Wow!  We are right in the middle of summer and it is hot!   I love having an ice cold drink on a hot day!  Here is one of my favorite drinks that I love to serve my family and especially guests when they come over for a BBQ.  My sister, Tracie, gave me this recipe.  She calls it a Virgin Sangria.  Give it a try and I know you will love it too!

1 can frozen Welch’s Strawberry Breeze concentrate

1 can frozen Limeade

4 cans cold water

2 cans Sprite or Gingerale

1/2 c. orange juice

Sliced oranges and limes for garnish

Combine concentrates, water and juice together.  Add sprite and gently stir in fruit slices.  Chill.  May add ice to drink before serving.

I absolutely love salads!  I think I could eat them everyday.  Here is one of my favorites.  The best part of all is that it’s fast and easy!  Hope you enjoy it too!

1 (8oz.) cool whip

2 (6oz.) blueberry yogurt

1 pkg. vanilla pudding mix

1 lb. strawberries, sliced

2 apples, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 c. red grapes

In a large bowl, mix the cool whip, yogurt and pudding mix.  Stir until well blended.  Mix in the fruit and chill for a couple of hours.  Super yummy!

One of my friends gave this to me 11 days ago.  Yesterday, I finally was able to bake the bread and fell in love with this recipe.  It was so simple and easy to make.  I was very hesitant at first because I am not the type that likes to do the whole pass along to friends deal.  I hate it in fact.  If people send me emails saying I have to send it to 10 friends or something happens, I delete it.  So when I received this Ziploc bag full of weird liquid and a paper that said I needed to squish and mush, I thought, oh boy, what am I in for now?  I faithfully followed the directions and wham-mo, I almost ate the whole 2 loves by myself.  Luckily I have a house full of 5 boys and 1 husband to help me make sure I didn’t gain 10 pounds in one day!  Thanks guys!  I have included the PDF you give to people when you give them their own starter and also the recipe for the starter.  Enjoy and share the love of this FABULOUS bread.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  DO NOT SKIP the step of sprinkling the sugar/cinnamon mixture all over the bottom and sides of the pans.  This is a crucial overall yummy effect that you will miss the flavor of if you don’t do it.

Amish Bread Recipe

As you can probably tell by my previous posts, I’m all about easy when it comes to cooking.  I don’t mind cooking and I think I would even experiment a little more if I had a little more time.  However, with 5 kids, a husband, a dog, and all of my other responsibilities, there isn’t a lot of time left over for cooking.    I look for recipes that look easy, involve very little time, and hopefully ones that my kids will eat.  Recognizing all ingredients in the recipe is also a MUST!  This is a fabulous recipes for salsa.  The hardest part is chopping the cilantro and slicing the avacados which is actually not hard if you do it this way: 

1.  Cut the avacado in half

2.  Take the pit out of the center

3.  While the skin is still on slice the avacado lenthwise then widthwise (I hope that makes sense )

4.  Take your knife and separate the skin from the avacado – the sliced pieces should fall right into your dish.

I tried all sorts of ways to peel and slice an avacado and for some reason they were all a disaster!  This is easy and fast.

Serve this dip with tortilla chips.  Our favorite chip with this is the lime flavored chips.  It’s delicious!  This is a great appetizer for parties or a great side dish for a summer barbecue.  This could also be made from your food storage.  You would have to do without the avacados and fresh cilantro but it would still be a delicious treat!  Enjoy!

COWBOY SALSA

1 large can diced tomatoes drained

1 can black eyed peas drained

1 can shoe peg corn drained (white corn)

1 pkg. dry italian dressing

2 T vinegar

2 T oil

1 T dry onion flakes

1/4 c. fresh chopped cilantro

3-5 avacados diced

fresh lime juice to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in the bowl and mix them together.  It’s that easy!

Did you miss me?  I have to give a huge ThAnK YoU to Valerie, Tricia and Tracey for being patient with me over this past month.  My grandmother passed away last month and it’s been a lot of ups and downs for the past few weeks.  I appreciate your support, sympathy and friendship. 

Now, enough of the mushy stuff, here is one of my new favorite salads!  I had it last year at a neighborhood activity and just had to have the recipe.  I know you’ll love it too!

1 head lettuce – chopped
1 pkg. spinach
1/2 c. bacon pieces
1/2 purple onion – finely chopped
1-2 c. fresh strawberries – sliced
15 wontons (or more) cut into strips and fried
butter toffee cashews – chopped
grilled chicken strips (optional)

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together and toss with dressing.

Dressing:

4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 c. oil
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 c. strawberry freezer jam

Whisk all ingredients together.  Enjoy!

There are a few things in life that you can always count on.  If you have more than one child something will always go wrong right before you walk out the door, one of your children will make you laugh at least once every day, and my sweet tooth will always be willing to pass on amazingly delicious “sweet” salads!  This recipe is one that I just came across at a Relief Society dinner (a dinner that is put on by my women’s group at church).  It is very good and has mandarin oranges in it so it is healthy on some level…

Orange Dream Salad

60 Ritz crackers

1 square butter melted

1/4 c. sugar

Crush crackers into fine crumbs in a gallon Ziploc bag.  Add butter and sugar.  Reserve 3/4 c. for topping and pat remaining crumbs into a 9×13 dish.

1 12 oz. Cool Whip

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 6 oz. can orange juice concentrate (thawed)

Mix well.  Add 3-4 cans of drained mandarin oranges and stir in carefully.  Pour over crumbs in dish.  Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top and place in fridge.  Chill for at least 3 hours.  Can be made the day before.

O.k. I have to admit that if there would have been a whole plate full of these delicious treats I would have eaten them all that night in front of everyone, at our Baptism preview.  I have never had a more delicious dessert of oreos and yet I didn’t know they were made from oreos until I asked for the recipe.

1 Full package of Oreo cookies

6 oz. of Cream Cheese

White Chocolate (melted)

Leave out 3 or 4 Oreos from the package.  Food process the rest of the cookies until you have a fine constancy.  Add your cream cheese and mix everything together.  Form into small balls and then dip in your white chocolate.  Crush up your left over Oreos and sprinkle some crumbs on top of your chocolate balls.  Let sit and harden.

Just be sure to have some one else in the room making them with you so you have some left by the time you are done making them!

Okay so it’s not rocket science but when I found these I was heaven just looking at them.  I LOVE chocolate covered strawberries. I never think to make them but I sure love it when I get to eat them!    This is the perfect Valentine treat!  It is somewhat healthy (after all it does incorporate fruit right?) and it has a very important ingredient – CHOCOLATE!  You can serve them as an after school snack, give them to your sweetheart or send them as a surprise in your child’s lunch box along with a love note from mom.  If you aren’t into strawberries turn it into a fondue night and have fun with pretzels, pineapple, shortbread cookies (there goes the healthy part), and anything else you love covered in chocolate.  I found this recipe on the Food Network and it is delicious!

Ingredients

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well

Directions

Put the semisweet and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted.)

Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.

Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

You may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a while!  I have been working hard on my calling as the Food Storage and Preparedness Specialist for my ward.  It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of work!  I created a blog – www.preparednotscared.blogspot.com and have prepared a new post for each day of the week.

Each day of the week will focus on a different area of preparedness.  Our goal is to be prepared as a family both physically and spiritually.

Here’s a rundown of what you can expect:

Sunday: Vital Records Pages and Journal Pages

Monday: Family Home Evening Lessons

     Week 1: Primary Theme & Scripture

     Week 2:  Safety & Preparedness

     Week 3:  For the Strength of Youth/Mormonads

     Week 4:  Family History

     Week 5:  Family Service Project or Family Activity

Tuesday: Ark Prep 101 – Preparedness Topics

Wednesday:  Preparedness Project

Thursday:  Family Activities

Friday:  Preserve It . . . Canning Corner

Saturday:  Food Storage Meals & Menu Planning

By the end of the year, you should be well on your way to becoming more prepared!

We have added a link on the left side of the page.  Hope you enjoy! 

Trish