Thai Chicken Peanut Pepper Salad

Summer has finally arrived in Seattle and we've been enjoying lots of my summer salad recipes. This is a new one I made last night and I will definitely be making it again. It is a whole meal in itself, made with chicken breast and lots of chopped veggies. Bruce and I both loved it. It is from Hannah Freese, RD who continues to send us recipes every month since I am an alumni member of her eating program. I joined her program during my knee replacement rehab because my first knee replacement was a brutal experience so I decided to change my diet to a more "anti- inflammatory diet". Her plan did wonders for me and I noticed changes right away. I also like that she is a dietitian, just like me so I can relate to her. She is up on all the latest research and I totally trust everything that she says. Since I am retired now, she is my little connection to the world of nutrition and she is a very good connection. Most of my recipes come from her now because I've cut out white carbs, sugar and alcohol. But I do still eat those things, just not on a regular basis. Hannah says to follow the plan 80% of the time and you'll still reap rewards and I find that is true. Good thing because we have five birthdays this month and I've been eating A LOT of cake!

My birthday was Monday and my cake was from my favorite bakery Bakery Nouveau, a lemon curd cake. We celebrated on Sunday with my family and Bruce barbecued my favorite Barbecued Pot Roast that my dad always made for me on my birthday. He made his own barbecue sauce and cooked it all day long on the rotisserie in the backyard. I just loved it. I finally figured out a duplicate version of it during the pandemic and my version tastes just like how I remember it all those years ago.

Even the grandkids ate it right up on Sunday and they are sort of picky eaters; it's THAT good. Bruce also made his special Mai Tai recipe for everyone to enjoy since we are finally having summer...!

Then on the Friday before, we celebrated Nick's birthday at a favorite restaurant, Anthony's in Bremerton right by the ferry terminal. He and Bruce golfed all day and then Lauren and I took the passenger ferry from downtown Seattle to Bremerton where we met everyone there. That was a really fun time and the best food.

Our first birthday celebration was the week before when we celebrated our granddaughter's 6th birthday at our house with her favorite dinner of cheeseburgers. Nick and Sachiyo got her a special traditional Japanese cake for her birthday and we had a full day celebrating.

So, this is our life right now, celebrating birthdays and eating lots of cake. I'm not complaining...but that's why we are eating salads for dinner during the week.

We still have two more birthdays to celebrate; Lauren's birthday and the 4 year-old grandson's birthday which are only 1 day apart. But next week we also have our 41st wedding anniversary to celebrate so it just continues in July. But I'm a person that likes to celebrate so bring it on! In the meantime, I will continue to eat my yummy salads without complaints just like this one. This was the prefect meal just to celebrate summer. And around here, summer is a pretty special time when it finally arrives.

Makes approximately 4 servings

1/3 cup all natural peanut butter

3 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce

1 Tbsp. water

4 cups coleslaw mix or chopped green cabbage

1/4 medium cucumber, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

3 stalks green onion, sliced

12 oz. cooked chicken breast, diced

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, vinegar, oil, coconut aminos, and water

2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until everything is coated in the dressing. Divide into bowls.

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Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides a plan for responsible eating that covers a no-nonsense rundown on

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Sylvia's Scenario

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