BBQ Chicken Salad + Weekend Recap

Monday, June 30, 2014


Ahhh the longest week in the history of the work world, at least in DC. Anyone else feel that way? Like most of the city is on vacation so no one is doing work but I am saving my vacation days for other things, and every tourist in America is in DC for the week so my commute is longer (STAND TO THE RIGHT ON THE METRO ESCALATORS, WALK ON THE LEFT- people breaking this rule literally add 10 minutes to my morning commute! Wait I think tomorrow's post will be about how to be a good tourist in DC), the highs this week are close to 100 so we are slowly melting to death and I can't think about anything except how excited I am for my favorite holiday: the fourth of freaking JULY! AMERICA! COOKOUTS! ALL THE THINGS!

Ok anyway onto the recipe, this is super easy and a great refreshing summer salad. The chicken and avocado add lots of protein and other stuff to keep you full so it's niiice.

Servings: 2
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts, thawed and sliced into strips ($5.00)
  • 3 tomatoes, diced ($2.00)
  • 1/2 red onion, diced ($.50)
  • 1 cucumber, diced ($.80)
  • 1 avocado, diced ($1.00)
  • Optional: 4 slices of bacon, chopped up (we use turkey bacon)
  • 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce of choice (I always use Sweet Baby Ray's, duh)
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • Any other seasonings you normally add to barbecue chicken (we have a grilled chicken rub that I looove and I usually add some cayenne pepper too)

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan. Season this chicken with the garlic power, onion powder, and seasonings of your choice. Once the bacon is done cooking, remove from the frying pan and allow to cool for a few minutes. In the same pan, cook the chicken strips for 15-20 minutes flipping occasionally, until they are cooked all the way through and there is no pink left.

Chop up the bacon and chicken strips, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss. Enjoy! I took mine to lunch the next day, Harrison ate all of his at one time as an after dinner "snack". Typical.

So this weekend one of my high school friends got married in Lancaster, PA. This was my first time in that area and it was definitely interesting, and of course it was a blast to reunite with my best friends from high school. Here's a little recap of the interestingness of Amish Country:

Saturday morning before we left I received a 911 text from a friend who got there the night before that it was impossible to buy booze in the county the hotel was in so I packed a suitcase of the essentials:


The reception was held at a nice country club, this is our attempt at a reunion picture but we're missing tons of people because it is impossible to get everyone in a group picture, even though Katy Kodak over here gets pushy and bossy to try to get one every time:


Took some nice pix on the golf course and I wore my first Rent the Runway dress and loved it (Sachin + Babi):


Bride and groom had their first dance:



After partied at the hotel bar until 3 am (I am getting too old for this)


Stopped at this barn-looking place for some Amish lunch:


With this guy in the front:


Sampled everything from the "Lancaster Favorites" section of the buffet- sidenote: I thought Amish food would be pretty clean, like from the ground and meat and stuff but no. Amish food = heavy cream, butter, milk everything. I tried everything since we were on vacay and I paid for it later.


Tried a slice of Shoofly Pie:


Sat in some traffic...


Most of the town looked like this:


Stopped in to some Amish markets and found some interesting items such as this Poo-Pourri which you spray in the toilet before you doo doo and it supposedly masks any odors...


So no one warned me that there would be OUTLETS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE in Lancaster! LIKE WHAT? This is me in front of the Loft Outlet feeling slightly excited but slightly terrified for what was about to happen to my bank account:


I booked a dog sitter through a site called Rover.com which was recommended by a friend. You type in your zip code and search sitters by people who are willing to come to your house or let your dog stay at their house. We had an awesome sitter named Dana H who sent picture updates all weekend like this one:


We will DEF be using Rover again- it was so easy and inexpensive, and I loved that Andi could stay home. The sitters have background checks and recommendations, and this service is available anywhere. AND if you use my unique link you get $20 off your first booking! Click here to receive $20 off and definitely let me know if you have questions because as a crazy dog lady who feels bad taking advantage of her friends 5 weekends in a row, this is the best possible service.

Linking up today with Biana, Kimberlee, Leeann, Delicious Dish Tuesday, Tuesday Recipe Swap- come play!

17 comments :

  1. omg that outlet photo, dying. i didnt even know Loft had outlets, how dangerous ;) love that you packed beer in a suitcase - its essential! also, that dress. you look gorgeous lady!

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  2. I want that salad ASAP!! I think you should do the post about how to be a good tourist - because it can be used for any major city haha! Love the dress you wore to the wedding!! I want to drive through Amish Country so badly - I mean when can you ever sit in traffic like this!? Thanks for linking up :)

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  3. Busy busy weekend missy! I've only been to Lancaster once in my life, a few years ago, and it was definitely something worth seeing. Ya don't see that kinda stuff in the backwoods 'round here. LOL!

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  4. haha that's so funny you "smuggled" in a suitcase of booze. Love it. The wedding looks awesome. we had a party on Friday night and stayed up until 2am where I had the same thought "I'm too old for this".

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  5. Lancaster is pretty desolate expect for the awesome shopping!!! We got a dog from a Menonite farm when we still lived in PA. I'll have to check out Rover.com.

    ~Ashley @ A Cute Angle
    acutelifestyle.blogspot.com

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  6. Love the Amish restaurant lunch! I think a coworker must use that spray at my office because it always smells... weird after certain people leave the ladies room!

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  7. Hiya! I'm back.. after a brief hiatus... Emry is okay.. come over and read my HUGE recap.

    http://katerivonstealsnewlife.blogspot.com/2014/06/monday-recap-from-last-err-thursday.html

    I love your picture in front of the Loft Outlet store! I keep looking back at it and giggling.

    ALSO: We are going to be in Amish Country in a few weeks.. We're taking Emry to that place that has the Caboose Hotel rooms? So, now I know what Restaurant to eat at when we are in Lancaster for the day! You are a ROCK STAR!

    I love your recipe.. It looks super tasty.
    Over the weekend I grilled up some Chicken Tandoori Kebabs... I'm thinking of making a recipe for the blog... It was SO tasty... And overall... I think.... Pretty Clean eating.

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  8. Haha I just recently saw poo-purri. Looks like y'all had a fabulous time, and yes, beer is essential...Thanks for telling us about Rover. It's the first I've heard of it!

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  9. LOL girl anytime I travel I check to see if there will be an outlet mall along the way!!! Loft Outlet is my favorite. FAVORITE!

    How fun that your doggie got to stay home! We board our dogs together so they wont be alone in a strange place. They aren't too happy about it, but I know they are taken care of.

    Love your dress! Get it girl!

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  10. I *always* laugh when I visit this space of yours- THANK YOU for that (it was totally needed today.) Love that dress on you!! Perfect color!!

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  11. Looks like a great (and busy) weekend. Yummy salad as usual!

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  12. OMG, you are too freakin' adorable! Looking gorgeous in that dress for the wedding!!! The pictures of the town remind me of my hometown--- super small like that and your average horse and buggy every now and then!
    Hope the rest of your week speeds up! Have a great time this weakend!! :)

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  13. That salad looks delicious! (The 5 minute prep time is also rather awesome. :D!)

    Your dog is super adorable. :]

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  14. That salad looks amazing, thanks for sharing!

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  15. Looks like you had a great weekend! I love what you wore to the weekend. And this salad looks delicious, I love that there is chicken and avocado in it.

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  16. This recipe is the best one. I really liked this recipe. And now I am going to make chicken with the help of this recipe. Thanks a lot for sharing that kind of recipes with us.

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