Panera-Inspired Chicken Salad

Azra and I met Chris for lunch at Panera last week. I wasn't too hungry, so I was just going to get a bagel until I saw the poster for this:

Photo Courtesy Panera Bread

It is the Napa Almond Chicken Salad and is made with "pepper-mustard chicken, fresh celery, seedless grapes, almonds & special dressing." It was absolutely fantastic and I knew that it was something that I'd love to have all of the time, just not for the $6.00 price tag. So I thought, why not make it at home? Now I'm no Paula Deen, but I figured that I could handle a chicken salad. All of the ingredients except the dressing are things that I usually have on hand, so I could justify spending the $5.00 on a really good dressing since I'd be saving so much by eating it at home. I bought Marzetti poppyseed dressing (the stuff found in the produce section by the pre-packaged lettuce) because it's light, creamy and gives a subtle flavor similar to their "special dressing."

Des Moines Almond Chicken Salad

(clever, I know)

2 chicken breast

2 celery stalks, chopped

red grapes, halved

sliced almonds

Marzetti Poppyseed dressing

rosemary

salt & pepper

(Forewarning: My directions lose points for lack of detail.)

Throw some rosemary, salt and pepper into a pot. Add the chicken breast and fill with water until it just covers the chicken. Cover and place over high heat until it reaches a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the baby stops demanding your attention. Remove from heat and let cool during the diaper change. Shred the chicken and place in a mixing bowl. Pour a good amount of dressing into the bowl, then add the grapes, celery and almonds. Mix well and add more dressing if needed. Place over some yummy bread or a thin bun. Enjoy and go back for seconds!

Who needs a bread machine??

I ran across an interesting recipe the other day for a 5-minute artisan bread. I never buy bread because the loaves are green with mold before I even get to finishing it off. However, this recipe is EASY! Throw the ingredients in the mixer, pop it in the fridge, and tear of pieces of dough to bake at your leisure. Simple as that! Plus, it promised me a bread that would be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, so I knew that I must try it.

Artisan Loaf

(Makes four 1 lb loaves)

3 c lukewarm water

1 1/2 T yeast (1 1/2 packets)

1 1/2 T coarse salt (I only had regular old table salt, but hope to try coarse next time)

6 1/2 c flour - unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour (I used 100% whole wheat)

Add yeast and salt to the lukewarm water in the mixer bowl. Using the dough hook attachment, add the flour while mixing on medium speed until uniformly moist. Cover the bowl loosely. Rise at room temperature for about two hours. Pop it in the fridge.

After returning from a long day at work, take out a handful of dough and sprinkle with flour. Stretch all four sides of the dough around the bottom. Rest for 40 minutes on a well floured pizza peel (I just used a cutting board. After 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 450 with a baking stone in the middle rack and a broiler pan beneath it. Once the 40 minutes is up, sprinkle the top of the loaf with flour and slash the top of the bread. Slide the loaf onto the baking stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiling pan and quickly close the door (to keep the bread moist). Bake for 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. Cool completely on a wire rack and you will end up with this yummy bread:

The bread wasn't yet European bakery quality, but it has strong potential! Next time I will use the coarse sea salt and try playing around with different flavors - maybe the addition of herbs, honey, etc to kick it up a notch. Anyone know how to add the whole grain texture??

The dough lasts up to two weeks in the fridge, and the longer it sits the more flavorful it becomes. It can be used for a variety of meals and since Friday is Pizza Night at the Brock household (as Chris is obsessed with pizza), tomorrow I'm trying it as a pizza crust!

Month One: Joys of Parenting

It's hard to believe that our little girl is one month old today! Here she is doing her one-month birthday dance:

It seems like it was only yesterday that she entered into our lives (very painfully, I might add! :) ). I've truly enjoyed the last four weeks home that I've had with her, and I'm so glad that I have another eight left before I have to leave her for work.

After making it through month one, here are a few of the lessons I have learned about parenting:

1. Moms don't wear sweats and a ponytail sans makeup because they're lazy, it's due to being interrupted by the baby every time you're about to step foot in the shower.

2. You either quickly learn how to feed both you and the babe concurrently, or you don't eat.

3. The three changes per day due to spit up, pee, and other baby excrement are not only the baby's clothes being changed. Note to self: Triple check the fit of the diaper before sitting your baby on your lap. Assume all wet spots on your leg are baby pee and not spilled water.

4. Purchase a large computer hard drive before the baby's arrival. We hit the 300 photo mark by only the third day of her life. It'll take me weeks to pare down and organize all of the photos!

5. Looking into her big blue eyes makes you forget about your lack of sleep, cute clothes and good looks that went out the window when she came into this world.

A Birth Story

It has been two weeks and four days since the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Azra. Today marks the day of my first week at home alone with the baby. Chris and I really enjoyed two weeks at home together to spend some quality time with Azra, and each other. Now that I'm on my own, I can finally get to sharing all the of the details of her birth!

After 39 weeks of patiently awaiting our baby's arrival, I was beginning to get particularly antsy. Not only did I have to endure the constant emails/calls/texts from my caring friends and family asking if she had arrived yet, but I had to carry around all the extra weight which was really starting to hurt my legs and back. Once I hit the due date, I had permission from my midwife to begin trying everything I could to speed up the process a bit. On Monday the 14th, I started trying oils, teas, and I even turned to acupuncture!

On Wednesday I went to bed only to feel too restless to stay there, so I went downstairs and watched TV for awhile. Around midnight I started feeling contractions that were strong enough to interrupt me from watching "The Rachel Zoe Project." I didn't really believe that it was true labor, but I decided to start timing them for lack of anything better to do. After an hour of contractions, I was beginning to get a little lonely. Still not believing that I was in labor, but hoping that I was, I went upstairs to wake up Chris so he could keep me company. I don't think he believed it either because he seemed a little annoyed to have been waken up at one in the morning.

At this point, I completely lost track of time. I remember the contractions being much more intense than I ever could have anticipated. I rotated between the exercise ball, the bath tub and the bed. I don't really recall ever telling Chris to do anything to help, but he was always there doing just the right thing nonetheless. From rubbing my back during contractions, continuously bringing me water to drink, to even turning off the lights and lighting candles in the while I was in the bath tub, everything he did was just perfect. I didn't really have much time to think about what was going on as I was trying to sleep for one or two minutes in between the contractions. However, I imagine he was beginning to get a little nervous (especially given my frequent shrieks of pain!).

After my water broke (luckily, while I was in the tub), Chris knew that it was time to go. I was able to make my way back to the great room while Chris packed the car and put our dog in the kennel. By this time, I was in too much pain to get up and walk to the car. During a very short break in between contractions, he helped walk me to the car. It must have been right before 8 by this time because I remember looking ahead to the road and seeing all of the cars of rush hour. Luckily we live only five minutes from the hospital, so I was in my hospital room in no time.

By the time I got to the room, I was already 8 centimeters and feeling the urge to push. Pushing was super difficult, but less painful than the contractions. I felt like she would never arrive, but Chris was right there for me, cheering me on, and reassuring me that I really could do it. After 1.5 hours of pushing, Chris proudly announced that we had a beautiful daughter. The midwife laid her on my chest and she looked up at Chris and I like she knew exactly who we were.

Azra Mae Brock

8 lbs 2 oz

9.17.09 - 9:14 AM