If you have been reading here for any legnth of time, you know that I am all about easy recipes. I do not have a whole lot of patience when it comes to preparing food. My children inhale their food so quickly that I do not think it even has time to touch their tastebuds.

Also, it is now summer and we are often out of the house for the day. I don’t really feel like making big meals every single day. Sandwiches are a working mother’s friend, whether you are working in the home or out.

I had bought some rotisserie chickens from the grocery store for dinner one night. There wasn’t enough left to make a full meal for my family so I decided to make chicken salad. It was fabulous. The kids all loved it. It was da bomb. Did I just age myself terribly with that or what? I don’t even know where it came from, some back cobwebby corner of my brain, I guess.

You will need:

2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
1 small minced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup mayonaisse

Step One:
Except for the grapes. Chop all of your ingredients up and toss in the bowl.

Step Two:

Add the mayonaisse, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Stir well.

Step Three:

Add the grapes and gently stir to mix.

Step Four:

Serve on some lightly toasted bread. The bread in the photo is gluten free bread. It is Udi’s brand and so good it tastes just like real bread. And those are salt and vinegar chips. You don’t have to serve it with those, but why not? They just make everything taste better.

And best of all, you don’t have to heat the kitchen all up.

School is quickly coming to an end.  If you are like me, it is coming to an end in the next few days.  Cue the angels singing hallelujah.  

What do you give to your children’s teachers?   I like to make a little something as well as give them a giftcard.  Even thought my daughter insists her teacher loves candles I just don’t think she wants one from every kid in the class.  Unless of course she is going for that Amish theme in her house and shunning electricity.

Coupled with school coming to an end has been my ongoing quest for a recipe to make the cinnamon roasted cashews that I love from Whole Foods.  I could eat them every single day.  And I would if the Whole Foods store wasn’t so far away from me and if they didn’t cost so much money.  For whatever reason, my children want to eat more than a small hand full of nuts for dinner everyday. They are so selfish like that.

As I searched for recipes, some of them were way more complex than what I wanted to do. I had zero desire to put trays of nuts in and out of the oven multiple times. Nor did I want to brush my nuts with egg whites.

(I am resisting the urge to add, That’s what she said.)

And so I came up with this shortcut version of the recipe. It suits me and my short attention span perfectly. Not to mention it is so delicious that I ended up hiding some of it from my children. I just don’t think they appreciated my nuts enough.

(Sometimes I think I am really a 12 year old boy.)

I think that this recipe tastes even better than the version they sell at Whole Foods, if only for the fact that it costs about 1/10th price to make at home.

You will need:

6 cups of Cashews, or really any nut you desire
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2T cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla

Again, this recipe, like most of my recipes, is not an exact science. Add more or less of whatever you like or don’t like. It will turn out perfectly fine. I promise.

Step One:

Put the nuts in a large heavy bottomed pan. Heat them up over high heat, stirring them so that they don’t burn. This will take a few minutes.

Step Two:

Once the nuts are heated thoroughly dump the brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla into the pan.

Step Three:

Stir it while the sugar mixture gets all melty and sticks to the nuts.

Step Four:

Turn off stove and let it cool slightly before you remove the nuts from the pan. Resist the urge to taste them right now unless you want to burn the tastebuds off of your tongue. Trust me on this.

Step Five:

Scoop the nuts out of the pan and into a bowl. If you have allowed them to cool too long and they are stuck in your pan like a massive piece of peanut brittle, simply turn the stove back on for a few minutes to loosen the sugar up. it is much easier than hacking at it with a butter knife. Not that I know anything about that.

Now you can package these nuts up into little decorative containers to give to the teachers. Or you can just eat the nuts yourself and tell yourself that you need it, no, you deserve it, because soon enough the kids are going to be home all day and sometimes you just need to sneak into the pantry and have a little snack to susatin you while you think of ways to burn daylight.

Miles approves.