2010 October 16

I thought the weekend would never get here!

First off, thank you so much for your sad-song recommendations. I don’t think I’ve had the chance to appropriately thank you yet, but you guys gave me some great music ideas! You guys have great taste! I am happy to report I’m out of my funky mood where I want to listen to those songs. Yay!

Hubby and I headed out for a yummy brunch at Terrace Cafe with a groupon we’ve been saving up.

I love how open and airy it is in here.

And the neat plateware is fun.

I opted for a creamy latte.

And hubby started with Brunswick stew.

I ordered the crab cakes benedict.

And hubby ordered the Belgian waffle with pecans.

But we shared both. They were both really tasty and I was glad to have both my savory and sweet tooth satisfied.

And then we got our shop on. I picked up a couple lady-essentials at Victoria’s Secret. They actually forgot to charge me for one item. Does that ever happen to you? It seems to happen to me all. the. time. But, I couldn’t just leave with the “free” item. So, I went back in, pointed out that they forgot to charge me, and paid for my item like I was supposed to. It would have felt like I was stealing the item otherwise.

After our shopping spree, it was time for donuts! We got donut holes this time.

And I also picked up my first fall veggies – kale! Kale times two that is!

I got two types of kale:

dinosaur
curly leafed

I figured it would be fun to have both types. The lady at the garden store said these were edible but most people bought them for decoration. What?! I didn’t know people could or would even want to buy them for decoration. I just thought they were delicious. lol

And I’m going to have beets take 2. Last time I planted beet seeds, they sprouted up but then slowly disappeared. I’m hoping to have better luck this time.

The peppers seem to be growing late for me. There are 3 right in this one small area! What’s up with that? No peppers all summer and now you want to grow? I’ll take em, though.

My updated garden. I still have that slightly-chewed-up-swiss-chard, along with the kale, peppers, and the tomato plants. I couldn’t think of anything tall to plant back there and there are a handful of cherry tomatoes left to harvest, so I’ll keep them a bit longer.

The fall salad I wanted to make the other day will have to wait. I’m going out for a friend’s 40th birthday and there are some fun times ahead, indeed. Check my twitter for updates. You’ll never guess what we end up doing. Heck, even I don’t really know what we’ll really end up doing!

What are your favorite fall vegetables?

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Earlier this week, I took a cue from Ellie Krieger and created a healthy chicken salad using her mostly-yogurt, some-mayo trick.

My mom used to make chicken salad all the time when my sister and I were growing up.

So, I guess you can call chicken salad a “family fave.”

I love the creaminess of the chicken salad, but I’m not necessarily a fan of lots of goopey mayo.

I don’t think my mom ever made chicken salad with the flavor I chose to use this week, but dill was what I had on hand.

I used dill in this recipe, though I do think fresh would be much better. I only used dried out of convenience because it was in my pantry, and I didn’t feel like running to the store just for some dill.

Anywho, this recipe is super easy, so I hope you like it!

Healthy Dill Chicken Salad

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chicken (I like to use rotisserie for the texture, especially with leftovers after having it for a quick meal)
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt, like Oikos (don’t sub plain regular yogurt because it won’t be thick enough unless you know how to strain it)
1 celery stalk, cleaned and chopped small
1 tbsp mayonnaise (light, plain, canola-oil based…any type will do)
1-2 tsp dried dill (depending on how strong you want the dill flavor – use fresh if you have it available, though you may need more if you use fresh)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions: