The most difficult part about cooking dinner for me is coming up with new and interesting side dishes.  Especially in the summer when we are likely to have guests eating with us.  There is only so many times you can serve pasta salad or potato salad before you bore even yourself.

I came across this recipe last year sometime and jotted it down on a scrap of paper and stuffed it into the bottomless abyss that is otherwise known as my purse.  I found it again last week and knew it would  the perfect accompaniment to the burgers I was grilling for some friends that night.
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I found these adorable ramekins at the grocery store a few weeks ago.  I am a sucker for this color blue and pretty things in general.  For only $1 each, I could not pass them up.  I knew that I would find something to use them for.  So far I have served grapes in them, hummus, dips of all kinds– the best part of course is that no one is concerned about double dipping since they all have their own individual ramekin.

I have yet to find the cure for the unparalleled horror of having a sibling breathing near your food, but should I discover the answer to that I will be sure to let you know. I am here for you, people.

So Fourth of July came and I had them setting out on the counter and I decided that I would make a red, white and blue treat with them. 

The best part? The recipe is so easy that even your youngest children can make this with minimal help.

To make 10* individual cobblers you will need:

2 21oz canned cherries
1 tube of biscuits
1T melted butter
2T sugar
1tsp cinnamon

*Why 10? The biscuits come 10 to a tube and the 21oz can makes 5. So, uh, do the math! Or better yet, make your child do the math and then pat yourself on the back for helping them keep their mind sharp during their summer vacation. Their teacher will be proud of your efforts!

Divide the cherries up evenly between your ten ramekins.

Whack your tube of biscuits open against your counter until you hear that satisfying pop. Then take the biscuits out, flatten them slightly, and stick one in each ramekin on top of the cherries.

Brush the top with the melted butter. Sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Bake in the 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

 
These taste delicious hot, cold, or any state of cooling from hot to cold. I have already made another batch today since it was easier than listening to the complaints that 10 is not evenly divisible by 7. (See, more summer math work! FTW!)
 

If you have been reading here for any legnth of time, you know that I am all about easy recipes. I do not have a whole lot of patience when it comes to preparing food. My children inhale their food so quickly that I do not think it even has time to touch their tastebuds.

Also, it is now summer and we are often out of the house for the day. I don’t really feel like making big meals every single day. Sandwiches are a working mother’s friend, whether you are working in the home or out.

I had bought some rotisserie chickens from the grocery store for dinner one night. There wasn’t enough left to make a full meal for my family so I decided to make chicken salad. It was fabulous. The kids all loved it. It was da bomb. Did I just age myself terribly with that or what? I don’t even know where it came from, some back cobwebby corner of my brain, I guess.

You will need:

2 1/2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
1 small minced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup mayonaisse

Step One:
Except for the grapes. Chop all of your ingredients up and toss in the bowl.

Step Two:

Add the mayonaisse, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Stir well.

Step Three:

Add the grapes and gently stir to mix.

Step Four:

Serve on some lightly toasted bread. The bread in the photo is gluten free bread. It is Udi’s brand and so good it tastes just like real bread. And those are salt and vinegar chips. You don’t have to serve it with those, but why not? They just make everything taste better.

And best of all, you don’t have to heat the kitchen all up.

With the warm weather approaching, or if you live on the face of the sun like I do, the warm weather has already arrived, entertaining demands to be made easier and more casual. Afterall, who wants to slave over a hot stove on a sweltering day? No one that’s who.

This dessert is perfect for the casual entertaining of summer. It is easy, ridiculously so. Your children can make this entirely by themselves. And it is delicious. As a matter of fact, I hid the leftovers so that I could have it all for myself. What? Don’t judge me! You have done the same thing.
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I am constantly on the look out for new pasta salad recipes. Pasta salad is the easiest summer side dish. It goes with anything you grill or you can even eat it by itself for meal. I love to make a large batch and serve it for a couple of meals… usually with dinner and a couple of lunches. Or for when you meet up with friends and have an impromptu dinner date.

And the best thing about pasta salad? You can make it early in the day, stick it in the refrigerator, and not think about it again until you are pulling the burgers off of the grill that evening.

You will need:

8 oz rotini pasta
1/2 c Italian dressing
1TB dijon mustard
1TB mayonaisse
1lb grilled chicken breast, cut into strips*
1 small can sliced olives
1 jar roasted red peppers, draned and chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and chopped

*I used the premade/precooked grilled chicken breast strips that come frozen at the grocery store to make the recipe that much easier. When I grill chicken breast for a meal I like to save a few breasts for using in recipes like this, but this time I didn’t have any.

Step 1: Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and rinse with cool water until the pasta is completely cool.

Step 2: Combine the salad dressing, mayonaisse, and mustard and pour onto the pasta. Stir to coat.

Step 3: Add remaining ingredients. Stir.

Step 4: Cover and refrigerate until dinner time.

Balloon tied to your chair optional, but why not. It makes meal time so much for festive. And by festive I mean cause your children to punch the ballon into each other constantly, and whine and cry until you threaten to spear the balloon with your fork. Not that I would know this from personal experience or anything. Ahem.

It is strawberry season. I think. I am basing this purely on the plethora of inexpensive strawberries available at the local grocery store, and not upon any first hand growing knowledge.

Shortcake is so easy to make that I afterward I always wonder why I don’t make it more often.
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Looking for a new summer side dish? I have a great one for you. This recipe is so easy that I do not even have photos of the steps because I think that you know how to open cans. Right?

You can make this early in the day and leave in the fridge until dinner time. Perfect for those days when you are going to be out of the house all day and just going to grill some hamburgers for dinner.

Also, it looks so pretty. Doesn’t it?

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

1/4 c Hellman’s Light Mayonnaise
2T lime juice
1/2tsp ground cumin
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 cup quartered cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 c chopped red onion
2T chopped fresh cilantro (I left this out because I could not find any at my grocery store)

Combine mayonnaise, lime juice, and cumin in a medium sized bowl.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.

This was loved by all. Except for the child who insists he doesn’t like beans, though I doubt that a bean has ever crossed his lips. So really he doesn’t count. The rest of my children said it was wonderful and that it should be made again and again. My eldest son even ate some of the leftover with his lunch, which says something because his general feeling is that leftovers are garbage that I store in the fridge.

My garden runneth over with non-ripe vegetables. And sadly, the warm summer growing days are over. We have had frost a couple of nights now and so I was forced to pick everything.

Remember the movie Fried Green Tomatoes?  I love that movie.  If I had to rank my most favorite movies of all time it would be at the top of the list.  Along with the Princess Bride and the Wizard of Oz.  I am sure that there are others that I just can’t even think of right now.

The movie was what first introduced me to fried green tomatoes.  Before that green tomatoes were something that sat on your windowsill until they turned red or rotted.

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I have been somewhat uninspired to cook lately. Want to know why? Could it be because I still do not have a working kitchen?

This is pretty much what my kitchen looks like right now, only my husband has finished putting the sink in. And the man making the template for the countertop has gone home. Thankfully, because I don’t need someone else to cook for around here.
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Can you have too many quick and easy pasta recipes?

The answer is no, you can not. And you know what else… this recipe has no meat. Just for you Kristin. I love simple recipes like this that take advantage of the produce that is in season.

You will need:
1 lb pasta
bag of baby spinach
grape tomatoes, halved
olive oil
garlic, fresh or in a jar
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

If your bottle of extra virgin olive oil has an illustration of a young man picking olives, feel free to make all the inappropriate jokes you want about him being extra virginal.

I bought this jar of minced garlic solely because I liked the illustration on this one too. Aww, the little farm where my garlic was grown and then hand minced by kindly farmers, using methods that have been passed down for generations. That is what makes me feel better about being too lazy to mince my own.

Step One:.

Cook your pasta of choice. Drain and set aside.

Step Two:

Pour some olive oil into your big skillet. Then dump in your spinach.

Regarding the baby spinach, if you have never cooked fresh spinach before you need to know you will need much MUCH more of this than you think you will possibly want. The next time I make this recipe I am going to double the amount of spinach. But we are a spinach loving family.

A little side story, when we were eating dinner I mentioned us being like Popeye, and my children were all, “Who is Popeye?” And then I was sad that a cultural icon like Popeye the Sailorman has died a small quiet death. Where is the Spinach council? Although, the whole Popeye and Brutus fighting over Olive Oil was weird. And who was the father of her baby? Oh and there was the whole Popeye smoking like chimney. But see, these are things you have to consider when serving this to your children and promising it will make them strong JUST LIKE POPEYE!

Anyway, back to the recipe.

After a few minutes the spinach will have reduced to this:

After a few more minutes, this:

See? You will be all, “What happened to all my spinach? How will I ever get those freakishly large forearms with only this small amount of spinach.”

Step Three:

Toss in your pint of halved grape tomatoes and some garlic. I used about 1/2 tsp of the minced from the jar. I’d probably use 4 little cloves of the fresh garlic. You can use more or less depending on your personal taste and vampire repelling needs.

(Didn’t these used to be called cherry tomatoes? Why do all the stores and recipes call them grape tomatoes now? Is there some PC reason why they aren’t cherry tomatoes anymore? Are cherries offensive? Or are they different tomatoes? We could call them baby tomatoes, but that sounds so violent. Vegetarians don’t like that. Maybe we should be calling them those tiny little tomatoes.)

Step Four:

Heat thoroughly. The tomatoes will get soft and start to leak their tomato juice. After about five minutes it will be done.

Step Five:

Dump your pasta into the skillet . And mix well.

Note: I am STILL cooking on a camp stove.

Step Six:

Serve pasta. Grate cheese over each individual plate.

Enjoy!