Saundra's Cucumber Salad

We camp a lot, and I like to pre cook or make everything ahead of time so all I have to do is reheat when we are there.

Making marinated, non Mayo salads is one of my favorite ways to get veggies while camping, and my recipe for Cucumber Salad hits the spot every time, winter or summer.

We use this salad on sandwiches, as a snack, and of course, as a side dish.

You can alter the dressing ingredients if you want, but I will say that Balsamic Vinegar is the best choice, and substituting it will bring about a sour taste.

Cuke Salad

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 Hothouse Cucumbers very thinly sliced

(I use a mandoline)

1 thinly sliced red onion

2 large carrots julienned

(I use the Pampered Chef Julienne Peeler)

Dressing

********

2/3 cup Olive Oil

1 cup Balbamic Vinegar

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp All Purpose Dill Mix (PC)

1/4 tsp pepper

Mix Well and pour over sliced veggies. Cover tightly and let it sit in the refrigerator for hours or overnight, shaking it around a bit every once in a while.

Enjoy!!!

Food Kebabs

A word about Kebab sticks.

THEY MAKE GREAT LUNCHES ACCESSORIES!

I use blunt bamboo ones. You might want to check with your school and see if they are okay to use or bring to school. They come in 3 sizes...

1. toothpick

2. 6 inches

3. 12 inches.

Kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE anything on a skewer. If you can't bring them to school, think creatively and use fishing line, string, thread, pretzels, whatever!

For example...

String some cheese cubes and tomatoes on a 6-8 inch fishing line for a lunch "necklace" or "bracelet". (no, they don't wear it... it's just a play on words)(but if your kid wants to wear cheese, hey, who am I to judge! Vive Le Difference!)

Make cheese cube 'barbells" by using a pretzel stick and sticking a cheese cube on either end.

If you can use skewers,(cut the sharp end off after the food is on it) I love skewering cheese and fruit together. Mine love Cheddar and Watermelon or Apple. (not William, mostly just Johnny now) (William likes his food normal, he's a big Jr. High kid now) or just a couple of skewers of fruit!

You can even roll up lunch meat and skewer the "sandwich" on a stick!

Encourage the kids to "play" with their food by writing down some math problems on a napkin and tell them when they use their "Skewer Abbacus" to answer the problem, they can eat the Abbacus.

Get as simple or elaborate as you wish! Kids will feel great when even lunch gives the other kids something to envy! It's not fun when the other parents call you saying how much more difficult you made life for them, but they change their tunes when their kids aren't complaining about fruit and cheese or veggies any more. It's all in how you package it! (Those same parents are the ones saying their kids won't eat anything "green" or remotely good for them)

Skewer Marshmallows and mini snickers for a cute sweet treat on Fridays. I would use a toothpick size for this one.

Cut all the cheese and fruit on one day, and just skewer them fresh each day or evening!

Simple!

Thanks for reading!

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Ciao Ciao!

Lemons!

Lemons are in season, so are limes, and when the summer gets here,

the prices will be way too high to warrant buying them in bulk.

So why not take advantage of the abundance the season has to offer us and pick or buy

lemons now... squeeze them all at once, and freeze the juice for yummy

lemonade for the summer?

Limeade is my favorite. I love the intense tang. Costco has big bags of lime right now, and they smell so wonderful! Before I juice them, I grate little of the rind and freeze it separately, so I can add it to the juice when I make it. It lends a great picante to the blend.

I use frozen strawberries or blueberries as ice cubes too. So yummy!

I am gonna juice today, and put the juice into freezer trays.

I love putting a cube or two into a freshly made vegetable soup

or stew for that final zing needed to blend it all together.

You can candy your lemon rind too.

Make sure to buy organic or home grown if you are going to do this.

To candy rind you need...

Equal parts sugar and water

brought to a boil.

Drop in rind and simmer until just opaque,

Take out of syrup and dry on wax paper. I like to dredge them, wet, in superfiine sugar.

When they are dry, put them in a jar or vacuum pack.

Enjoy!!!

Bag some Salad today!

A really easy way to get dinner ready in a flash is to stock up on bagged salads, precut strips of carrot and red cabbage in a bag to give the bagged salad some color and more nutrients.

My friend Angela makes AWESOME salads.

Since having hers, I have been adding corn, pea pods avacado, croutons etc. to our ready made salads.

The trick to these salad bags is making sure no air gets into that bag after it's opened. Air is the enemy in this case.

I also love buying the hearts of Romaine from Costco. You get 6 for a couple of bucks and they are crunchy and take a long time to turn brown. I use one heart a night for salad.

Cherry tomatoes are a great buy. They make a great snack with ranch and look beautiful on a salad.

I also buy those from Costco. You get so much more for the money.

Bagged Salad... its a smart, fast, simple, thing!

Ciao!

Taffy Apple Salad

Can you say YUM!!!

I opened one of my new products yesterday, and found a great cool, sweet salad recipe that my clients and kids loved!

It's called Taffy Apple Salad

and it is really fresh and delish!

You take 2 granny smith apples and 2 red apples

Core and quarter them, skin on.

Mix together 4 oz of cream cheese (softened) and the juice of a can of pineapple chunks, and an 8 oz tub of Cool Whip.

Whisk until creamy.

Add apple chunks, pineapple chunks, a cup of small marshmallows, and some slivered almonds.

Mix well and refrigerate!

Serve in about an hour... yummy!

My clients were saying they would add grapes, and bananas.

I say, add whatever floats your boat!

I sprinkled it with a little cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Don't Dessert Dessert...Try something new!

I am not a baker.

I am a cook.

So dessert is not one of my forte's.

But... I can do dessert the Italian way in a hot minute!

What is it?

FRUIT!!!

Fresh or frozen it is the perfect end to any meal.

Having Pasta and a heavy cream sauce for dinner? Why not cut up some gorgeous wedges of watermelon and pile them high in a great bowl and put that on the table after dinner. I'll bet the kids fight over em!

Your favorite fruit not in season?

Smart n Final, Costco, even Staters, have lots of bags of frozen fruit.

I just put them into a bowl midday, let them defrost on their own and do a little stir once in a while. Serve with a spoon and a little cool whip, and Voila! Dessert!

Cantaloupe, honeydew, & casaba, are all coming in for the season soon.

Peaches, plums, nectarines, & apricots are due in soon, also.

Still fresh at the market and quite good, are oranges and apples.

Slice the oranges into big round shapes and watch them disappear off the plate!

I will sometimes mix fresh and frozen fruit, cut up for a huge fruit salad.

Add orange juice for sweetness if your fruit is not at its peak. It will preserve the fruit and will provide natural sweetness without added sugar.

Right now grapes are on sale 10lbs for 10 bucks. I bought a truckload yesterday and am now in the process of freezing them on a flat tray, and sliding them into a Ziploc bag for later use.

Freezing them makes the sugars bind for more sweetness, and when they are out of season, and too expensive to buy, we will have sweet frozen grapes as a treat later in the year.

Yum!!!

Give me some ideas about what you do for fruit!

I'm not the only one that knows useless information!

Ciao, Ciao!