredients over the dry and mix thoroughly with a large spoon. 

- Lightly grease a large baking pan with butter or oil. 

- Pour the granola mix onto the baking sheet in a thin layer. Slide into the oven and allow to bake for approximately 10 min. Open the oven and stir. Close and allow it to bake until golden brown, another 10-15 minutes. Watch it carefully to be sure it doesn't burn.

- Remove the pan from the oven and let your granola cool. As it cools, it will harden and get crunchy. You can stir it to break up the chunks.

- If you want to add dried fruit, you can stir it in at this point. Your choice. 

- Once cool, serve topped with your choice of milk and fresh fruit. Or mix it into some greek yogurt with honey. 

I personally do not care for dried fruit in my granola. I think it tends to get hard and chewy, and sometimes makes it too sweet. I like mixing in fresh fruit at the time of consumption instead. It gives you some freshness with the toasty granola flavor. 

Yum yum!

Madi