Janine's Salad

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Cherry Tomatoes

Red Onion

Black Olives

Slice veggies and olives, toss with dressing:

Ranch dressing season packet

2/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup regular vinegar

Very refreshing and delicious!!

Recipe Swap Thursday

Therese hosts Recipe Swap Thursday and I'm going to try to join in when I can, so no promises of every week, but I thought I'd do it here on my abandoned cooking blog!! Tomatoes and Cucumbers Now this is probably a no-brainer, but when I think of my favorite summer recipe, it's these veggies! I make them a few different ways, together, apart, it doesn't matter!

1. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and add Balsamic vinegar, oil and salt and pepper
2. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and only add salt and pepper, the juices flow once you add that salt, I prefer course sea salt.
3. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and add mayo and salt and pepper
4. Cut up tomatoes and/or cucumbers and add Ranch dressing and salt and pepper
5. Cut up Cucumbers or zucchini and dip in your favorite veggie dip, we like to take this one on picnics!

Cheese Tortellini Soup

Last year, when I broke my leg, my friend Brenda, who is a vegetarian, made my Friday meals. I was excited about that, as I knew she would come up with some great meatless ideas.

She did not disappoint.

Cheese Tortellini Soup

Saute: 1 chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Then add to the crockpot along with these ingredients:

42 oz vegetable or beef broth

14 oz stewed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes with green chilies--this made the soup very hot, which hubby loved!)

1/2 cup mild picante sauce

1 tsp Basil

1 green pepper, diced

Simmer for hours, then 15 minutes before eating add

7 oz dried tortellini

The picture is shown before the soup is done, but it becomes a very red, salsa-looking soup.

Layered Tortellini and Pesto Chicken Salad

This recipe is actually from my friend Brenda, who brought it to me when I broke my leg, it lasted all week for lunches and is such a beautiful salad to bring to potluck things!

 Layer in order given:
 5 cups torn romaine lettuce
 1 1/2 cups julienne carrots
 2 cups cooked/grilled chicken
1 cup thawed frozen peas
 1 pkg tortellini, cooked
 1 red bell pepper, chopped

 Dressing: 1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise 1/2 cup basil pesto 1/4 cup buttermilk For Sweetie Pie's Baptism, I did make a little extra, more peppers and peas and doubled the dressing to make sure there was enough.

Spaghetti with Zucchini and Yellow Squash

Whole grain spaghetti

1 medium onion, diced

1/3 cup olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

2 cups yellow squash, diced

2 cups zucchini, diced

10 medium leaves fresh basil, chopped

Black pepper and salt to taste

1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (at least)

cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute onion in olive oil in a skillet over medium heat for 6 minutes, Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add yellow squash and zucchini and cook for an additional 6 minutes. Stir in basil and pepper and salt. Toss sauce over pasta and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

I really, really liked this dish. I did need to add quite a bit of pepper and salt for more flavor and lots of Parmesan cheese.

Smoothies

Our Favorite Smoothie
1 cup frozen mixed berries (I use the ones from Sam's Club) 1/2 cup orange juice
 1/2 6oz container of Yoplait Harvest Peach yogurt
 1 banana
 Mix and enjoy!

A Summer Favorite
Frozen Strawberries
 Diet 7-up
 Sweet-n-low to taste
 Mix and cool off!