Memorial Day Menu

It's Memorial Day Weekend!

Fire up the grill, gather your friends around the pool...Summer has officially begun!

No Memorial Day celebration is complete without a fabulous (and easy!) outdoor menu.  This is my menu to make your Memorial Day a breeze...

Spinach Guacamole is perfect for dipping and also for topping burgers.  Plus, it's so easy!!

Sarah's Pinwheels can be made in advance and have just enough kick to kick-off your summer.

Our family never has a summer party without my Mama's Corn Salad!  It's the perfect side to whatever you have on the grill.

These BBQ Green Beans are made in the slow cooker (so they're simple to prepare!), plus, they're delicious too! 

Want to jazz up your burgers just a bit?  Try my Avocado Ranch Burgers this holiday weekend.

Coconut Pie Bars are easy, delicious and just taste like summer.

And why drink your margarita when you can eat it in a cake?  This is my Margarita Bundt Cake.  Delicious!!

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!  And don't forget to thank those men and women who have served so faithfully for us in the military.  God Bless them and God Bless you!

Happy Memorial Day!

Lunch: Black Bean Dip (or filling!)

We all have Sheaffer to thank for today's lunch idea!  She created this fabulous recipe as a dip...but I think it's perfect for a lunch too.  And the best part is?  There is no baking, cooking or even heating.  It's just that simple.  I give you...Sheaffer's fabulous black bean dip...

So...what are your lunch options?  Well, I mixed up a batch of this and tried it several different ways.  One day, I had it with some pita chips and fruit as my lunch (and it was fabulous!).  And then the next day, I put it inside a whole wheat tortilla with a little Cheddar cheese and ate it like a taco...super yummy!  Any way you do it, you'll love it!  Plus, look at all of those veggies.  This just might be my favorite way to eat a veggie!

  Other options...you can put it over a little Romaine lettuce and have it like a salad or you could put it inside a pita pocket.  The options are endless...and so is the flavor.

Thank you Sheaffer!

Shopping List

1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14 oz) can of corn, drained

1 (14 oz) can of diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped red onion

the juice of one lime 

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

Pinch of Salt and Pepper

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

1 avocado, diced (add that when you're ready to eat it)

In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients in order listed (except only add in avocado when you're ready to eat it).  Cover and chill until you're ready to eat.

Simple, right?  It's so fresh and so flavorful!  You will find a million ways to incorporate this into your lunch.  Dip can be lunch!  (A fun lunch at that!)

And a special thanks to one of my favorite websites All Free Casserole Recipes for once again, featuring my work.  Click here to see my featured breakfast casserole recipe.

Dinner Tonight: Meatloaf Joes

My most requested meal ever is my Mom's Meatloaf.  It's my husband's very favorite meal, my brother's very favorite meal, and the most viewed recipe on this blog.  To say it's fabulous would be an understatement...my mama might have made the original version but I have since tweaked it.  First, I turned it into meatballs for the Coach's Stack and now, I've turned it into a Sloppy Joe.  You really won't find a better Joe for your supper.

Shopping List

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, sliced

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 cup ketchup

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon mustard
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Salt and Pepper
Burger Buns


In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown your ground beef in a little bit of EVOO with a pinch of S&P.  In a second skillet, saute your onions in a little EVOO with a bit of S&P over medium-high heat too (about 8 to 10 minutes).

Once your ground beef is brown, stir in your Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar and mustard.  Reduce heat to low and simmer about 5 minutes.

Take half of a burger bun and top it with your ground beef mixture and then some of your sauteed onions.


That's it!


So simple, right?  The same ingredients as my Mom's Meatloaf but in Sloppy Joe form!

Mix and Match perfection.

  Your family will love this recipe too!

Summer

Summer is just about here.  The weather is getting warmer, the days longer and the food lighter.  

Here's my approach to food and cooking...during the fall and winter months, you just can't get me out of the kitchen.  Every day my stove is bubbling with something, dessert is baking in the oven and coziness finds itself in my kitchen.  

When spring arrives, I set out for the farmer's market, open the windows and enjoy the cool breeze and lighter fare.  

But summer...summer is the time to be away from the kitchen.  Summer is when you eat outside, light up the grill, slice open a watermelon and sit by the pool.  Summer is for salads, burgers, ice cream and fireworks.  Summer is not for burning up in the kitchen. 

So this summer over here at the Mama's house, we're going to be sharing recipes and methods that allow you to spend more time outside with your family, more time away from the kitchen, more time making life simple and savoring the long days.  We're going to take it easy this summer.  We're going to make your life simpler this summer.  It's going to be a great summer.

By mid-August, I will already be in deep into fall food.  I'll be coring apples, baking pies, opening cans of pumpkin and roasting butternut squash.  This fall, I will also be posting Meal Planning Mondays to make your grocery shopping a little bit easier.  And, I will have a new recipe to make...maybe 100 times.

So, let's sit back and relax from here until August.  Let's enjoy summer Mix and Match Mama style.