9.20.2009

Day in the Kitchen

So Ryan's new thing for lunch has been chicken salad sandwiches (odd, I know). He seems to go through phases with what he orders for lunch at work and lately he's been on a chicken salad kick. I think it has something to do with the buttery, delicious croissant it is served on but who knows, maybe it's really the chicken salad. Anyways, we were talking the other day and decided that we could save quite a bit of money if we just made the chicken salad ourselves and then he could take his own sandwiches to work. Since my culinary skills are very limited I googled "easy chicken salad" and came up with a recipe that only required 6 ingredients. Hmm, maybe I should have realized that these 6 ingredients (photographed below) were not going to make a good chicken salad. Oh well, lesson learned.


The recipe actually called for almonds too but Ryan declined the idea of adding that. Looking back I think it might have helped. Anyways, my next step was cooking the chicken. I can't believe I'm actually going to admit this but I had to google how to cook the chicken. Embarrassing, I know.

After I figured out what to do with the chicken I set out to chop the celery. Definitely something I can handle :)

And here's the end product - looks bland?? Yes, you're right. This recipe is very bland. I even think I actually did everything right but there just isn't any flavor in this chicken salad. Mom, Nicole, Alison, Courtney, (ANYONE) if you're reading this - I NEED help! Please help me find a recipe that I can handle so I can prove that I'm not a terrible wife and that I can make a decent chicken salad!!

Since I was unsure how my chicken salad was going to turn out I had also picked up a box of delicious goodness at the grocery store that I knew I could bake.

All I had to do was add eggs, vegetable oil and water to the mix. This is my kind of baking :)

I knew I could redeem myself with brownies.


Success - they turned out yummy! I'm glad I took a picture of the pan before we dug into them. That would of been embarrassing to admit how many we actually ate....

5 comments:

  1. When I make chicken salad I make it with canned chicken. It is a lot easier then cooking it and tastes just as good!

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  2. thank you for following my blog! glad you did. . .i love your blog! so cute. your little family is precious. and, sorry i don't have any great chicken salad recipes to share. i know my sis-in-law makes one with walnuts and granny smith apples and its good, but i don't know what else she puts in it :)

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  3. I like to add halved grapes or sweet apple bits. A place I ate the other day added tiny pineapple bits - it was different.

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  4. Aww Ski you tried, and that makes me so proud of you! I have a great chick salad recipe with tarragon that I've made and loved. I will find it and email you :) I put grapes in mine too and it's delish!

    90% of the time I use the canned chicken though. It's so easy and I like it. I'm impressed Ryno asked for this. Aaron turns his nose up to it everytime I make it. Rude!

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  5. I can now put my years of food network obsession to good use.
    Here's the scoop...

    This is a "man's salad" - without the frills, good for a cheap and yummy lunch.


    Chicken Salad:

    2 large cans of water packed chicken.
    2 large celery stalks (chopped)
    1 *finely* chopped scallion (optional)

    Light or Olive Oil Mayonnaise
    Good Seasoning Salt (I use 'Serendipity' - If you dont have any, use salt, pepper & garlic powder - although it's not quite as tasty)

    Drain and rinse canned chicken, repeat. Put chicken in large bowl and break up gently with a fork. Add chopped celery and scallions and about 1/2 cup mayo and mix well. You might have to add a little more mayo - just add until it is moist and sticks together, but not drowning - (From the picture it looks like your recipe called for too much mayo). Add about a teaspoon of seasoning salt, mix and taste. Add more if you need to and .... - that's it.

    You can also substitute the canned chicken with any leftover chicken or grocery store rotisserie, or whatever you have on hand... Also - adding a Tablespoon of finely chopped tarragon is great but not necessary.

    Hope this helps.

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