Classic Chicken Salad and No More Snow!

I've been sitting here doing nothing for two hours now.

Aaaaaahhhh...mazing.

With all of our snow days and one teacher development day this is the first time my son has gone to school in three whole weeks!

This morning he literally ran down the driveway, pulling me along with him, yelling excitedly about the bus as it pulled up in front of our house.

Me?  I buckled him into his seat on the bus, went inside, turned on some very loud music, hopped in the shower, and then plopped down right here.

And here I've sat for the past two hours.

I'm sort of half-heartedly attempting to will myself to get up, clean the house, defrost meat for dinner, etc...but not really.  I've been blessed by a booming popcorn business ever since I started things back up and today is also one of the rare days when I don't have any orders to fill.

Aaaaahhh...

So, here I sit.  Dreaming of dinner.  Perusing recipes.  Commenting on friends' blogs.

:-) I still have an hour left till the bus brings him home.  This is the life!

I've been somewhat absent from the blog lately for a couple of reason- first of all?  POPCORN.

lol it is all popcorn all the time in my life at the moment.  

Secondly?  That pesky winter light.  By the time I'm ready to serve dinner it's definitely dark out and often I just throw my hands in the air and serve a meal without breaking out my crazy lighting setup and photographing it for you lovely people.

I've been a neglectful blogger of late, for sure.  :-)

Anyway, the time has changed, the weather is warming, and I'm back.

Hopefully.  You can *kind of* take my word for it.

I think.  :-)

I've been on this crazy chicken salad kick lately.  I know, I know...my love of chicken salad is well documented.

But I discovered this chicken salad at the salad bar of my grocery store of all places that I simply can't get enough of.

It's truly become a bit of an addiction.

Oh, I need more white chocolate for a popcorn order?

Better grab a little tub of that chicken salad while I'm at the store...

Oh, we need more milk?

I'll just grab a little scoop of that salad, it is almost lunch time...

Oh, I'm driving past the grocery store and really don't need anything?

Maybe I'll just pop in for a little chicken salad, so I'll have it in the fridge...

It's RIDICULOUS.

And here's the thing- it's so simple.

Aggravatingly simple, to be honest, because for something so basic I had a really hard time recreating it it at home.

I have an arsenal of delicious chicken salad recipes I've developed and this one was just so plain.

Plain but delicious :-)

After many tries, after perusing a ton of "simple/basic/Southern/classic/etc" chicken salad recipes, I FINALLY got it.

No more overpriced salad bar salad for this lady!

I'm sure it would be excellent in a sandwich or wrap, but me?  I love it on a sliced tomato or on top of an avocado, sprinkled with s&p and drizzled with a little white balsamic.

Not feeling so fancy?  I happen to know for a fact it's also outstanding by the forkful standing in front of an open fridge...just saying :-)

Classic Chicken Salad
Click to see the recipe on Allrecipes.com!

2 large chicken breasts, cooked*
4 stalks celery, chopped finely
1/2 C mayo
1/4 C sliced almonds (optional)
 2 Tbsp sweet pickle relish**
3 Tbsp sliced green onion
2 tsp sugar**
1 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Put chicken breast in a food processor and pulse until coarsely shredded.  Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Mix in all remaining ingredients, stir to combine thoroughly.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

*I always bake or grill my chicken breasts, but I personally like them boiled for this recipe.

**To keep it low carb I use Mt. Olive Splenda® sweetened relish and Splenda® rather than sugar.