Diced Veggie Salad

My mom introduced me to this little salad, and we have been loving it! Enjoy!

Diced Veggie Salad

1 large cucumber diced
1 large tomato diced
1 bell pepper diced (I like orange, red or yellow)
1 green onion sliced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley (I used dry as I didn't have fresh. Just add less)
2 T. olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon juice (let's be honest, I have made this with the bottled stuff. Definitely better with fresh, but it works with the bottled stuff if you are in a pinch.)
1 garlic clove pressed
1/2 tsp dried oregano
12 black olives (I leave these out)
1 cup feta cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Combine cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, green onion, parsley, oil, lemon, garlic, oregano and olives in large bowl. Add the salt and pepper and feta. Toss well.

Serve alone or with romaine (very good).
Try to make about 1/2 hour before serving so the flavours can blend together. Allow to sit at room temp.

September Stew

Are you like me and have a freezer with lots of stew meat that is calling to be used? Well, I found this recipe on Pintrest and really enjoyed it! I made a few adjustments to work with what I had time for (the crockpot, not the oven). It comes from the great little blog Life As A Lofthouse.

Oven Baked Stew (which I turned into a crockpot recipe)
6 servings


1 (1 oz) package of Dry Onion Soup mix
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 pound lean Beef Stew Meat (cut up into bite sized pieces)
2-3 medium Potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces
3 large Carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 an Onion, chopped
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1/2 cup Ketchup

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large plastic bag, combine the dry onion soup mix, salt and paprika. Add in meat and shake the bag to coat meat with the seasonings. Place into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish.

Top meat evenly with diced potatoes, carrots and onion.

Mix the cream of celery soup and ketchup in a small bowl. Pour all over the meat and vegetables. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 2 hours.

(My directions differ here. I was using frozen stew meat so I defrosted it, then browned it in the frying pan and while doing so I sprinkled the paprika, onion soup mix and salt on it. After the meat was browned, I put it in the crock pot on low with the carrots, chopped onion, cream of celery, ketchup and potatoes. I cooked it on low for about 7 hours. It was yummy!)

Salad Dressing----Family Recipe

Tangy Salad Dressing.....From our Family to Yours!

This is a treasured family recipe of ours. This is my Great Grandma Karren's recipe, and I grew up always having a jar in our fridge. There was no jars of Mayo or Miracle whip around, just this good stuff! It is meant for potato salad, but also goes great on sandwiches, and my dad's favourite is on a toast with freshly sliced tomatoes and a little salt and pepper! Enjoy!

1 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 cup vinegar
1 cup water
2 heaping tbsp flour (sometimes 3)
2 tsp dry mustard
4 eggs

Beat all ingredients and cook in double boiler until thick, stirring often and beating with electric mixer. When thick, put in Mason jar and cover with lid. Makes 1 quart.

50 Years Young

Party time! We hosted my mother-in-law's 50th birthday party at our house a little while back. For the decorations I found these paper lanterns at Pier 1 on clearance for $1.50 each (regular $12!). I got some old photos of her printed at Costco and stuck them in some frames from Ikea ($0.99 each) and added some buttons with Zots for a little embelishment on the frames.

(not the best pic......sorry!)

The meal turned out great! I have been loving my cookbook from Our Best Bites and everything came from there.

We had:

Fautisserie Chicken

Garlic Balsamic Asparagus

Garlic-Rosemary RoastedPotatoes

Green Salad

Homemade Buns

Cookie Pie with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce (I really like my recipe.....2 c. sugar with 1 can evaporated milk, 1 cup margarine and 1/2 cup cocoa......bring to boil and let simmer for 10 min....so good and easy!)

Yummm!

We finished off the night reading through a scrapbook I put together with my sister-in-law which was comprised of letters from family to my mother-in-law and pictures of her life! It was a great evening!

Homemade Christmas---Meal Planning Calendar by Tess

Here is a great gift for anyone this Christmas! It's a meal planning calendar!
I received mine early, and am so excited about it. Thanks, Tess!
Just click on the title of this post and it will take you to Tess's blog.

Another Cheapy Easy Recipe

I tried this recipe this past weekend and thought it was a great variation to our usual plain ol' taco recipe. It's quick and very tasty!
This is a recipe from my friend Debbie.

Cheesy Nacho Beef Dinner
1 pkg Rice-A-Roni (I used the Spanish one)
1/2 lb. ground beef
2 cups water
1 cup salsa
1 can corn
1 cup (or can) black or brown beans
1 tomato, chopped
Shredded cheese
Sour Cream
Tortillas or nacho chips

Saute rice with beef in large skillet over medium heat until beef is browned. Stir in water, salsa, corn, beans and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15-20 minutes until rice is tender. Stir in chopped tomatoes. Wrap in warm tortilla with cheese and sour cream (or on chips).

Easy Yummy Rotini Bake

This recipe has been a good one to substitute for making Lasagna. It's easy and kids seem to really like it!
Enjoy!


Rotini Bake

12 oz. uncooked curly rotini or small tube pasta
1 lb ground beef
1 jar( 26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 carton cottage cheese (16 oz.)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (divided)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package directions and drain.

In frying pan, brown and drain beef while noodles are cooking. Stir spaghetti sauce into beef.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. Gently fold cooked pasta into cheese mixture. Spread third of the beef mix over bottom of a greased 9X13 pan. Place half the pasta mix over beef. Layer another third of the beef over noodles. Layer remaining noodles over top, followed by remaining beef mix. Cover and boake for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Return to oven and bake for 5-10 min more, or until cheese is melted. Makes 6-8 servings.