Have A Happy Southern 4th of July

Hey Y'all!

Hope y'all have something special going on today to help celebrate our country's birthday!

We're going over to my sister-in-law's for a cookout and then watch an amazing fireworks display. 

Now tell me what cookout would be complete if there wasn't yummy Potato Salad or scrumptious Banana Pudding!  

That's what I thought.....so I'm going to make them both to share with our family and friends.  

I'm sharing the recipes with you too!  Click on the links below the pictures to see the recipes. 

{Banana Pudding}

 {Dill Potato Salad}

So what so you do for the 4th of July?

Enjoy your fun, family and fireworks!!! HaPpY!! 4th of JuLy!!!!!

Food For The Soul ~

Blessings ♥ 

Betsy

Guacamole Salad

Servings 4

Ingredients:

• 2 Ripe Avocado 
• 1 T. Cilantro
• 1 T. Tomato
• 1 T. Onion
• 1 t. Lime Juice
• Pinch of Salt
• Optional 1/4 t. Cumin (this will give it a slight "smokie" taste)

Directions:

• Dice tomato (I don't use the seedy part of the tomato because it tends to make the quac a little too thin for my liking. You choose.) 
• Chop onion & cilantro finely.
• Mash or cube the ripe avocado to your liking in a bowl.
• Add veggies to a avocado and mix to blend

Enjoy!

Nutritional Info Per Serving:

coming soon

~ Southern Dill Potato Salad ~

{Southern Dill Potato Salad}

Ingredients:
10 Potatoes
3 Hard Boiled Eggs
3/4 c. Non-Fat Sour Cream
3/4 c. Light Mayo
1 T. Dill Pickle Juice
1 T. Dijon Mustard (or to taste)
2 t. minced Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 T. dried Dill Weed

Directions:

1. Peel Potatoes & Cut into bite size pieces
2. Cover Potatoes with water in a large pot.
3. Bring to a boil and cook for 20ish (just fork tender don't over cook)
4. Place Eggs in a small pan and bring to a boil, turn heat off and cover for 20 mins
5. Remove both the Potatoes & Eggs from the heat and drain well
6. Peel & chop Eggs and place in a large bowl
7. Add Potatoes and cool in refrigerator while prepping the remainder ingredients
8. In a bowl mix well Non-Fat Sour Cream, Light Mayo, Dill Pickle Juice, Dijon mustard, Garlic and Dried Dill Weed  
9. Take Potatoes & Eggs out of fridge and add the above mixture and gently mix. It's okay if the Potatoes break up a little but still be careful. 
10. Taste
11. Add Salt & Pepper to your liking 
12. Sprinkle top with more Dried Dill Weed to garnish
13. Cover and Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes...longer is better though to give it time for the flavors to marry
14. Serve COLD

ENJOY!!!

Blessings ♥
Betsy

Red Italian Dressing

Ingredients:

• 1-8 oz. can Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 c. Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 T. Sugar (sugar substitute works too)
• 1 t. Sea Salt
• 2 t. Fresh Oregano, minced (using dry 1 t. crushed)
• 1 minced clove of Garlic
• 1/4 t. coarse fresh ground  Black Pepper
• 1 T. chopped Fresh Basil (1/4 t. dry crushed)

Directions:

• Place all ingredients into a mason jar and screw on lid and shake. Place in refrigerator for 1 hour to allow flavors to marry and blend.

Enjoy!

Blessings ♥
 Betsy

Taco Salad

Servings 6

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Head Iceberg Lettuce 
• 1 pound Ground Beef or Ground Turkey
• 1 package of Low-Sodium Taco Seasoning
• 1/2 c. Water
• 3 Roma Tomatoes ( diced)
• 3 Green Onions (chopped) (use both the white & green part of onions)
• 2 c. shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 can Ranch Style Beans
• 1 small can of Black Olives (drained)
• 1 ~ 13 oz. bag of Nacho flavored Doritos (crushed)
• 1 small bottle Catalina Dressing
• 1 jar of Salsa

Directions:

• Brown Ground Meat in a skillet until no longer pink
• Place cooked meat in a colander and rinse with hot water, drain well
• Put drained Meat back into the skillet and add Low-Sodium Taco Seasoning and 1/2 c. Water
• Simmer until all Water has evaporated
• Break up Lettuce into bite size pieces 
• Dice Roma Tomatoes 
• Chop both the white and green part of the Onions
• Now put Lettuce,  Tomatoes, Onions, Ranch Style Beans, Ground Meat, Olives & Cheese,  into a Big Bowl
• Add Crushed Doritos and Catalina Dressing just before you are ready to enjoy!
• Toss gently
• Serve Salsa with this just to add some zing!

This a recipe that can be as big or as small as you like.  Add more of less of everything!

Enjoy ❤

Betsy

Grilled Pork and Pear Salad (this is great for lunch or dinner)

Ingredients:
Serves 4

Creamy Apple Dressing

• 1/2 c. Buttermilk
• 2 T. Low-Fat Mayo
• 1 T. frozen Apple Juice Concentrate or frozen Orange Juice Concentrate, thawed
• 1 t. Dijon-style Mustard
• 1 Green Onion, finely chopped
• 1 t. snipped fresh Sage or Thyme, (or 1/4 t. dried Sage or Thyme, crushed)
• Salt
• Ground Pepper

Pork Chops

• 2 boneless Pork Loin Chops (about 12 oz. total) cut 3/4 inch thick
• 2 t. Olive Oil
• 2 t. snipped fresh Sage or Thyme (1 t. dried ) crushed
• 1/4 t. Salt
• 1.4 Ground Black Pepper
• 8 c. torn Mixed Salad Greens
• 2 Pears or Apples, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. toasted , broken Walnuts (optional)

Directions:

 Dressing 

• In a small bowl stir together buttermilk, mayo, apple or orange juice concentrate, mustard, green onion, and 1 t. snipped sage or 1/4 t. dried sage. 
• Season to taste with salt (or Mrs. Dash Seasoning Blend)  and Pepper

Pork Chops

• Preheat broiler
• Trim fat from chops
• Brush chops with Oil
• Stir together the 2 t. snipped Sage or 1/4 t. Dried Sage, 1/4 t. Salt, & Pepper
• Sprinkle Sage Mixture evenly over all sides of Chops. Rubbing with fingers
• Place Chops on the unheated rack of a broiler pan.
• Broil to 4 inches from the heat for 9-11 minutes or until done (160 º F) and juices run clear,
• Turn once during broiling. 
• Slice Chops

To serve, divide salad greens among 4 salad plates. Arrange the pear or apple slices and sliced pork on the greens and drizzle with dressings. If desired, sprinkle with walnuts and garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Dressing may be made and chilled up to 24 hours ahead.

Nutritional Info. 

251 Cals., 10 g. Total Fat (3 g. Sat. Fat), 50 mg. Chol., 368 mg Sodium, 20 g. Carbs. (4 g. fiber) 21 g. protein.

Original Recipe found at Diabetic Living. 

Easy Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. Bow Tie Pasta
• 1/4 finely chopped Red Onion
• 1/4 finely chopped Sweet Red Pepper
• 1/4 c. chopped Black Olives
• 1 small bottle of Kraft Catalina Dressing

Directions:

• Cook pasta according to package directions
• Chop Red Onion, Sweet Red Pepper and Black Olives( you could just buy these already chopped) and place in a bowl
• Run cold water over cooked Bow Tie Pasta to cool down
• Add entire bottle of Kraft Catalina Dressing and gently mix until evenly coated
• Put plastic wrap over top of bowl and place inside refrigerator for about 1 hour or longer. This is to give the flavors time to marry and bring out all the flavors. 

This could very easily be turned into a full meal by simply added a meat such as grilled chicken, pepperoni or even grilled steak!

Enjoy!

Blessings ♥

Betsy

Chicken Salad

2 servings

1 boneless skinless Chicken Breast (poached)

1 chopped Rib of Celery

2 T chopped Walnuts

3-4 T. Light Mayo

2 shakes of Mrs Dash Original Table Blend

1 Bay leaf 

• Poach 1 chicken breast in a heavy bottom pan with just enough water to cover the chicken.  
• To Poach bring water and some Mrs. Dash Original Blend, Bay Leaf and Chicken to a boil.
• Quickly reduce the heat so that it barely is a simmer.
• Partly cover and cook for about 10 minutes. 
• Turn heat off and let chicken steep for another 15-20 minutes.
• Take chicken out of pan and cube to bite size pieces.
• Add Celery, Walnuts, Mrs Dash Table Blend and Light Mayo and stir until well blended.
• Refrigerate for about 1 hour so flavors will marry.

Serve with Crackers & Red Grapes.
Nutritional Info Coming Soon

Tuna Salad

2  - 5 ounce servings

1 large can Starkist Water Packed Solid All White Tuna

1 rib Celery  chopped

1 T. finely chopped Onion

1/2 t. Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Season

1 Vlasic Low Sodium Pickle Spear

3-4 T Light Mayo*

• Try to squeeze as much of the water out of the Tuna as you can. Then put in a medium size bowl.
• Chop Celery, Pickle and Onion and add to Tuna
• Sprinkle on Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning Mix
• Add Light Mayo into the bowl.
• Stir and cover for an hour so the flavors have time to marry
• Serve with Crackers and Red Grapes

* You can use non-fat yogurt in place of light mayo. Consistency will be a little different. Less Creamy

Nutritional Infor Per Serving Coming Soon

Guacamole Salad

Servings 4

2 Ripe Avocado 

1 T. Cilantro

1 T. Tomato

1 T. Onion

1 t. Lime Juice

Pinch of Salt

Optional 1/4 t. Cumin (this will give it a slight "smokie" taste)

Directions:

• Dice tomato (I don't use the seedy part of the tomato because it tends to make the quac a little too thin for my liking. You choose.) 
• Chop onion & cilantro finely.
• Mash or cube the ripe avocado to your liking in a bowl.
• Add veggies to a avocado and mix to blend
• Enjoy! 
• 
  

Nutritional Info Per Serving:

coming soon