Happy Mother's Day!

It’s Mother’s Day and this year I’m spending the day with my mom for the first time in 10 years.  Actually, I’m pretty sure I was graduating from high school 10 years ago on Mother’s Day Weekend.  That just makes me feel old.  

I’m sure a lot of people think their mom is the best mom in the world, but I really can’t imagine my life without my mother.  My mom has taught me so many things, more than I could list in one post.  She's always been my biggest cheerleader and has been a role model for me in more ways than she knows.  

One thing I've always admired about her is her thoughtfulness.  Sometimes it's with her baking, sometimes with a call, sometimes with a card.  Like a typical mom, she does a lot of things for others without thinking twice.  This is a lesson that’s stayed with me as I’ve seen how her thoughtfulness has made a difference in the lives of others.  Everyday life is busy and stressful and we all have our own issues, but when you're feeling down or grieving or frustrated there's something so special about receiving those cookies or the phone call or the card in the mail.

I came along a bit later in life for my mother and she tells me that I was such a blessing, but I also know that I was very blessed to get to be her daughter.  Today especially, I am grateful for my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, and aunts.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of you and all the friends I’ve seen develop into amazing mothers!

Chicken Avocado Salad

When summer comes around I find myself looking for more recipes that are lighter and anything that lets me avoid turning on the oven in the summer is just a bonus.  My co-worker brought this salad to work for a potluck and it was gone VERY quickly.  It’s very light, filling, fairly healthy, and so very delicious.  I changed a few things and it’s become quite the staple in our meal plan.  Did I mention that it’s crazy easy to make as well? 

Chicken Avocado Salad

Slightly adapted from: kalyn’s kitchen

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (or 2-3 c. chicken)

2-3 medium avocados, diced

2 TB. lime juice, divided

Salt

½ c. thinly sliced green onion

½ c. chopped cilantro

3 T. light mayo

Directions

Shred the rotisserie chicken (or boil enough chicken to make 2-3 cups).

Mix the mayo and 1 Tb. lime juice to make the dressing.  Wisk together with a fork and then pour over chicken and stir to coat.  Add green onions and cilantro.

Dice avocados into medium pieces and mix with 1 Tb. lime juice.  Season with salt to taste (don’t skip the salt, it’s just not the same!).

You can make this ahead of time, but it’s best if you add the avocados just before serving.  We typically only eat half of the recipe in one sitting so I mix up everything but the avocados, put half of the mixture in a container for the next day, and just add avocado to the part we’ll eating that night.

You could eat this on bread, croissants, or lettuce, but we just eat it by itself because it’s that amazing.