Swedish Cucumber Salad

This salad is so refreshing and easy to make. I love using cucumbers and parsley straight out of the garden in the summer time.

INGREDIENTS
2 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vinegar (I've been using the Nakano brand of vinegar that is infused with roasted garlic but regular vinegar is good also)
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Mix the salt, sugar and vinegar together until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve.

KFC Cole Slaw

This recipe came from Top Secret Recipes. It's not 100% KFC but it's a REALLY GOOD slaw recipe. 

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2-1/2 T. lemon juice
1-1/2 T. white vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 head finely chopped cabbage
1/4 cup finely chopped carrot
2 T. minced onion
(*I just used the prepackaged chopped cabbage mix that is found in the lettuce section at the grocery store)

DIRECTIONS
Be sure cabbage and carrots are chopped up into very fine pieces.  Combine the mayonnaise, sugar, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Add the cabbage, carrots, and onion. Mix well.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serves 10-12

Oriental Chicken Salad

This is my husband's favorite salad.  He'll eat it any day of the week!

INGREDIENTS
1 head cabbage, chopped
2 bunches green onions, chopped
2 packages Ramen Noodles, chicken flavored, crumbled
4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (cook chicken in Teriyaki or soy sauce)

Almonds:
6 oz. almonds, slivered or sliced
3 T. sesame seeds
1/4 cup sugar

Sauce:
2 packages Ramen Noodle seasoning
1/2 cup oil
2 T. sugar
3 T. vinegar

DIRECTIONS
Combine salad ingredients into a large bowl.  In a frying pan on medium heat, stir and cook almonds, sesame seeds and 1/4 c. sugar until caramelized.  Combine ingredients for sauce in a separate bowl. Pour over salad and chill for 30 minutes. (*If your head of cabbage is large, you may want to use just half of the cabbage or double the sauce).

JELLO Popcorn

This is such a great idea for parties. There's so many flavors of JELLO that you'll always have a color to match your theme. In this picture we used watermelon, pineapple, grape and lime. Sooo delicious and your friends will keep coming back for another handful.

INGREDIENTS
8 cups popped popcorn
1/4 cup butter
3 T. light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1- 3.5oz box jello, any flavor (not the sugar free kind)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300°F.   Line a jelly roll pan with foil or parchment.  If using foil, spray lightly with non-stick spray and set aside.  Pop popcorn into an extra large mixing bowl.

Add butter and syrup to a sauce pan on medium heat.  Stir until butter is melted.  Add sugar and Jello and stir to combine.

Increase heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat so it just simmers and cook for about 5 minutes.

After the sugar mixture has simmered, immediately pour over popcorn in bowl.  Mix right away and keep stirring so everything gets well coated. *It is really hot so be careful! Spread mixture onto prepared pan and spread out evenly.
Place in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.  Remove pan from the oven and as it cools, break into pieces and enjoy!

*You can definitely eat this without baking in the oven...it will just be soft and gooey.  Definitely bake it if you’re going to pack it up for sharing, or serve it as party food so it will be light and crunchy.

Spinach Salad

This is one of our favorite salads. It has so many yummy ingredients and is very filling so we sometimes just eat this for dinner.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/3 cup red white vinegar
1 1/2 T. red onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

Combine above ingredients and then add:
1 cup oil

Stir dressing well and then add to Spinach Salad.

In our salad we like: romaine lettuce, spinach, cranberries, feta cheese, strawberries, candied almonds and bacon.

Red, White and Blue Jello Cups

These jello cups are super easy, fun and festive! Change up the flavors depending on what holiday your celebrating!

INGREDIENTS
2 large boxes (6 oz.) Strawberry JELLO
2 large boxes (6 oz.) Blueberry JELLO
Fresh strawberries, chopped
Fresh blueberries
1 can of squirty Redi Whip  whipped topping
Sprinkles

DIRECTIONS
Make JELLO according to instructions on the box for JELLO Jigglers. Pour flavors of JELLO into separate pans. Add chopped strawberries to red JELLO and blueberries to blue JELLO. (I throw in about a cup of berries to each 9 inch square pan).

Let JELLO set up in the refrigerator.  Once JELLO is set, cut JELLO into small cubes. Layer into cups with squirty Redi Whip in between. Top with sprinkles! Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Spring Mix Walnut Salad

A couple months ago we went to a local restaurant and enjoyed a yummy salad that I just had to go right home and try to recreate. Here's my version that I think turned out super tasty!  

INGREDIENTS
Spring Mix Lettuce
Red Onion
Granny Smith Apple
Candied Walnuts
Goat Cheese

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tsp. white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine mayonnaise, honey, vinegar, and sugar until well blended. Gradually pour in the vegetable oil while mixing until fully incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Chocolate Creme Brulee

Whenever I go to a restaurant I always scan the dessert menu for Creme Brulee.  It's probably my favorite dessert. I've never once seen Chocolate Creme Brulee on the menu but I thought for sure if I made it at home it would be a winner. Of course, it was so good!!!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup heavy cream
2 T. plus 1/3 cup sugar
2 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate, finely chopped
2 extra large or jumbo egg yolks
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.  Prepare some boiling water.  In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, 2 T. sugar and chocolate.  Cook, stirring occasionally until small bubbles appear around edges of pan.  Set aside.  Stir to dissolve any remaining chocolate pieces.

In a bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth and light.  Pour hot chocolate mixture into egg yolks, a little at a time, beating continuously until well blended.  Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. Divide mixture among 4 oz. ramekins.

Arrange ramekins in a baking pan and place on the middle shelf of preheated oven.  Fill pan with boiling water to halfway up sides of ramekins.  Cover pan loosely with aluminum foil.  Bake until custard is just set, about 25 minutes.  Chill for 2-3 hours.

Sprinkle remaining sugar evenly over top of cooled custards.  With a cooking torch, move the flame continuously over the surface of the ramekins, in a circular motion until sugar melts and becomes golden brown and bubbly.  Serve immediately or refrigerate for later use.

Watermelon Slush

Another great recipe from mom! She says, "Here's a refreshing fruit concoction that keeps for weeks in your freezer and tastes as fresh as summer. Enjoy it piled into a dessert bowl, too!"

INGREDIENTS
2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1-12 oz. can frozen fruit punch concentrate
5 cups cubed watermelon (seeds removed)
1 T. lemon juice
Lemon-lime carbonated beverage, chilled
Lemon slices, optional

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in frozen fruit punch concentrate until dissolved. In a blender, blend until smooth, half of the cubed watermelon and half of the lemon juice. Repeat with the remaining cubed watermelon. Stir the watermelon into the fruit punch mixture. Pour into two freezer containers and freeze at least 8 hours or overnight until firm. To serve, scrape the top of the frozen melon mixture with a spoon to form a slush. Spoon into cups and pour chilled lemon-lime soda over top. Garnish with lemon slices. (Makes 8-12 oz. servings)

Kettle Corn

This kettle corn is the real deal. I love the sweet and salty mixed together in this super delicious treat. No more waiting for fair time to buy an expensive bag.  Have some fun making it at home!

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup popcorn
3/4 cup white sugar
salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Pour oil and popcorn into a large pot and turn onto medium heat. Stir with large spoon or cover pot with a lid and shake once in awhile. As soon as the corn begins to pop, (4-5 kernels pop) remove lid and add sugar. Stir constantly while kernels continue to pop so they wont burn and the sugar will distribute evenly. Keep pot covered as much as possible while stirring or shaking so the oil and popcorn don't attack you.

Once the popping has slowed to once every 2 to 3 seconds, remove the pot from the heat and continue to shake for a few minutes or stir until the popping has stopped. Pour into a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Allow to cool, shaking occasionally to break up large clumps.

*IMPORTANT: The oil is super hot and WILL burn you if your not prepared! Make sure you have a long sleeve shirt on and gloves and protective eye-wear.  We have cooked kettle corn over our stove in the house and outside on an outdoor burner. We prefer outdoors just to keep the mess out of the house. This recipe is well worth the effort but it is temperamental.  We have burned our fair share of batches. Here are a few tips...

1. Turning the heat up won't cook the popcorn faster, it will just burn your popcorn. Keep the heat on medium and be patient.

2. Use a good bag of popcorn. Old popcorn doesn't pop very well and when you have un-popped popcorn mixed with the good stuff, it all just sticks together. As the kettle corn dries, it will separate, but the kernels will not fall to the bottom of the bowl simply by shaking.

3. Do one batch at a time. When outdoors, we use a large, tall turkey pot so we thought, why not double the batch? If there are too many kernels in the pot, they won't pop evenly and the time-frame is too long and it will burn.

4. Keep the kids away. Ours are always trying to sneak a peak but you never know when a kernel or splat of oil will come flying out!

5. We prefer stirring to shaking. In the times we have made this recipe, as the popcorn begins to pop, if your not careful, everything could start to stick to the bottom of the pan. If using the shake method with the lid on, your not entirely sure whether or not anything is sticking. By stirring you can keep the popcorn, oil and sugar moving around more evenly.  Good luck!

This recipe is awesome, but I would love feedback or to hear how your experience goes!

Pudding Popsicles

 

The kids and I have fun making these super easy summer treats. They love picking the colors, helping stir the pudding and deciding which way it should be layered.  It's a great way to get the kids involved and let them make the decisions.

INGREDIENTS

2 boxes light colored pudding (I used vanilla)

Food Coloring

Popsicle Sticks

Dixie Cups

DIRECTIONS

Follow the directions on the packages of pudding. Once the pudding is mixed according to the directions and has thickened up, evenly separate it into 4 to 6 smaller bowls.  Add different colors of food coloring to your divided up pudding. Then stir until the pudding is the color that you want.

Spoon the different colors of pudding into your cups. Try to do smooth and even layers so that you will see a good rainbow on the sides of the pudding pop. Put a popsicle stick into each of the cups of pudding. The pudding should be thick enough to hold up the stick…if not, cover the cup with plastic wrap and then put the stick through the plastic wrap and into the pudding.

Place the pudding pops in the freezer for a few hours. The time will depend on the size of your cups.

After they are completely set, take the pudding pops out of the freezer. Use your hands to warm up the sides of the cup so that the pudding pop will come out of the cup easily. (The Dixie cups are what I use and you can just tear the wax cup off).

Raspberry Slush

This drink is super easy to make and fun to serve at weddings, baby showers, or parties.  The slush is stored in the freezer so you can even pull it out to share with friends and then put the rest back in the freezer for another time.

INGREDIENTS
1- 6 oz. package Raspberry Jello
3 cups boiling water
4 1/2 cups sugar
7 cups cold water
1- 46 oz. can pineapple juice
Sprite

DIRECTIONS
Dissolve sugar in 3 cups of boiling water.  Add package of raspberry Jello and stir until dissolved.   Pour in 7 cups cold water and the can of pineapple juice and stir until well combined. Put in a container and freeze until ready to serve. * I filled 19 cups into a container.

When serving, let the container of slush thaw slightly on the table until you are able to dig a spoon into it.  Scoop slush into cups and pour Sprite over the top.
 

Fresh Mint Lemonade

We enjoy this refreshing drink all summer long. Mint leaves are a great addition to this delicious lemonade beverage.  Also try with regular Country Time Lemonade. 

INGREDIENTS
Country Time Pink Lemonade Powder
Water
Ice
Fresh Mint Leaves

DIRECTIONS
Fill blender with ice cubes until blender is about ¾ full.  Pour in water until it reaches the top of the ice. Add desired amount of lemonade powder. Blend until slushy. Add 2-3 mint leaves and blend well. Add more lemonade powder to make it sweeter if desired or more water and ice if it is too sweet. You can also add additional mint according to your taste.