Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Rice Salad
Tonight was a mish-mosh of a dinner. We were supposed to have leftover turkey, but our families ate it all the day after Turkey Day!! So husband baked some chicken breasts this afternoon for tonight’s planned Turkey and Wild Rice Salad.
We just used the recipe as a guide though. We had some leftover brown rice and black beans (like 7 days leftover – it had to go!) and I chopped up some celery, carrots and green beans to bulk it up some more. On the side, I warmed up 4 oz of shredded chicken in a skillet and toasted about 2 tbsp of walnuts. Also added 1 mini box of raisins instead of the cranberries (I can’t find cranberries without added sugar – grrr!). Lastly, I made the dressing from leftover cranberry sauce, tangy mustard, 1 tsp EVOO, and Williams-Sonoma Aged Balsamic vinegar and topped it all over some baby spinach. And topped that with 1 oz of plain yogurt!! Whew!
The heavily toasted walnuts and cranberry sauce really made the dish. I didn’t really taste much else!
From above, with my Thanksgiving pumpkin candle. ~ 415 calories. (It was pretty high because of of the 1/2 cup of black beans and rice for 120 cals, which I barely tasted! I like my rice on the side of things, not mixed in.)
Uggg. Charlotte rush hour was NOT pretty tonight! I had a bite of freshly cooked spaghetti squash when I got home and packed my lunch for tomorrow.
Total Monday calories: ~1650
-486 at the gym
= 1186 net. I’m a little hungry (or just thirsty, probably) but I have GOT to get in bed RIGHT NOW!!! (See below 🙂 so there’s no time for a snack!
Tomorrow:
I’ve got to get up at 3:15 a.m. tomorrow to host a client on a 5-8 a.m. newscast! YIKES!!! This means:
- No workout in the morning. I’m hoping to get in a workout in the afternoon, but it depends on how tired I am. I may have to settle for a short walk, but husband and I are planning a 3-4 mile run as of now.
- I get to leave work early because my workday starts at 4:30!
- I need to get in bed NOW!!!!
I made my oatmeal tonight on the stovetop (I like it made with half milk and half water on the stovetop – it’s creamier and has more texture that way!) so all I have to do tomorrow is toast walnuts, measure peanut butter and nuke the oatmeal and pears! I’ve got everything all set up and ready to go 🙂
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to post breakfast or not – it depends on how late I’m running, but I’ll certainly be here for lunch!
Molly says
Hi Kath,I just wanted to say your blog is the most inspiring food blog I have found yet! Thank you for all of your effort. Two questions..How tall are you? In your after picture you look short (in a very petite way- not in a 'stumpy' way) but it may be the angle. I'm 5'0 so I can never gauge others' heights.What are your evenings like? I like to take time to cook nice meals like you do, but once I get off of work (I work about 50hrs/wk), sit through DC traffic– if I make a nice meal, eat, cleanup & pack my lunch, it's time to go to sleep! I hate not having free time.. I just graduated college and I'm not used to this.Thanks,Molly
Elle says
OMG Kath! I miss one day of posts and your blog surpasses Amazon as the world's most frequented website! Looks like the general population has discovered what a nutrition superstar you are ;). Good luck getting up at 3:15 am!I kind of loved that your hubby schooled all the ladies on proper baking techniques =D.
Kath says
Molly,I'm 5'2" and have been since 8th grade :)Your evenings sound JUST LIKE MINE!! Charlotte isn't exactly known for having nice traffic – I usually get home at 6. I make my lunch and start dinner with the husband around 6:30. We're usually eating at 7. Clean-up and blogging take until 7:30 or so. Then I have about an hour before I head to bed to read before lights out at 9:00 to get 8 hours of sleep before hitting the gym at 5:30!! Whew! It is exhausting, but the most important things in my life are 1) Being healthy (cooking real food, getting enough sleep, getting to the gym daily) and 2) Spending time with my husbandSo I suppose I'm making good use of the small time I have since my evenings are spent on those two things! It can be exhausting. My best advice would be to read in bed. It really helps me to wind down and feel like i can relax a little. K