Mini Sloppy Joe Cups

These little bite size snacks were really yummy. They came about because I had some leftover sloppy joe mixture and a roll of crescent roll dough. Sunday night is usually snack night at our house with a movie. Sometimes we make homemade pizza, and sometimes we open the fridge and make munchies with what's leftover. That is how these came about.

I put small pieces of the crescent roll dough in a mini muffin pan, put a small spoonful of the sloppy joe meat mixture on top and sprinkled with a bit of cheddar cheese. Bake and eat.

MMMMMMMMMM.

Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies looked so fun to try, and we are camping with friends and family for the weekend. They seemed a perfect treat to share. Dip a mini pretzel in white candy coating and place on a graham cracker. Sprinkle liberally with orange sugar sprinkles. Next, cut green spice drops into fourths. Dip one side of each one lightly and place on top of pumpkin for stem. Cute, yes. A bit time consuming, yes. Patience, no, at least not enough to make more than a couple dozen. The rest of the candy coating and graham crackers turned into these:

Fall Candy Mix

Yummy! Yummy! I love candy corn and peanuts. It is one of my favorite fall food traditions. This time I mixed in some funky colored M&M's and some spice drops. I think it looks so colorful and festive for a candy dish.

Salami Roll-Ups

I wanted to try these for a change of pace from the traditional mexican style pinwheels. Not much to making them, and they were a great change up. Yum! I ate way too many....

• 1 carton (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese
• 1/4 pound hard salami, finely chopped ( I subbed in summer sausage)
• 2 TBS. dill pickle relish
• 4 flour tortillas, room temperature

In a small bowl, combine first 3 ingredients and spread over tortillas. Roll up tightly and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Unwrap and cut into 1 in. slices.

Black Bean, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad

I made this salad for a second time last night and realized I had forgotten to post it last time. So, here it is and it completely rocks. I love this stuff and it is so versatile. You can use alternative ingredients to maximize what you have on hand. For instance, I substituted Mexicorn for the fresh corn, chopped fresh tomatoes from my garden instead of cherry tomatoes, and prepared salsa for the dressing ingredients. It was still delicious. I have served it with tacos or with grilled chicken. It works as a dip for tortilla chips and I also served it on the side with some scrambled eggs. Yum!!

• 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar



• 3 Tbs. olive oil



• 2 15 oz. cans black beans , rinsed and drained



• 3 cups fresh corn or frozen, thawed



• 12 cherry tomatoes



• 1 or 2 avocadoes, peeled, pitted and cubed



• 2 Tbs. lemon juice



• Salt and pepper to taste.
  

In a large bowl, whisk vinegar and olive oil until blended. Add beans, corn and tomatoes. Toss avocado cubes with lemon juice to prevent browning and add to bean mixture.

Just before serving, stir to redistribute dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pan Fried Chicken with Fresh Tomato and Corn Salsa

I can't remember the last time I made something I enjoyed so much. This was magnifico!! This recipe came from Rachel Ray's magazine.

• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil (I used dried, and then used a smaller amount)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 chicken breast cutlets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped

In a shallow dish combine bread crumbs and about a teaspoon of dried basil. In two separate bowls put flour in one and buttermilk in another. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken, one piece at a time in flour, then into the buttermilk and coat with the bread crumbs.

In a large skillet heat 1/4 cup olive oil over medium high heat. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

In a large bowl, stir together the corn, tomatoes, onion, one teaspoon of basil, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Serve over the chicken.

I served this with some rice to round out the meal and it was outstanding.

Summer Breeze Lemon Pie

This recipe came from a neighbor who sends out recipes on occasion for us neighborhood girls to try. I love her recipes and have several I have saved and yet to try. I will post those as I make them. The original recipe for this pie was lime, and I had every intention of making it lime, until I went to the store to buy the lime curd it called for. No lime curd. I could see where it was supposed to be on the shelf, but they were out. I couldn't help but think that some other people had decided to try Lisa's recipe too. :) The store did have lemon curd, however, so I decided to make it lemon instead. I thought that would be the only change I would make, but in the interest of time I made a few other changes to the original recipe as well. I used a store bought graham cracker crust unstead of the homemade pretzel crust, and substituted cool whip for the whipping cream. I love real whipped cream, but remember I was in a hurry....as usual. Also, the original recipe called for fresh raspberries as a garnish on top and I decided to make a mixed berry sauce instead. I had never done that before and thought it sounded like fun. So, now that you know the changes I made, I will post the recipe as I made it. It was delicious....Joey and Hannah were fighting over the last piece. If you want the original recipe, which I am sure is equally as wonderful, let me know, and I'll email it to you.

Summer Breeze Lemon Pie

• 8 oz. light cream cheese, softened
• 10 oz. jar lemon curd
• 1-2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1-2 Tbs. lemon juice or lemonade concentrate
• 8 oz. light Cool Whip
• Graham cracker crust

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, lemon curd, lemon zest and lemon juice until light and fluffy. Fold in cool whip and then place filling into crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm. Garnish with sauce. (Recipe follows)

Mixed Berry Sauce

• 1 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 Tbs. lemonade concentrate or lemon juice
• 2 Tbs. corn syrup
• Enough water to make sauce the consistency you like

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Serve with pie.