Hunger Knows No Season

Hunger knows no season. It doesn't know that food pantry supplies tend to dwindle down in the summer months. Stomachs are still in need of food and nutrition whether it is a Saturday morning or a Thursday night, June or December. In my area, two well known food banks are working hard to replenish supplies and stock local food banks. I am so happy to be apart of this event! On Saturday morning I will be stationed at the front door of a local grocery store with a cart and handouts about hunger. My hope is that people will find it in their hearts to donate non-perishable food items and/or monetary funds so we can help stock the area food supply. All over the area local grocery stores are participating in this event, coined "Saturday Jubliee". If you can, buy a few extra items next time you are at the store and donate it to a local pantry. Some much needed items include:

peanut butter
jelly
tuna fish
canned fruits of all varieties
canned vegetables of all kinds
applesauce
beans, canned and dry
broth, all varieties
powdered milk
instant potatoes
boxed meals
pancake mix
cereal
oatmeal
pasta
pasta sauce
canned meat
powdered drink mixes
soup
bottled water

Recipe: BBQ Chopped Salad

My sister in law works for a restaurant called California Pizza Kitchen. They serve a salad that I am madly in love with!! I believe it is called the BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad. You would think I would know the full name of this dish, but when I go visit her at work, she knows my order so I don't even look at the menu!

Due to my work schedule, I do not visit CPK as often as I would like which means I crave that salad more than often. I finally called her and asked exactly what they put in their salad so I could make some at home. I did not measure a darn thing, I just threw it all together and enjoyed my salad. It is such a filling, tasty salad especially in the summer when I can get some of the ingredients straight from my garden!

Ingredients
chopped Romaine and Iceberg Lettuce
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
black beans
white corn kernnels
fresh chopped basil
fresh chopped cilantro
BBQ sauce
ranch dressing (I make homemade buttermilk ranch)
diced tomato
diced jicama
chunks of avocado
grilled chicken breast
lime

First, we grill the chicken breast and then dice it up. I do not eat the chicken, but my husband loves it. He usually bastes the chicken in the BBQ sauce for added flavor. In a big bowl I add the lettuces, cilantro, basil and jicama. I don't add anything else simply because if there are leftovers, I don't want anything ruined. In my own bowl I add in the lettuce mixture, then I add corn, tomato, beans, cheese, avocado, fresh squeezed lime juice, BBQ sauce and ranch and then I toss it all up. It is that easy! The real recipe calls for tortilla strips, but I don't care for those. If I take the time to make it all nice and fancy like CPK, it looks something like this (the hubs enjoys his salad with all the fixings, minus the strips):