Recipe: Chicken Avocado & Tomato Grilled Cheese

Whew! Now that is, quite literally, a mouthful. I made this sandwich over the weekend on a whim and... Yum!

Ingredients:

2 slices white bread
2 slices deli chicken breast
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, or 2 slices
1/2 avocado, peeled and seeded
1/2 small tomato, diced
1/2 tsp lime juice (can sub lemon juice)
1/8 tsp course salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
butter or oil, for grilling

Preheat your electric skillet to 350°.
In a small bowl, mix together the avocado, tomato, lime juice, salt and pepper. Mash with a fork until biggest lumps are gone.
Spread butter or oil on one side of each slice of bread. Place that side down onto skillet and layer sandwich with cheese, avocado mixture, and chicken. Lay second slice of bread on top with butter side up. (This is how I do my grilled cheese, but I know everyone has their own method!)
Grill for 2-3 minutes and then carefully flip. Grill an additional 2-3 minutes. Both sides should be golden and crispy.

Enjoy!

DIY: Painted wood bead necklace.

 

What you'll need for this project:

Wooden beads
Paint brush
Acrylic paints
Hemp rope or similar, cut 2-3 inches longer than desired necklace length

1. Paint your beads in desired color and pattern and let dry. I inserted toothpicks into the beads to hold them while I painted and then stuck the toothpicks into a block of styrofoam to hold upright while they dried. The paint dries rather quickly but I'd wait at least 15 minutes before assembling your necklace.
2. String your dry painted beads onto the rope and center them. If you prefer, tie a knot on either side of the string of beads to hold them in place like I did.
3. Now, think of the two ends of your rope as A and B. Tie the end of string A to string B, and the end of string B to string A. Tighten the knots. You want them to be snug but still have a little slack to move along the string. This allows the necklace to be adjustable! By holding the knot in one hand and the single piece of string in the other, you can push the knots along the string to adjust the length of the necklace. The photos above just show how to tie the rope. Make sure you put the beads on BEFORE tying the necklace!

 

 

Recipe: Blueberry Orange Crumb Bars

 

Ingredients:
Makes 12 small bars.

1 cup white sugar, divided in half
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, cold
3 tsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
Juice from one small orange
1 tbsp zest from orange
2 cups fresh blueberries


Preheat oven to 375°. Grease a 9x9 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in orange zest. Using a fork, cut in egg, vanilla and cold butter to form a crumbly dough.
Pour half of mixture into prepared pan and pat down to make bottom "crust".
In a separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch and orange juice. Gently stir in blueberries. Pour mixture evenly over crust.
Add nutmeg to remaining crumb mixture and sprinkle over top. Bake for 40-45 min until top is slightly browned. Cool before cutting into bars.

 

 

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.