Carrot Salad

Carrots are my favorite raw vegetable. And I think my kids would like them better but unfortunately they're really hard for my 3 and 2 year old to eat. So here's a great salad that even my picky eaters LOVE. It sounds crazy but give it a try and you might love it too!!


Carrot Salad

2-3 cups of shredded carrots (I prefer finely shredded and I have a bosch attachment for it)
Raisins
Italian Dressing

Mix carrots with your desired amount of raisins (about a cup). Then add enough Italian dressing just to moisten it (I start with about 3-4 Tbs. and keep adding until it looks just moistened).

With raisins in it my kids don't even care and this is my husband's favorite salad!! He usually asks me to double it so he can take some to eat at work for a few days!

Stuffed Tomatoes

I was struggling with what to make for a side dish to go with some steaks and remembered the bag of tomatoes I had that would go bad if I didn't do something, so I made roasted stuffed tomatoes!

scoop out insides and get rid of all the seedy parts but keep the rest of the guts. Chop up guts and put them in a bowl. add to bowl 4 strips of cooked bacon, cut up. (or bacon bits, whatever) Add about 1 C. bread crumbs. ( I made my own from homemade bread. just shopped them in the food processor) Add about 1/2 C. parmesean cheese. Seriously, I just threw stuff in a bowl. I also added some italian seasoning. mix together and add enough olive oil to make it a little sticky. stuff the tomatoes. I did about 6 large ones. top with a small drizzle of olive oil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until the tops are goldeney.

Dave asked for another tomato for dessert. From a guy that doesn't like tomatoes. I'm just saying.

recipe courtesy of: me

Green Bean Casserole

I know that green bean casserole is a pretty common dish, so you all may already have a recipe... But this one has water chestnuts in it, my whole family enjoys this one, even the little ones!

Creamy and Crunchy Green Bean Casserole

1/4 cup butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 (10 oz.) cans cream of mushroom soup
2 (16 oz.) packages of frozen, french cut grean beans; thawed
1 (14 oz.) can bean sprouts; rinsed and drained
2 (8 oz.) cans diced water chestnuts; drained
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 (2.8 oz.) cans french fried onions

1. Melt butter in large frying pan over medium heat; add onion and saute about 7-8 minutes or until tender.
2. Stir in soup and bring it to a boil.
3. Stir in beans and next 3 ingredients. (sprouts, chestnuts, and salt)
4. Spoon into lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Top evenly with cheddar cheese.
5. Bake covered at 375 degrees for 25 mins. Uncover and sprinkle evenly with french fried onions. Bake 10 more minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy!!