Avocado Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad for lunch, and this is a yummy reprieve from my normal recipe. I found it on Pinterest, along with so many other wonderful things! Love to get inspirations from this site.

Servings: 8 servings

Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients

3 cups cooked, diced chicken

3 cups cooked white rice

2 avocados, peeled, diced, and tossed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup mayonnaise

1 to 2 teaspoons pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves

Mix all ingredients and chill.

Avocado Dressing:

1 large avocado, peeled and mashed with 2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

Dash cayenne pepper

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Chill and serve alongside chicken salad.

Thick, crusty bread, multi-grain or sourdough, for serving

Lemon wedges, for garnish

Hope you enjoy it!

Go Green-Make Paper Beads!

I found this cool article on making your own paper beads. What a neat concept, and it saves the Earth from more trash! Here are the instructions so you can do it too, along with some photos of finished beads...have fun.

How to Make a Basic Paper Bead

Supplies

Paper or Magazine Pages, wrapping paper works best!

Glue or Mod Podge

Paintbrush for glue

Scissors or paper cutter

Thin straws (don't use skewers of wood, they will stick to it!)

Shallow cardboard box, slightly wider than the longest straw.

Instructions:

Step 1: Make Your Drying Rack

Take your card board box & cut notches along both of the long sides. This is what you will be ‘hanging’ your sticks from so the beads can dry. (For kids beads, you can skip this step).

Step 2: Cut the Paper

Cut your papers into ½" – ¾" wide strips, about 6" in length at an angle. The paper cutter makes this much faster. (Wide at one end, narrow on the other) The longer you cut your strip, the thicker (bigger) the bead will be when finished.

If you want to get fancy with your beads, cut some paper into narrow strips & layer these strips, starting with the wide end, over the center of the bead you just rolled. Using a contrasting color will add extra color & interest to your bead. This layer will also add thickness, so keep it short (about 3"-4").

Step 3: Apply Glue

Kid Instructions:

On a big piece of scrap paper to protect your table, lay out a strip of paper and using your glue stick, run it down the whole strip. Start at the thick end and leave about an 1/2 inch, then glue away. Make sure your get enough glue on the pointy end.

Adult Instructions for smaller beads

Apply the glue to the back of the strip using a paintbrush. Spread the glue thinly on the wrong side of your paper.

Step 4: Roll the Beads

Using your stick or pencil,and starting with the wide end of your paper strip, roll the paper onto your stick, slowly & evenly making sure to smooth the paper as you roll & keep your edges even. If you are making the fat kids beads with a pencil, you can take the bead off your pencil and start on your next bead.

Step 5: Let Dry

If you are making the smaller beads with Mod Podge, let them dry on your drying rack (the notched card board box). During the drying process, be sure to gently loosen the beads every 2 or so hours or they’ll be difficult to remove from the stick ( They will stick, if not loosened). When the beads are dry, & still on the stick, you can coat them with a thin coat of clear fingernail polish or use the Mod Podge (mat finish for a dull look, gloss for a shiny look). Allow to dry, remove from the stick.

Done!

Your beads are now ready to use for stringing. Create necklaces, bracelets or use as embellishments for other crafts. You can string them on wire or jute, use as tassels on gift tags, collages & journals. 

Shabby Decorating

I just love Pinterest!! The boards are full of wonderful eye candy for your home. These are just a couple of inspirational goodies I found for decorating in the 'shabby' design. Enjoy!!

Free Printable Tags

Sweetheart Sugar Cookies

Here's a delicious recipe for Valentine's Day to celebrate with your loved ones!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons meringue powder

Pink sanding sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg, beating until blended.

2. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until blended.

3. Divide dough into 2 equal portions; flatten each portion into a disk. Cover and chill 10 minutes.

4. Place 1 dough disk on a heavily floured surface, and roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut with a 3-inch heart-shaped cutter. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Repeat procedure with remaining dough disk.

5. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Let cool on baking sheets 5 minutes; transfer to wire racks, and let cool completely (about 30 minutes).

6. Whisk together meringue powder and 2 Tbsp. water. Brush cookies with mixture, or dip cookies in mixture, and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

For jumbo cookies: Cut rolled-out dough with a 4 1/2-inch heart-shaped cutter. Bake at 350° for 15 to 17 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Makes: about 1 dozen.

For bite-size cookies: Cut rolled-out dough with a 1-inch heart-shaped cutter. Bake at 350° for 8 to 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Makes: about 20 dozen.

Note:

You may need to prepare additional meringue powder-and-water mixture as you decorate cookies. Sanding sugar may also be called "fine" sugar.

Southern Living

FEBRUARY 2011

Printable Valentine Tickets

Valentine's Day is coming up fast and it's time to start working on those love cards or other projects you might have in mind. Here are some free printable Valentine's Day tickets to help get you started. Just print on thick white paper or card stock, cut out and use for you project!

shared from misscutiepie!

Storage Ideas

Here are a few storage ideas to start off the new year! These are from Better Homes and Gardens which has plenty of ideas for your home. 

Stove Side Basket

Pantry Storage