Chicken Apple Salad

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  • 2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
  • 1 cup diced Granny Smith apple
  • 1/2 cup diced celery
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped green onions
  • 1/3 cup light mayonnaise
  • 1 Tablespoon light sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add mayonnaise mixture to chicken mixture, tossing well to coat.

TIPS:

  • This recipe is also good when sliced red grapes are substituted for the dried cranberries.
  • If preparing this recipe as gluten free, just be sure to use a brand of mayonnaise that is known to be GF.
  • Nutritional Information per serving: Serving size: 1 cup, Calories 328, Fat 10g, Saturated Fat 2g, Sugar 4g, Fiber 3.5g, Protein 22.27g, Cholesterol 67.60mg, Carbohydrates 37g
  • WW POINTS per serving:  Smart Points 5, Points Plus 8,  Old Points Program: 8

My Christmas Surprise

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I have the best husband in the world!!!I have literally drooled and dropped hint after hint for the past 2 years that it would be my dream to own the Panasonic  m100-400mm Leica lens for my birding and wildlife photography. Using a micro four thirds camera this provides me up to 800 mm in length when compared to a 35mm or dSLR  .  I literally sat in stunned silence when Guy told me to order it, that he really wanted me to have it.It arrived Friday and I took it out for a quick test drive right away.  Now the thing about this lens is it needs light, the more the better and of course it was cloudy and overcast, and it has a learning curve so I was struggling a bit but if this is bad light, can't wait to see what good light will be.  And who gets to shoot a bald eagle on their first test run of a new pro lens??

 

A few other shots..

Christmas Town 2018

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We decided to start a new tradition by visiting Christmas Town at Williamsburg's Busch Gardens this past week with Avery (and her parents haha).Since she is just 2 1/2 the focus was on her enjoying, the lights, the views and the sounds of the holiday.  We didn't expect her to get so interested in the rides and it was so much fun to experience her first big girl ride (teacups) with her and her mommy and then watch her be brave and ride the swings and the airplane by herself.  She was a real trooper as it was cold and she was without a nap.  No melt downs at all, just lots of smiles and laughs.   Here is some fun photos from our evening there.[envira-gallery id="12716"]So looking forward to doing this next year already.   

Winter has arrived

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Not ready for the winter of 2018 but a early December storm gave us 4-5” and a reminder to me that warm days are behind us and before us, though weeks away. 

Lemon Pound Cake

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So I was folding laundry the other evening and Keeping up with the Kardashians were on the TV (don't ask) and they were having this controversy over a lemon cake that apparently the family thought was homemade but came from a box.Fast forward a few days later and I see this post on Facebook for the "Famous" Kris Jenner Lemon Cake recipe (from a box) and decided to take a look.   I needed to take a cake to work for a holiday lunch and since I love lemon cake I thought why not, it is a super easy recipe.  I whipped one up on Saturday to try it out and all I and Guy could say was OMG!!! This is one fantastic cake.   I then proceeded to make a second one as we were devouring the first :)Here is the recipe straight from the Duncan Hines website (hahaha):Ingredients:

  • 1 package Duncan Hines® Signature Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
  • 1 (3.4 oz.) package instant lemon pudding and pie filling
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup water
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt® or tube pan.
  • Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in large bowl.
  • Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan (I used a bundt pan)
  • Bake 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
  • Cool cake on wire rack for 25 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool completely.
  • Dust with sifted confectioner’s sugar.
  • Baking Tip: Glazed Lemon Pound Cake: Place ½ cup Duncan Hines® Creamy Home- Style Classic Vanilla Frosting in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on High 10 to 15 seconds; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

And the cake:It was a huge win at work.  Lots of requests for the recipe and no one could believe it was from a box either.  Definitely will be a go to when I need a cake for an event!