Cashew Coconut Crusted Chicken Salad with Pineapple Ginger Vinaigrette

I feel like I haven't caught up from the weekend!

Today FLEW by!! I can't even believe it is almost 8pm!!!

I haven't been able to catch up with life since... Friday lol

Friday would have been my Mom's 56th birthday. It was the second one without her. It was the 1st "special" day of the second year... anyway you look at it, it sucks.

To stay happy and positive lol SBean and I went to the park with our BCBesty.

Then we ran to HBear's school for the Terry Fox Run. This year we donated $56 :)

Dad took Mom a bouquet of beautiful flowers 

and Ninja played with the girls while Dad and I sat reminiscing and accidentally got STUPID drunk. LOL So not my norm... hence why I haven't caught up with life yet... I am too old to get plastered on a Friday night, it tanks my whole weekend lol

I tried VERY hard to shake it off with a little recoup yoga :)

On Saturday Ninja's Dad came over for dinner. My MIL is in Winnipeg visiting JQ and my SIL :) While I took HBear to swimming class :)

Ninja finished up our yummy dinner... Prime Rib, Gravy, Mashed Taters, Heirloom carrots and Yorkshire Pudding!!! Yum!

On Sunday it was a beautiful day so we went to Kelowna for a little bit of shopping, exploring and geocaching :)

Because yesterday was so gorgeous out and the sun is shining today... a little bit :) I decided to make an end of summer salad. It was so delicious! It only took 30 minutes and it was tangy, sweet, refreshing, filling and unique! A definite make againer, even just the chicken fingers were amazeballs, next time I will make them with the spicy mango dipping sauce!

Cashew Coconut Crusted Chicken Salad with Pineapple Ginger Vinaigrette

Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings

Cashew Coconut Crusted Chicken

2 lbs chicken breasts

2 eggs

1 tablespoon lime juice

3/4 cup flour

1 cup toasted cashews

½ cup sweetened shredded coconut 

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Pineapple Ginger Vinaigrette

1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped from 1 whole pineapple

1/4 cup honey

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 clove garlic, peeled

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

Tropical Salad

1 head romaine lettuce

5 green onions, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

Remaining pineapple not used in vinaigrette, chopped

1/2 mango, chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup Feta

Preheat oven to 400.

Add cashews and coconut flakes to your Ultimate Chopper and process until cashews are about the size of the panko crumbs, scraping the sides as needed. 

Add cashews/coconut, panko, chicken tender spices and brown sugar to a shallow dish and mix until evenly distributed.

Place the flour in another shallow dish. Whisk the egg with the lime juice in another shallow dish. 

Working with one chicken tender at a time, dredge in flour and then dip in egg, and then finally coat in the coconut/cashew/panko mixture, pressing mixture into chicken with your fingers to make sure the coating sticks.

Place chicken tenders on a foil-lined baking sheet (for easy clean up!) with a baking rack on top that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. I have an awesome pointy silicone thingy that works perfectly!!! Lightly spray chicken with non-stick cooking spray for extra crispiness. 

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until juices run clear. Broil until coconut is nicely golden, and panko crisp, but still light in color.

Place all of the Pineapple Vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.

Put out all the salad ingredients and make individual servings. 

Drizzle with dressing (you don't need a lot). Enjoy!

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Back to School!!!!!

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.  

Winston Churchill

Yesterday was the BIG day!!! First day back to school... or at least a half day anyways :)

I feel so bad for the school/teachers/principals :( everything is so unorganized and well, messy lol. The lawn has not been cut since June! The desks and lockers still have stuff in them from last year :( I hope nobody left a banana lol

By today the yard and the classes were looking cleaner but the bright happy class decorations are still needing to go up and make it look FUN again!

HBear was soooooo excited yesterday she was up at 5:45!! OMG Today she made it to 6:15 at least lol

So yesterday we did our Grade 1 interview,

and our Grade 1 pictures,

and then we were off! HBear was excited to see her besty first thing!

When I picked her up at noon she was bursting with information about what all her friends did this summer.

Her excitement deflated a little when I told her it was time to go grocery shopping lol

For dinner I made her favorite... spaghetti with white sauce and shrimp :)

This is an easy 20 minute dinner for sure but not on the weight watcher guide AT ALL!

HBear's Spaghetti with White Sauce and Shrimp

1 box spaghettini
1 jar Classico Alfredo sauce
8 mushrooms, peeled and quartered
6 pieces of bacon, diced
1 bag of frozen shrimp, thawed
1 clove garlic, pressed
2 green onions, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon margarine
1 pepper, diced

Saute bacon in a pan on medium heat.

When it is done take the pieces out with a slotted spoon.

Start your noodles. Cook according to directions on the box.

Using a tablespoon of the bacon grease, add your onions, peppers and mushrooms. Cook a few minutes until onion is getting soft. Take the veggies out with the slotted spoon.

Add your margarine and garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add your shrimp and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook until shrimp are pink, about 5 minutes.

Add the bacon and the veggies back to the pan with the shrimp and pour in your sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer until for a few minutes while you drain your pasta.

Add a bit of oil to the noodles to keep them from sticking.

Pile the noodles on the plate and top with your sauce and green onions.

Now mine doesn't look like that because I apparently run a restaurant lol I don't like shrimp :(, HBear doesn't like mushrooms, SBean doesn't like bacon and Ninja doesn't like Alfredo so I do everything separate and everyone dishes up what they want lol

I also baked HBear a 1st day of school cake... out of a box of course lol Doesn't matter the kids LOVED it!

Today they got put into classes... HBear and her Besty got split up!! It's funny, I think the girls handled it better than the Mommys!!! LOL She is still with some wonderful girls, her bestest boys and a whole slew of new kids just waiting to be friends :) So there IS a brightside lol

PLUS

She gets a desk! A real desk!! OMG, yes I was that Mom...

While HBear is at school... SBean FINALLY gets me all to herself!!!

Last night my shows started!!! But I was too tired to watch any of them lol. I did however realize that it has been a while since I watched Dallas. Random? Yes. LOL I download full seasons of shows that Ninja won't watch and catch up on them during hockey season lol Speaking of hockey we had our annual hockey draft this weekend!!

I love that we can have our HOCKEY draft outside on a Sunday morning LOL!!! I also love that wgile we have 8 people here in Penticton participaing, we also have 7 people from Clagary and Winnipeg too! It is kinda like we all got to hang out together for the morning :)

Anyways, Ninja was working on his blog so I looked at the many shows I have on the computer. I have all of season 2 and 3 of Dallas so I thought, OMG last time I saw that JR was still alive (in real life) lol so I pressed play :)

Sometimes it is the little things that set me off. Yeah well, who knew hearing the Dallas theme song would bring on a flood of tears? LOL I remember so clearly laying in bed as a young kid listening to that theme song. I remember so vividly getting older and staying up a bit latter to watch Dallas and Knots Landing with my Mom. The song just brought it all back.

Crazy how things like that happen. It is her birthday on Friday. *HUGE SIGH*

My cousin and I are honoring her day by throwing a Jamberry Party online. I have never done anything like this before but I know my Mom would have LOVED it! Nails, helping family out, and a party for her? Hells Yeah!

It is also the Terry Fox run at HBear's school on Friday. We will be donating $56, as that is how old Mom would have been this year. 

Enough of that.

We went out for a wonderful walk on Saturday. We Geocached, visited Mom, played at the playground, walked on the beach and tasted yummies at the the Farmer's Market. A great day out to say the least :)

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