Sharon's Salad

We love black beans and salsa so this sounded like it’d be a winner.  We went over to a friend’s house to swim and visit so what a great opportunity to make something new!  This was great!  We ate it as an appetizer with chips but it could just as easily be a side dish to a meal.  It made a lot and yes, we ate nearly all of it.  We can be piggies when something is good and this fit the bill.  

I didn’t make any changes.  It was easy to make it just took a bit longer than expected because of all the chopping.  Oh, we let it marinade overnight.  I would say that the avocados and tomatoes at the end are optional.  Yes, they are good in it but it was just as good without them too.

Recipe taken form – Wish Cookbook*

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 c frozen kernel corn

½ c cilantro chopped

½ c picante sauce

1 large red bell pepper, diced small

1 large red onion, diced small

Dressing:

Juice of one lime

¾ c Italian dressing

2 cloves garlic minced

Mix dressing and toss with other ingredients and chill for several hours.  Add just before serving 1 large tomato chopped and 2 avocados.

This is from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  This is an amazing organization that was established to grant wishes of children between the ages of 2 ½ and 18 who have life threatening or terminal illness.  My family benefited through this amazing organization and we will be forever grateful.  If you ever are in need of a charity to donate to please keep them in mind as they help kids dreams come true.

Try this one soon it delivers for sure!

Marinated Carrot Stix

When we went on our mission trip to Russia we went to dinner at a Russian's family home.  Let me tell you that was one delicious meal.  My hubby says he doesn't remember it being that spectacular and that maybe I just think it was because our meals up until that point weren't that great or filling but trust me it was yummy food and I gorged myself.  I will never forget the food or the friendly family who served it to us.  Surprisingly it was kinda like good ol' southern cooking, there were mashed potatoes and something similar to steak, and a whole bunch of other goodies but the point of this whole spill is that there were some carrots that were amazing and as soon as I got back home I started looking on the internet for something that I thought would be similar but to no avail.  When I was flipping through my new treasures (cookbooks) I saw this recipe which I thought might be similar so I had to try it.  Sadly, they weren’t as good as the ones I remember eating in Russia but they were good and it’s a healthier way to eat carrots than my usual butter/brown sugar combo!

I did not know what salad oil was and it shows up in lots of these old recipes so thank goodness for the internet because I googled it and found out it’s just a normal tasteless oil like vegetable or canola NOT olive oil.  So, I used canola oil.  I also used the precut match stick carrots; I think my package was 12 oz.  I don’t remember seeing different options on size so whatever you get should be good.  I did not drain the marinade nor use parsley (I didn’t have any).

The first night we ate them with one of my childhood favorites, chicken fried steak and they were a nice complement.  However, I think they were better with my chicken casserole (post to come later) the next day.  I was able to eat them two days after I originally made them and they were still yummy.

Recipe taken from – Heart of the Home (1982)

8 small carrots

3 Tbsp vinegar

3 Tbsp salad oil

1 small garlic clove, crushed

¾ tsp seasoned salt

Minced fresh parsley

¼ tsp salt

Peel and cut carrots into thin, short, 3 inch sticks.  Place in shallow dish.  Mix other ingredients except parsley and pour over carrots until well coated.  Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight, turning sticks, occasionally.  Drain off marinade, arrange carrots in serving dish and sprinkle with parsley.  Yield: 6-8 servings.

Tired of the same ol’ side dishes then give these carrots a try to find a new stand by side dish!

Zucchini Bread

I had some fresh zucchinis that I needed to use and just as luck would have it my new cookbooks had some zucchini bread recipes.  There was a sweet one and a savory one but since I had just done sweet strawberry bread I thought maybe I should do the savory bread.  My husband had a company dinner to go to so my son and I had leftovers.  Since I didn’t have to cook I thought I’d make the bread to have with our dinner the next day.  I just wish I could wave a wand and have someone do the dishes for me.  That’s the only part of cooking that I don’t like!  My sister and I did wish for a magic wand to clean our room for us once when we were little but it never came so we had to clean it ourselves!:(

We enjoyed this with our chicken dinner but I have to say it’s more of a quiche/casserole than a bread.   My husband loved it, me I liked it and our 20 month old son ate it at first but then didn’t want any more later.  Would I make it again?  If I had a garden with zucchini and it was coming out of my ears then yes but to go buy zucchini just for this probably not but my husband would say yes!

I grated the zucchini with a large cheese grater and I used canola oil.  I baked it about 40 min but I used a smaller pan (not much but a little) and I don’t think I would want to use a 9x13 because the pieces would be really thin.  It was a really easy dish to whip up and is a good use of an over abundance of garden zucchini.

Recipe taken from – W.M.U Centennial Cookbook (1988)

3 c zucchini (4), pared and sliced thin
1 c Bisquick
½ c chopped onion
 ½ c parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
½ c oil
½ tsp salt
½ tsp seasoned salt
½ tsp oregano
Dash of pepper
4 slightly beaten eggs

Mix all ingredients.  Spread into a greased 13x9x2 inch dish.  Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool and cut into squares.