Honey Lemon Smoked Almond Chicken Salad

Marinade/Dressing

Whisk together these ingredients:
3 Tbsp parsley
Zest of one lemon (about 3 tsp)
Juice of one lemon (about 4 Tbsp)
3 T Honey
2 T spicy brown or Dijon Mustard
1 clove Garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Add 1/3 cup olive oil slowly and set aside

Prepare Chicken

Choose 1 lb. (organic if possible) chicken tenders. Rinse and pierce with a fork. Pour 3/4 of the marinade/dressing in a plastic zip loc bag along with the chicken.
Refrigerate 30 or more minutes.

While chicken is marinating, prepare the following:


Combine
1 medium or large apple, diced (organic golden delicious works well)
1/4 c chopped onion
1/4 c chopped smoked almonds (or other nut)
1/4 c mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/4 c raisins
remaining fourth of marinade/dressing

Cover and refrigerate while cooking chicken

heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet. Add 1 clove chopped garlic and 1/4 cup chopped onion. Sautee for about 5 minutes. Add chicken tenders and discard marinade. Cover and cook thoroughly. Remove from heat, cool and dice.

Remove salad from refrigerator, add chicken and stir gently.

Serve over a bed of organic spinach or other green.

Greener Living

I went to the library the other day and randomly picked up a book called "Sara Snow's fresh living". The 'tag-line' on the cover of the book reads "room by room guide to a Greener, Healthier Family and Home". Little did I know the impact it would have on our home.

My husband's recent cholesterol levels were high and his thyroid level was off. That, along with my situation with a fractured hip and the need to lose weight gives us no choice but to change our eating habits, or suffer dire consequences.

I began praying and asking God to help us with this situation as our food intake had become quite an 'addiction'. We are addicted to foods that contain all kinds of chemicals and preservatives and all things not good for us. As I look back over the past few weeks, I am amazed at how God began putting things in my path to help me even before I asked for help.

In addition to this realization, I was also reminded of the gmo's (genetically modified organisms) that are being 'fed' to us in the United States and the fact that there are no laws enforcing the labeling of these harmful altered foods on our grocery shelves. Along with eliminating certain foods, including all fast foods (except Subway) we are taking away the processed foods and those likely with gmo's, and adding in more organic foods in our diet.

Today I picked up Sara's book again.

Not only are we looking at what we put into our bodies, we are looking at what we are putting on the outside in the form of lotions, soaps and cleaners. Today I made drastic changes in our cleaning products.

I replaced our all purpose cleaner with 1/2 distilled vinegar to 1/2 water in a spray bottle. I tried a furniture polish made of 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil and it worked wonderfully! (No chemicals!). We are using baking soda to scour, hydrogen peroxide to disinfect and lemon juice to clean windows...

I can't believe how easy it was to use common household items and how easy it was to make the change! Not only is using natural cleaners better for us,it's more cost efficient, not to mention the fact that we are not harming the environment.

How wonderful it is to experience freedom from chemicals as we try to live happier healthier lives!

We are far from 'arriving'... but we have taken some 'baby steps'...