Lime and Cilantro Chicken Salad

A couple of years ago my dear friend Kelly gave me this salad recipe, and I have been deeply indebted to her ever since. It is my favorite meal. In the summer, we eat it about once a week. In the winter, at leas once a month. The salad dressing is, of course, what makes it so amazing. Ryan puts it on tons of stuff and Isaac calls it "Special Sauce" because it makes everything taste better. Below is the recipe, with a couple changes to help simplify it.

Salad Dressing

1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 teaspoons puréed chipoltle chiles in adobo sauce (I use what I need and freeze the rest)
2 tablespoons of honey
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro stems and leaves

Mix the first 6 ingredients in the blender. After well blended, add cilantro and pulse until desired consistency. Set aside.

Salad

1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup shredded chicken
1/2 cup chopped red peppers and/or chopped tomatoes
4 cups of mixed greens ( I usually use romaine and spinach if I've got it)
3/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1 cup grated Jack cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand)
1 chopped avocado

Mix all the ingredients together. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad and toss gently with tongs.

Splish Splash

A few days ago my kids and I sat down and looked through all the blog posts of the past year. We had such a good time! There were so many things that happened that I had forgotten about. It made me resolved to blog more about the everyday activities that go on in our home. So, for my own and posterity's benefit more than anyone else, I am going to try and do just that. Here are a few pictures from the other night when the kids had an especially good time in the bathtub.

Isaac loves taking baths some days (like today), and other days it's like pulling teeth to get him clean. Maddie, on the other hand, is always up for playing in the water. Lately she will even ask to take a bath. I found some Dora bubble bath for her and some Lightning Mcqueen bubble bath for Isaac (a total slave to commercialism) and she is completely obsessed with these bottles of soap. Many times, the first words out of her mouth when I get her up in the morning are "Bano! Jabon! Dora! Lightning!" (Translation: bath! Soap! Dora! Lightning!). I have to keep the bathroom door shut at all times or she will sneak in there during the day and reek havoc with her bubble bath. She would rather play with that "toy" than anything in their toy box.

Lately Maddie has been speaking in more complete phrases every once in awhile. Here are a few of her most common sayings:

• "I NEED my cars!"
• "Watch Dora peas (please) mama!"
• "I NO want it!" (this one is usually said at the dinner table)
• "Here you go, Isaac!"
• "What ya doin' Mama?"
• "Papa at school?"
• "Read a book!?!!"
  
• "Bess you!" (whenever anyone sneezes or coughs)
  
• "I NEED my blanket peas (please) mama!" 
• "Boots a monkey! Boots a monkeeeeeeeey!"
  
• Loves to try and sing the lyrics to the songs Life is a Highway and Book of Mormon Stories (such diverse taste in music)
• She loves to count (thanks to Dora and Ryan for practicing with her) and she can count to 10 in English (minus the number 5--she always skips the number 5)
  

Today I was talking to Isaac after church and I told him that I had heard from a friend that he did a great job during singing time and that he knew the words to all the songs. He looked at me, proud as a peacock, and without saying a word, put both hands behind my neck and gave me a great big smooch on the lips. I'm guessing he liked the compliment!

And to think...

a month ago, I thought this was a lot of snow...

Until we woke up to this amount of snow yesterday. You know it's cold when you get excited about a high of 25 degrees in next week's forecast. Today's high was -1 with a windchill of -20 to -30. Even preschool was canceled today. The only place I've taken the kids all week was to playgroup and the grocery store this past Wednesday because we hit a heat wave and temps reached as high as 12 degrees.

Needless to say, we have a little cabin fever around here. But we have all managed to stay healthy this winter and we have a warm place to stay, so I'm trying to focus on the positive. Spring will be here before we know it, right? And Spring in Iowa is absolutely fantastic, so I can survive, right? Right?

While housebound this week, I tried a new muffin recipe and it's a winner. I got the recipe here, but made a few changes to it, so below is the recipe I ended up using:

makes 12 muffins

For the Batter:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

For the filling:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

4 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

1 1/2teaspoons cinnamon

First, to prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar and whip until smooth. Form into a log on greased plastic wrap , making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly firm, 1-2 hours.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a bowl. Mix well and set aside. In another large bowl combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease muffin tins or add paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well 1/3 of the way with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 12 slices. Place a slice on top of the batter in each muffin well and gently press (don't press all the way to the bottom). Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes. Best if served at room temperature.

Happy New Year!

(Not sure what I'm doing by waving my hand in this picture, but it's the only family one we capture last night so it will have to do...)

Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2010!

Happy New Year!

2/3 of the way there

Taken just shy of 27 weeks.

As of this coming Thursday, I will be 3 months from my due date, so I guess that makes me almost 2/3 of the way there, right? The past 7 weeks I have been unbelievably easier than the first 20--I don't even have the words to describe the difference. While I never quite feel like myself when I'm pregnant (does anyone, really?), I may as well be a rock star compared to how I was doing a couple of months ago. I am counting my blessings and trying to curb the complaints.

We are really looking forward to adding to our family. When the baby comes, we will have 3 kids ages 3 and under. Crazy? Sure. But I bet there will never be a dull moment, and I definitely won't have time to be bored.

Am I ready?

Nope.

Would I change anything about my current situation?

Not a chance.

Bring it on.