Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Love on Top

Whew! The summer heat has been lingering on for weeks here in Texas. We almost broke a record of consecutive days to reach over 100 degrees that was set back in 1980. However, on Saturday we had a tiny bit of a break. Our temperature only topped out at about 95. Now, I know 95 degrees is still very warm but, when the old summer sun just will not give you a break and the sweltering heat rises to over 100 degrees for 40 days....well, 95 seems almost cool. Since it has been so hot the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven to prepare a nice hearty hot meal. So, we have been eating a lot of salads lately. I love salads and I like a lot of variety but my family is not quiet as adventerous as I am so I have to get creative and make it little more interesting.

We love croutons in our salads. If you have bought croutons in the the bags you know they are very hard. Almost too hard to bite into.  So, I like to make my own. They are still crunchy but with a nice soft crunch on the outside and a middle that is a bit on the chewy side. Like a warm piece of buttery toast. There are alot of advantages to making croutons at home .
1. You can use left over bread that is about to turn stale. This saves money.
2. You can control the flavor of the crouton by adding any spices you like.
3. You control the amount of spices. This is especially good if you are watching your salt intake.
And my favorite part......
4. You can make them any shape you desire.
Most croutons are simply tiny little cubes of toasted bread. If you have some tiny little cookie cutters you can make it fun by cutting the crouton into different shapes.

I try to find anyway I can to tell my family that I love them. Actually saying "I love you"  does not come easily for everyone. I grew up in a family that did not run around all the time telling each other we loved them. I am the youngest of  four children. Our mother was a terrific Mama that raised four children without a father in the house. I do not know how she did it. Let me tell you, whether you are the Mom or the Dad , being a single parent is one of the toughest jobs in the world. We came from a family that did not hear the words "I love you." But boy, did we feel it. We all knew we were loved  by her actions.  She would swat us on the behind when we were being bad then turn right around and love on us to let us know that all is forgiven. I can hear her say, "Now don't do that again and let's move on." My Mama also had many "looks."  She could be in the front yard watering flowers all the while carrying on a conversation with one of the neighbors and spot one of us kids out of the corner of her eye doing something good and she would flash us a look that said, "You are one terrific kid and I am so proud of you". Then in a blink of an eye, that same Mama could turn her head and stop a misbehaving child dead in their tracks with just one look.  All the while she hadn't missed a word the neighbor was saying. Now that my friends is a gift from God. Yes, I know from personal experience that a person can feel the love without actually saying those 3 little words: I LOVE YOU. But, I am a very blessed woman. I am married to my best friend. Over the years he has taught me to say "I love you." But, I am always striving to develop that same God given talent my Mama had. I have always wanted to be able to express my love with just a special look that comes from deep in a person's soul.

So, my tiny little heart shaped croutons are a kind of a subliminal message to my family. A tiny little hug sitting on top of their cool crisp salad or floating in a steamy hot bowl of tomato soup from a loving wife or Mama who loves her fully grown baby girls. 

This my friends, is dinner tonight. A Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with a little love on the top.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time......