*Dill*icious Vegetable Salad

Ingredients
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
... ... 1/4 cup diced red onion
2 avocados, diced
4 green onions, chopped
2 Tbls Gourmet Cupboard® Dill Dip Mix
2 Tbls balsamic vinegar

Directions
1. In a large bowl, toss together all ingredients.
2. Serve immediately or chill no longer than 30 minutes.*

*If chilled longer, the cucumber will soak up the dark color of balsamic vinegar.

See my link for Gourmet Cupboard products!

Update on the 365 project photos.   I have created a Photo-log and have moved all of the photos to that new site.  I will continue to link them to Facebook, but this blog will not have the project photos included in the posts going forward.

see the new blog at http://kjkae.blogspot.com/

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes**Recipe by Our Best Bites
1 Duncan Hines yellow or white cake mix
1 cup sour cream (full-fat or light, but not fat-free)
3 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
24 unwrapped mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Chocolate Frosting:
1/4 cup melted butter (real butter, not margarine)
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 pound powdered sugar
3 tablespoons evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup  real butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons (or more) of milk (you can use some of the leftover evaporated milk; it’s awesome in this frosting)
Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine all the cupcake ingredients except for the peanut butter cups with an electric mixer on medium-low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl frequently. Turn the speed to high and beat for another 3 minutes.
Fill each muffin cup about 1/2 full with batter. Top with an unwrapped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup , then fill the muffin cups with the remaining batter. Make sure the Peanut Butter Cups are covered and the cups are about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the tops are golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the frostings. For both frostings, just combine all the ingredients for each one and whip until light and fluffy, adding additional milk as needed. Frost the cupcakes with the swirled frosting in this tutorial.

Monkey Bars

1 Pkg Nana's Banana Nut Bread ( the gourmet cupboard)
(ingredients listed on back to prepare it)
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp. Vanilla extract
...1 cup Mini Chocolate chips

Directions:

Prepare Banana Bread as directed on package. Add in the Cinnamon, Vanilll and half the chocolate chips. Stir togethe well.
Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Top with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until done in the center. Let cool and cut into bars.

 

Recipe from Roberta Whalen ~ my TGC Sponsor and the best dang cook around!

words to live by:

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway. For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway...

Shared Recipe

Herb Grilled Vegetables

Recipe from Swanson

Bring out the best flavors of fresh vegetables by basting them with herb-infused chicken broth during cooking.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Servings: 6

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup  Swanson® Chicken Broth (Regular, Natural Goodness or Certified Organic)
• 1/2 tsp.  dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1/8 tsp.  ground black pepper
• 1   large red onion, thickly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1   large red or green pepper, cut into wide strips (about 2 cups)
• 1   medium zucchini or yellow squash, thickly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 cups  large mushrooms

Directions

1. Stir the broth, thyme and black pepper in a small bowl. Brush the vegetables with the broth mixture.
2. ightly oil the grill rack and heat the grill to medium. Grill the vegetables for 10 minutes or until they're tender-crisp, turning over once during cooking and brushing often with the broth mixture.

Tip:

A grilling basket is handy for grilling smaller foods like these veggies. Just place the vegetables in a single layer in the basket, close and place on the grill. You can baste the vegetables right in the basket, and flip the basket to grill the other side.

• Weight Watchers Points®*: 0
• Dietary Exchanges: 1 Nonstarchy Vegetable
• USDA MyPyramid: 1 cup Vegetables

*Weight Watchers and Points ® are a registered trademark of Weight Watchers International, Inc. All references to Points values are based on Weight Watchers International, Inc. published information and do not imply sponsorship or endorsement by Weight Watchers International, Inc. of any such number of Points, or of Campbell products, by Weight Watchers International, Inc.

 

Weight Watchers® Points® Value: The POINTS® value for this product was calculated by Campbell's and is provided for informational purposes only. This is not an endorsement, sponsorship or approval of this product or its manufacturer by Weight Watchers International, Inc., the owner of the Weight Watchers® and POINTS® registered trademarks.

 

And the Winner is....

Oklahoma!   With a record breaking July!!  As of July 2011, Oklahoma recorded the country's highest monthly average temperature ever.  That's the highest average temperature, for any month, for any state, associate Oklahoma state climatologist Gary McManus said.  The average temperature for the month of July was 89*.  Texas was not far behind, recording an average temp of 87*.   Surprisingly, we broke our own record ~ the previous record was set by Oklahoma as well, in 1954 with an average temperature of 81*.

Oklahoma, Texas Set Heat Records In July

365 project....

To take a photo a day for a year.  I know that I take a ton of photos, but one a day?  Well, I have decided to start this challenge and see where it takes me.  The goal of course is to improve your photography skills.  I just hope to preserve some memories and in the process, possibly, improve my techniques slightly ;)

Day 1   7/1/11
our 35 lb lap dog.
Sadie is a cutie.  She has a wonderful personality and spirit.  She loves to be loved and she definately loves to be in your space with you!

Carrots, Eggs or Coffee Beans

Carrots, Eggs or Coffee Beans Movie: "All of us at one time or another have experienced a difficult situation, had setbacks, or dealt with our share of disappointment. Most things that happen to us on a daily basis we can’t control and I can honestly say (with conviction) that it is not what happens to us that matters but rather, how we choose to respond.

 

"http://www.flickspire.com/m/LifeSecrets/CarrotsEggsCoffee

New Adventures

Hi All. I have decided to start a blog. Why? And do I really have the time to do this?

I thought it would give me a chance to share with friends, family and colleagues a little bit of what’s on my mind. I’m sure I will end up with a true hodge podge of postings: recipes, photos and the mundane followings of my mind. 

So buckle up, and hold on... here we go

One of my first dedications to the blog will be a 365 photo project.  Again, why?  To capture fun moments in our life, to improve my photography skills, and to share with my friends and family just little pieces of me.