Homemade Apple Chicken Salad

I'm not gonna lie.  I love Panera.  I also love that they were committed to having antibiotic-free chicken LONG before it was popular.  I eat there frequently enough, but our budget does not always leave room for me to indulge.  Food is also an area where I have those moments of:  "I could totally make that". One of my all-time favorites of theirs is the "Fuji Apple Chicken Salad."

I discovered that you can actually buy the salad dressing at the grocery store (I saw it at SuperTarget) but after reading the ingredients (soybean oil, sugar, etc) I decided making it would be an even better idea.  So, here is my copycat version of the Panera Fuji Apple Chicken Salad:

Romaine lettuce (we added some spinach and kale too)
Grilled chicken breasts (or rotisserie chicken)
Chopped Red Onions
Chopped Tomatoes
Pecans (or walnuts)
Crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (or feta)
Dried apple chips (we have a dehydrator so we made some of our own!)

For the dressing:
2 T. oil (we like to use Grapeseed, but I'm sure olive oil would work well too)
1 T. white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 T. organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 T. garlic powder
1/2 T. onion powder
1.5 tsp dijon mustard
3 T. Frozen organic 100% apple juice concentrate (we also have a juicer so I am hoping to try this with actual fresh juiced apples in the future)

Whisk together and refrigerate!

YUM! And this one recipe costs less than one order at Panera but fed all five of us.  The only ingredient I did not have was mustard (we're not big mustard fans), but now that I have it, we can use it over and over to make this recipe.

Enjoy!

Easy Oatmeal and Honey Bread

Our journey to a natural life has been just that: a journey.  We did not make all of our lifestyle changes overnight.  Take one thing at a time and make your changes slowly.  Recently one of our changes has been with bread.  Many have jumped on the gluten-free bandwagon, and you'll be happy to know that this recipe can be modified slightly to make gluten-free bread.

For our family though, we believe that all things should be in moderation.  We have no health issues with gluten but we still try to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables with very little wheat included.  We try to make all of our food ourselves so we only eat bread as often as I'm willing to make it.  That being said, there's nothing like the fresh baked bread smell in the house! Mmmm!!

This recipe quickly became my favorite because it had so few ingredients and truly is one of the easiest there is.  Most kitchens already have all the ingredients! Enjoy!

Oatmeal and Honey Bread

1 C. old fashioned rolled oats or instant steel cut oats

2 pkg. yeast (equivalent to 4.5 teaspoons if you have it in a jar)

2 and ½ tsp. salt

½ C. honey (we use only raw, local honey)

2 T. oil (my favorite is grapeseed for this recipe)

5 cups flour (we use unbleached organic flour)

• Soak oats in 2 C. boiling water until lukewarm
• Dissolve yeast in 1/3 C. warm water (110-120 degrees) and add to the oats.  The oats must not be warmer than 120 degrees or it will kill the yeast.  Use a thermometer if you are new to bread-making. 
• Add salt, honey and oil to mixture.
• Add flour in 2 cup increments until dough is smooth.  The honey will make the dough slightly sticky, do not add too much flour.  Knead until smooth (about 5 minutes).
• Place dough in a greased bowl and cover to rise until double. Usually about an hour.
• Punch down the risen dough
• Divide in half and shape into loaves.  Place in greased loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until double. Usually 1-1.5 hours in a warm spot.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until browned and the loaves sound hollow when tapped.  Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

photo credit: babble.com