Girls DAY In - Easy Recipes to Help You Organize, Save, Pitch and Donate!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of co-hosting “Girls Day In”, a program at the Thomas F Chapman Family Cancer Wellness Center at Piedmont Atlanta. Part of an ongoing series of “Girls Night In”, its one of my favorite ways to share good cooking, food and eating with a group of women interested in living and eating better.

The group of thirty cancer survivors and thrivers talked cleaning and organization with Chaos 2 Comfort founder Teresa Taylor. Over lunch they swapped favorite tips and techniques for making small changes that end up in big results.

Of course, integral to any good "Day or Night In", is the food! I shared a couple of recipes for some of my easy go-tos perfect for a day full of organizing, saving, pitching and donating. We started the morning with a little granola and a teensy-tiny mimosa. Hey - It was Saturday, and we definitely needed motivation, given the subject.

Later on, I served up a composed salad, (in French it sounds even cooler: Salade Composee). One of the easy elements of the dish was my chicken salad. Full of the flavor of Garam Masala, an Indian Spice Blend that you can find in any grocery store, it made a hearty compliment to the rest of the leafy, green, veggie and little-bite-of-salmon plate. We served the chicken salad in a hollowed out Roma tomato. (Who doesn’t like anything that is just the size for me, or you?) Roma tomatoes are my favorite choice this time of the year – they are a little less watery and meatier.

The day was fun, the company enjoyable, and if I do say so myself, the food yummy!

Ginger Spiced Granola

3 Cups Oats


¼ Cup Uncooked Millet
(Optional)

¼ Cup Sesame Seeds


¼  Cup Chopped Walnuts

¼ Cup Chopped Almonds


1 ½ Tsp Cinnamon


¼ Tsp EACH Mace 
and Cardamom


¼  Cup Maple Syrup


¼  Cup Orange Juice

Zest of 1 Orange

½ Cup Your Choice of Dried Fruit

2 TB Finely Chopped Crystallized Ginger


Step One

Preheat the oven to 300F. In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients except dried fruit and ginger. Drizzle in the maple syrup and stir well. Add orange juice and zest, stirring so all ingredients are coated.

Step Two

Spread the mix out onto a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, stirring checking about every 10 minutes so nothing burns.

Step Three

Remove from oven, add the dried fruit and cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

TANGY Chicken Salad

2 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, Roasted and Chopped


1⁄2 Cup *Chopped Green Onions – Green Parts Only

1⁄4 Cup Light Mayonnaise


1⁄4 Cup Greek Yogurt


1 Tsp Garam Masala (or Curry Powder or Smoked Paprika)


1⁄2 Tsp Cumin


1⁄4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (or To Taste)

Zest and Juice of a Lemon


1/4 Cup Chopped Parsley


Make the chicken salad by combining the chicken, green onions, mayo, yogurt, garam masala, cumin, cayenne, lemon juice and zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley.

Find out how to enjoy this chicken salad with sweet potatoes in my book, Taste and Savor Delicious Healthy Recipes  or by signing up for The Friday Four, a free weekly ezine of healthy recipes and tasty wine tips. 

I thought Teresa’s presentation was great, I hope you check out her website. My good friend Carrie does super organizational work, too! Check out her website for a free guide to “When to throw away Paperwork”. At Neatsmart.com

Doggie Love and Treats

I’ve loved animals as long as I can remember. My mother used to tell the story of my playpen cookie sharing with our family boxer. I don’t remember him, but I’m pretty sure my love of dogs was born with his sweet face poking between the rails. We didn’t have another pet for many years.  (Unless you count the ginormous tank of tropical fish, that we breathed a huge sigh of relief when a friend adopted it.)

Then came my preteen years and Cheri. I talked the parents into a dog, and since I was a girlie girl, I had to have a poodle. A toy poodle, of course. At that time in my life, I was really impressed with anything/anyone with credentials, so her AKC registered name was, “Newtons Cheri of Westbury”. She was a tiny ball of black fur, and I loved her. The feeling was mutual, and we bonded, girlie girl and poodle, inseparable pals.

A couple of years later, my sister returned from living in Germany, bringing along the two most precious dogs I had ever seen. Heidi and Heinrich were red, long-haired dachshunds. You know the rest of the story. After the tears, pleading, begging and bargaining, (two dogs are not any more trouble than one), I was the proud recipient of a puppy. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. Liebchen joined Cheri. I was a “mommie” of two adorable furballs. Both lived to old, old age and are some of my best growing-up memories.

Fast forward to adulthood.  No pets of my own until I fell hard for two kittens, Wilma and Joan. Not named from the Flintstone’s Wilma, but Wilma Rudolf who was a famous runner of the 60s. The other kitty’s name was after Joan Benoit Sameulson, the Olympic marathon gold medal winner in 1984 who I admired greatly. I too, was jogging marathons, (five!), living alone and needed some friends. Joan and Wilma fit the bill perfectly, and although I loved dogs, cats fit my busy lifestyle better.

Then came Mike. My then-boyfriend-now-husband, who on our second date gave me a card listing why dogs were better than cats. I simply told him that we were a package deal. I loved dogs, but Joan, Wilma and I came together. Twenty-three years later, our roles have reversed. Mike Waldeck is that best and most enthusiastic cat daddy. Ever.

Today, I get my doggie fix from the sweeties that belong to my friends. Grace, Rocco, Lucy, Ozzie, Maggie and Charlie are just a few of my canine buddies. Plus, I love to walk at the river and other places where I get to love up on the pooches. Sometimes I drive my companions crazy by my insistence on talking to almost every dog on the trail.

Sweetie!

So when, one of my favorite Cancer Wellness facilitators, Dr. Jody sent me an email asking if I would be interested in helping host Canine Assistants at the center with their dogs. My answer was YES! Followed closely by, when?

Getting lots of love!

Yesterday we prepared lunch for our human guests and treats for our doggie guests. We had a blast making the cookies, and sharing them with the very smart and sweet dogs. I did a great deal of research on making dog cookies, and finally decided that the King Arthur Flour folks had already done the work! In fact, they were filled with so many delicious healthy ingredients; we even served them up topped with a little powdered peanut butter and powdered sugar for dessert. Here’s their recipe along with the pictures of our cookies.

I've got a treat for someone...

DOG TREATS!

Ready for the oven

         2 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or Premium Whole Wheat Flour

         1 cup rolled oats, regular or quick

         1 tablespoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

         1/2 cup Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dry milk

         1/2 teaspoon salt

         2 large eggs

         1 cup peanut butter, crunchy or plain

         1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cold water, enough to make a dough

1) Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line them with parchment.

2) Mix together the flour, oats, parsley, dried milk, and salt.

3) Add the eggs and peanut butter, stirring to combine; the mixture will be crumbly.

4) Add enough water to bring the dough together; depending on the season, you may need to add a bit more (winter), or a bit less (summer).

MY NOTE: This is a really crumbly dough! You may have to add more water if you want to roll it out

5) To make biscuits using a dog-bone cutter, roll the dough about 1/4" thick, and cut with a 3 1/2" cutter (or the size of your choice). Gather and re-roll the scraps, and continue to cut biscuits until you've used all the dough.

6) To make dog "cookies," drop the dough in walnut-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets. Flatten them to about 1/4".

People Treats!

7) Bake the biscuits for about 40 to 60 minutes, baking the smaller cookies for a shorter amount of time. When finished, the biscuits will be dark golden brown, and will be dry and crisp all the way through.

8) Remove the biscuits from the oven, and cool right on the pans.

Yield: about 42 larger (3 1/2" dog-bone) biscuits, 60 smaller (round) biscuits.