The thing is…I absolutely loathe the word “bestie.” Makes me cringe. Blah. No thanks. The other thing is that my best friend hates the term best friend. She finds it negative in terms of having one friend better than any other. I get that. Friends are the best – no need to classify one superior over another. I know what we have, I don’t need an added term to make me feel more special. Just being her friend is special enough. If you knew her, you would want to be her friend too. I don’t like playing favorites nor do I like being the favorite, too much pressure. Labels are lame and unnecessary. The fact is, it seems I have always been blessed in the friend department. I have old friends, new friends, lost friends, let go of friends. The one constant has been this girl. She is not my best friend. She is my sister. We may not have had the same parents or siblings but she is more family to me than some family members. We met in 7th grade and have been a part of each others lives ever since. I sang her down the aisle at her wedding, she stood next to me at mine. She knows me more than any other human. And look, I can go into how deep our relationship is, how much she means to me but the fact of it is, what I have already written will probably make her uncomfortable. She is not much for the mushy stuff. We definitely seem to balance one another out – I seem to cry all of the time and I have only seen her cry a handful of times in the 20 years we have been together. So anyways, this is my ode to a special person, whom will always have a place in my heart.
Kristi is coming over for a few days. She is bringing with her, her amazing little girl so that our children can play with each other, in turn allow Krys and I to get some quality time. Since I don’t have girls I have been having a fun time getting some girl things in the house. She has her own special princess cup, princess fishing pole and a few other surprises. Can you tell I’m excited? I don’t have much planned as I want to be flexible but I have ideas just in case we need some. What I am planning are the meals. Krys is awesome in the fact that we like similar foods and have similar ideals for what constitutes breakfast, lunch and dinner. We are both health conscious yet love to indulge (you should see this chocolate crepe cake she just emailed me with a caption of “I’m bringing the ingredients”). So to start off the vacation I want to have a delicious, vegetable-filled lunch (or dinner, depends on what time we get back from playing in Denver that first day). I want it ready so that when we get back to my house, I don’t have to be stuck in the kitchen. So I will have a big bowl of succotash waiting in the fridge, along with a lovely home-made buttermilk avocado dressing. I found this delectable recipe out of the June 2013 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
I am going to be making this recipe as printed. I can not foresee any changes I would want to make. I love all of the ingredients, I have bleu cheese in the freezer along with chicken breasts and bacon. I’ll keep those items, prepared and on the side for whoever may like some added protein. If you wish to keep it vegetarian, you will still get a substantial meal out of this recipe. As for the kids…they may not like this. It’s always helpful to have some Annie’s Organic Mac & Cheese lying around (we get it in bulk from Costco for such emergencies). Here is the reason we don’t ever buy Kraft Mac & Cheese.
Happy Summer folks, oh and it wouldn’t hurt to let your buddy know just how awesome he or she is…
Ingredients
For the dressing:
¾ cup buttermilk
1 small avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
1 tablespoon snipped fresh Italian parsley
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
For the salad:
2 ears fresh corn
½ cup frozen lima beans
1 large head Boston lettuce, torn
2 cups (8 ounces) sliced grilled or rotisserie chicken breast*
6 slices bacon, crisp-cooked, drained and crumbled
½ cup finely chopped red onion
½ cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta or bleu cheese
Preparation
- To make dressing, combine buttermilk, avocado, parsley, salt, onion powder, dry mustard, ground pepper and garlic in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into a small container and set aside.
- Cut corn kernels from cobs; set kernels aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of lightly salted water to boiling. Add corn and lima beans; simmer about 5 minutes or until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon; set aside.
- Line a large platter or four serving plates with the lettuce. Arrange chicken, crumbled bacon, corn-lima bean mixture, onion and cheese in rows on lettuce. Serve with dressing.
*For grilled chicken, lightly season 12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves with salt and ground black pepper. For a charcoal or gas grill, place chicken on the rack of a covered grill directly over medium heat. Grill for 12 to 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees F), turning once halfway through grilling. Or you can grill on a grill pan on the stove top. Same amount of time.
High Altitude Adjustment
- None
Compost
- All vegetable and herb trimmings.
Recycle
- Buttermilk carton
- Any empty spice container
Reuse
- Plastic bags vegetables and herbs came in.
Naturally Green Cooking 