Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps

Sometimes when you're on the go, and don't want to grab fast food, but need food fast, the perfect solution is one of those rotisserie chickens that you can grab at the grocery.  After we've had dinner, I'll save the carcass for some chicken soup.  The other day we picked up chickenzilla.  This thing was enormous. 

So the next day for lunch, I picked it's bones for some Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps and then put the carcass in the soup pot.  I love lettuce wraps, and the kids like them, too.  First I made my chicken salad.  I'm not going to bother with exact amounts, because you won't have the same amount of chicken.  Here's what I added:  a stalk of celery thinly sliced, some diced vidalia onion, mayo, honey mustard, dried cranberries, sliced almonds, salt & pepper.

I washed and dried several leaves of red leaf lettuce, and placed some chicken salad in the middle.

Wrap it up, and a couple of these make the perfect summertime lunch.

Thanks for popping in and lunching with me.  I'm linking this up with Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays.

{Almost} Wordless Wednesdays - When you have boys...

...everyday life looks a lot more like this

than this.

Thanks for popping in and taking a look at SB's bug playground.

A Little Mood Lighting

I love HomeGoods.  I may not buy something every time I'm in there, but I do love to hunt for those extra good bargains, and they have them by the buckets full. 

I'd been searching for some outdoor mood lighting.  I wanted some kind of hanging pendant for our gazebo seen here.  It needed to be candle powered because I didn't want to be running extension cords, and most of all it needed to be cheap, because I hate to separate from my money.  So look what I found red-tagged the other day.(Ignore the bungee cord, I'll find a better solution.)

Isn't she purty?

And all lit up for evening.

Magical isn't it?  Love the light & shadows it throws off.  Loved the $8 price tag even more.

Thanks for popping in and checking out my newest thrifty purchase.

Mango-Nectarine Sorbet

When the weather is hot, all you want to do is lounge around by the pool and eat frozen treats.  Unfortunately a diet consisting entirely of icecream or frozen margaritas would make it impossible to don a bikini.  So in order to not be forced to wear a coverup by the pool, I made some sorbet to enjoy.  I'm not going to pretend that this is diet food, but it is fruit, and not made with heavy cream, so it's certainly a better alternative.

I had originally planned on making a mango-peach sorbet, but when I went to the farmer's market, the nectarines were looking especially yummy to me.

I started by making a simple syrup.  I heated up 3/4 cup water and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until the sugar dissolved.  I let that cool while preparing the fruit.

I peeled and chopped 1 large mango and 3 nectarines and placed them in a blender with 1/4 cup pineapple juice.

I pureed the fruit, added the cooled simple syrup, and whirred it until thoroughly blended.

I poured the mixture into a plastic container, put the cover on, and popped it into the freezer.

After an hour, I mixed it up, and put it back in the freezer.

Pull it out in another hour or so and mix it up again.  Serve immediately or if you leave it in the freezer longer, leave it out for 10 minutes to thaw to a serving consistency.

Thanks for popping in and cooling off with me.  I'm linking this up to I <3 Naptime's Sundae Scoop Party, Kitchen Bouquet's Ice Cream Social, and the links below.

 

Copycat by the Pool

Debbie over at Debbiedoos Blogging & Blabbing is hosting a Magazine Copycat party, and as usual I'm late to the party.  I had absolutely every intention to have my post ready to roll, but life got in the way, and I didn't even get a magazine in my hands until last night.  I flipped through a copy of Cottages & Bungalows and found the perfect image to copy. 

My criteria was that it needed to be able to be recreated with stuff I had on hand.  Obviously, we have a pool,

and the rest of the stuff looked pretty basic.  My options for that tray were this one, but it was too small.

This basket, but it was too deep.

Or this woven bamboo one, which I ended up choosing.

I pulled out the craft paints, and went to town.

And here she is all painted up and by the pool.  I used flowers cut from my garden.

It's not an exact copy, but I like how it turned out.  And with a wine spritzer by the pool - how could I go wrong?

Thanks for stopping by and painting with me.