Spinach and Pepper Salad

Quick and easy, this side dish has powered up protein due to a hidden dollop of cream cheese.

8 Ounces Spinach
1 1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, Chopped
1/2 Cup Cottage Cheese
1 Cup Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

Combine Dressing and Cheese.

Puree with a stick blender.

Add Spinach and Pepper to a bowl.

Pour dressing over vegetables and toss.

Pork Chop Bake

Mildly flavored, mushroomy pork chops.  Can be made with 2 to 4 pork chops.  I used black rice but you can also use long grain rice.

2 to 4 Bone-In Pork Chops
10 Ounce Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 1/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Uncooked Rice
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
3/4 Cup Bell Pepper
4 Ounces Sliced Mushrooms Drained
1 Tsp Herbs De Provence OR your favorite Spice Blend

Heat Oven to 350 Degrees.  Grease a casserole dish, set aside.

Brown Pork Chops lightly.

Put into bottom of prepared pan. Add water and rice to pan over medium heat.

Chop pepper, add to rice along with soup and mushrooms.

Stir to combine thoroughly, pour over pork chops.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour or until pork chops are tender.

Banana Brownies? Absolutely

I made banana brownies.  Not overly sweet, made with yogurt, even work for breakfast (topped with a little Nutella or Peanut Butter).

1 1/2 Cup Demerara OR Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cup Butter
2 Large Eggs
1 3/4 Cup Mashed Bananas
2 Tsp Vanilla Extrat
2 Cups All Purpose Flour (can substitute up to 3/4 cup wheat flour)
1 Tsp Baking Soda
3/4 Tsp Salt

Heat oven to 375 degrease.  Grease and flour a 10 X 15 inch pan, set aside.

To a large bowls, beat together sugar, yogurt, butter and eggs. Beat well.

Blend in bananas and vanilla extract.

Mix well.  Add flour, baking soda, salt and blend just until mixed.

Spread into pan.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.

Ranch Potato Salad

For Mother's Day, I wanted to make Ranch Potato Salad.  I wanted to limit soy because of a family food allergy.  I don't know if you have ever looked, but finding a ranch dressing with no soy is impossible.  Ranch dressing mix and mayonnaise are almost as impossible.  However, I found a mayonnaise made with canola oil.  Because of this, the minimal amount of soy in the powder was manageable.  Next step will be to make ranch dressing mix.  However, for now, try this:

2 Cups Mayonnaise
2 Packets Wish Bone Ranch Dressing
1 Cup Milk

Mix well.  Add to cooked and mostly cooled potatoes.  Refrigerate.

Jeep Cover Extrordinaire!

We recently decided that Dogs with long white fur and a Jeep with black carpeted cargo areas DON'T mix.  That isn't taking into consideration muddy paws, drool and other assorted things that can go into the carpet area.  We tried to buy a general cargo liner, but it was just too big for a liberty.

Enter AutoAnything.  We could order a canvas cargo liner made specifically for the year Liberty I own.  Water resistant canvas in my choice of color, so I chose black.  It took a bit to ship, but no longer than specified at the time of order and there were many e-mails keeping me appraised of progress.  The cover was well worth it.  The Instruction sheet included initials at the bottom.

As I unrolled the canvas, I found interesting things.  First, they included dog biscuits.  I did not tell them I was ordering this for a dog, it must be a common occurrence.  Either way, it was VERY thoughtful and unexpected.

Once unrolled, I found that the initials on the instruction sheet match initials I found on the back of the cover.  This cover was cut, stitched and sized by hand.

This cover installs with Velcro.  Came with optional tape in the event that the Velcro would not stick to areas of the carpet such as the backs of the seats.  It even has a zipper perfectly spaced for where the 2/3 split is in the seat so I can to put down one side, not the entire seat.

We had it installed in time for an outing with Meg that could have ended with a VERY muddy dog (hiking trail + rain) http://petruminations.blogspot.com/2014/05/a-full-rich-day.html

If you need a custom seat cover, contact Auto Anything.  They were very clear with shipping times and easy to work with.  The craft and shipping package was perfect for the item shipped and not over the top, as so many packages are today.  Try them, you'll like them.

Three Cheese and Poultry Casserole

Bake in the oven, bake on your grill.  Adventurous?  Smoke it.  The poultry can be chicken, turkey or pheasant.  I made it with a mix of pheasant and chicken.

8 Ounces Orzo Pasta
3 Tbl Butter
3 Cloves Garlic
2 Bell Peppers, Chopped (I used one red and one orange)
3/4 Cup Chopped Spinach
10 Ounce Low Fat Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 Cup Milk
8 Ounces Cottage Cheese
8 Ounces Shredded Cheddar
8 Ounces Shredded Mozzarella
4 Cups Cooked Poultry

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray, set aside.

Cook Orzo to package directions and drain.  While cooking, melt the butter in a large skillet.

Add minced garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.

Add bell pepper and cook about 3 minutes.

Add Spinach and cook until just wilted.

Add to a large Bowl.

Add soup, milk, cooked pasta and poultry.  Mix well.

Pour into pan.

Bake for 35 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Kickin' Coleslaw

Picnic time is upon us, time for coleslaw.  Last weekend, I decided to ignore the fact that it was still cold and made ribs, baked beans and this cole slaw.  More spice, add more horseradish.

1 Cup Mayonnaise
2 Tbl Prepared Horseradish
1 1/2 Tsp Cider Vinegar
3 Tbl Sugar
16 Ounces Cole Slaw Mix.

In a large bowl, whisk together everything excel the cole slaw mix.  When well combined, stir in the cole slaw mix.  Allow to set at least one hour.

New Garage Doors!

When building our house, we installed garage doors.  Basic, level of insulation 4, gapped at the edge, inexpensive garage doors.  Trim was pressure treated wood.  Fast forward 15 years, they need replaced.  After this winter, I realized that the lack of insulation was extremely chilling.  I also realized I had been ignoring how sad the wood trim looked.  Enter Baker Door Company.  Requesting a quote was easy, I filled out an online form.  They called within one business day to schedule an appointment to discuss new doors.  We scoped out door options on line - there is even an option to take a picture of your house and insert door options.  We did not take this option, so the sales representative did it for us when he was here.  He very quickly gave us an estimate for the new doors and indicated that the trim estimate would follow in the next couple of days.  I had it the next morning.  Deposit sent, notice of approximate lead time received and the order was set.  Delivery took a week longer than quoted, but I attribute that to the time of year.  EVERYBODY orders garage doors after a cold winter.  So if you are in central pennsylvania and in the market for a garage door, call Baker Door Company.  You'll love them.

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