fresh tomato salsa

Someday I'll have a garden, and I think I'll plant some tomatoes, which doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary for most people. But, none of the folks in my house like raw tomatoes; I know, we're weird. BUT we LOVE them in salsa! (Or more correctly Pico de Gallo. However I like my tomatoes very finely diced so it might be considered SALSA, but without the "cooking it" part. Read here for the difference between pico de gallo and salsa.)

Thankfully, my in-laws have a NICE garden with an ABUNDANCE of tomatoes and I think they were more than happy to get rid of a bunch of the tomatoes they had, knowing they'd have just that many more in 2-3 days. :) So, this is the recipe I've found for fresh tomato salsa/pico de gallo (aka pdg) that we really like. I better write it down so I'll have it for NEXT time I want to make salsa/pdg.

Now this looks good! Although, I want all my veggies a lot more finely diced so...

I run it through my BELOVED (which I use all the time!) food processor  in batches. I don't want MUSH so I pulse some tomatoes until they're the desired size, then swap out for more tomatoes, then swap out for the onion, etc. This way it's mostly evenly sized. I wouldn't want to be the person who got a BIG hunk of onion!

 

Ingredients:

•  4-5 large chopped tomatoes (or 6-8 smaller ones) I even seeded mine this time, but I don't think it really makes a difference
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 c. onion, diced
• 1/4 c. minced fresh cilantro (or if you don't have fresh you can use about 2 Tbsp dried- as in coriander? haven't tried the dried cilantro- not sure how it works...?)
• 2 T fresh lime juice (may need an extra splash of lime juice at the end)
• 4 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper (include seeds if you want it hotter- add less if you don't like heat) my household does NOT do well with heat, but give it a try if you like it
  
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 t. garlic powder)

Mix all ingredients together and serve. Keep leftovers in fridge. This tastes amazing after about 24 hours in the fridge . . . the flavors all mix together and it is delicious!

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

s'mores krispies

I found this tasty recipe on Pinterest and it delivered!

S'mores Krispies

Yield: 12 Bars

 Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Total Time: 25 Minutes

A twist on a campfire classic treat

Ingredients:

1 bag (10 oz) Mini Marshmallows
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips + 1 for topping
1 box (12 0z) Golden Grahams Cereal
6 Tbsp Butter
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
Non-Stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

1. In a 9x9 inch 9x13" baking pan, spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large non-stick pot over medium heat, melt butter. Add in marshmallows and stir together with butter until marshmallows have melted and become creamy. Stir in vanilla extract.
3. Fold in grahams cereal until all marshmallows and grahams are evenly mixed together. Mix in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Spread treats into sprayed baking pan. Press into pan and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top of the treats, lightly press into top of treats to make sure they stick. Place into fridge for 10 minutes to cool.
4. Slice into bars and serve. Devour.

*Note: Once I was ready to make this recipe I realized I didn't have as many Golden Grahams as I needed, so I ended up using 6 oz. of Cocoa Puffs & 6 oz. Golden Grahams. They were yummy!

oreo layer dessert

Here's another successful recipe I found thanks to Pinterest. It's pretty similar to my 4 Layer Dessert recipe, but I like that this recipe makes a 9x13. The other recipe only makes a pie pan size, which is never enough. ;)

Oreo Layer Dessert

1 pkg of regular Oreos

1/2 c. of butter

1 lg box of instant chocolate pudding

2- 8 oz cool whips

8 oz. of cream cheese, softened

1 c. powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Make chocolate pudding according to package directions and let it setup in the fridge. 
2. Crush the whole package of cookies either with a food processor, or in a bag and a rolling pin.  Save a 1/2 c. to sprinkle on top of dessert when it's done.  Pour remaining crumbs in a 13x9 pan.  
3. Melt butter and pour into crumb mix.  Stir it up good and press crumbs in bottom of pan to make a crust.  
4. In a mixing bowl blend cream cheese until nice and smooth and then add powdered sugar, mix.  Then fold in 1-8 oz thing of cool whip.  
5. Top oreo layer with cream cheese mix, then pudding, then your last 8 oz tub of cool whip, and then sprinkle remaining Oreo's on top. 
6. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.