Holy Cow....is it still Wednesday??

I feel like I have lived a whole week in this one day.  It's incredible how some days are calm and relaxed and others are just a whirlwind of activity.  The morning started off intense.  I was sitting in bed with my coffee when Ting yelled for me to come quickly.  I thought I was going to be coming out of the room to see one of Melody's new tricks.  There are many, she is crawling, she is pulling herself up to standing, she stood without holding on for a couple of seconds yesterday, she is refusing to be fed and wants only to feed herself.  It is that feeding herself trick that caused the problem this morning.  Tingting had put Melody into her high chair with some cheerios, strawberries and some cheese.  Melody has had all these foods before but this morning the cheese she was given was the processed slices wrapped in plastic....you know the ones.  Poor little Mel was breaking out in hives all over her eyes, back of the neck and chest.  Her breathing was fine, thank God, so Ting got on the phone to call the pediatrician and we got on line to look up cheese allergies.  It seems that these processed cheese slices are often the cause of contact allergies because of the dye they use in the cheese.  This made sense to us because Melody rubs her eyes and scratches around her neck so she would have touched herself in the places where the welts were.  We gave her a bath and a bottle of water and it started to subside.  She went down for a nap and when she awoke she was as good as new but it was a scary way to start the day.

After Mel went down for her nap I had to go to the hospital for an ultrasound of my right breast because the mammogram was showing some discrepancies and they needed a closer look.  Bottom line is I have several cysts that they will need to keep an eye on so now I get to go for a mammogram every 6  months instead of once a year.

I then went and met my sister in law for lunch and did some shopping for the upcoming color swap . I stopped to see Mom, I had picked up some corn pads for her because yesterday she complained her toe was hurting and I took a look and saw the corn.  As I was putting on the corn pad the nurse came over and advised that the padded panties Mom has been wearing are no longer doing the trick so I ran up to the corner drug store and Mom is now officially wearing "diapers".  That kind of breaks my heart.  When I left Mom the second time, I ran to the grocery store, another drug store to pick up some prescriptions that were ready and then got home and started dinner.

Phew...that get's me to here....sitting with a glass of wine and posting another salad recipe for you. Today I am sharing the Chinese Chicken Salad.  I was going to also share the Steakhouse Salad but it was soooooooo good that I decided to save it for #HotSummerEats so you will just have to wait for that recipe.  Not that the Chinese Chicken Salad was not good.  In fact, it was delicious and I am very happy to share this recipe with you.  I found this recipe in Cuisine at Home but, as always, I only used it as a guideline and incorporated the ingredients I had on hand and switched things around to meet our tastes.

Chinese Chicken Salad

adapted from Cuisine at Home, Issue # 45

Chicken:

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast meat, cut into 1" chunks

1 c. buttermilk

3/4 c. flour

1/4 c. cornstarch

3 T. sesame seeds

2 t. paprika

large pinch of kosher salt

Oil for frying (I used coconut oil)

Place chicken in a sealable plastic bag, add buttermilk, seal and refrigerate for at least an hour. Combine dry ingredients in a second plastic bag.  Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and place into the dry ingredients, shake well to coat.  Fry chicken, in batches, in hot (375*) oil.  Drain on a paper towel.

Dressing:

1 c. Miracle Whip

1/2 c. Cilantro leaves (I used slightly dried from Garden Gourmet)

3 T. rice vinegar

2 T. Dark Sesame oil

1 T. sugar

2 t. minced ginger (I used Garden Gourmet)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

Toppings:

Toast 2 T. sesame seeds in a small dry skillet until golden brown.  Set aside and allow to cool.

1 T. butter

2/3 c. slivered almonds

1/4 c. brown sugar

Melt butter in same pan that was used for sesame seeds.  Add the almonds, stir and cook until golden. Add the brown sugar, stir and cook until melted.  Spread onto a piece of aluminum foil and allow to cool and harden.  Crumble and crush into bite size pieces.

Salad:

1 head Romaine Lettuce

1 small can chow mein noodles

2 carrots, shredded

Place lettuce, chow mein noodles and carrots in a large bowl and toss with the dressing.  Place into serving bowl, top with the chicken, sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and candied almonds. Print Recipe