Today we’ll share a few salad recipes and a soup recipe as well. Deb and I both have gotten to the point we like a salad at least a couple times a day, although most are straight veggies or some type of fruit salad.

It’s changed our style of eating, which basically before was…put it down in front of me, and I’ll take care of the rest! Honestly though, I still have my moments, but we both eat much better than we ever have in the past.

To be truthful…we can tell it too!

The salads we’ll share today are heavier than our regular routine, but dad-gum they’re still good! Once more, we’ll take a step backwards in regards to our calorie intake, but we both believe this doesn’t affect us too bad if done in “every so often” intervals. Kinda like rewarding ourselves.

I try to convince Deb that since “I’m considerably larger” than she is…maybe I ought to be “rewarded” a little more often!! For some reason or other, she doesn’t seem to be buyin that one??

Well, before I get in more trouble this morning than I normally stay in…let’s eat a dern salad or two! All are easy to make, and not very time consuming at all. Enjoy…

Macaroni Salad

• 2 cups cooked shell macaroni
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salad oil
• 2 tablespoons grated onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1/2 cup stuffed olives, sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped pimento
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper
• 3 boiled eggs, chopped

Marinate macaroni in refrigerator in vinegar and oil for about 8 hours or so. Afterwards, (don’t drain marinade off), combine with the other ingredients and toss well. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Black-Eye Pea Salad

• 2 cans black-eye peas (fresh, cooked, if you have them), washed and drained well
• ½ cup chopped onions
• ½ cup black olives
• ½ cup pimento
• Salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste
• ¼ to ½ cup Italian dressing (your taste)

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate overnight. Take out when ready to serve.

Fruit Salad

• 1 large can pineapple tidbits
• 1 large can fruit cocktail
• 1 small jar maraschino cherries, halved
• 1 (8 oz.) package shredded coconut
• 1 small (10 oz.) package mini-marshmallows
• 1 cup pecans, broken up or coarsely chopped
• 1 cup sour cream

Drain all fruits well. Mix all ingredients well then, stir in sour cream. Refrigerate overnight, and takeout when ready to serve.

Jellied Grapefruit With Pecans

• 2 grapefruit
• 1 package lemon jello
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup grapefruit juice
• 6 tablespoons chopped pecans

Dice your grapefruit into small segments and drain off. Dissolve jello into boiling water. Add grapefruit juice. Cool until just short of firmness. Add your grapefruit pieces and pecans. Place into a mold and refrigerate.

Potato Soup

• 8 slices bacon
• Flour
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• ¼ cup finely chopped celery
• 2 baked potatoes (leftover) or 1/1-2 cups boiled or ¾ cup of instant potatoes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Milk, best when used at room temperature

Cook bacon until crisp, drain on paper towel, and breakup. Add onion and celery to the bacon grease and sauté until onions begin to brown. Stir in flour to roughly the equivalent of the amount of grease in pan. Stir in 3 cups of milk, stirring until lumps disappear. Stir in potatoes and add your seasonings to taste. Add bacon pieces to your warming liquid. Don’t boil, but simmer until heated through.

You can add creamed corn and clams to make like a chowder.

I know to most, these types “of cold” temps are laughable, but when it’s been pushin 80 for the last couple weeks, all I can say is…brrrrr!

I had Cheyenne wrapped up in a big towel while she was sittin in her chair this morning while we were out on the porch drinkin coffee. She kept eyein me like…you’re pretty stingy with that coffee today, huh?

When I went back in to get a second cup, she came in too, and WOULDN’T go back out with me! I was goin, “C’mon Shiny Girl, c’mon,” and she wouldn’t even lift her head. I believe she thought I’d lost my mind, plus I think she was wonderin why I just couldn’t drink my coffee inside?

We’ll share a few salads today, but I have to own up that last night…we had chili! Hit the spot too!

But, before we go any farther along, our sister-in-law, Patty, sent us this. I thought you guys might get a kick out of it, cause it had Deb and I in stitches!

Old Timers Sex

The husband leans over and asks his wife, ‘Do you remember the first time we had sex together over fifty years ago? We went behind the village tavern where you leaned against the back fence and I made love to you.’

Shaking, the old man is barely able to reply, ‘Fifty years ago son, that wasn’t an electric fence.”

I don’t know about the rest of you guys out there, BUT, once I read the punch line, I started thinkin REAL hard about takin me a trip down to Tractor Supply this morning and checkin out a box for…an electric fence!! LOL! Ole Deb would never know what hit her!! LOL!

Okay, enough of that already, let’s do a salad or two…

I was plunderin around in the library last night and found a little book called, “Easy Home Cooking.” It was published by Easy Home Cooking Publications International Ltd.

It’s just a small cookbook that evidently she’d picked up in the grocery store, probably on the magazine rack at the checkout. She doesn’t even remember…cause I asked. Most times though when she’s “spendin my money,” and I ask where, or when, she’d bought something…she DON’T remember!

Any of you other gentlemen out there have wives with…selective memories, or is it just mine? LOL! You see, there’s that great sense of humor of mine kickin in again. I gotta laugh…to keep from squallin!

Ole Deb’s reaction to such as this? Here’s just a few of examples…

“Dub, don’t let your mind wander…it’s too small to be let out on its own!”

“Dub, you’re just not yourself today…I noticed the improvement immediately!”

“Dub, if you have something to say, raise your hand. Then put it directly over your mouth!”

Or, her favorite…

“Dub, why don’t you slip into something more comfortable…like a coma!”

It’s so nice to be loved, huh?

NOW, finally, let’s do some salads…

Garden Pasta Salad

• 6 cups cooked penne pasta
• 2 cups shredded cooked, skinless chicken breast
• 3/4 cup chopped red onion
• ¾ cup chopped red or green bell pepper
• ¾ cup chopped zucchini
• 1 (4 oz) can sliced black olives, drained
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (10-3/4 oz) can reduced-fat condensed cream of chicken soup
• ½ cup lemon juice
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook and drain pasta.

Combine pasta, chicken, onion, bell pepper, zucchini, olives, red pepper flakes and salt in large bowl; toss lightly.

Combine soup and lemon juice in small bowl; mix well. Pour soup mixture over pasta salad; mix well. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, basil, and parsley.

Marinated Antipasto Pasta Salad

• 4 oz. un-cooked ziti pasta
• 6 oz. Genoa salami or summer sausage, diced
• 6 oz. provolone, smoked mozzarella, or regular mozzarella cheese, diced
• 12 kalamata olives
• 12 red and/or yellow cherry tomatoes
• 4 bottled pepperoncini peppers, sliced and seeded
• Lettuce leaves
• Chopped fresh basil

Antipasto Dressing

• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2/3 cup white balsamic or white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

For dressing, drop garlic through feed tube of food processor while motor is running. Process until garlic is minced.

Add vinegar, mustard, salt and sugar; process until combined. With motor running, slowly pour oil through feed tube; process until thickened. Cover; refrigerate 2 hours, or up to 1 month.
Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and rinse with cool water.

Combine pasta, salami, cheese, olives, tomatoes and pepperoncini in medium bowl. Add dressing; toss well. Cover; refrigerate 2 hours, or up to 2 days. Serve on lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with basil.

Lemon Pepper Tuna Over Pasta

• 8 oz. pasta, preferably fettuccini
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 cup frozen French-cut green beans
• 1 pouch Starkist Zesty Lemon Pepper tuna
• Dash Thyme
• Dash salt

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and bell pepper slices; sauté 1 to 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add beans, tuna, thyme and salt. Cook 1 to 2 minutes more or until hot. Add drained pasta, mix well, and serve.

I know you guys must think we’ve lost our minds with three consecutive posts on…dern salads! But, there is a method to my madness…I think!

In actuality Deb and I are in the middle of a cookbook we’ll be putting out here before long. It’ll be a lot of recipes, and a lot of storytelling, jokes, and basically, just having a good time doing it. With that in mind, going through our old posts, we were very lacking in regards to having many types of salads.

So, we’ve spent the morning listing many of our old salad recipes. Well, when we post, we use WordPress, and I really like the look of the finished product from this. So, if I was going to use WordPress, shoot, I thought I’d just go ahead and post them on site as well.

By doing this, I guess you could say…I’m killin two birds, with one stone. Lazy is another way to describe this too! LOL!!

Anyway, if you’ll bear with us, this will be the last salad post…for a while! But a dern ole salad is good, and good for you. So check em out, and see if there may be a few you’d like to try out!

Thanks, guys!

Copper Penny Salad:

• 2 lbs. carrots, skinned, and sliced thin
• 1 (10-3/4 oz.) can tomato soup, undiluted
• ½ cup salad oil
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• ¾ cup vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper, chopped fine

Boil carrots, approximately 15 minutes until tender-crisp. Drain and when cool add remaining ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate overnight. Makes approx. 2 quarts. When carrots are gone, any leftover sauce may be used as a dressing for tossed salad.

Seven Layer Salad:

• ½ head lettuce, shredded
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup purple onion, chopped
• 1 (17 oz.) can English peas, drained
• 1-1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1-1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 slices bacon, cooked, and crumbled

Layer vegetables in the order listed in a 2 quart bowl. Spread mayonnaise evenly over the top. Sprinkle salad with remaining ingredients in order listed. Cover tightly and chill at least 8 hours.

Macaroni Salad:

• ¾ cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground pepper
• 8 oz. box of elbow macaroni, about 2 cups dry
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced green pepper
• ¼ cup diced onion
• ¼ cup chopped green pickles

Cook macaroni until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. In large bowl mix together mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Toss in remaining ingredients mixing as you go, and chill to blend in flavors.

Potato Salad:

This is one recipe we don’t like a ton of different things in, but, that’s just our taste. Feel free to mix in whatever your heart desires…

• 8 potatoes
• ½ cup Miracle Whip
• ¼ cup mustard
• ½ cup chopped sweet pickles
• 1 large diced onion
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, diced

Peel and dice potatoes and boil until done. Boil eggs until done, Deb always lays her eggs on top of her potatoes, and boils them together. Once done, peel your eggs and dice them. Drain potatoes and add Miracle Whip, sweet pickles, onion, and eggs. Mix in really well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Well today we won’t be firin off a dern cook stove, but we’ll be makin up some salads…fruit salads.

Deb and I both love salads, and fruit salads rank right up there with our favorites. Down here when it gets so hot, man, a good ole fruit salad is mighty hard to beat. Just chill “them bears” off, and boy is that refreshing!

But it really makes no difference to either of us, fruit salad, or vegetable salad either one. Both can be refrigerated, plus both are nutritious as well. They’re very versatile in the number of ways you can prepare them, and in reality…if you like it, chunk it in!

With our citrus season beginning to get into full swing, we’re really enjoying our fruit salads, and the juice they supply us with as well.

You know that we’ve been juicing 20-25 fresh fruits and vegetables each morning. Since the citrus is coming in we’re using that as an additive to our daily juicing. We’ve been adding 2 grapefruit, 4 hamlin oranges, along with 3 tangerines. This really gives our other juicing’s a big flavor boost, plus it gives a good mega-dose of Vitamin C along with all the other nutrients we’re getting. We love it!

Well, let’s get started…

Frozen Banana-Pineapple Salad:

• 2 cups sour cream
• ¾ cups sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
• ½ cup pecans, cut fine
• ½ cup cherries, cut fine
• 1 large ripe banana, cut in small pieces
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

Mix all ingredients and put in mold or glass baking dish. Freeze overnight. Remove from freezer a short time before serving.

Fresh Apple Salad:

• 8 cups chopped, tart, red apples, unpeeled
• 1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained (reserve juice)
• 1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 1-1/2 cups toasted pecans

Dressing:

• Reserved pineapple juice
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 cup mayonnaise or ½ cup reduced calorie mayonnaise and ½ cup plain yogart

Make dressing. First combine juice, butter, sugar, and lemon juice in saucepan. Heat to boiling. Combine cornstarch and water to smooth paste. Add to hot mixture; cook till thick and smooth.

Chill completely before stirring in mayonnaise and add to pineapple, and apple. Add pecans last.

Cherry Salad Supreme:

• 1 (3 oz.) package raspberry gelatin
• 1 (21 oz.) can cherry pie filling
• 1 (3 oz.) package lemon gelatin
• 1 cup crushed pineapple
• 1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• ½ cup whipping cream
• 1 cup tiny marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Disolve raspberry gelatin in I cup boiling water; cool slightly. Add cherry pie filling and stir. Turn into a 9x9x2 inch baking dish. Chill until partially set.

Dissolve lemon gelatin in 1 cup boiling water. Bear together cream cheese and mayonnaise. Gradually add lemon gelatin. Stir in undrained pineapple. Whip cream and fold into lemon mixture with marshmallows.

Spread atop cherry mixture. Top with chopped nuts. Chill until set.

Cranberry Salad:

• 1 package cranberries
• 1 orange
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup celery, cut fine
• 1 cup nuts, chop fine
• 1 large package strawberry or lemon jello
• 1-1/2 cups hot water

Grind cranberries and orange; add sugar and let sit. Dissolve jello. When cool, add all ingredients. Crushed pineapple (drained) may be added. Pour into mold.

Fruit Bowl Supreme:

• 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges
• 1 (8-1/2 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 (8 oz.) carton Cool Whip, thawed
• 2 cups Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• ½ cup milk

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Chill about 1 hour. Serve as a dessert or a salad. Makes 12 servings.

We appreciate you guys stopping by to visit with us, and God Bless! Also, Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb