Chicken Salad Stuffed Avocados

So I was sitting at the table the other night trying to plan out a menu for the week….

Side note, I just realized that I start all of my ramblings with “So…”. I’ll work on that. Just so you know, I say rad a lot too…just warnin ya, in case we ever had a conversation and you were thinking, “I wonder if she knows that she says ‘rad’ a lot”… I know.

I like it 🙂

Anyway….I was sitting making my menu and subsequent grocery list, which I usually make the morning that I go shopping and end up leaving my house 2 hours later than I want because I am too indecisive and can never decide on what I want to make for dinners….and….

I decided to have street tacos from a rotisserie chicken on one night (they are yummy…and chicken was on sale). But since I knew we wouldn’t finish all of the meat, I needed another meal.

Hence Chicken Salad. But, I wanted something more fun than sandwiches….

So I decided I would stuff an avocado….or as I like to call them…God’s gift to me!!!

I like stuffing stuff into other stuff. It makes me feel creative.

If you don’t like avocados…then we simply can’t be friends

Just kidding 🙂

Then you can just make sandwiches. They will still taste rad!

Ok, are you ready to make seriously the best chicken salad ever????

Here. We. Go.

Ingredients

1/2 rotisserie chicken, cooked and picked clean

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup red seedless grapes, halved

1 apple, diced

1/4 cup raisins

2 large stalks celery, diced

A couple of dashes of pepper

2 ripe avocados

Love (I put extra in all my dishes) 🙂

Preparation

Channel your inner cave man and pick apart the rotisserie chicken until there is not a speck of meat left on it. I always feel a little more primal after this step, like I could go throw a spear or catch a fish with my bare hands.

Survivor here I come!!!

Throw half of the meat into a bowl. (or if you really wanted to, double the recipe and use the whole thing).

Add a dollop of mayonnaise (by the way, I am assuming that a dollop is about the same as 1/4 cup so that’s how I came to my measurement).

I started with 1 dollop and then added more based upon my desired creaminess.

Cut grapes in half and throw them on in. Don’t get crazy on me or you may just lose some under the fridge. Maybe we should gently toss…

Peel and dice the apple. Add it in with your nearly model perfect hand…

Cut the celery in half lengthwise then dice into teeny tiny pieces and add it to the mix.

Gently toss your raisins into the bowl …

Another side note…do you have a store where you can buy raisins in bulk??? If not then you need to move! Or maybe just find one. I bought these at Sprout’s and they are the best raisins I have had in my entire, super, duper long life!!!

Sprinkle a little pepper and…

Mix, baby mix….

Add more mayo if you like it creamier and dreamier.

Slice the avocados in half length wise. Insert a spoon in between the yummy green and the not so yummy skin and *gently* dig out the good stuff.

Put the avocado half on a plate and throw the chicken salad mixture on top making sure to stuff as much into the center as you can.

Now the important part….

Devour!!!

Hope you enjoy all of them one as much as I did!!!

Here’s the handy-dandy printable form

Ingredients

1/2 rotisserie chicken, cooked and picked clean

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup red seedless grapes, halved

1 apple, diced

1/4 cup raisins

2 large stalks celery, diced

A couple of dashes of pepper

2 ripe avocados

Preparation

Pick all meat off of the chicken and throw half of it into the bowl. Add mayo. Cut grapes in half length wise. Dice apple and celery. Add grapes, apple, celery and raisins to the chicken and mayo. Sprinkle a dash of pepper and mix until all ingredients are coated with mayonnaise.

Cut avocados in half length wise and carefully scoop out the inside, removing it from the outer skin. Place avocado on a plate and stuff with chicken salad mixture.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Sweet n Tangy BBQ Sauce

Have you ever dreamed wonderful dreams of making your own BBQ sauce?

Yes you say???

Well then, you’re not only pretty much a recipe geek like me, but you are in luck!!

I made this for the first time the other night and it came out A-mazing…

If I do say so myself….

It was super easy, I had all of the ingredients, and, I ended up making it in the crock pot!!!!

Could life get any better???

Well, I could think of a few things that would be pretty sweet, but homemade BBQ sauce made my day…my week in fact!

Go get your cowboy boots on, and if you don’t have any (generally not the common attire in Orange County), slippers or flip flops will do, and prepare yourself because you will be salivating before this creation is complete.

** Note, this recipe does not call for bananas; I am just a bonehead and forgot to take them out of the way when setting up the shot. And yes, I do buy the most green bananas on Earth; what can I say, the hubs likes under ripe bananas and I like to make the hubs happy….it’s the little things

Ingredients 

1 cup Ketchup

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (this is the tangy part; like less tang? Use less Vinegar)

3 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar (I used light brown cause that’s what I had)

1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste (not shown cause it was kinda an afterthought)

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes

1 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1/4 tsp Garlic Powder (another afterthought)

1/4 tsp Chile Powder (and yet another afterthought)

** I doubled the recipe so the pictures may not reflect the accurate measurements**

Actual recipe yields about 1 cup of sauce

Directions

In either a medium saucepan or crock pot, pour Ketchup… If you have not gotten a rubber spatula by now we need to have a talk!

Add the Apple Cider Vinegar

and the brown sugar

Note to self…we are in need of a serious manicure…what the heck happened!

Add the mustard…

and the tomato paste….

and the maple syrup….

and all of your spices…

Now stir and stir and then leave it for a bit. We want all of those wonderful flavors to mix together. Let it sit over low heat, stirring occasionaly for about 30-45 minutes to let it reduce.

When you feel like you have had enough stirring and reducing and paying attention to something on the stove, take it off, let it cool, then transfer it to an airtight container in the fridge.

or…

If you want to use it now and have opted for the crock pot and need some ideas on what to do with this amazing stuff…

Here you go (again, I am here to take the wonder out of your kitchen adventures):

Throw in some meatballs (that’s what I did, Meatball Recipe Here), sausage, rotisserie chicken or pulled pork (eat it alone or make sandwiches)

Make a meatloaf and slather it on the top prior to baking

BBQ burgers and chicken are always wonderful

Add some onions and peppers and put it on top of anything and you will think you have died and gone to heaven!

I hope you enjoy making and eating this goodness as much as I did!!!