Wonton Chicken Salad

This salad is a delicious, light summertime meal.  It’s simple to make and very tasty.
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The list of ingredients is pretty simple: chicken,  romaine lettuce, parsley, green onions, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, lemon juice.  There are only three ingredients you may not have on hand:  sesame seeds, square wonton wraps, and sesame seed oil.  The wonton wraps can be found in the produce section of your grocery store, near the tofu and other such products.  The sesame seed oil will be near the soy sauce on the aisle for international food products.

Start by cooking about 1 pound of chicken in a little bit of oil.
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Cook until meat is no longer pink, but still very tender.
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Set chicken aside to cool.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425.  Open won ton wraps and remove half the package.
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Slice into three strips.
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Place strips on baking sheets, then lightly spray with cooking spray and sprinkle lightly with salt.
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Bake until crunchy and golden brown.  Then set aside to cool.
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Chop one or two heads of romaine lettuce and place in salad bowl.
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Add 3/4 cup chopped green onions IMG_6208 (Large) and 1 cup chopped parsley.
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Chop cooled chicken.
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Sprinkle over top of salad.
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Now, to make the dressing.  In a small bowl, place 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
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Add 2 1/2 Tb. sugar and 3 Tb. sesame seed oil.
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Add 1/4 cup cider vinegar.
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Finish off with 1/2 to 1 tsp. lemon juice and mix well.
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Drizzle dressing over salad.
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Crush wonton strips and add to salad.
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Sprinkle with 2 Tb. sesame seeds.  (Sorry, I know they’re hard to see.)
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Gently toss the salad and you’re ready to go!
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Serve with parsley and additional wonton strips, if desired.
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As I said, it’s a light, tasty dinner.  Perfect for hot summer days!

Wonton Chicken Salad
1 lb. chicken 1-2 heads romaine lettuce 3/4 cup chopped green onions 1 cup chopped parsley 1/2 package square won ton wraps 2 Tb. sesame seeds For the dressing:
1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 2 1/2 Tb. sugar 3 Tb. sesame seed oil 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 tsp. lemon juice Cook chicken and set aside to cool.  Cut wontons into strips and place on baking sheet.  Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 425 until golden brown.

Cut lettuce and place in salad bowl.  Add chopped green onions and chopped parsley.  Chop chicken and add to salad.

In small bowl, mix all dressing ingredients.  Drizzle over salad.  Crush wontons and add to salad.  Sprinkle 2 Tb. sesame seeds over wontons.  Toss salad and serve.

Look up!

This afternoon I decided to brave the heat (yes I’m being a wimp but I have a good excuse) and clear my front porch of all the kid clutter that they’ve left behind.

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I’ll list some of the items I found there:  socks, toys, empty cups with spoons in them from yesterday’s snow cone adventures, trash, jewelry, and a selection of Dad’s tools from this morning’s skateboard workshop.

It’s nice to get things put away, swept up, and looking a little more inviting.

As I was walking around the house to put something away, I looked up.

And something wonderful happened.
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I was instantly struck by the beauty of the sky:  the gorgeous blue and fluffy white clouds everywhere.
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It reminded me of a quote I memorized years ago:
“The sky is the daily bread of the eye.”

I paused to turn around in a circle and drink in the beauty in every direction.
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I realized what a blessing it can be to look up in life.
My day was enhanced by simply absorbing a bit of beauty that had been there for the taking for who knows how long.
I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.  I wasn’t aware that my heart was hungry for such a sight.

I realized how often I get my head down, focusing only on the task at hand, on getting through or just enduring.
Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes to look up and drink in the big picture, remembering that there is much of beauty and life and happiness to be enjoyed.
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Much of our experience is a matter of perspective.
In raising my eyes today, my perspective was enlarged.
I felt more appreciative of the simple abundance around me, more aware of the gift of life.
I walked inside feeling like a happier person than when I walked out.
I wonder how many times a day God has gifts like this just waiting for us?  How often has He prepared something of great beauty to buoy us up on our journey?  Do we notice?  And if we do, do we let it change us?
How can we receive his gifts if we don’t see them?

My invitation today:  look up!  Look around!  Notice the simple gifts that are waiting for you, and partake.
Have a wonderful day!

HH

Homemade Cherry Ice Cream

I’ve been dreaming of homemade ice cream for a couple of weeks, and my wonderful husband gave me an ice cream maker for my birthday last week.  It’s small, compact, inexpensive, and makes up to 4 quarts!  So last night for dessert we made some homemade ice cream.

I know that most recipes call for egg yolks in them, but due to my pregnant state we decided to try a recipe without eggs.  Just to be safe.

Start with two cups of heavy whipping cream.  Pour into a mixing bowl.
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Then add one cup half and half.
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Next comes 3/4 cups sugar.
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Now stir until the sugar is dissolved.
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We then added one Tablespoon of vanilla and mixed again.
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We put some pitted cherries in a food processor to chop them up, IMG_6195 (Large) and added them to the cream mixture.
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So pretty!
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Then we poured the mixture into the canister.
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Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to attach the motor correctly.
Then layer with ice and rock salt and let the machine do it’s magic.
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When it’s finished, the machine should stop on its own.
We doubled the recipe and got about 3 quarts, and it took only 35 minutes.  Not too bad!
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Looks delicious!
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If you want to eat it right away, you can, but the ice cream is extremely soft.  We scraped ours into a container and put it in the freezer to harden a little bit more.
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The kids had a hard time with this step, but in the end we were glad.
Having the ice cream a little bit harder made it even better.

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Homemade Cherry Ice Cream
(you can substitute any kind of fruit for the cherries) 2 cups heavy whipping cream 1 cup half and half 3/4 cup sugar 1 Tb. vanilla 2 cups fresh sweet cherries, washed and pitted ice and rock salt (if  your ice cream maker requires them) In mixing bowl, combine cream and half and half.  Add sugar and stir till dissolved.  Add 1 Tb. vanilla.
In blender or food processor, puree cherries.  Add to cream mixture.  Pour into ice cream canister.  Attach motor and add layers of ice and salt.  Freeze according to manufacturers directions.  When ice cream is finished, either enjoy or scrape into container to freeze and harden more.

Makes about 1- 1/3 quarts of ice cream.

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