Memorial Day Recipe Round-Up

Needing some ideas for your upcoming Memorial Day celebration?  Look no further...I'm showcasing some of my recipes and you'll also see some links for some other great bloggers.  Have a great weekend with your family and a big THANK YOU to all the servicemen and women who have so valiantly represented our country.

Munchies

Balsamic Bruschetta

No Bake-Energy Bites

Classic Spinach Dip with Greek Yogurt by Eat Cake for Dinner

Bite-Sized Potato Skins by Eat Cake for Dinner

BAKED Jalapeno Poppers stuffed with Cream Cheese by Honey What's Cooking?

The Buffalo Veggie Nachos by Honey, What's Cooking?

Parsley Hummus by Honey, What's Cooking?

Main Dishes

Bruschetta Burgers with Avocado Spread

Easy Crispy Flounder

Grilled Chicken Ratatouille

Honey-Mustard Chicken Sandwiches

Pineapple Chicken Salad

Zucchini Burgers

Steak Marinade from Leah's Kitchen

KFC Fried Chicken Recipe from Burnt Apple

Roasted Garlic Chipotle Cheddar Sweet Potato Burgers with Avocado Ranch by Half Baked Harvest

Smokey Mesquite BBQ Bacon Burgers by Eat Cake for Dinner

Sides

Baked Potato Chips with this dipping sauce

Dill Potato Salad

Zucchini Tots

Tomato Zucchini Casserole

Balsamic Marinated Vegetables from Burnt Apple

Grilled Pear Salad with Sweet Honey Pear Vinaigrette from Burnt Apple

Baked Macaroni and Cheese from Half Baked Harvest

Crispy Buffalo Quinoa Bites Salad from Half Baked Harvest

Easy Overnight Dinner Rolls from Eat Cake for Dinner

Baked Beans from Eat Cake for Dinner

Desserts

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry Ice Cream

Banana Sundae Dessert

Mini S'mores

Nutella Cookies

Pineapple Cake from Leah's Kitchen

Chocolate Whoopie Pies from Leah's Kitchen

Kiwi Strawberry Sorbet from Burnt Apple

Toasted S'more Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream from Half Baked Harvest

Oh Henry Bars from Eat Cake for Dinner

No Bake Yogurt Pie from  Eat Cake for Dinner

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Dill Potato Salad

(On a more somber note, our prayers are going out to all of the people affected by the recent tornadoes.  I cannot imagine the grief from the devastation and loss.  I pray the Holy Spirit will comfort all of those involved.)



About a month ago, the hubby and I bought raffle tickets from a girl in our church for her school spring fling.  Well, technically I purchased them, since I was the one who paid and decided what items to put the tickets towards...

I couldn't believe it when we received a call from them one night saying that we'd won a Kindle fire.  I thought they were joking at first; we had only bought a few tickets.  Needless to say, I was very excited.

I didn't know how much I would actually use it, but I love it and use it all the time.  One of the perks of having an e-reader is being able to check out online books from the library.  I had no clue they had so many cookbooks.  The only downside to the ebooks is that you can only keep them for 2 weeks, and I don't think they have the ability to be renewed like regular books.  I'll just have to keep checking them out over and over I guess!

The hubby thought it would be fun if I started a Southern foods feature, so I've been reading through Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen on my Kindle (from the library).   He loves country cooking, and I guess it was his way of motivating me to cook more Southern-style foods.  I am planning on starting a once-a-month feature called Straight-Up Southern (hoping to start in June).  The hubby already has the rest of this year planned out, I think!

Anyway, I had been searching for a good potato salad recipe for a while.  Potato salad is one of those dishes that's practically mandatory for summer get-togethers, so I figured it was about time to find a good recipe.

I'm pretty picky about my potato salad and don't like potato salad with sweet relish in it.  I really don't like bread and butter pickles, so I definitely don't want them showing up in and ruining my potato salad!

Therefore, I decided to use dill relish in place of the sweet relish.  (It was actually pretty hard to find in my grocery store - they only had 1 variety compared to the myriads of varieties of sweet relish.  I most definitely do not see the attraction of sweet relish.)  Feel free to substitute the dill for sweet relish if you're one of those weirdos who like sweet relish.

Also, I don't mind mustard in the potato salad, but I don't like it to be mustard-based or mustard to be the dominant flavor in the potato salad.  This potato salad is creamy and dill-y with absolutely no hint of sweet relish!

...I know there's got to be other dill lovers out there like me.

(Stay tuned for my Memorial Day recipe round-up tomorrow.)

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Pineapple Chicken Salad

Summer weather is finally here!  It has been hot lately, and I'm just waiting to get a large outdoor umbrella so I can sit outside in our new kiddie pool with my daughter.  Ah, the perks of having a kiddo!

With all this warm weather, it's nice to have a dinner option that doesn't require you to fire up the oven.

I'd never tried pineapple in chicken salad before, but I figured it would probably be a winner since I enjoy grapes in my regular chicken salad.  The pineapple doesn't disappoint and adds a wonderful little pop of flavor.

Make sure you use fresh pineapple in this; it will make a difference in the flavor for sure.  Also, you could grate the carrots if you don't have anything to help with cutting them matchstick style.  I used my handy dandy mandoline to cut mine and was thrilled with how they turned out!  (This one is extremely similar to mine: Oneida Mandoline Food Slicer (Google Affiliate Ad) )

Go and make this pineapple chicken salad tonight, and enjoy it outside if the skeeters haven't found you yet!

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Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese

Who gets to decide what foods go together and what foods don't?  Who decides what you can put on a sandwich and what doesn't belong?  For example, ever had a potato chip sandwich?  Spread some mayo on 2 slices of bread and fill with your choice of chips.  Unhealthy and slightly weird, but delicious!  Ever tried a baked bean sandwich?  It's just 2 slices of bread filled with baked beans. Easy peasy.  Instead of using my fork to eat baked beans, I love scooping them up with a plain potato chip and eating both together.  I've eaten applesauce with chips too and that's good :)

Why I am telling you about these odd combinations?  Just to show you that most of us eat weird combinations all the time, we just consider them normal since we've eaten them for so long.
  
Enter today's recipe...

Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese

...with Brie

Lay aside your assumptions for just a moment and imagine a delicious, ooey, gooey grilled cheese sandwich filled with juicy pops of sweetness.

That doesn't sound so bad now, does it?  Be adventurous and try this strawberry brushetta grilled cheese soon.  It's got delicious brie cheese in it which makes it even better.  (I found some for a great price at Aldi Foods; they also have fresh mozzarella.)  If you don't like brie, you could always use fresh mozzarella or another soft cheese.

I really liked this sandwich and it didn't seem odd to be eating strawberries in my grilled cheese.  However, the hubby did not like the flavor combinations and prefers his strawberries not on his grilled cheese.

Maybe it is a bit of a girly sandwich.

Strawberry Bruschetta Grilled Cheese

Adapted from: Foodie Crush
Servings: 3 sandwiches

6 slices french/italian bread, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons butter
1 cup strawberries, chopped small
5 large basil leaves, cut
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste
4 ounces brie cheese

1. Thoroughly wash and dry the strawberries before chopping them small.  Combine strawberries, basil, oil, vinegar and lemon zest in a small bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Butter the outsides of all six slices of bread.  Top 3 slices of bread with brie (or spread it on) and a generous helping of the strawberry bruschetta. Top each with a slice of bread to make a sandwich.
3. Place the sandwiches, butter side down, on a griddle pan or skillet.  Cook on medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Flip and cook an additional 2-4 minutes, or until lightly browned on both sides.

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