Pink Saturday: Watermelon Tip

Have you ever bought a watermelon got home, cut it up and it lacks a bit in flavor?  I have the perfect solution.  This is a great tip I received from my good friend over at Tightwad Mom's Frugal  Forum  years ago.

 It is brilliant!! Mix it with non-calorie drink mix, the powder kind.  We love Raspberry Ice flavor.  YUM!!

It add just a touch of flavor and makes it so delicious.   My kids ask for it no matter what the watermelon tastes like.

Happy Pink Saturday!

Not quite pink but I figured you probably wouldn't want to see my pink back. Which after a week is finally pink not bright red! Lesson learned:

DO NOT LET YOUR SIX YEAR OLD APPLY SUNSCREEN TO YOUR BACK!! I planned on applying more but we got in a hurry and I forgot. Atleast everyone else got lathered.

Now go check out all the pink over at Pink Saturday!!

Also check out my Friend Frenchy over at Le Chateau des fleurs by Frenchy.  She has an incredible eye for decorating. (I really need her to help me out!!) It is an amazing blog with great ideas and incredible pictures.

Happy PINKS!!!

~Tiffanee

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Chicken Pesto Tortellini

It was so hot in my house that I needed something that would not required the oven. I made some fresh pesto today for the first time so I wanted to do something with it. Remember my basil craving?? I had hubby grill some chicken breasts and I used what veggies I had in the fridge added a few other ingredients and voila!! Dinner is served. It was a huge hit. Even the picky eater had thirds!!

Pesto Chicken Tortellini

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup sliced mushrooms (or more)

1/2 cup diced onions

1 small zucchini, sliced and quartered

1/2 cup ham, pepperoni, bacon or sausage (Optional)

2 cups cooked chicken, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1/2 cup olives, sliced

1/2 cup pesto

3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing (Girard's Creamy Balsamic is good!!)

Optional: shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 package frozen Tortellini, cooked according to package directions and drained.

Heat olive oil in a saute pan. Add onion, mushrooms and zucchini. Saute a few minutes on medium heat until onion becomes transparent and veggies are cooked.

Stir in chicken and ham (or other meat if desired) and heat for just a few minutes. Add tortellini, tomatoes, olives, pesto and vinaigrette dressing. Stir to combine.

If desired garnish with a little shredded Mozzarella cheese.

**You could use any type pasta and the veggies your family likes. This is a very versatile recipe.

Enjoy!! I also think it would be great served cold.

Perfect for this hot summer day!!

~Tiffanee

Linked to:

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Tried It Out Thursday: Basil, My New Favorite Herb

I must admit I am a little behind the times when it comes to fresh herbs.  I have grown chives, rosemary and cilantro (which I love!!), but have not expanded my horizons past that.  A few weeks ago I ordered a caprese chicken dish at a restaurant and fell in love with fresh basil.  Oh My!!  I have been missing out.  I checked it out in the produce department at the store and wow...talk about expensive. Then my smart sister in law suggested I buy a plant use what I can until it dies and it would be cheaper.  I found what was called "the living basil plant" in Winco for $2.48 so I purchased it.  It did not look real good, but I had to feed the craving.  I thought I was buying something I could plant in my planter outside, but I was wrong.  You place it in a glass with a small amount of water.

Luckily, it started to perk up.

It no longer looks like this.  I have since used it:

on pizza (YUM!) and I made fresh pesto for the first time.

It was good, but I am still trying to perfect the recipe before I post it.

Let's just say I hope I get much more from this little plant.  I am going to look for one I can actually grow indoors so I can feed the frenzy year round. 

Now this has got me wondering what other fresh herbs am I missing out on??

So what is your favorite fresh herb and recipe for it?

~Tiffanee

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Sautéed Cucumbers ♥

Today's easy cucumber recipe: For all of us, including me, who stop at 'salad' when thinking what to make with a surplus of cucumbers, here's a new take, a quick sauté. Not just vegan, "Vegan Done Real".

We're eating like rabbits this year. Wait, that's not quite right, let me say it differently.

The truth is, we are not eating like rabbits because the neighborhood bunnies are. They munch-and-crunch on the garden's baby zucchini and nascent tomatillos while the resident humans chew on cucumbers the size of bats, all the rabbits deign to leave behind. The resident Mr. McGregor has declared war, preparing for battle with the big guns: bottles of hot sauce and jars of cayenne pepper.

Back to the cucumbers. I've cooked cucumbers twice this week and both times was pleased how the gentle cucumber flavor emerges while much of the crunch, albeit softer, remains.

The first time, I sautéed the cucumbers with onion and crispy bits of leftover homemade corn tortillas, then stirred in some fresh tarragon. Would you think to put an egg over top and call it breakfast? I did and applause ensued. The second time, I cooked the cucumbers with bits of commercial corn tortillas which might have gotten crispy if I'd allowed more time or more oil, then stirred in strips of fresh basil. This made for a succulent side dish, tasting way more rich and fresh than imagined.

Cucumbers: they're not just for salad anymore. Even the rabbits are thinking about trying them cooked.
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Tossed Caprese Salad ♥

Today's easy summer salad recipe: A 'tossed' version of the tomato and fresh mozzarella salad that we call 'caprese' that's usually served as a 'composed' salad, all perfect and arranged but here is carefree. Vegetarian and low carb. Weight Watchers 2 (Old Points) and 3 (PointsPlus).

Check the price of fresh mozzarella these days and yikes, odds are, our eyes will get as big as the mozzarella balls themselves, at least if they are the real thing, not the mass-produced, made-some-time-this-year 'fresh' mozzarella balls from Trader Joe's, say. (Don't get me wrong, however, Trader Joe-style quality fresh mozzarella has its place, given the price. But to my taste, this just isn't it.)

Surprise surprise, Whole Foods often has fresh mozzarella on sale during the summer-tomato months, some times half the price of my local groceries.
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Toad in a Pattypan Hole ♥

Vegetables for breakfast? You bet! Just cut a pattypan squash into slices, remove the centers to create a ring and add eggs cupped by leaves of fresh basil. Very pretty, very tasty!

This time of year, UFOs show up at the farmers market. Oh wait, they're not UFOs, they are satellites! Oh wait, they're not satellites, they are pattypan squash! Not sure what I mean with the UFO and satellite references? Here's a photo of pattypan squash.

These little guys (and some times, not-so-little guys) may look daunting but really, pattypan squash belong to the family of summer squash that includes the more familiar zucchini and yellow squash. Pattypan squash are just so cute, I want to grab them all up and let them sit pretty in a basket on the counter, reminding me that, glory be, it's summer.

But glory be, pattypan squash are too good, cooked, to let sit around just looking pretty. This is a great way to cook pattypan squash for breakfast, especially for large pattypans which aren't quite as tender as baby pattypan squash. The recipe is a riff on the famous bread and egg dish with a hundred names, what my family calls Gashouse Eggs but many call Toad in a Hole, thus, here, Toad in a Pattypan Hole.

Vegetables for breakfast? You bet!

SPELLING LESSON Do we spell pattypan squash as one word, pattypan? or two words, patty pan? One word!
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