Oh My Goodness!! It’s almost JULY!!! 

Y’all need to stay cool on the 4th and I have some easy to make “cool” food ideas. They are cool and refreshing, fun and festive to serve up to your Fourth of July guests!

Red, White and Blue Cheese Salad

Combine 5 cups cubed watermelon, 2 cups sliced strawberries, 2 cups raspberries, 1 cup crumbled blue cheese and 2 tbsp. fresh, chopped mint in large bowl. Drizzle with ½ cup of raspberry vinaigrette. Serves about 6. EASY!!

Firecracker Macaroni Salad

Combine all of the following ingredients in a large salad bowl:

1 pkg. cooked shell macaroni
1  chopped green pepper
1 small can chopped pimiento
1 chopped onion
1 cup chopped sweet pickles
1/2  cup chopped celery
1/2  cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. vinegar
1/4  cup sugar or sweetener equivalent

Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately or chill for a couple of hours.

Fiesta Salad

Combine these ingredients to make the dressing:

3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
1 small clove garlic, mashed

 Add these ingredients to the dressing:

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, diced medium
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1/2  red onion, finely chopped
4 green onions, chopped
3 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

 Toss all ingredients together with the dressing.

Cool Veggie Salad

Combine the following ingredients together in a medium sauce pan, bring to a boil. Stirring until sugar dissolves.

3/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup sugar

 Combine the following veggies and mix together with the vinegar mixture above:

1 can (16 oz) French style green beans, drained
1 can (17 oz) English peas, drained
1 can (12 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 jar (2 oz) chopped pimento, drained
1 cup chopped celery
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Cover and place in refrigerator for 12 hours, stirring occasionally.

Hope y’all have a wonderful 4th!!

Hi ya’ll!! I have started a newsletter where you can get some fab recipes sent straight to your inbox!! Just fill out the form on the right and I will send fabulous recipes every month!!

How about some Fab Foods For The Fourth?? The Fourth of July is around the corner and I have some great recipes to send you! Next month…well… let me know what you want! Ask me questions about cooking, baking (kinda hot for that, but go ahead!!) grilling, salads, pasta…whatever you can think of! I am more than happy to help! Y’all know I LOVE to cook!!

Don’t worry about SPAM!!  I will never sell or give away your information, so go ahead and fill out the form and I will be in your inbox every month with some Fab Foods and Divalicious Dining!

How ’bout this for starters??

Greek-style Pork Wraps

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon regular mustard

1-3/4 teaspoons minced garlic, divided (you are not going to use this all at once)

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)

1 cup chopped peeled cucumber, seeds removed, (cucumber seeds can give you a tummy-ache)

1 cup plain yogurt

dash or 2 of salt

¼ teaspoon dill weed

8 flour tortillas~ soft taco size

½ cup chopped green onions

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine lemon juice, oil, mustard, 1-1/4 teaspoons garlic and oregano; add pork. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for about 2 hours. In a bowl, combine the cucumber, yogurt, salt, dill and remaining garlic; cover and refrigerate until serving.

2. Drain and discard marinade(you NEVER want to use marinade that has been with uncooked meat!!). Coat grill rack with non-stick cooking spray before starting the grill for indirect medium-hot heat. Grill tenderloin, uncovered, over direct heat for 5 minutes, turning once. Move to indirect heat. Cover; cook 10-15 minutes longer or until a meat thermometer reads 160F. Please check the temp! You don’t want to eat raw meat!!

3. Let stand for 5 minutes to let the juices settle themselves.

4. Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil; place on grill for 2-3 minutes or until warmed, turning once. Slice tenderloin into strips; place on tortillas. Top each with 3 tablespoons yogurt sauce and 1 tablespoon green onions. The sauce MAKES this dish!

   Should make 4 servings of 2 each.

Summertime with friends and family is always fun! Y’all have cookouts, beach parties, lazy afternoons at the lake or even a living room picnic! Y’all ever trying to come up with easy ways to feed everyone?  How about some easy finger foods that you can serve at your next carpet party?

Pigs in a Blanket<—-LOVED these as a kid!!

Using refrigerated crescent rolls (have you seen the new ones that are just one sheet and you can cut them to size??) and hotdogs or those little smokies, roll each dog or smokie in an unbaked crescent roll. Place on a 9X13 pan(cookie sheet) and bake according to the crescent roll package directions. Serve with ketchup and mustard or ranch dressing. Smokies LOVE BBQ sauce! YUM!!

Taquitos (little tacos…..literally!)

Warm up some corn tortillas to soften them up. If they are cold, they will tear.(then you have to make chilaquiles(I’ll explain another day)) Place some already prepared taco meat (ground beef and seasonings) and shredded cheddar or jack cheese (shred your own cheese, please, pre-shredded cheese in the bag scares me!!) in each of them and roll them on up! Brush them with some veggie oil and bake on 350F until crispy. (about 10 min) Ole!

Fried Zucchini Great summer veggie!

Cut zucchini into ¼ inch slices. Heat ¼ inch oil (with a pat or two of butter for taste) in a skillet; sprinkle them with garlic powder, a little lemon juice, black pepper and parmesan cheese. Fry them until golden brown and flip. Repeat if needed. Make sure you wipe out the oil in the pan with paper towel after each batch of zucchini to avoid blackening. Blackened zucchini is not on the menu!! It’s hard enough to get folks to eat their veggies!!

Easy Nachos

Get ya some Tostitos Scoops, place a little bit of cooked taco meat (there’s that ground beef and seasonings again!) in each little scoop and top it with shredded cheddar or jack cheese(real cheese again! Maybe I have something here!!). Then load those little guys up with your favorite nacho toppings like sour cream, salsa, olives, jalapenos, chopped onions, etc. You can also put them on a cookie sheet in an oven at 350F for about 8-10 minutes to melt all that cheese!

Pizza Roll-Ups<– THESE are too COOL!! Make you own little hot pockets! (and you KNOW what’s in them!!)

Unroll refrigerated crescent rolls into triangles. Sprinkle each crescent roll with garlic and Italian seasonings. Place a few slices of pepperoni on each triangle. Place ½ a piece of string cheese in each triangle. Roll it up, sprinkle with garlic and Italian seasonings again and bake according to the crescent roll package directions or until brown. Dip in warm pizza sauce or if you are anything like me…..ranch!

Sweet Turkey Wraps

Soften ½ pkg. cream cheese (you know you can soften cream cheese in the microwave, just keep an eye on it and put it in there for about 20 seconds, stir and if it’s not soft enough, you can go another 10 sec or so, remember it will keep softening after you take it out) and mix with 2 tbs. applesauce and 1 tsp. dried thyme until smooth. Spread evenly onto big flour tortillas. Place a leaf of lettuce and thin sliced turkey on each tortilla and roll. Wrap each rollup in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours until firm. Cut into one inch slices (like cinnamon rolls) and serve. MMM-HMMM!

I have TONS of appetizer and finger food ideas but I am making me HUNGRY!!

Hope y’all enjoy!!

Spicy breakfast?? MMM-HMM!! Something that’ll wake ya up? Chorizo and potatoes~YUM!

I get this handmade chorizo down at the local Hispanic market and it is sooooo yummy!!! I have never had anything better! I buy it all the time. One thing I did learn from the butcher is to let it dry! So I do! I just leave it on a plate in the fridge for a couple of days. Makes it more chorizo-y.

Before you cook it, take the skin off of it. I think it’s pig belly, which sounds kind of nasty, but if it works and we want authentic….??? Pig Belly it is!! (just take it off and DON”T LOOK!!)

Now, chorizo is not your regular kind of sausage. It isn’t stiff and crumbly like pork sausage, it’s more juicy, spicy and falling apart. (If you leave the pig belly casing on, you can also grill it which is really tasty!!)

I wanted to add it to some fried potatoes so I cut up about 3 pounds of potatoes (big family) into little cubes and started frying them in a pan (big pan) with just a little bit of oil and onion. Don’t use too many spices since the chorizo is spicy enough. A little salt and pepper will do.

Then after the onions and potatoes cook for about 5 minutes,  add about a pound (again, big family) of the chorizo and make sure it’s broken up so it can cook along with the potatoes. Put a lid on the pan so the potatoes can kind of steam. Check and stir about every 5-7 minutes. Potatoes should take about 13-15 minutes to cook with the lid on. Chorizo doesn’t take long to cook since it’s a juicy type sausage.

When the potatoes are soft, take the lid off and raise the heat a notch to put a little crust on them. Let it cook for a minute or two, flip everything over and give it another minute or so and there ya go!! Breakfast!! (or dinner)

Serve it up with some scrambled eggs and corn tortillas. YUM!!

2-3 sweet onions (Vidalia anyone??)

flour

salt

pepper

buttermilk

oil for frying

slice the onions about 3/8″ and separate the rings

dredge(cool word) the onion rings into flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.

Dip the floury onion rings into buttermilk to completely coat them and then dip them into flour again that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.

Fry them in oil for about 1-2 minutes then flip them over to the other side. They cook really fast (but not as fast as fried pickles!!!)

How about some dippin sauce????

A tsp of Dijon mustard and 2 tbsp of honey added to a cup of sour cream makes an awesome honey-mustard dippin sauce!!

Add some of that honey to BBQ sauce for a great tasting Honey Barbecue Sauce.

Enjoy!!