Cook And Carry

A good friend had surgery yesterday. She's back home today and I promised that I would bring a meal. Because the temperatures have hovered around 90 degrees all week, I thought a salad supper (or lunch if I can get out the door early enough) would be appropriate. Plus, it's all easy to make and nearly everything was done last night. Mornings around here are pretty busy with Baby Girl and Little Sister.

I called to make sure they liked chicken salad. Hope they like it the way I make it. I don't use a recipe, but I'm writing down what I did this time—this is how I make it for sandwiches. (I make several different ways.) This is the way that Big Sister likes it. I made buckets of it while I was on my extended stay in the midwest. She took it to school for lunch; she ate it for after school snacks; she ate it before bedtime if she was still hungry. She was always hungry.

CHICKEN SALAD

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (that's 1 package at my store)
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt (I just give it a good shake)
1 large rib celery, diced fine
1 medium red apple, diced (I leave the peel on for color)
1/2—3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
sprinkle of salt
a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice
enough Duke's mayonnaise (or other good quality mayo) to make it spreadable

Cook chicken in water with seasoning salt added until tender, about 40-45 minutes. Let cool in broth, until cool enough to handle. Chop chicken medium-fine. In a large bowl, add in celery, apple and cheese. Add in enough mayonnaise to make it spreadable. I start with 3 or 4 big tablespoons full and stir and then add more, one spoonful at a time, until I get the right amount. (Because chicken breasts and celery and apples are different sizes, it's hard to be precise with a mayo measurement.) Stir until well blended.


Here are the links to the meal we will deliver a little later today:

CHICKEN SALAD (recipe above)
GARDEN PASTA SALAD
APPLE COLE SLAW
CUCUMBER SALAD
BANANA NUT BREAD (for breakfast or a snack)
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (recipe on back of Nestle's Semi-Sweet chips bag)

I added a box of fancy crackers to enjoy with the chicken salad, if they don't make sandwiches. I hope they'll get a couple of meals from this delivery. Some of these recipes make enough that we also will have salad here. It's a win-win kind of cooking!