Good morning!  I am enjoying the peace and quiet before Rylie wakes up and my day really begins.  Here is a yummy salad recipe I found at the Better Homes and Gardens website. 

                        

Grilled Chicken Wilted Salad

Ingredients
1  lb. chicken tenderloins
1  medium onion, halved lengthwise, cut into thin wedges
3  Tbsp. olive oil
1  Tbsp. snipped fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
3/4  tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/2  tsp. salt
1/4  cup cranberry or pomegranate juice
2  Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2  6-oz. pkg. baby spinach leaves
1/4  cup sliced pitted kalamata olives
1/4  cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, toasted

Directions
1. Heat indoor electric grill or grill pan over medium heat. In a bowl combine chicken and onions. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon each pepper and salt. Grill chicken and onions on grill rack or in grill pan for 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F, and onions are tender, turning once.

2. Meanwhile, for dressing, in a saucepan combine juice; vinegar; and remaining olive oil, pepper, and salt. Bring juice mixture just to boiling; remove from heat. Place spinach, olives, pine nuts, chicken, and onions in an extra-large salad bowl; toss to combine. Pour warm dressing over salad mixture. Toss lightly. Cover salad with a large plate for 1 to 2 minutes or just until spinach is wilted. Remove plate. Serve immediately. Makes 6 servings.

* About Kalamata Olives: Kalamata olives are a variety of Greek olives with a rich fruity flavor. They are a dark purple color, almond shaped and about 1/2 to 1-inch long. They are available in the grocery store packed in jars of oil or brine, or sometimes can be found at the deli counter.

** Test Kitchen Tip: To toast nuts, spread the pine nuts or slivered almonds in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a 350?F oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown, watching carefully and stirring once or twice so the nuts don't burn. You can toast the nuts up to a day ahead, if desired.

I've done a salad a bit similar to this.  I buy a bag of Spinach, or whatever looks good to me that day.  Cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts and chop them up in bite size pieces.  Toast almond slivers.  Slice a few strawberry's and toss it all together and then top with whatever shredded cheese (I prefer mozzarella or swiss) I have on hand.  I serve it with a Raspberry Walnut vinaigrette made by Ken's Steakhouse.  If you buy some pre-cooked chicken, there really isn't a whole lot to do.

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Samantha came and got Rylie on Saturday to stay the night.  Rylie was so excited when she heard that Sammi was going to pick her up on Saturday.  She kept asking all Friday night "Where Tammi?"  "I want Tammi."  Then when she woke up Saturday morning, the first thing she said was "Tammi.  I wanna go with Tammi." 

So she was more than ready when Sammi showed up at 2 to pick her up.  We were holding her and kissing her and telling her we loved her and she just kept saying "Where's my carseat?  I need my carseat."  Which sounded more like "wheres my carffee?"  And we were a bit confused till we asked her to show us what she wanted and she ran for the backdoor.  She was ready to go and go now.  LOL

We had a surprise birthday party for for Rylie's Grandma on Sunday.  We arranged for the boys to take her up to see her husband, still recupperating at a nursing home, in the morning.  He surprised her with a dozen red roses and a birthday card.  The boys said she was so happy that she started to cry and kept kissing Bob. It was really sweet.

In the meantime, we went over to her house and began decorating with some balloons and the kids all worked on coloring birthday banners for her.  We also bought her a bunch of white sweetheart roses from all the boys, the wives and the grandkids.  We set up the grills and began cooking.  There was a ton of food, a bit of BBQ chicken, hamburgers and hotdogs, potatoe salad, pasta salad, coleslaw, baked beans, brownies and birthday cake. 

I think Grandma was really surprised and pleased with everyone remembering her birthday and making a big deal out of it.  She kept saying "I can't remember the last time I had a birthday."  Of course, someone reminded her it was just about a year ago.

We gave her a real pretty silver frame with an inscription about Grandmothers on it with a silver heart hanging on the front.  You can open it up and there is a little box with some paper that Grandma can write memories of the kids on, or save pictures that they make for her, or whatever.  I put one of the new pictures of Rylie in it. 

I wish I had a recent picture of all the kids.  But the only one I have is about 3 years old, when Rylie was just a few months old at Davids graduation ceremony.  Other than that I've just got pictures with 2 here or those 3 there, but none with all of them together.  I guess it's time to get all of them together and get a nice picture of all 4 of the kids. 

That is going to be a challenge, getting them all together at the same time.  With everyone's busy schedule it will be a bit difficult.  This next weekend Ray and I have plans.  The following weekend David is going to be away with his girlfriend.  I'll have to plan a family BBQ and see when they can all get together with us.  Rylie isn't much of a problem...I know her schedule...it's just her attitude I have to worry about, LOL.

Hopefully the princess has a good attitude today.  I have an appointment with the doctor to go over the EKG and test's that were done recently.  I'm not worried, I haven't had anymore chest pain and have been feeling fine.  I'm sure he'll just tellme to be sure to stay on the med's and come back in 3 months.  (Knock wood)

Have a great week!

Tags: grilled, chicken, salad