Grilled Rabbit

I joined my other half on a hunt one morning. He caught a rabbit, which we ate for supper. While he cleaned it, I made some croutons out of some stale bread and made some home made rolls. It was the first time eating rabbit for both of us, and I'd definitely try it again. For those of you wondering, rabbit is a red meat. I wouldn't BBQ it again - the legs were too tough. We took the leftovers and made pulled teriyaki rabbit the next day, which was much better!

Just another burger and a salad

Salad: baby romaine, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese, pecans, and avocado topped with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette.

Burger: BBQ sauce, onion, ketchup, tomato and avocado on a home made beef patty.

Knockoff of Wendy's Baja Salad

I really quite enjoy Wendy's Baja salad. Lettuce, fresh salsa, guacamole, grated cheddar cheese smothered in piping hot chili. I was house-bound one day, and had some leftover chili on hand, so tried my hand at this.

It was also the first time I made guacamole, but certainly not the last! The guacamole was a bit of a mash up of a few recipes I found online. I basically mixed together mashed avocado, garlic salt, lime juice, diced onion and diced tomato.

Chicken Avocado Ranch Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Salad

For me, this meal is currently one of my favourites, but it takes some time to get ready. Something about it makes me think I should be enjoying it in California - perhaps it's the avocado...

The sandwich is made up of:

• Two pieces of Farmer's Market cheddar cheese bread

• 2 tsp butter (1 tsp spread on each outer side, for frying)

• 30g cheddar cheese

• A few slices of tomato

• 2-3 slices of avocado (I start with 1/2 an avocado, and put a couple slices into the sandwich, and dice the remainder and add it to the salad, so about 1/4 avocado in each)

• 3 oz chicken breast pieces

• 1.5 Tbsp Kraft low fat Ranch dressing

The salad includes:

• 2-3 cups baby romaine lettuce mix

• 1/2 medium tomato, diced (mostly, whatever was left after the slices went into the sandwich)

• About 1/3 granny smith apple, diced (I just nibble on the rest later)

• Approx. 1/4 avocado (I start with 1/2 an avocado, and put a couple slices into the sandwich, and dice the remainder and add it to the salad, so about 1/4 avocado in each)

• 2 slices of bacon, cooked extra crispy using my microwave tray, then crumbled

• Dressing of your choice (for this one, I used 1.5 Tbsp Farm Boy lemon garlic vinaigrette dressing)

Nutrition information: sandwich / salad

Calories: 512 / 166
Potassium: 385 / 386
Fat: 23 / 12
Carbohydrates: 38 / 17
Fibre: 4 / 7
Protein: 27 /  9
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 12 / 5

My rating: a filling and satisfying meal, mostly healthy ingredients, with healthy fats, plus the deliciousness that can only come from bread and butter (one of my weaknesses). The salad (or variation thereof) is on my menu at least weekly, but the sandwich is a rare delicacy.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I love chicken. It's my favourite white meat. And it's a little à propos, because for most of my life, I have been somewhat chicken to experiment with food. A part of the reason for this blog is to chronicle my food life and to start trying more - more foods, more recipes, more ways of preparing.

I am simultaneously on a quest to eat a more healthy and balanced diet, so I'm hoping that you'll be seeing a lot more veggies and salads than I've traditionally eaten, accompanied by an occasional dessert or home baked bread recipe. I tend to use a combination of from-scratch and pre-made ingredients, depending on the amount of time I have to devote to the food. I have been using myfitnesspal.com to help figure out the nutrition information for the meals I prepare for several years, and find it very useful.

Today, I tried a recipe from skinnytaste.com for crockpot buffalo chicken wraps. However, I decided to turn this into a salad concoction to suit the ingredients I had in my fridge. I also had an issue where my crockpot is not working, so I cooked it in a covered pot instead. I present to you my very own buffalo chicken salad:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup buffalo crockpot chicken made with Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
3 cups baby romaine lettuce
1 handful of chopped carrots and celery
1-1/2 Tbsp Kraft fat free Rancher's Choice salad dressing

Nutrition information:
Calories: 209
Potassium: 173
Fat: 3
Carbohydrates: 15
Fibre: 2
Protein: 28
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 5 (4 if you only used 1 Tbsp of salad dressing)

The results: flavourful and fantastic. Definitely something I will make again!