lydia's chicken salad

To assauge a heavy stomach following a hearty lunch, it's nice to have a light low-carb din din.  "Created" this chicken salad using what produces were lying around the fridge slightly modeled after Virginia's Tuna Salad, due to my aversion to celery, lack of tuna (not too big a fan) and love of broccoli. Tasty and fulling, but not overpoweringly so, may try to spice things up next time with a shake of cayenne or red pepper flakes perhaps (do you put those in salads)? Raisins could be a nice touch too. Hmm.

(makes 1 serving)

2 eggs

1 broccoli head

chicken strips

ham

mayonnaise

black pepper

salt

- Mum keeps ziplocs of chicken strips in the fridge for us kids to whip up a sandwich with, but you could make your own real easy! Bake chicken breasts/ drum sticks (they're tastier) for 35 to 40 min - or until you can insert and pull a fork out smoothly - and strip the meat off. Or you could get a can of chicken breast and strip them up.

- Cut up ham into little pieces.  Chop the stalk off the broccoli and cut them into little bits (refer to above picture).

- Follow the directions to boiling eggs from Virginia except add the broccoli in while you're at it. So, place eggs and broccoli in pot, heat until water comes to a boil and remove pot from stove. Cover and let sit for 10 min then drain broccoli and place eggs in lukewarm water. Cool, peel and chop eggs.

- Mix eggs, broccoli, ham and chicken together with one big tablespoon (or more, if you'd like) of mayonnaise. Salt and pepper to taste. And voila, you have chicken salad for dinner! 

how to make a lazy sloppy joe grilled cheese sammich

1 can of chili, I used wolf brand chili (no beans)
8 slices of wheat bread
1 small stalk of scallion / green onion
2 romain tomatoes
4 slices of any sort of cheese
margarine

- Cut tomatoes into cubes and scallion into small pieces, any shape will do. Heat them in a skillet over medium low. Season with salt.
- Stir in wolf brand chili until heated. Pour out in bowl.
- Cut cheese into small slices. Butter one side of each slice of bread with margarine. Place slice of bread with buttered side down and top with sloppy joe mix and cheese. Place other slice (buttered side up) on top.
- Cook each side until slightly brown.

A sudden chili craving came upon me today and I consulted my chef of a bestie for advice on a piquant yet manageable recipe. Oh, was I happy when she sent me to Blog Chef's sloppy joe grilled cheese recipe complete with step by step photo references. It was slightly daunting at first, as there was no ground beef to be found but luckily I remembered the can of Wolf Brand chili sitting in the pantry and all was saved. So here is my simpler and slightly healthier (or so I'd like to believe) version of the sloppy joe sammich for the apathetic cook. 

Ps. The parents both approve!