Cobb Salad & Jamie's Simple Salad Dressing

Good Tuesday evening!

Having no clinical to attend and only a three and a half hour work shift to get through, I had a nice quiet day. I downloaded another 45 songs onto my ipod (my ipod died so I borrowed my mini back from my dad but the battery life on that one was all of 45 minutes so my sister graciously gave me her old video ipod. Long story short, it's synced up with the computer in my parent's basement and since this laptop is brand spanking new, I have to go over to my parents every time I want to put new music on it) and then went grocery shopping with my dad.

I picked up some tasty things including Cheese Strings! I haven't had a Cheese String in a long time but my good golly miss molly they're still as delicious and as much fun as I remember.

Because I am still 12.

I figured since I had a few bags of food and some spare time that I would whip up a nice dinner for myself and John.

I'd been browsing through last year's milk calendar and came across a few recipes that I want to try. I was going to go for the baked cavatappi gratin but instead went with a cobb salad as my dad had bought us a roasted chicken and it was still so nice and warm.

Inspired by this:

I made this!

All you need is lettuce, corn, chicken, blue cheese (you can substitute in a different kind if you're not a fan of the blue) and some dressing.

I made my own taking heavy inspiration from the recipe in the milk calendar only I switched up a few ingredients.

Jamie's Simple Salad Dressing

(this recipe will make enough for about 3 salads so double up if you want more dressing or are feeding more people)

•  In a bowl whisk together 1/2 cup milk with 1/4 cup light mayonnaise and 1 tbsp mustard.
• Finely chop 1/4 cup fresh chives and mix into the dressing.
• Add in 1/8 cup red wine vinegar.
• Add in salt and pepper to taste. Give the dressing a final stir then serve over salad.

I gotta go run some late night errands but I'll be back tomorrow with a new recipe!



Hot Town, Summer in the City

I don't know about the weather where everyone else is but my gosh it's a stinker today.

And tomorrow is supposed to be even worse!

It's 40+ with the humidity.

But I complain about the cold and winters so I will not complain about the heat that I ask for.

I love summer. Yes, even the heat waves.

Before I forget (like there's any way I could actually forget to mention this) I finally (FINALLY!) saw Harry Potter last night!

Oh my gosh was it good.

Everything I could have asked for.

I won't bore you with my moment-by-moment playback but I laughed, I cried, and I got so excited I forgot I'm almost 26 years old.

But back to the heat.

One thing I love about summer is that certain fruits and vegetables taste better.

2 of these can be found in this recipe!

This simple summer salad requires no oven or stove so, if like me you lack central air, you won't be adding an additional heat source to your already humid home.

Martha's Stuffed Tomatoes with Peaches, Corn, Cucumbers & Basil

• Slice off tops of 8 ripe medium beefsteak tomatoes (about 1/2 inch). Scoop out the seeds and ribs, and coarsely chop. Stir together chopped tomatoes, 2 peaches, 3 cucumbers, kernels from 2 ears of corn, 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Let stand for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust for acidity, adding up to 1 tablespoon more lime juice. Stir in 1/2 cup shredded basil.
• Season inside of tomato shells with salt and pepper. Fill tomatoes with tomato mixture, and garnish with basil sprigs. Serve immediately.

Tex Mex Salad (...and another Banana Bread Recipe)

Good news: Murray doesn't have a parasite!

He does have ear mites though...and they suspect the diarrhea/blood in his stool was a result of changing his diet too quickly. Poor little guy. He's on a gastro diet and things have improved.

Last week I decided to mix things up a bit for dinner and make a delicious and easy salad. It's one of those salads that you can customize to your own tastes and add all sorts of ingredients that you have just lying around.

Tex Mex Salad

For my salad I used the following:

• Iceberg lettuce
• Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• Roast beef, sauteed with onions in about 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Jalapeno Doritos crumbled on top
• Buttercorn Ranch dressing

We didn't have cheese otherwise I would have shredded some cheddar or marble on top.

I liked the taste and texture that the Doritos gave the salad. The flavour of the Jalapeno really made it feel tex-mex-y and the crunch went nicely with the crunch of the lettuce and the tenderness of the beef.

Now.

Because I've already given you one or two banana bread recipes I promise this one will be the easiest you've ever made:

3-Step Banana Bread

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a loaf pan.
1. Beat together 1 1/2 cups sugar with 1/2 cup butter. Add in 2 large eggs, 1 tbsp of vanilla, and 3 softened, ripe bananas. Add in 1/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of sour cream.

2. Stir in 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of quick oats, and 1 tsp baking soda. Stir until combined then add in chocolate chips (the amount is totally up to you). Pour mix into loaf pan. Cut half a banana into thin pieces and arrange on top of the loaf.

3. Bake for about 1 hour or until golden brown. Let cool, then enjoy!