Star-Spangled Wedge Salad

I love the 4th of July and I love salads, so why not make a Star-Spangled Wedge Salad for the holiday!


Ingredients:


1 head of lettuce
3 slices of cooked bacon
6 slices of American cheese
3 large tomatoes
Ranch dressing to taste


Directions:
Wash the head of lettuce.  Quarter the head of lettuce.
  
Slice the cheese squares.  Peel and slice the tomatoes.  


Tear or cut the bacon into small pieces.  


Assemble your flag on the flat side by alternating tomatoes and cheese.  Make the bacon the stars.

Chips and Salsa

What is a perfect light appetizer for a hot summer day?  Chips and Salsa, of course!

Salsa
3 Tomatoes
1 Banana Pepper
1 Jalapeno
1 Lime
1/4 Onion
Salt and pepper, to taste


Chips
4 Tortillas
Cooking spray
Salt and black pepper, to taste


Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.  Cut the tortillas into eighths.  Spray both sides of the tortillas.  Coat with salt and pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Flip chips and bake for 10 more minutes.


While chips are baking, finely chop the tomatoes, peppers, and onions.  Zest the lime and squeeze 1/2 of the lime into the mixture.  Add salt and pepper.  Chill for at least an hour before eating.

Faux Fries

I personally love fruit more than any fried food, but some people may feel differently.  This recipe is the best of both worlds... Faux Fries!


1 Apple
1/4 cup caramel or chocolate sauce


Peel the apple.


Cut all of the fruit from the core.


Slice the apple into fry-like shapes.  (I used a vegetable slicer and it worked perfectly).


Dunk the faux fries into the caramel or chocolate!

An apple a day...

Perks up a rainy day!  A fun and healthy after-school snack is this apple umbrella.


First, take an apple (I used a Pink Lady apple) and cut it in half.  Remove any seeds that may be in it.


Next, cut the apple in half horizontally.  Make sure that the curved end is facing up.


Now, carefully take the knife and cut 4 equally-distributed lines into the apple skin.  Peel the skin off of 2 of the sections.


Take a bendy straw and cut right below and a little above the bend.  Insert it into the base of the apple.

When life gives you lemons...

Make raspberry lemonade!  Wet your finger and run it along the outside of a glass.  Take sanding sugar and lemon zest and lay it out on a a piece of wax paper.  Dip the glass in the sanding sugar/zest mixture.  This is the perfect way to dress up a normally casual drink for a party.

Fruit Pizza

~Fruit Pizza

1 Package of Sugar Cookie dough
1 8 oz. Package of Fat-Free Cream Cheese, softened
1 container of Fat-Free Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
3 cups Assorted fruit (mandarin oranges, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, kiwi, bananas, etc.)


Grease a 12-inch pizza pan and spread the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan.  Bake until golden brown and then cool completely.  Beat the cream cheese, Cool Whip, and vanilla until fluffy.  Spread the mixture over cooled crust.  Arrange fruit over the mixture.

A Father's Day Meal Fit for a King

For Father's Day, our theory was: Go Big or Go Home.  So we had grilled: zucchini, squash, peppers, and asparagus; chicken, shrimp, and steak shish-kabobs, watermelon, and homemade bread.  It was a delicious and fresh meal fit for a king, queen, and their princesses!

Birthday Hot Dog

Instead of a fancy birthday dinner, Mom requested that we have 97% fat-free hot dogs.  Since it was a special occasion, we didn't just doll up the dogs with ketchup and mustard... Oh no, we went all out!  A hot dog with homemade: pimento cheese, chili, slaw, and chow-chow nestled into a steamed bun.  I normally don't brag, but it. was. awesome.

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake

This is a combination of two of my favorite desserts: Chocolate-Covered Strawberries and Strawberry Shortcake.  That's how you get Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake!


1 batch of reduced-fat brownies
1 cup of strawberries, sliced
1 dollop of Cool Whip or squirt of Whipped Cream


Slice brownies.  Top with strawberries and whipped cream.  Eat up!

Vegetable Pasta Salad

A perfectly light side dish for any summer cookout!

~Vegetable Pasta Salad
4 cup cooked bowtie pasta
1 diced red pepper
1 diced zucchini
1 diced cucumber
1 cup of quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup fat-free Italian dressing
Salt and pepper to taste


Combine all ingredients and chill for a few hours.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

To many people this dessert symbolizes love and romance.  I'm all for that, but who says you need love or romance to indulge?  You are just 3 ingredients away from one of the best desserts of all time!


1 cup chocolate chips
1 T shortening
12 strawberries

Wash/wipe each strawberry clean with a paper towel.  Dry thoroughly.  Combine the chocolate chips and the shortening in a double broiler until melted and smooth.  Remove the chocolate from the heat; moving quickly, generously cover and dip strawberries in the chocolate and place them on parchment or aluminum foil to set.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Caramelized "Bapples"

Apples + Bananas= Bapples
What do you do when that pound cake that you made last week starts to get stale?  Moisten it up by topping it with caramelized bapples.  This is a delicious, quick, and easy way to feel like you're eating in a 5 star restaurant when you're really in your kitchen.


~Caramelized Bapples
2 Bananas
1 Apple
4 thick slices of pound cake
2 T butter
1 cup brown sugar, unpacked
Dash of vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Powdered sugar (optional)


Slice the bananas and apple.  Heat butter in a pan.  Once bubbly, add the brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add the bananas and apples.  Evenly coat the fruit in the sauce and allow to cook for about 2 minutes.  Top the pound cake with fruit and powdered sugar.  Enjoy!