Chicken Salad Remix

Took this recipe and mixed it up a little. It ended up being super duper tasty and made enough for a few lunches. Yum! If you haven't read her blog, you should! She makes cooking seem so effortless. I love the twists she makes on comfort food. I have made her enchiladas before and they also turned out real yummy.
What you need::

• 3 boneless/skinless Chicken thighs
• 2 stalks Celery, Chopped
• 3 whole Green Onions, Chopped
• 2 cups Grapes, Halved
• 1/4 cup Mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Plain Yogurt Or Sour Cream (I used sour cream)
• 1/2 cup Half-and-half (optional...depending on how thin you want the dressing to be)
• A Small Handful Of Fresh Dill, Minced ( didnt use fresh, but the tin seasoning)
• 1/2 cup Slivered Almonds (optional...i forgot to get this at the grocery store)
• 1 Tablespoon (to 2 Tablespoons) Brown Sugar
• Juice Of One Lemon
• Kosher Salt To Taste
• Fresh Ground Black Pepper To Taste

If you are comparing my altered recipe to hers, I did not use a fryer chicken. I dont know about anyone else but chicken is super gross to carve and skin. I feel that just buying the boneless/skinless just cuts out the middle step. 

1. Get large pot and boil water

2. Dump chicken in the boiling water and boil until chicken in cooked throughout

3. Once chicken is cooked throughout, cut chicken in bite size chunks.

4. Mix together mayo, sour cream, brown sugar and lemon juice. I added a 1/4c lemon juice just because. It is up to you how much lemon taste you want in your dressing.

5. Add 1tsp of dill. Please add more if that is what you like. As you may have noticed, this recipe is made for your taste buds. 

6. ***This step is optional***  I added a little bit of the half and half. Not as much as the recipe calls for because I didnt want the dressing to be really thin but I also did not want it to be totally thick. Pour it in a little at a time, because the tiniest bit makes a difference in thickness.

 7. Throw in the celery, grapes, onions, . Like Pioneer Woman, I am not a huge celery fan. I cut my stalks length wise into 3 long sections. Then chopped from there.

 8. Coat the salad in the dressing. Mix really well so that the dressing does not just sit on the bottom.

 
 9. Enjoy :) Even Dan, my husband thought it was delish and that means A LOT!!!!

When I was first making it, I thought that the 3 chicken breasts would not make a whole lot. In the end, I feel we have a really good amount left over for lunches. Let me know if you tried something different and if it did.didn't work out.  I would love to know if there is something else I should try!
Thanks for dropping by!
-Shawna-

Picture frame --> Chalkboard

Ever since I laid eyes on this blog I have ALWAYS wanted to make a chalkboard! I think it would be fun to have countdowns, notes to people, grocery lists, signs, etc. So I checked out Goodwill (more times than I would like to admit) and started my journey :)
What you will need::
Wooden frame
Wood backing
Spray paint (I used a cream color)
Chalkboard paint (I used black, but they now make them in MANY different colors)
Paint brush

I bought this frame at Goodwill but it did not come with a wood backing. The LOVELY gentleman at Home Depot measured out a thin wood board to fit the frame. They even threw away the glass and OOGLY picture (it looked like it was drawn by someone's foot) and put the board in the frame so it wouldnt fall out on the way home. Thanks Home Depot man!

 Cover your area well before painting with the spray paint. PLEASE dont copy me as I am a messy painter and dont care to take the time to cover the area thoroughly :)

 Spray away! Cover the frame completely. I did a couple coats because there were a few chips that needed to be covered.

 Paint the board with primer first. The Home Depot man said that the wood tends to soak up the chalkboard paint, especially because it is so thin. I did one coat of primer,

 Behold...the chalkboard paint! It is really cool that this stuff comes in so many different colors. I went classic black. Its because im classy :)

 You will need to do a few coats of this. Make sure you are painting evenly, as you dont want a bumpy board and you dont want streaks.

 The directions say that you need to let the board alone for 3 days. After that, get chalk and hold it vertically to the board. Wipe it across the board so it makes the chalky streaks. After the board it covered in chalk rubbing, rub the chalk in by making small circular motions with a paper towel, to rub the chalk into the board. Its the "breaking in" process.

Voila! You have a beautiful chalkboard!!! I am SUPER excited to use it :) I also got a plastic bucket of chalk for $1 at Target (YAY dollar section).
Let me know how yours turns out! Have a good week :)
-Shawna-