Italian Pasta Salad

From: I love a traditional Italian pasta salad, and this is my favorite combination of ingredients.

Ingredients:

spiral pasta, cooked
beef salami
tomato (roma or cherry tomatoes)
artichoke hearts
sliced or chopped black olives
cubed cheddar and/or mozzarella cheese
Italian dressing
salt and pepper to taste
peanuts (optional)

How to:  

Combine ingredients, mix well, and chill in the refrigerator before serving.

Red Orange Salad

From: One evening we were having friends over, and we were missing a key ingredient for a salad we wanted to make, so my husband improvised and threw this one together, inspired by his favorite Italian cook, Lydia. It was so good that it wasn't until I was scraping the last bit out of the bowl and scarfing it down, that it occurred to me to take a picture and post it here.

Ingredients:

romaine lettuce
red oranges, diced
craisins (dried cranberries)
blue cheese
red onion
french fried onions
rasberry vinaigrette salad dressing

How to:  

Toss the dry ingredients together and top with the dressing to your liking.

Spoonfuls of Dessert

From: When MckMama posted this, I knew I had to try it!! Her version has much more exotic (and healthy) ingredients than mine.  You can see it here. The great thing about this dessert is how simple it is and how much you can change it, depending on what's in your cupboard. Yummmm!!!

Ingredients:

chocolate chips
olive oil
peanut butter, refrigerated
peanuts
sliced almonds
craisins (dried cranberries)
shredded coconut
plastic spoons

How to:  

Spoon out some peanut butter with the plastic spoon.  Then press craisins, peanuts, and sliced almonds (or whatever you desire) into the peanut butter.  Make several of these and set aside.  But hurry!  The peanut butter melts and gets soft on a hot day.

Put the chocolate chips and a tablespoon of oil into a bowl.  Microwave for 20 seconds and then stir.  Repeat half a dozen times until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

Dip the spoons with peanut butter on them into the chocolate so it's completely covered.  Sprinkle with shredded coconut (or whatever you desire).  Place on wax paper or aluminum foil and put it in the freezer for about an hour until it becomes completely hard.  Enjoy!

Side notes: The more oil you add, the thinner the chocolate will be, which is helpful in coating without destroying the spooned creation.  You can experiment with how much oil to add.

Quinoa Soup

From: My friend Tiff shared this recipe with me and it was a big hit!!  It's also phenomenally healthy, which makes it even better!

Ingredients: 

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa
1-2 cups frozen corn kernels (to your liking)
1/3 cup chunky salsa, to taste
1 ripe but firm hass avocado, diced
salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

How To: 

You know it's good when the picture of the recipe looks like that!  Ha!

Side notes:  You can also get the seasoned packet of quinoa (found with the rice packets in the grocery store) and replace 2 cups of broth and salt with only 2 cups of water.

Colorful Sweet & Salty Chicken

From: One evening, we had planned to make shishkabobs, and realized we didn't have any propane for the grill, so we improvised and came up with this!  It was GREAT and my 3 year old was just as excited about it as we were!

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut into half inch cubes
15 oz pineapple chunks
1 red pepper diced into 1 inch squares
1/2 red onion diced into 1 inch squares
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
dash pepper
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion flakes
3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp butter

How to:  

Add oil to a wok or skillet, and dust the chicken with salt, oil, basil, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, onion flakes, pepper. Add 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce.  When the chicken is cooked through and golden brown, remove from skillet.

Add to the same skillet the red pepper and red onion.  Dust with salt, and add 1 Tbsp butter, and 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce.  Cover so liquid releases the brown chicken residue from the bottom of the skillet.  Allow the liquid to bubble up and simmer until the vegetables are soft.  Add pineapple chunks to the skillet and continue simmering for another minute.

Combine with chicken and serve on its own or over rice.

Fish Tacos

From: I searched far and wide for a fish taco sauce and jumped for joy when I finally found this one! Then I failed to read the directions and came up with the following variation which I now love to eat in mass quantities.  Yumm!!

Ingredients:

fish of your choice, cooked as you prefer

taco-sized flour tortillas

1 tomato , chopped
1 or 2 avocados chopped
1 cup lettuce, shredded

sauce ingredients:

4 tbsp light sour cream
2 tbsp light mayonnaise made with lime
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 onion , finely diced (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 to 1/2 avocado, finely chopped

How to:  

Start by combining the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and chill while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.  Then prepare the rest of the ingredients, setting each one in a separate small bowl on the table so everyone can sit down and build their own taco!

Fish can be cooked with lemon and butter or any other of your favorite seasonings.

taco seasoning mix

From: For the longest time, I was looking for a substitute for the Taco Bell brand taco seasoning that costs an arm and a leg and has all the same spices as the ones that are already in my kitchen.  FINALLY, I found one, with the help of some friends of mine.  This is the one I found.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

How to:  

Brown the meat in the skillet, then add seasoning and water and simmer until liquid reduces (approximately 10 minutes).