Making up for a Big Lunch

So I had a big lunch. We went out to eat and I enjoyed myself a bit more than I had intended to. That is only half true, I always intended on indulging at today. Sometimes you just have to go for it and balance it out with the rest of your meals that day.

Looking around the kitchen at dinner time, I had an orange on the counter that I knew needed to be eaten soon. I also had a small package of dry roasted cashews hanging out from an impulse buy the other day. In the recipe below I substituted almonds because they are a better choice health-wise. Whatever nuts you use, it always adds a bit more flavor if you toast them in a dry skillet for a few minutes. It helps release their flavors.

For a dressing, I had a brand new (using the term "brand new" loosely, I bought it almost a month ago but never tried it) bottle of Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame dressing. This was the perfect start to a salad! I pulled out a frozen, cooked chicken breast,thawed it, sliced it up, and grabbed a bag of greens and voila! An Asian Chicken Salad was born. It's not reinventing the wheel or anything, but dang it was tasty.


Chicken Salad with Toasted Sesame Dressing
serves 1

1 to 2 Tablespoons Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing
1 Tablespoon orange juice
2 cups mixed greens
1/2 orange, sliced into wedges
3 oz sliced, grilled chicken
1 Tablespoon Almonds, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped


Mix dressing and orange juice in the bottom of a medium bowl. Add salad greens and orange slices and toss. Place salad on serving plate. Top salad with grilled chicken, almonds, and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

NOTES:
I really advise that you throw in the cilantro (and besides, it's cheap). It adds a real pop of flavor almost as much as the juicy oranges!

Last Chance for veiwing the Aspens

On Thursday, Patrick and I decided it was now or never to take a drive into the mountains and get some pictures of the Aspen trees in all their fall glory. I am so glad we did! The day was sunny and gorgeous and we were able to get some great pics.

We started up the mountain around 11am with our delicious lattes (sugar free, skinny vanilla, 1/2 the syrup...I am SO that person) and Peter Gabriel playing on the CD player. We drove the same basic route that we took last year. It starts in a quaint little mountain town that I swear I will stop in one day just to mill around. We then continue up the mountain where it seems you just round a curve and the aspens are suddenly enveloping you.

We would pull off the road here and there and take a couple of pictures. That's when I decided to look at what I had snapped so far and realized there was no chip in the camera. DUH! Luckily, we had not yet reached the pinnacle of our journey so I was able to get plenty of pictures before we headed back down. BTW, funny how it looks so different coming back the other direction. There were several places we had intended to visit on the way back but could not find them because the views seemed so different. I guess it was not meant to be.

We then continued on past the road we came up and went to the next mountain town, Estes Park. While we were in Estes, we came across four deer on a bike path. We pulled over and got some pictures of them. Then we pressed on, and about a mile down the road we came across a small herd of elk. They were to our left, to our right, and right in front of us. They had us surrounded! Luckily I still had the camera in my lap from the deer so I was able to get some really great pictures of them. The baby was my favorite.

Patrick then drove us down the mountain back home. This was exciting because it was the first time since his stroke that he has driven in the mountains. He did a great job and I was able to take in the scenery which is something I haven't been able to do for a long time. A good time was had by all that day!