Summer’s coming to an end…

Today was my daughter’s first day of school at her new school. We were so excited to take her and she was even more excited to get there!

I think they are going to miss each other after such a great summer…

On the car ride there…

So after taking pictures like the paparazzi while doing a drive by, and getting to see my daughter shake Ms. V’s hand, which will be the first of many times (a morning tradition where this amazing woman knows the name of every single student and there are almost 375 children!), we drove off. I don’t know if was the emotions of her starting this new incredible journey, or the realization of our dream for her going to this school came true, but whatever it was, I became teary eyed, which is not like me at all.

Anyway, on the drive home, trying not to talk, my son, who is very chatty says “Mom, is California on the world?”. Choked up, I tried to answer. Then he continues with “Is gun powder not so good for your body?”. What? Then “Mom, George’s bottom is on me”. After about five more questions like “has a dinosaur ever been in a volcano? ” (these questions were all asked within about 5 minutes by the way) I just started to laugh. In fact, I was laughing so hard, I was crying. Leave it to Tate to make me laugh, even if it wasn’t intentional. Our kids say the darndest things, don’t they?

So, since this first day of school kind of marks the last days of summer for us, I thought I would do one last summer chicken salad recipe. This one has an avocado dressing and is really good! I made the mistake of making 3 lbs like I usually do with my chicken salads. I forgot about the avocado not lasting past 2-3 days so next time, I’ll just do a pound and a half. Anyway, this is what you need for this yummy Avocado Chicken Salad:

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1-2 avocados (I used 1 1/2)
1 apple, diced (I used a pink lady apple)
2 ribs celery
raisins or some cut up grapes
roasted flax seeds (optional)

For the dressing you need:

1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil (per avocado) so if 2 then use 2 tbsp evoo
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
dash pepper
2 tsp celtic sea salt

Here is what you need to do:

Take grilled or baked chicken and blend. It’s so much easier and faster than chopping by hand!

Then blend apples and celery for just a few seconds…

Then pour everything into a big bowl, add raisin (or grapes) and set aside.

Next, blend together ingredients for dressing until smooth.

Now pour dressing in the big bowl, stir everything together, and enjoy! Oh and make sure to store it in a tightly sealed container so the avocado will last longer and keep its color.

How easy was that! I love my $45 food processor! I spend much less time in the kitchen lately.