This is a quick and easy recipe:
Combine the ingredients well. Cover and chill for approximately 30 minutes or so.
Here are this week’s four questions.
#1. Artichokes. Love em or leave em?
I can leave them…unless they’re in Spinach Artichoke Dip. 🙂
#2. What’s your favorite kind of bean?
I guess fresh green beans, but I really like black beans and pinto beans, too.
#3. Share a recipe for any kind of cake.
Summer Fresh-Fruit Cake
#4. What’s your favorite dairy product?
Yogurt
(I think this is my shortest FFoF.)
Here are this week’s four questions. They’re about potatoes.
#1. Potato Chips. What kind of chips are your favorite?
I rarely eat potato chips anymore. My favorite kind, though, would be kettle chips.
#2. What’s your favorite thing to dip chips in?
For potato chips it would be French Onion Dip.
#3. What’s your favorite way to eat a baked potato?
My favorite way in a restaurant would be with everything on it. At home, I usually have it with extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. That’s really good, too.
#4. How do you make mashed potatoes?
I don’t make them the traditional way. I used to microwave the potatoes first, but now that my doctor says not to microwave foods, I’m thinking about steaming them first and, if I’m using organic potatoes, then use the skins too. There was a restaurant that had delicious mashed potatoes that included the potato skins. So that’s how I’m planning on making them. (The reason that I don’t want to boil them is that most of the vitamins end up in the water that is poured off.)
Left-over mashed potatoes are good enough just as left-overs, but here are a few ideas for other things:
Here are this week’s four questions. I’ve got the Olympics on my mind so this week they’re about fitness/physical activity/sports:
#1. What do you drink to rehydrate in the heat or after working out?
Water
#2. What do you eat to help boost or create energy?
Complex carbs such as whole grains, fruit, etc., and tea is usually energizing.
#3. What’s the healthiest snack you eat?
Raw nuts & seeds: almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds
Hot air popped organic popcorn with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt
(We can get organic popcorn in the bulk food section at Central Market and, contrary to what some might think, it’s actually less than buying name brand popcorn that isn’t even organic. If you want to know why we buy organic, read this about Genetically Modified Seeds (especially CORN, soy, and canola) And note the comments for that post – a doctor left a comment and some really good info. There are several good comments.
#4. Share a recipe or instructions for your ideal three course meal.
Salad, entree, and dessert. Salad would need to be really fresh and chilled. And for the entree it would be fish, chicken, or turkey. Veggies would be fresh and steamed. Dessert would be a fresh fruit mix with poppyseed dressing.
#1. What is your favorite appetizer?
Hmmm. I guess it would have to be Spinach Artichoke Dip & Chips. Guacamole, nachos, and Queso would be next.
#2. Do you eat enough appetizers that you get full and can’t eat your meal?
Usually not, but I have done that in the past.
#3. Do you usually make frozen or fresh appetizers?
I usually make them, either nachos, guacamole, or queso. Actually, we make a meal out of the nachos.
#4. Share a recipe or instructions for an appetizer.
This is such a quick and easy recipe:
Top each chip with a little chicken, black beans, and then top with a spoonful of queso. I used to heat these in the microwave, but I’ve recently learned from one of my doctors how the microwave affects food so I’m heating them in our toaster over instead. Heat until cheese melts down a little bit. Top with a slice of avocado (and whatever else you would like).
This is fairly healthy, and half the ingredients are organic.
Here’s a healthy recipe that is easy to fix:
Bring chicken broth to a boil. Add olive oil and rice. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and cook 5 more minutes. Stir in parsley before serving.
#1. If you could travel anywhere to have a meal, where would you want to go and what would you want to eat.
I would want to go back to Hawaii and have fresh pineapple (pineapple just picked that day) and other fruits.
#2. When you go away do you make your own meals or eat out?
We always eat out. That’s part of the fun of the vacation!
Now when I was growing up, my mother would always fix sandwiches to eat in the car. A lot of times we would stay in a motel or cabin that had a kitchenette and she would cook.
#3. While traveling if you have to stop for a meal do you go in or do you go through the drive thru and eat in the car?
It depends on the situation. If we’re in a hurry, we eat in the car. If we need to get out and stretch our legs or use the restroom, we go inside.
#4. Share a recipe or food related trip for people making a long trip by car.
We always take snacks with us when we go on long trips, and the funny thing is that we’re usually getting into the snacks before we get out of town. My husband teases us about that. 🙂
We have fixed “Trail Mix” countless times to take on trips throughout the years. Here’s the simple recipe:
Trail Mix
1/3 part peanuts
1/3 part raisins
1/3 part M & M’s
You can make a small quantity or large quantity, depending on what you want.
#1. Candy. Do you prefer sweet or sour candy?
Sweet
#2. Gum. Love it? Hate it? What kind is your favorite?
I got out of the habit of chewing gum. I used to chew sugarless a lot, but then when I started reading (and hearing from my doctors) about how artificial sweeteners aren’t good for most people, I guess I lost my taste for it.
#3. What is your favorite candy?
Chocolate…especially dark chocolate! Yummy!!
#4. Share a recipe for anything that you can include a piece of candy in.
I had some of the most delicious homemade ice cream recently that was made by a friend. It’s definitely not healthy but would be OK to have on a special occasion. Here’s the recipe:
Melt the candy bars and Eagle Brand over low heat until the candy is completely melted. Let cool and then add 1 quart of milk and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Stir until completely mixed. Put in ice cream freezer and add remaining 1 quart of milk. Freeze, then enjoy!
#1. When you need to serve desserts, do you buy them or make them?
I nearly always make them unless I’m in a time crunch.
#2. When baking do you use butter, margarine or something else?
I’ve started using Smart Balance some, and so far it’s worked fairly well. A few things require butter, though, and several things can use canola oil which is great.
#3. What meats or veggies do you cook in the oven?
I rarely use my oven. I do a lot of stir-fry or saute veggies on the stove top. I cut up chicken breast fillets and cook them in olive oil in a skillet. I cook fish in olive oil in a skillet, also. Every once in a while, I’ll use my crock pot to cook a roast or a chicken recipe.
#4. Share a recipe for anything that is cooked in an oven.