This is a miracle salad, I swear!

Y'all know that I made a promise to make some changes in the New Year. I didn't make resolutions per say, more like a game plan to work from for the things I would like to happen in my life. I have even added a few things to it as time has gone along.

Some of my original plans were:

Eating breakfast everyday - I have been doing pretty good with that one. Although breakfast might not happen until 10AM, I am eating something before I go into hunger crisis mode at 2 PM.

Getting 8 hours of sleep every night - This one has been working our most of the time. Although sometimes I don't get to sleep until midnight, I have been able to sleep at least 7 hours a night, which is HUGE for me!

Working out every day - OK I will admit that this one has been tough. Being as ADD as I am, it is super easy to get myself overwhelmed with work shtuff and put the workout to the back burner. I tell myself that I just don't have the time to workout. Which seems like a totally acceptable excuse for not doing it in my mind.

Which leads me to a new addition to the game plan....

Stop trying to multitask!! - Now some of you might think that is counter productive to trying to get as much work done as possible, but I was reading some studies showing that multitasking actually slows productivity/performance. Which, at least in my case makes sense.

Being as severely ADD as I am, multitasking just served to confuse my little brain and keep me spinning in circles, starting several projects, but finishing few on time. Once I accepted that fact, I closed the 55 million tabs that I had open on my computer everyday and began to work on one thing at a time (OK maybe I have 2 tabs open). I am finding that it is easier for me to complete each task, and schedule times for me to squeeze in a workout. We will see if that can translate to everyday, but I am optimistic.

Eating more fruits and veggies - We have fallen into a food rut lately. Kevin is a meat and starch kind of guy. If left to his own he would eat steak and potatoes, rice, or pasta every night! Which, coupled with my cold weather carb cravings, has been quite fine with me. But I know that it is horrible for our bodies. Plus it makes for a very boring plate.

So even though I get the "look", or nose wrinkle, I have decided to pop in some bright veggie centric dishes. Oh I know I will have to include meat in it, or on the side, to keep him from really grumbling. But I am determined to give it a go.

And that is why this is a miracle salad! I had it planned for the menu several days before I actually made it. All of the veggies were sitting in the fridge, and I was waiting for the dreaded question "What is for dinner" when the day came. But when it happened, I set myself, looked him square in the eye, and said "Chopped Thai Chicken Salad". Then I waited.......nothing. No "look", no complaints, no asking what in the heck it is. Weird people......just plain weird. I think I stood there with a dumbfounded look on my face for a couple minutes before I snapped out of it and wandered into the kitchen to put it all together.

Now, I will admit there is a bit of work that goes into making this salad. You could always use store bought rotisserie chicken, or forgo meat altogether. But chopping can be somewhat relaxing to me, so I didn't mind it at all. Plus it was fun to see all of the gorgeous colors going into the bowl. I swear if I had had more veggies in the house I would have tossed them into the bowl as well!

And the true miracle was......Kevin loved it. I mean luvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvved it!! He mowed through the bowl that I gave him and went back for seconds! He even commented on the fact that it was a healthy meal! Color me all shades of shocked!! These were words I never thought would come out of this mans mouth. I had no clue he even thought about those kinds of things. WOW...wow...wow....WOW!!! He even took the last serving to work for his lunch the next day. What? Yup, that is what I said.

Now this has branched out into testing new healthy waters. I have even gotten him to drink a green smoothie! Ya, you could have knocked me over with a feather on that one too. Although I can't get him on board with the wheatgrass thing. I guess I can't expect too much right?

1 year ago - Ginger Applesauce

2 years ago - Guacamole Pasta

3 years ago - Italian Wedding Soup

Chopped Thai Chicken Salad

By Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen
Published 01/26/2015

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup avocado oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon Tamari
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar, for low carb use this sugar-free honey
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 3 teaspoons ginger paste

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, cubed
• 8 ounces frozen shelled edamame
• 4 cups baby kale
• 1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, shredded, can omit for strict keto
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Instructions

1. Puree all the dressing ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning.
2. Toss the kale, cabbage, carrots, peppers, cilantro, green onions, and edamame together until well combined.
3. Drizzle with the dressing, toss gently a few times, and sprinkle with the peanuts.
4. Serve immediately.

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 20 mins.