Spinach Apple Cranberry Salad for 2

I made myself a list of dinners to make to keep our meals less boring around here.  I get tired of the same old dinners all the time and thought why not do things a little different, break up the monotony.  This past year with the quarantine going on, social distancing, locked in and restaurants being closed, we eat all of our meals at home now and don't have the variety that restaurants have to offer.  I use to enjoy taking a night off of cooking dinner and going out to eat with the hubby on a Friday or Saturday night.  That doesn't happen now, but hopefully we can get back to that soon.

  Cooking all your meals at home takes a lot of creativity so it doesn't get boring.  I have never been the cook that has to have a pasta meal on Sunday, just because it's Sunday.  I like variety, it is the spice of life in my world.  I let my taste buds guide me to what I will make for dinner when I get up in the morning.  I go to my freezer pull out what I want and plan what sides, if any, I'll prepare to go with my meal. I'm lucky in the sense that my hubby will eat anything I put in front of him, he's good that way, hahahaha! Once, we had breakfast for dinner, he thought that was exotic.

Last night I made this Spinach Salad with Apples, Cranberries, Grilled Chicken and Bacon for dinner.  It was easy, and what I thought would be good in it I had in the fridge or pantry.  I put it together in just a few minutes and it was not only filling it was very tasty.

Recipe Below.

I started layering all my ingredients in a bowl.  I tossed in a little spring mix with my spinach, I'm crazy that way.

Cranberries, candied walnuts and a fresh Gala apple.

I used this Chicken as a shortcut, just heated it up in a frying pan.

One bag was good for two nice sized salads.

Add the chicken and feta cheese, because feta is always good.

And bacon, because that too always makes everything better.  I crisp this up in the microwave for added crunch.

Add the chicken.

And I used this gem of a dressing I found at Shady Maple an Amish grocery store.  You could probably make your own, although I don't have the amounts of the ingredients, you would have to use your taste as your judgement.  The ingredients are - apple cider vinegar, sugar, water, crushed red pepper, apple sauce, cinnamon, salt and apple juice.  Shake in a bottle or whisk it all together, season to your taste. Feel free to use any of your favorite dressings, a honey mustard or balsamic vinaigrette is good with it too.  

My salad topped with dressing and plain crispy wontons.  It was delicious!

Spinach Apple Cranberry Salad for 2 

Ingredients

1 9 oz. bag Perdue short cuts chicken strips

1 small bag fresh spinach

1 small box spring mix greens

1 large Gala apple

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup glazed walnuts - or nut of your choice

1 cup feta cheese

1/4 cup bacon crumbles- crisp up in the microwave

Salad Dressing of your choice

1 cup crispy tortilla strips

Instructions

In a frying pan over medium heat, warm up the chicken strips and break them into smaller pieces as they heat. Set aside.

Divide the spinach between two large bowls.  Toss some spring mix with the spinach in each bowl.  Cut the apple in half and core it, cut into chunks and toss with the lemon juice.  Divide the apple, cranberries, walnuts, chicken, feta cheese and bacon between the two bowls.  Pour on the dressing and top with the crispy tortillas. Enjoy!

 

The Colorful Cranberry

We love cranberries in this house whether we drink them or eat them, they are definitely always in the pantry, the fridge or on the shelf.  The most healthy way is eating them fresh I'm sure, but they are kind of tart.  Processing  them makes them lose nutrients, but they are still good for you.  I tried to find unsweetened dried cranberries, it's tough.  I don't know why food companies throw sugar on them, mixed with other things in a food dish makes them just as good without the sugar.

This house consumes alot of cranberry juice, dried cranberries, homemade cranberry sauce, homemade cranberry jam and canned cranberry sauce, my youngest eats the canned like it's her job!  I remember when she was studying in London, her and her friends were planning their Thanksgiving meal and could not find cranberry sauce (native to the US is my guess). She asked if I could send some over.  I went to Costco and bought a case of 6 cans.  It was a very expensive shipment let me tell you, $90 dollars later and about a week of waiting for it to get there!  She was a happy girl when it finally arrived and wanted to keep it all to herself.  I told her to be nice, she needed to share it.  That is how much she likes that stuff in a can, CRAZY!

Yesterday I stepped out of the cranberry box and made a salad dressing out of some dried cranberries, that was new to me, never have done it.  I usually sprinkle them on top of the salad and eat them that way.  So I made a salad of mixed Spring greens with carrots, cucumber, some of the mixed berry medley that I used in the rustic fruit and nut bread (I figured I may as well use them up) and candied pecans. Then I made my dressing.

 This was all it took to make a fabulous, kind of sweet and sour cranberry dressing for my salad. It's a great dressing for a Fall, Thanksgiving or Christmas meal.

This dressing is better if tossed with the salad because it's on the thick side.

Six ingredients is all it takes to make the dressing. Recipe below.

I used these as extra toppings on the salad, both from Trader Joe's.

Cranberry Salad Dressing

Ingredients
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons apple cider or wine vinegar
3 tablespoons dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
Process all ingredients in a food processor until cranberries are finely chopped.  Pour into the bottom of your salad bowl.  Layer salad ingredients in the bowl on top of the dressing and toss to coat.

Turkey Talk

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  There is nothing better than family sitting all around the table sharing a meal, stories of growing up, and the best part - dessert!  It's kind of a lazy day, you cook, you eat, you watch football, you fall asleep.  It's all about being together and enjoying the big meal of the year.  This year dinner was small for me, but I did switch things up, in the way of flavors just a bit.  I tried a new stuffing recipe that I threw together and it tasted great!  This is how I made it, recipe below.

 I started with a bag of cornbread stuffing mix, celery, onion, herbs, fresh cranberries, an apple and turkey stock.

 Stuff that bird until you can't fit anymore in there!  Season it up and pop it in the oven.

Cornbread Stuffing For Turkey

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

3 ribs of celery, diced including the leaves

1 medium onion, diced

2 tablespoons parsley

1/2 tsp rubbed sage

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1 bag of unseasoned cornbread stuffing cubes

2 eggs

1/2 cup of chopped fresh cranberries

1 small apple, cored and chopped

1 32 oz. box of Turkey Stock

Directions

Melt the butter with the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium high heat.  Add the celery, onion, parsley, sage, poultry seasoning, thyme, garlic powder, pepper and salt. Stir to combine and cook for about 5 minutes, or until celery and onion are tender.  Let the mixture cool.  In a larger bowl, add the cornbread, eggs, celery/onion mixture, cranberries, apple and about 1/2 of the box of stock, reserve the rest of the stock for the turkey.  Mix the stuffing with a spoon until everything is incorporated.

If you are roasting a turkey, stuff  the turkey cavity with enough of the mixture until it is full. Pour the remaining stock in the bottom of the roasting pan for flavor and to baste the turkey.  Roast the turkey according to package directions for the size of the turkey.  Baste the turkey and the stuffing to keep it moist throughout the roasting time. 

Ahhhh... The Broccoli Slaw

It's 8:25 AM on Saturday morning and I am back from our walk.  I am so proud of myself, today I stuck to my plan.  Off we went (the husband and I) to a local trail in Audubon (at 6:50 this morning) and walked 4.58 miles around the trail.  I have to say I was impressed with myself!  I didn't think I could do it.  The walk was so  peaceful and beautiful, listening to the birds chirp, the fragrant wildflowers and plants, the crackle of the water in the river.  The walk was very calming and relaxing if you can believe that.  Came home and ate a low fat breakfast, and this is what is for lunch:

Broccoli Slaw Salad

1 bag of broccoli slaw (I use Dole or Marketside)

½ of English cucumber, peeled and sliced

2 – 4 oz. containers of Dole Mandarin oranges, drained

¼ cup Ocean Spray sweetened dried cranberries

½ cup Emerald candied pecans or Almond Accents toffee almonds

½ cup Ken's Asian Sesame Salad Dressing (or more if you like)

1 cup of LaChoy Chow Mein Noodles

Gather your ingredients

Pour slaw into a bowl.  Add cucumbers

Top with oranges and cranberries

Add pecans and it's looking good! This salad has a lot of color.

Pour on that dressing and top with those noodles for crunch and you have yourself a very tasty salad.