Stay Tuned...

Hey everyone! Just wanted to quickly post...please keep checking the blog, I was on vacation last week and this week we have Vacation Bible School at our church so I haven't had much free time for cooking and posting!! I am hoping to get some new recipes posted next week!!

Thanks for reading the blog!

HAPPY EATING!!

Smoked Mozzarella, Chicken Gemelli Pasta Salad with Honey Dijon Vinegarette!

Last Friday my market friend and I were perusing the aisles and taking in all the smells, sites and tastes of Lancaster's Central Market we passed by "The Goodie Shoppe" stand and she had this pasta salad that looked fantastic. I was to impatient to wait in line to purchase some so I made a mental note to myself that I needed to try and re-create the salad in some way! Well, let me tell you....with produce from Meck's anything is possible!

Here is what I came up with:

Smoked Mozzarella & Chicken Pasta Salad w/ Honey Dijon Vinegarette

1 (1lb) Box of Gemelli Pasta, cooked according to package directions

1 Cup Baby Spinach

1 Container Grape Tomatoes, halved

1 Rotisserie Chicken

1 Block Smoked Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 of a red onion, diced

Directions: Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and place in large bowl. Pick the chicken and add to pasta. Add spinach, onion and tomatoes. Dice the mozzarella cheese and add to the pasta mix. For the dressing: 1/2 C. White Vinegar, 2 T. Honey, 1 T. Dijon Mustard, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 2 Tsp. salt, 2 Garlic cloves-minced, 1 C. Oil. Whisk together all ingredients, except oil. Once other ingred. are mixed, slowly add oil, while whisking. Pour over salad and mix. Refrig. 4 hours or until ready to serve.

HAPPY EATING!

Cowboy Caviar!

Yee Haw, this is the best stuff going! This recipe came through my friend Sherri and it can't get any easier! It is a great, quick dish to take along to a party or cook out this summer!

Cowboy Caviar

1 Can Shoepeg Corn

1 (15.5 oz) Can Black Beans

1 (15.5 oz) Can Black Eyed Peas

1 (15.5 oz) Can Pinto Beans

1 (15.5 oz) Can Chick Peas or Garbanzo Beans

1 Small Red Onion, diced

1 Green or Red Pepper, diced

1 Tbsp. Cilantro (optional)

1/2 C. Sugar

1/2 C. Oil

1/4 C. Vinegar

Directions: Rinse and drain canned items. Place in a large bowl with pepper and onion. Cook the sugar, oil and vinegar over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour over beans and stir together. Chill for 4 hours or longer before serving!

HAPPY EATING!

Grilled Pizza!!

Summer has arrived! FINALLY! I love summer and everything about it! Nothing beats barefeet, the smell of fresh cut grass, not having to wear bulky, winter coats, sitting by the pool.....yup, everything! If it gets to hot~find A/C, a swimming pool or a fan!

We are year-round grillers, but once summer hits, we grill alot more! Here is a fun, quick, easy dinner idea! It is a great idea for entertaining, too! Just set out a bunch of different toppings and let your guests make their own!!

Pizza on the grill!

Here are the variety of toppings that I used; for the sake of simplicity tonight, I even used the pre-made pizza shells! These are ones that I find a SKH~much better than the other name brand ones.....

Grilled chicken taco pizza....

Grilled chicken caesar salad pizza...

Plain Jane pizza...

There really is no recipe for this~whatever ingredients you would like to have on your pizza, is what you will need! Then just assemble the pizza, and grill on low until your cheese is melted. Watch carefully though, sometimes flames shoot up and burn the crust!

HAPPY EATING and HAPPY SUMMER!!

Beat the Heat...Get out of the Kitchen!

When we were young and hip, okay~we may still be young, but the kids may not think we are hip, (prime example...I was driving Riley and her friend to gymnastics today and I told them I would put the radio on, and I was trying to sing along....they looked at me and got their MP3 player out....), we used to eat out ALOT!

One of the things I really liked was the grilled Caesar salad from The Belvedere Inn, in downtown Lancaster. Well, because kids take a small fortune to raise, we tried to re-create their recipe....I think it was Nicole (thanks, again) who helped this recipe along....we used to lunch together all the time when the kids were little.....feeding the kids whatever kid friendly meal we had, and then creating special things for us to enjoy.

Anyway, it was way to nice (and hot) to be inside cooking at the stove tonight so I took it outside. What are some ways that you guys beat the heat with cooking? Please post your comments and ideas!!

Start with romaine lettuce ($3.99 at Costco for this whole pack)!!

Lay lettuce on the cutting board...

Cut in 1/2...brush lightly (maybe 1 tsp. per lettuce 1/2) with olive oil:

Lay lettuce, cut side down, on preheated grill; grill for 3-4 minutes per side....

also grill shrimp or chicken.

Remove from grill to platter:

Serve with bread (this was a potato scallion from Costco);

Assemble salad and enjoy.

Grilled Caesar Salad - Serves 4

3 Heads of Romaine (Cut in 1/2)

1 lb. Shrimp, raw-deveined-shelled

Salt and Pepper

Croutons of choice

Caesar Dressing of choice (I used Culinary Treasures, Fresh Garlic Caesar from Costco)

DIRECTIONS: Preheat grill. Cut romaine in 1/2 and lightly brush with olive oil. Toss shrimp with salt and pepper (I used Tastefully Simples Garlic Pepper and some fresh ground sea salt).

Add shrimp to grill pan and begin grilling. When shrimp is about 1/2 way cooked, add romaine lettuce and grill approx. 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from grill to a serving platter. To assemble your grilled caesar salad, place a grilled romaine on your plate and drizzle with salad dressing. Top with shrimp and croutons. Serve with slice bread. Enjoy!

HAPPY EATING!

Around the house...

Hi everyone,
Sorry, no recipe post today, busy work weekend and last night we had the kids year-end carnival/picnic at school!!
Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

Spring House...

HAPPY EATING!!

Peanut Butter Filled Cookies!

Right now I am trying to put off doing the folding of laundry! I can handle putting the laundry in the washing machine, even switching it to the dryer..but getting it out of the dryer and folding it, please won't the laundry fairy come my way do this little task for me! Don't get me wrong, my hubby does laundry (that's right, his momma trained him right), but sometimes I feel guilty for letting it get backed up, I mean really, I only work part-time there is no excuse.......okay, enough venting about laundry.

On to the good stuff....you see those little peanut butter filled gems up there? I retrieved the idea from the blog Our Best Bites (link to the side of the screen), but I used my tried and true Peanut Butter Cookie recipe from The Mennonite Cookbook. All I can say is OH. MY. WORD. These are going with Jimmy to work tomorrow (maybe that will make up for how behind on the laundry I am).

Peanut Butter Filled Cookies
1 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
3 Cups Flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling
1 C. Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 C. Butter, softened
4 Cups confectioners sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3-4 Tbsp Milk
DIRECTIONS: For cookies~cream together butter and peanut butter. Add sugars and continue to beat. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Gradually add flour, baking soda and baking powder. Chill dough for several hours. Once chilled, shape dough into 1" balls. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 375. Remove to cooling rack. For filling~Beat peanut butter, butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth. If needed, add milk a little at a time until desired consistency. Once the cookies are completely cool, spread frosting on cookie and sandwich with another.

HAPPY EATING!