VEGGIE DIP

Ever have a get together and can't think what to serve? This is one of those things that can be thrown together really fast and it's kind of easy. If you have a little notice you can chop the veggies the night before. The dip it self should be refrigerated over night, but you can serve it the same day.

VEGGIE DIP

1 16oz. container of Plain Yogurt
1 original pkg. Hidden Valley Dressing Mix(powdered form)
1 tablespoon Parsley Flakes

Mix all ingredients well. Let sit, covered, overnight in the fridge

Veggies you can use:
Carotts
Cucumbers
Bell Peppers
Celery
Cherry Tomatoes
Green Onions

This is also great with chips and corn chips.

THRIFTY THURSDAY

Does anyone have mason canning jars sitting around doing nothing but collecting dust? I have several of the blue ones that my hubby kept buying at rummage sales. He would bring them home and put them in a box in the barn. One day I brought them in, washed them and put my button collection in them. They have labels on them as to what color they are. Some of the buttons are my mom's and some are from my Great Aunt Peggy and some are mine I have picked up here and there. I proudly put them on a shelf to show off. Most of the jars my hubby gave less than 1.00 for at the rummage sales. Don't they look nice holding all my buttons instead of dust?

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Lisa and Lana are the hosts for Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays. They have some really great recipes. You should go check these 2 out!

Last fall I was looking for a new way to roast chicken. So I went looking on the internet to find a recipe. I went to one of my favorite places, Kraft Kitchens, and found this great recipe. And boy is it good!!!

GREEK STYLE LEMON ROAST CHICKEN



Greek Style Lemon Roast Chicken


INGREDIENTS

1 whole roasting chicken (3-1/2 lb.)
salt and black pepper
1 medium lemon, washed, halved
1/2 cup KRAFT Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

PREPARATION

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Place in a 13x9-inch baking dish.

SQUEEZE the juice from lemon and mix with dressing in a small bowl. Place the squeezed lemon halves inside the cavity of chicken. Drizzle dressing mixture over chicken. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of one of the chicken's thighs.

BAKE 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is cooked through (reaches an internal temperature of 180°F), basting occasionally.

Their serving suggestions is a Green Salad and a Whole Wheat Roll. I had the green salad, I also got that from the Kraft Kitchens. This also was very good!!!

TOSSED ITALIAN GARDEN SALAD




INGREDIENTS

10 cups torn romaine lettuce
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup KRAFT Light House Italian Dressing

TOSS greens, vegetables and basil with dressing.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

This past Friday was my sons 40th birthday. He said he didn't want anything for his birthday, but I got him his favorite candy, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Plus he requested a Pineapple Upside Down Cake. So I got busy and made him one. I got this recipe from my mom years ago. Have made lots and lots of them over the years. There was some trial and error, but I finally have it all down pat now.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

INGREDIENTS

2 ½ C. Flour
2 ½ teas. Baking Powder
1 teas. Salt
2 sticks of butter/margarine
1 ½ C. White Sugar
2 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1 teas. Vanilla
1 Can of Crushed Pineapple
2 C. Brown Sugar, maybe less, maybe more

In large mixing bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, 1 stick of butter/margarine, white sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix all together well. Set aside for now.



PINEAPPLE TOPPING

In sauce pan melt 1 stick of butter/margarine. Pour this into a 9 X 11 cake pan, making sure you cover the bottom of the cake pan well.






Place Brown Sugar over bottom of cake pan, spreading it out and covering the bottom of the cake pan.



Pour Crushed Pineapple with juice in cake pan, covering the bottom of the cake pan. If needed you could use another can of pineapple.



Pour cake batter over pineapple, covering evenly.




Bake at 350 until done.



Run a butter knife around the edges of the cake, this losens the cake from the sides of the cake pan. Dump cake onto a flat platter or plate. DO NOT LET THE CAKE COOL, DUMP OUT WHILE IT’S STILL HOT.



I dump my cake onto one of those sliver trays you use around the hoildays. It works pretty well. I also put some wax paper on the bottom before dumping the cake. Makes for an easier clean up. Just trim the was paper and eat!!

STRAWBERRY SALAD

Foodie Friday is going on over at Gollum's place, Designs by Gollum. Got a great recipe to share, need one for supper, or just looking around? Hop over to Gollum's place and check out all the great recipes. This also my first posting for Foodie Friday!

This is a recipe my mom had in her personal recipe book. I got this book when she passed away. It was falling apart, the pages were turning brown, and some of the pages were falling out. I have since then turned this into a scrapbook. All mom's recipes, clippings, little booklets and everything else she had in there are preserved in this scrapbook.




This is one of the recipes that was in her recipe book. I tried it and it turned out really good. But I can't for the life of me figure out why it's called strawberry salad!




STRAWBERRY SALAD

2 boxes Strawberry Jell-o
1 ¾ C. Hot Water
2 boxes Frozen Strawberries
1 small can Crushed Pineapple (undrained)
Mix jell-o according to package directions. Thaw Strawberries. Mix strawberries and pineapple into jell-o, stirring well. Put in fridge to set.
TOPPING
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 Eggs
½ C. Sugar
1 8oz. Cool Whip
In a saucepan mix lemon juice, eggs and sugar. Cook over low heat until it thickens. Cool mixture, then add Cool Whip. Top Strawberry Jell-o mixture.

THRIFTY THURSDAY

My hubby is a rummager, hard core! He hits the rummage sales early in the morning! He brings home lots of goodies. Last week he brought home this bird cage.



As soon as I saw it, I wanted to put it in my garden. I'm always looking for things to put in my garden. Not for the birds, but to look pretty! I tried it in the garden, but it is kind of top heavy, and wouldn't sit straight. So I moved it to the deck. Added a pretty pot, which came from the rummage sale, go some pretty flowers and ribbon and this is the result!



So what do you think, cute! Well, I think it's cute anyway! My hubby likes it too. And since it's so top heavy, even more since I put the pot in it, I've moved it to a corner and wired it to the deck. You can't see the wire. But now the wind won't knock it down.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Lisa over at Blessed With Grace is hosting Tempt my Tummy Tuesday. Need a recipe for supper or just looking for something new? Hop over to Lisa's place and check out all the folks who have shared their recipes.

With summer coming on and the temps getting hotter, I am really fond of salads. So I went looking for something different than just lettuce and tomatoes. I went over to the Kraft Kitchens and found this really great salad. Hope you enjoy it! We all liked it lots around here!



TOSSED ITALIAN GARDEN SALAD

10 C. torn Romaine Lettuce
2 C. Sliced Mushrooms
2 Plum Tomatoes-Chopped
1 small Zucchini-Chopped
¼ C. Red Onion-Chopped
¼ C. fresh Basil Leaves-Chopped
¾ C. Kraft Light Italian Dressing

Toss greens, vegetables and basil with dressing.
Makes 6 servings.

MOUTHWATERING MONDAYS

Rachel over at A Southern Fairy Tale is hosting Mouthwatering Monday. Want to find a great new recipe? Check this place out! Lots of folks have shared their recipes.

I was looking for a recipe for Black Forrest Cake. I went to All Recipes.com and found one. Tried it out and boy is it YUMMY!!


BLACK FORREST CAKE




2 1/8 C All Purpose Flour
2 C. White Sugar
3/4 C. Unsweetened Cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 teaspoon Salt
3 Eggs
1 C. Milk
1/2 C. Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon Vanilla
2 (20 oz.) Cans Pitted Sour Cherries
1 C. White Sugar
1/4 C. Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
1/3 C. Confectioners' Sugar


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
4. Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.
5. Combine whipping cream and confectioner's sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
6. With long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1 1/2 cups Frosting for decorating cake; set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on cake plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting; top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Frost side of cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of cake.

OATMEAL COOKIES

 This is my mom's recipe for Oatmeal Cookies. They are really yummy!




OATMEAL COOKIES

1 1/4 C. Butter
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
1/2 C. Sugar
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/2 C. Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
3 C. Uncooked Oatmeal

Heat oven to 375. Beat together butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices; add to butter mixture, mixing well. Stir in oatmeal. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 9 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire colling rack.

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

Lisa over at Blessed With Grace is hosting Temp My Tummy Tuesday! Got a great recipe to share or just looking for something for supper, hop over and check out all the folks that posted their recipes, I'll bet you'll find something you like.

I got this receipe from my sister-in-law. It's really good and is easy to put together.

COTTAGE CHEESE AND PINEAPPLE



1 box Cottage Cheese
1 can Crushed Pineapple - drained
1 pkg. Cool Whip
1 pkg. Jello - any flavor

Mix Jello according to pkg. directions. Mix remaining ingredients together with Jello. Place in refrigerator to set up. At Pineapple chunks or rings to top for decoration if desired.

BANANA NUT BREAD

Rachel is the host for Mouth Watering Mondays. Go check out all the other folks that have great recipes to share, Yummy!



This is a recipe I got from Paula Dean's book "Kitchen Classics". This book has lots of great recipes in it. I've tried several of them. This one is delicious!! Although at the time I didn't have any buttermilk. So went looking on the internet for substitutes and found this place called Recipe Zaar they had a great one. This is how you can substitute buttermilk: 1 Cup of Milk, 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar. Combine ingredients and let stand 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, mix together well and use as buttermilk in any recipe!



BANANA NUT BREAD

½ C. Shortening
½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 C. Sugar
2 Eggs
2 C. Flour
3 Bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon Salt
1/3 C. Buttermilk
2 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ C. Chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to creamed mixture. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Pour into a well-greased loaf pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.