Sick of being Sick

Our family started in with "sickness" shortly after the beginning of the year. It seems like since then at least one or two of us have been sick every week. It all started with the kids who seemed to have a 24 hour virus. A couple of days after they were better, I came down with a bad cold/flu type thing. I was in bed for almost a full day and felt terrible for 2 days after that. Then as soon as I got better, James started saying his ears hurt and Andy started saying his throat hurt. I took James to the doctor and discovered he had a double ear infection, and on antibiotics he went. A few days later Andy also went to doctor and found out he had strep throat....on antibiotics he went! Then I got sick again with a bad sinus cold. Shortly after I got well, Samantha started getting sick with a stomach virus. And now I'm sick with a stomach virus too!! (I currently feel awful, but I thought maybe doing something would get my mind off of feeling bad)

I say all of that to say: I'm sick of being sick.

I have tried my best to disinfect the house in between my episodes of being sick....I'm about ready to bring a pressure washer full of Lysol in here, but that's probably not as good of an idea as it sounds.

The kids and Andy have been troupers. We've all been taking care of each other as each one gets sick.

I'm just really ready for all of us to be well..... for an extended period of time!!

Citrus Chicken Salad

Picture from Publix.com

I love Publix. The store is always clean; the people who work there are friendly; there are free cookies for my kids at the bakery; and they offer their recipes for you to try in the store. What could be better?

The recipe for the citrus chicken salad was the one being featured the other night when I went with the kids, and it was delicious! The chicken was so tender....I really thought, "ok, this is just because someone else cooked it in some special pan that I do not have." So, I asked the girl how she cooked the chicken and it was just a regular pan, and she told me to follow the recipe and my chicken would turn out the same. I followed the recipe and SUCCESS!! It was sooooooo good, and filling too!

Here's the recipe.... Go to Publix.com or to the store for more!

Citrus Chicken Salad

(click on the name to go to the recipe at Publix.com)

Ingredients
2–3 grapefruit
1/2 cup lemon curd
1 teaspoon black sesame seeds (optional)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 3/4 lb)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons water
1/2 of a (4–5-oz) bag spring mix salad blend


Prep

Cut grapefruit in half; remove grapefruit sections.

Squeeze the grapefruit membranes for juice (about 1 1/3 cups).

Steps

1. Whisk lemon curd into grapefruit juice until smooth; whisk in sesame seeds and garlic.
2. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place oil in pan then add chicken (wash hands); cook 3–4 minutes on each side or until browned.
3. Reduce heat on chicken to medium. Add 2 tablespoons water; cover and cook 4–5 minutes or until 165°F.
4. Arrange spring mix on serving platter. Slice chicken; arrange grapefruit and chicken over spring mix. Drizzle with dressing and serve.

CALORIES (per 1/4 recipe) 430kcal; FAT 11g; CHOL 140mg; SODIUM 200mg; CARB 37g; FIBER 2g; PROTEIN 41g; VIT A 50%; VIT C 110%; CALC 6%; IRON 10%

This is the original recipe, but I did make a couple of tweaks.....I used oranges instead of grapefruit b/c Andy and I are not really grapefruit fans. I added pepper to the dressing mixture and did not use the sesame seeds because I didn't have those in my pantry. I had to cook my chicken longer than they suggested, but the chicken was really thick...I probably should have cut it into smaller pieces, but it was still tender even though I had to cook it a bit longer. And I cooked my chicken in extra virgin olive oil instead of canola oil. I sprinkled just a little Parmesan cheese on top too. I also made the "cheese crisps" to go with it (which is actually cheese toast ;o)).

We both loved it! Definitely a recipe we'll use again!