Tasty Treat: Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich Recipe

Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I had this awhile back at a "potluck" brunch with my girlfriends. It is delicious!

PREP TIME 20 Min
READY IN 20 Min
SERVINGS 6 Servings

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
• 1 medium unpeeled red apple, chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Combine mayonnaise, lime juice and curry powder; add to chicken mixture and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

PERSONAL NOTE

I like to serve my Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches on a Croissant with a slice of Cheddar Cheese and a leaf of green or red leaf lettuce. I also usually add more curry powder than the recipe requires.

Travel Tips: Favorite Airlines for Traveling With Toddlers

Favorite Airline for Kids

I grew up traveling. When your dad works for an airlines, that is just what you do. The world (or at least the part of it that is on the airlines route map) became our class room. Every vacation had at least one educational trip to it. I never wondered what airlines I would travel...it was always Ozark, then TWA (after Ozark was bought out), and finally American.

As an adult, I still love traveling. When I started buying my own tickets, I still always looked for American deals. Perhaps it was loyalty, or maybe it was because I had acquired so many American frequent flyer miles, but I really did like American Airlines.

As I have morphed into this new phase of my life, I have learned traveling with a toddler can be challenging. The service you get from the Airline makes a huge difference in how enjoyable flying is for not only you, but also the people around you.

Since Baby Boy was born, we have flown on 4 major airlines: American (using up those flyer miles), Delta/Northwest, United, and Southwest.

• American put me in a seat next to another woman traveling with a lap child. This could have been dangerous, if one baby had become fussy, and the other decided to chime in. Our flight was not direct, and we had a long delay at the Dallas International Airport. I had to pay for my checked bag. The flight crew was friendly, and accommodated my requests for juice and water before take off. One flight attendant even offered to hold Baby Boy while I got situated.

• Delta and Northwest charged for each bag I checked. I had 3 bags and we paid for each one ($125). Their luggage fees are similar to American's. The flight crew was not as friendly as the American crew; however, they were still friendly (and generous with handing out snacks). We were offered a few options for snacks (cookies and nuts). And the flight crew came around asking if we wanted more. I stocked up on the cookies for when Baby Boy got hungry.
  

• United also charged for each bag we checked. The flight was on time. The flight crew was the least friendly of all of the airlines. They were actually a little snobby (IMHO). To tell us to turn off electronics, one of them tried to make a joke about his son's birthday, and said people that left their electronics on would be donating to his birthday present. He was trying to be funny, but really was not funny. We didn't get any snacks (our flight left at 5 pm).United is my least favorite airline for traveling with kids.
  

• Southwest is, by far, my favorite airline to fly when traveling with Baby Boy. We don't have pay for luggage. They voluntarily tell us to take our car seat through security in case there is an extra seat available. The flight crew proactively asked us if we needed anything for Baby Boy before takeoff. They let us know which bathroom had a changing table. AND...they were funny! People that work at Southwest enjoy their jobs, and it shows. We have flown Southwest twice, and it is always the airline of choice for us.
  

Chit Chat: A Pleasant Surprise

We recently traveled to Buffalo, NY for a vacation/family reunion with Kevin's family. I was pleasantly surprised when we got off the plane, and once in the airport saw a Fisher Price "Play Gate!" This was the first time I had ever seen anything like this in an airport.

I decided that this gate would be a life saver for us on the way back. Since we had to return our rental car 3 hours before our flight, I made a mental note that we would head straight to Gate 58 (the play gate) after going through security. This would be a great way to entertain Baby Boy (and tire him out) before boarding our flight.

The following Saturday when we got to the airport, we did head straight to the play gate. Baby Boy had fun playing with the other kids and discovering all the new toys. I now have some great ideas for Christmas, or things to watch for on Craiglist and at the local consignment stores.

Two of the toys that entertained Baby Boy the best were:

Laugh & Learn™ Smart Bounce & Spin Pony™

Teaches:

• Cause and effect


• Familiar objects


• Animals


• Animal sounds


• First words


• Greetings

Laugh & Learn™ Fun With Friends™ Musical Table

• Promotes understanding of letters, numbers, shapes, colors, opposites and greetings.


• Teaches in English and Spanish.

• Introduces baby to sing-along learning and role play.

• Fosters thinking skills and encourages problem-solving with numerous action/reaction activities.

Great Offer: Free Chocolate Fridays

In case you haven't heard, Mars is giving away free chocolate every Friday through the end of September. Make sure to visit RealChocolate.com after 9 a.m. EST on Fridays to sign up for a coupon for a Free Chocolate Bar to be mailed to you. This promotion is real. I signed up a few weeks ago and got my coupon in the mail already.

Heck...a girl need chocolate every once in a while. I think I may set a reminder in my calendar so I don't forget to go back every Friday!

Aspiring Photographer: Don't chase the animals

I love watching animals...the more rare, the better. Today, I decided to post pictures of some of the animals we have gone to great lengths to get pictures of in the wild. These are some older adventures.

Disclaimer: I am not a photographer (I just pretend to be one)!


Colorado—Memorial Day Weekend 2006

The first moose I have ever seen.
Note: Look close you can see him in the background.




I decided to get closer.
Little did I know that while I was carefully trying to get closer, another family would have the same idea. The problem—they started running toward me, and I was stuck between them and the moose. The moose came up to the road, and I was safely able to get back to our truck and snap this picture. The arm in the picture is of one of the dumb girls that thought it was a good idea to run at a moose.




Yellowstone National Park—May 2007

Grizzlies
I was determined to see a Grizzly Bear while we were at Yellowstone. On our second day there, this Grizzly crossed right in front of our truck just before we crossed Fishing Bridge.
It was enormous.



The next day we saw this grizzly crossing the Yellowstone River. If you look closely in the background, you can see three wolves.



We tried to get a closer picture of the bear. We thought it would cross the river, and then climb the hill to the road. It didn't (or we weren't fast enough to see it again). The wolves must have decided to follow the bear across the road because here is another picture of one of them. It was the fourth one to cross the road. My hubby was in the road and the wolves crossed right in front of him (he's probably lucky they didn't make him dinner!).




Buffalo
One question...What happened to his tail?

Great Offer: Free Pastry at Starbucks

Print this coupon and take it to Starbucks before 10:30 a.m. on July 21, 2009 for a free pastry with the purchase of a coffee. Make sure to join the Starbucks fan club on Facebook to get more great offers like this.

Chit Chat: Home Improvements

I am not a fixer-upper type of gal, but that is the sort of house my husband and I bought 4 years ago. Since we purchased our house, we have all new plumbing, a brand new bathroom (including the dry wall), new carpet, new doors, new paint, brand new kitchen, new kitchen floor, new door to the laundry room, new roof, new gutters, new sprinkler system, and new landscaping, and a brand new, create-your-own-blueprint shed. With the exception of the flooring and the gutters, we (and by we, I really mean my wonderful husband—after all, I did say I'm not a fixer-upper type of gal)have done it all.

The thing about home improvements is they look great when they are finished, but are they ever really finished? It seems we have tons of little projects—the final trim work, that just get pushed aside for the next big project. This summer we have committed to finish up all the little projects. I'll be really surprised if it really happens, but we have come a long way!


Now I am wondering if it is worth it...in this economy, that is. Considering that 2 houses on our block, with the exact same floor plan that were already fixed up, sold in the last year or so for less that what we paid for our house, I am guessing that we won't see the rewards of our sweat equity for a long time.

NOTE: Never purchase a fixer-upper home, just before the housing market crashes.

Great Offer: Mocha Mondays

Last Monday I was running late to work, and happened upon a great deal. Free Mocha Mondays at McDonalds. Stop by for a free sample on Mondays until August 3rd. Get more information here: http://www2.mcdonalds.com/mccafe/

Chit Chat: The Arm Rest and The Middle Seat

I was flying back from vacation with my family recently. Since the little one is under two, he flies as a lap child. The plane was full, so getting a row to ourselves just wasn't going to happen. I was stuck in the middle seat of our row. I hate sitting in the middle seat on the plane. I started wondering, who would sit next to me...would it be a kindred spirit, who's traveled with a lap child and knows how exhausting it can be, or would it be some business person tired from a week of travel, ready to quietly read the paper and snooze for the next 2.5 hours? A few minutes later, my answer cam to me: I was stuck next to the latter. A heavy-set, hairy armed man came tooling down the aisle and stopped by me. He slunk into the seat, and of course, promptly took over the arm rest. It never fails, every time I sit in the middle seat, I end up no arm rest (If you ask me, the person stuck in the middle seat should always get BOTH arm rests).

Now this arm rest is the arm rest that has the button to put my seat back, turn on my headphones, and adjust the volume for the said headphones. It has my seat number on the end of it. Everything about this arm rest says that it belonged to me! But this man felt that it belonged to him...and he was invading MY space! there were many scenarios to reclaim my space that played out in my mind. I could doze off, and oh so discreetly pushing his hairy arm off my arm rest, or I could be more obvious and just give him a really hard jab with my elbow as I took it back, or I could just simply ask for it back. I did none of the above. I simply sat in silence for the duration of the flight, listening to his snoring.