~ Lentil Salad ~

 
I eyeballed this salad for weeks! The color really called out to me.  I got the recipe from Skinny Taste. You should seriously subscribe to their emails, I get tons of good recipes (healthy too).

First and foremost, I used my ninja for the majority of the vegetables, only because I'm not a fan of them. I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Then why did you wanna try this?" The answer is.... I just wanted to try something new.  The older I get the more I wanna try new things. 

What you'll need:

• 1 cup dry brown lentils
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 cup finely diced carrots
• 1/3 cup finely diced celery
• 1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 1/4 cup minced parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 5 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper

In a saucepan combine lentils, bay leaf, and thyme.  Add enough water to cover about an inch and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered until the lentils are tender, roughly 16 minutes.

Drain the lentils and take out the bay leaf. 

Put your lentils in a large work bowl and add all your other goodies (carrots, celery, red pepper, red onion, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper). Toss and serve chilled or at room temperature! 

Now for my thoughts on this dish:  it didn't do it for me, no need to sugar coat it.  I just didn't like it (maybe because it's healthy?).  It lacked flavor. Have you made this before, what would you add?  

Next soup I wanna try is the Creamy Lentil Soup from Skinny Taste! Maybe it'll taste better?

~ Buffalo Chicken Chili ~

 

It's that time of the year for soups!!!  My neighbor made some buffalo chicken chili the other day and I decided to try and make some for myself.  I added beans to mine! Yum!

What you'll need:

• 4 cups of shredded chicken (I used rotisserie and it was so much easier).
• 1 can of northern beans
• 1 can of kidney beans
• 1 cup of salsa (chunky or not, your choice)
• 1/2 red onion (diced)
• 1 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• 2 packages of dry ranch mix
• Buffalo sauce (your choice)
• Olive oil
• Corn (optional)

 First you'll sauteed the diced red onion with the olive oil. Then you'll add the shredded chicken, buffalo sauce (to your liking, but don't over do it), and 1 package of ranch mix. Saute that for a few minutes.

Then you'll move everything into a bigger pot. Combine everything, which is the chicken mixture, salsa, chicken broth, more buffalo sauce if you desire, beans, and 2nd package of ranch mix.  Simmer on low until heated thoroughly.

Now, I'm sure you can do this in the crockpot, I did not try.
Also, as mentioned above you could have added corn which would have been good.

More optional items would be heavy whipping cream at the end, sour cream, or green onions.

As you see my optional items were cheese and avocado.  The avocado just topped it off!!

~ 12 Days of Christmas Swap! ~

Who doesn't love a swap?!
Who doesn't love mail?!
Who doesn't love meeting new people/bloggers?
This is my 4th swap and I'm pumped! My last one was this time last year (only because I took a blogging break) so I'm due for a new one.
I'm participating in the 12 Days of Christmas Swap with Chaotic Goddess Swaps! Wanna join? Click here to sign up but make it quick, it closes November 10th!
Can't make this one?  Book mark this page to Upcoming Swaps so you can be ready for the next one!

~ Curious what I've been up to? ~

As promised here I am telling (or should I say showing) you what I was up to during my blogging hiatus. As much as I love my readers some stuff will be left out just because it was a little personal. No worries, things are getting better and maybe one day I'll talk about it.  :)  If you followed me in Instagram or FB some of these might look familar to you.

What better way to talk about where I've been or what I've been doing than to show you in pictures. Who doesn't love pictures?!?! So, here is a photo dump, I'm sure no one will complain.

March we had some of that white stuff that falls from the sky, which doesn't come often here, so I took full advantage!

 

 

When it does snow, lots of ice comes with it. We lost a building at work.

The ice we had when we opened the garage.

Tried some new recipes (no worries, they will be making a visit on the blog soon).

I did my 2nd half with my running buddy, with no training. Yeah... bad girl!  But I still finished. I did sign up for a full in April 2015, which I will be ready for!

Crawfish boil, which are always amazing!

Did some trail running with some friends, not sure how we stayed on course, it got kinda iffy there for awhile.

You'd get lost too! :)

 I got another Voxbox from Influenster.

My cousin got married, beautiful wedding!

Attended CMA fest, only 1 day. Boo!  :(

Did my 4th Tough Mudder and for the 1st time I made it across the monkey bars! Super proud moment!

My nephew was born!

4th of July activities.

Took a cruise with some friends, much needed disconnect from the world!

My dad came to visit, I think the last time I seen him was about 2 years ago.

 
And of course from then on out I've shared on here (skydiving, another vox box, etc.).
I probably left something out, but I hope not!!  Lord knows I could have added a ton more pictures!
Now its nearing the end of the year, do you have any fun plans?