Amish Refrigerator Pickles

Giving these a try ... easy to make ... hopefully YUMMY to consume.

Sliced cucumbers (I actually used mini cuc's 'cause they were cute)

1 Onion, sliced

1 Green bell pepper, sliced

1 cup of cider vinegar (I didn't have cider so I used white vinegar)

Dressing mixture:

2 cups sugar (yes you read that correctly)

1 tsp celery seed

2 tbsps salt

*With the amount of liquid I had - from the above portions - I was able to do 2 large mason jars.

After layering the cucumbers, onions and green pepper into the jars, pour dressing over top (1/2 of the dressing in each jar) and then top it off with cold water.

Give it a shake and pop it in the fridge.

They'll (according to the recipe I found) be good to go the following day!

Apple Cinnamon Water

1. I'm trying to lose some weight ...

2. I'm trying to drink the 'right' amount of water every day ..

3. I thought I'd combine the two and try some water infusions that are labeled as "detoxers" and are supposed to be good for helping to slim down WHILE ridding the body of toxins.

First try is Apple Cinnamon Water (in my new infuser pitcher). 

1 cinnamon stick

Thinly sliced apple (of your choice)

Let sit in fridge for at least one hour before consuming.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Smoothie

I did it!!!

30 Days of June = 30 New Kitchen Creations!!! 

Woot woot!

Today's creation was a Chocolate Chip Smoothie ...

1 cup vanilla ice cream

1 cup milk

1 cup cookies (crumbled)

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Tasty ... but, it was too liquidy for me, and the mini chips didn't blend, they sank to the bottom. Still good to eat / drink ... but not a smoothie I would make again (I don't think), unless I used a LOT more ice cream. ;o)

Butterbean and Tuna Salad

Butterbean and Tuna Salad with celery, capers, scallion and a lemon Dijon dressing!

Found the recipe on line ... made it and then put it on slices of (fresh bread) toast.

Yummmmmmmmmmm....

It's so super easy! And tasty.

It's funny how, by having a tuna salad that's made for you fairly regularly as a kid, that you most likely won't think to look up recipes for other ways to make "it." I didn't search tuna fish salad's, I searched for "summer salads," and came upon this recipe.

First time I've ever used a butterbean -- they're pretty big!

The lemon Dijon dressing was easy to make too, and it's really good. 

I imagine it would be tasty on many things...

Juice from one small Fresh Lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

2 Teaspoons of Dijon Mustard

(whisk them together)

Fresh Ground Salt and Pepper

1/4 cup Olive Oil

(whisk them again)

Chop a few scallions up and add them into the mixture, stir it up.

Boom, lemon dijon dressing!

  

Lady Fingers to make a Trifle

Ok, so the lady fingers kinda look like lady blobs, but they tasted good! 

Nice and soft, light and airy, but cakey too ... berry berry goot!

I had a helper throughout the making of this dish! :)

The finished product!

I don't own a trifle dish - nor does my Mum, who's house I was making this in - so I used two clear bread pans -- so that you can still see the layers (well, sort of).

I whipped the cream me-self!

(Heavy Cream, sugar and vanilla and ya whip it 'till it's whippy!)

Store bought blueberries and strawberries!

Then, ya layer it all up.

Lady Fingers / Whip cream / Berries / Whip / Lady Blobs repeat...and or some variation on that theme!

Then you eat it! 

Zucchini Chips

Believe it or not, what you see here is the final batch of zucchini chips from 2 medium zucchini's ... they shrink up so much! But they're really good. And again, SUPER easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for them to bake up in the oven.

The top batch has an additional ingredient, smoked paprika! :)

Slice up your zucchini

Rub with olive oil - not too much

Sprinkle with salt & pepper and paprika (I've read that the paprika makes it even "better" for you...)

Bake - on a cookie sheet - for about 2 hours on 225 degree's fahrenheit 

Edamame Salad

Edamame

Scallions (chopped)

Olive Oil

Fresh Lemon Juice

Feta Cheese 

Salt & Pepper

Combine ingredients in a bowl and stir ... and then enjoy!

*This recipe is one that a friend gave the ingredients to me, but he didn't have measurements so I decided upon the amounts ... so, everything is "to taste." I used frozen, pre-shelled soybeans in a steamer bag from the frozen veggies section of the supermarket.