Recipe Ahoy! Low-Fat Chicken Salad

Summer is upon us here in the Pacific Northwest. Hot afternoon sun leaves me craving something cool to nibble on for lunch. Normally that looks something like: salad, salad with chicken, salad, salad, salad. Sometimes I want a little something different.

Sandwiches have a ton of bread and tend to leave me sleepy but the afternoon.
Mayo salads - like chicken, egg, or potato salad, are well, loaded with mayo! (talk about sleepy afternoon...)
Wraps are sneaky calories and can be more calories and saturated fat than most breads. Plus there is often way too much wrap to filling ratio - so what's left for your intrepid heroine to do?!

Enter the Low-Fat Chicken Salad.

Let the mise en place begin!

To start - chicken. I got a family pack of chicken thighs and had made up some chicken tandoori and peppered chicken the day before for dinner. The next day, we shredded the leftovers and I started with 3/4ths of a cup of that for the base of the dish.

Next - the secret!
(Want to know the secret of recipes that call for mayo? Just don't use it!)
So, if I'm not using mayo, what am I going to use? Well, I need something with tangy flavor, lubricating abilities, something that can mingle flavors, and something thick enough it won't go straight through the bread.
Any ideas yet?                  Low-Fat plain yogurt.

Yes, yogurt.
Its tangy, thick, lubricating, and even though it is low fat - it isn't full of crazy ingredients!
Try it.
No...just try it.
If you are nervous about it - cut it in half - for any salad recipe you are planning to use mayo for swap half of the required amount with low-fat plain yogurt.

Because I'm slowly switching over - I'm using 3/4ths yogurt in any mayo recipe. For this recipe you'll need two big tablespoons yogurt and one regular tablespoon of mayo.

I know, not so pretty at the moment...

Next up - all the tasty bits!

1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh carrots -

1/4 cup thinly sliced celery - 

1/2" slice of raw yellow onion, minced into tiny bits -

A spoonful of grated Parmesan. Actual cheese please!

A handful each of orange flavored (or regular) dried cranberries and raw sliced almonds -  

Getting much prettier!

A 1/4 cup of quartered green grapes (yes grapes) and a 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black peppercorns -

Be adventurous! 

Mix thoroughly and let sit for at least an hour (way better overnight) so the flavors can meld a bit. Add in a pinch or two of dill if that suits your taste.

Next - stuff into a low-fat pita pocket with some spinach and mixed greens and enjoy for a flavorful, guilt free and sleepy-feeling free lunch!

Recipe Summary:

Combine in a medium mixing bowl -

3/4ths cup cooked chicken
2 tbsp low-fat plain yogurt
1 tbsp mayo
1/4th cup carrots - thinly sliced
1/4th cup celery - thinly sliced
1/4th cup onion - minced fine
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
1/4th cup grapes - quartered
Handful each of dried cranberries and raw sliced almonds
10 peppercorns - grated
dill to flavor

Let sit covered overnight in the fridge.
Remove and enjoy!

My City My Loft - Contest continues through June 19th!

Still keeping my fingers crossed on getting a Loft bicycle from Electra! 

I made it to the top 50 - now I could use your help getting into the top 15. The top 15 entries receive a bike and a go-pro camera. Then the winners are asked to shoot video from around their city - showing off the cool spots, the hidden trails, and whatever else makes their city awesome. 

The contest goes through the 19th and you can vote once each day. 

Click HERE to cast your vote!

Help me win a bike!! It's easy, just vote :-)

Hi lovelies!

Some of you may recall my kick-ass old bike bake in Manchester - a neon green Electra. Unfortunately it could not make the trip with us out to Seattle and I had to give it up. *tiny violin*

I have always missed that bike.

Fortunately, Electra is having a bike contest and the prize is a brand shiny new Electra Loft and a new go-pro camera! They want the winners to shoot video of their cities and basically share the love.

I posted my video (basically me walking around to some of my favorite spots in town) and would love, love, love if you would vote for me. It looks like there are only 29 contestants that were chosen for the online review portion and there are 15 bikes available. Help me be one of the lucky 15 and you'll get to see some videos made with that go-pro camera, including an epic tour of all my favorite spots in Washington!

You can watch all the videos HERE

My video is titled, "This is my city," and the cover still is me in black with a yellow scarf walking in front of a houseboat.

Thank you for your support!

Love,

V

The Long Awaited HOUSE TOUR!!!

*happy sigh*
It has been a long, long time and there are still a few little things to wrap up - but I've come to the conclusion that there will always be a few little things to wrap up. So this is where we live. Welcome to the Silver Moon House!

This is the main entrance / mud room / pantry / and storage area. Everything in a tiny home has to do double, and sometimes triple, duty.

You can spot:

 - My apron
 - A picture from my grandpa
 - Cutting boards (one in the shape of a frog!)
 - A tea cozy
 - Magnets
 - Dog treats
 - A microwave
 - Cereal
 - Tang!

Here is a little bit further into the house. We have a 3/4ths fridge that I got for free from the Kaplan Institute that closed in the U District. When we hauled it out it was gross. The freezer was totally filled with ice and abandoned frozen lunches. There were stains and sticky fluids and all sorts of ickyness. Ewwww. 

It took about a week to clean it out, let it thaw, dry it out, bleach it, wait a couple days, bleach it again, wash it, and then detail clean it with cotton swabs and more bleach. 

I can proudly say it is all nice and fresh in there now! :-)

A 3/4ths fridge is perfect for Hubbs and I. I've noticed that being able to actually see where the food is means that less of it goes bad. Yay! Much less forgotten food!

Making tea first thing in the morning!

Open shelves above the cabinets. 

Happy Plants! 

 

This is the clothes hanger we got for the items that need to line dry. It is strong enough to hold tons of clothes but then collapses down to this teeny tiny towel bar. We mounted it on the back of the door to the shared work-space. 

Above the drying rack is my purse storage. Have I mentioned I have a growing fondness for purses? Unfortunately / fortunately for me - a tiny space requires limiting the amount of earthly possessions so I shrunk it down to two everyday purses and one overnight bag. 

Roll-out cabinet kitchen storage

We left this cabinet open so the pup would have his very own space. 

There are two small shelves above him for storage of cookie sheets (top shelf) and dog supplies, treats, and extra toys (middle shelf). 

The poster was a gift from Hubb's mum. 

In the back corner you can see the stacked metal stools. We searched all over for stackable counter-height stools! Guess where we found 'em. Guess!

Fred Meyer for $20. 

Ridiculous. 

Bed room area

Floating handmade computer desk

Living room overview. (You can spot my bow!)

This is the reading nook / music wall / clothing storage / rolling library area. 

Hubbs looks so happy hanging out in the hammock and reading the Stranger! 

We had thought about getting an actual "chair" but the hammock has been so much better - I can clean under it easily, we can move it where ever since there are plenty of other hanging spots throughout the house, and a person can easily sleep there - so couch surfing hooray!

 

        Entry way storage                           Specially built shoe storage

Well, that's about it! I hope you enjoyed the tour. Now, its time to go out and play. 

Thanks for visiting!

Secret bonus pic - this is why it is the "Silver Moon" house!