Spinach Salad with Strawberries

I made this salad for dinner a few weeks ago and it was a big hit. It's based off a recipe I adapted from my friend Leslie. She made this for a shower a few months ago and from what I remember she couldn't keep the bowl filled. I made a huge batch so I was able to have this for dinner and a few lunches. It's a perfect summertime meal!

Spinach Salad with Strawberries
Adapted from: Leslie



Ingredients:

For Salad:
To be honest, I eyeballed the amounts of everything....

Bag of leaf spinach
Fresh sliced strawberries (sliced)
Red Onion, sliced
Sliced almonds
Chopped Walnuts
Crumbled Bacon
Feta
Cooked BS Chicken Breast Seasoned with S&P

For the dressing (I doubled this based off the size of my salad):

1/4 cup of veg oil
1/4 cup of sugar
1/8 tsp worcestershire
2 T cider vinegar

Mix oil, sugar, worcestershire and vinegar to make dressing. Set aside. Put spinach in salad bowl and top of with strawberries, onion, almonds, walnuts, bacon, feta, and chicken . When ready to serve, pour dressing over the salad and then toss well with tongs.

Simple Salad

Ever since I bought some Arugula at the farmers market last week I've been on the look out for an easy, yummy recipe. When I spotted this on All Recipes, I knew I had a winner. The salad came together in a matter of minutes and even Matt who rarely eats a salad without ranch dressing devoured this. This was perfect as a side salad, but with a little chicken would make a wonderful main dish. I wish I had some more arugula so I could make this for lunch tomorrow!

Easy Arugula Salad
Adapted from: Allrecipes.com



4 cups young arugula leaves, rinsed and dried
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons EVOO
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


In a large plastic bowl with a lid, combine arugula, cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, oil, vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and shake to mix.

A Nice Night at Home

Last night we decided to keep it low key. We rented a move, had cheese fondue, and made a nice big salad.



The salad I had in mind was one from my friend Nemmie -

Ten Restaurant's Signature Chopped Salad.

I had heard so many good things about this from my friends Jules, Amanda, Leslie, and of course Nemmie but there aren't words to describe the taste. It's fabulous. For the recipe and a picture of the salad please go here.

When my dad and step-mom came up she made an awesome cheese fondue. I need to call her and ask for the recipe. Last night however I searched the internet and found a recipe from allrecipes.com. I combined the original recipe with some suggestions from the reader reviews. This was very good. The only thing is I forgot to buy the Sauvignon Blanc, so we just used a Riesling. I think I used a bit too much Riesling but it was still delicious. We almost devoured the entire bowl.

I didn't measure out the exact amounts, just eyeballed it since there were only 2 of us.

Best Formula Three-Cheese Fondue

1 Cup White Wine (Sauvignon Blanc is suggested)
1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Gruyere cheese - shredded
Sharp Cheddar cheese - shredded
Emmentaler cheese - shredded
1 clove of garlic

Combine the cheese and flour in a bowl.
Rub garlic over inside of fondue pot -or- saute it in the pot
Simmer wine (Since I have an electric fondue pot, I just poured the wine in the pot and let it simmer.)
Add cheese/flour mixture to wine. Stir in a zig-zag motion until cheese is smooth.

We dipped french bread in this but the original recipe also suggest Granny Smith Apples. For the original recipe go here. Just make sure you read through the suggestions if you decide to make this.

Always a Crowd Pleaser

Today at work we had a food day! I love and hate food days. Love 'em because they give me something to look forward to at work. Hate 'em because I sa-wear I gain 5lbs by the end of the day. We always have fabulous food and today was no exception. I've really been craving my aunt's taco salad lately and today was the perfect excuse to make it.

Aunt Kathy's Taco Salad
(the pictures suck because I took them at work in the land of fluorescent lights, cubicles, and fugly yellow and blue walls.)


1 pound of ground beef or turkey.
1 bag of crushed tortilla chips
1 pack of taco seasoning/ salt and pepper to taste
1 8oz Wishbone Italian Dressing
1 can 16 oz kidney beans Rinsed and drained
1 4 oz jar of taco sauce/salsa
1 head of lettuce
1-2 large tomato sliced into wedges
1 large red onion sliced in rings
1 bag of cheddar cheese

1) Cook meat as you were making tacos. Drain and set aside.
2) Rinse and drain beans. Set aside.
3)Make your salad with all the above ingredients except for the chips, Wishbone and the taco sauce.
4)Right before serving crush tortilla chips and put on salad mix with the Wishbone and taco sauce.



Since this was for work I prepped everything the night before and combined the lettuce, tomato, and onion. I kept the beans and meat separate and added them the next day at work. (Instead of one can of red kidney beans I added 1 can of white kidney beans and 1 can of red beans, it's what I had on hand) After that I crushed my chips, and added my Wishbone and Salsa. This makes a ridiculous amount of salad and I only recommend making it if you are going to be serving it to a large group.

Drinking and cooking don't mix!

It's the weekend and my husband and I don't have anything planned! HELL YEAH! That rarely happens. For dinner we are grillin burgers, making Chinese coleslaw, and having chips, salsa, and guacamole Of course the beer is flowing freely as well. This is where the problem lies

I prepared the dry ingredients for the slaw and set the bowl to the side. I got out a bowl to mix the ingredients for the dressing. I started with the sugar and poured it in the measuring cup and then instead of pouring it in the bowl that I set aside I poured it in the bowl with the dry ingredients. Aw hell. So I just mixed it up really well and then combined the rest of the dressing ingredients in a separate bowl.

Well it turns out the sugar on the slaw and not in the dressing isn't bad. The slaw wasn't as sweet and I liked that. I forgot to take a picture, but I don't think one is needed.


Chinese Cole Slaw


1 Bag Cole Slaw
1 Bag Sliced Almonds
1ish Cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 cup of vinegar
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup sugar
1 package Ramen Beef Noodles


In large bowl, mix slaw, almonds, noodles, and sunflower seeds together. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, vinegar, oil, & flavor pack from Ramen Noodles together. Pour dressing over slaw mixture. It's best if you make this ahead of time and let the dressing sit for at least 30 min to an hour. Don't mix dressing with the slaw mixture until you're ready to eat.


Since there are only 2 of us we usually end up with leftovers. The noodles are a bit soggy the second day but too terribly bad.

A Family Staple

These two recipes aren't on my list below but, I already knew I was making the pasta tonight. It is one of my favs and everyone in my family loves it. Even my husband who hates broccoli loves this. The day before my wedding my grandma, aunts, cousins, and mom hosted a bridesmaid luncheon. This was one of the main dishes and everyone couldn't get over how good it was. It's an easy recipe, it just takes a bit of time.

Pasta Con Broccoli

1 Box of Large Pasta Shells (16 oz)

1 Bag Frozen Broccoli (16 oz)

1 Small Block of Velveeta Cheese (16 oz)

1 Can Cream of Celery soup

1 Can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Can Milnot evaporated milk - DO NOT USE LOW FAT or FAT FREE!!!

1/2 Stick Margarine.

Garlic Powder or Garlic Salt to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook noodles per box directions. Cook broccoli per bag directions . Cut up Velveeta. In a roasting pan (ours is 10lb poultry pan) cut margarine in pieces. Add cooked noodles, cut up Velveeta, cooked broccoli, Milnot, and creamed soups. Mix well. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix again.

Cook at 375 for 40 - 50 minutes. In the words of my mom "you'll just know it is done".

In order to make this recipe a little bit healthier use Campbell's 98% fat free creamed soups and 2% Milk Velveeta (it has half the fat of regular Velveeta). If you use low fat Milnot this dish just doesn't taste the same. I guess if you have never had it you wouldn't know the difference but believe me, it is MUCH better with the full fat Milnot.

If you are planning on having this for a group of people it tastes great with garlic cheese bread and Pasta House Salad. (Tastes like salad from the Pasta House Co in St. Louis, similar to Olive Garden - but better!) I didn't make the salad tonight b/c it was just M and I but, here is the recipe:

Rich and Charlies Pasta House Salad

1 head of Romaine Lettuce

1 Head of Iceberg Lettuce

1 can drained Artichoke

1 can drained Heart of Palms

1 4oz jar drained Pimento

1 Purple Onion sliced

1/2 cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 cup of Oil

1/2 cup of Vinegar

Salt

Pepper

Tear lettuce in bit size pieces, add artichokes, heats of palm, pimentos, sliced onion, and Parmesan cheese. When ready to serve, add vinegar and oil and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over salad.....

The final step of adding the salt and pepper is key. You have to keep tasting/adding the salt and pepper until it's right.

The pasta serves roughly 6 - 8 and the salad may be around the same. I'm not sure. All I know is it is all delicious! :)