FREE Printable Recipe Cards!

I love parties and I love them even more when I am providing healthy beverages and snacks that are suitable for most, if not all, of the guests!  Check out these two party favorites!

WATERMELON PUNCH is a healthy and delicious beverage that is sure to make any party, especially an outdoor summer party, extra special! My daughters mother-in-law made it for the backyard bridal shower last summer and it was an absolute hit with the guests! 

The original recipe comes from Rachel Ray who is known for her fabulous, and simple, recipes, however a few minor changes were made. The watermelon was not used as the bowl and the alcohol was not added. Instead, the punch was provided in beverage dispensers (see photo above) and a bottle of rum was on the side to be added if guests chose to spice up their drink!  Extra limes and lemons wedges were also included in bowls on the side for added flavor if desired.

Honestly, it was delicious and refreshing with or without the alcohol!

GREEK YOGURT RANCH DIP is a healthier, and in my opinion, better alternative to all other ranch dips because it is high in protein and low in calories.  It's made of all natural (preferably organic by choice) ingredients and if you buy a high quality yogurt with live and active cultures it is a giant plus for the digestive system!  It can also be eaten by anyone that is lactose intolerant because apparently the good bacteria takes care of any lactose for them. Definitely another bonus for guests, including any lacto-vegetarians!

Print out these two FREE 5x7 Recipe Cards Now!

Simply click on either of the recipe cards below or the link above to download an 8.5" x 11" pdf document. Then simply print it on 8.5" x 11" card-stock paper (affiliate link) and cut them out! I always include two recipes at a time so theres as little paper waste as possible :-)

Thanks for visiting!
Check out our other printable recipe cards and/or
our Weddings & More page for more great party ideas.
Sincerely,

Spring is here, summer is coming soon and that, for me at least, means fresh vegetables! I just can't wait and in anticipation I am sharing two of my favorite recipes that require some of my wonderful homegrown vegetables!

• The cherry tomato sauce I have shared before as a video on YouTube, so now I am finally sharing the printable recipe card below. You can also view the video at the bottom of this post!
• The roasted shrimp and asparagus is one of my favorites because not only is it healthy, but asparagus is one of the first spring crops we look forward too!​

As is normal for all the recipes we share, they are both simple, simple, simple!

Click on the button below the recipes to download the pdf file. It prints out best on one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper, preferable card stock.  Then you can simply cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards on the dotted lines!  They always come two recipes per sheet in an effort to not waste paper! 

Visit my Recipes Page to

• view or print out previous recipes (pdf files)
• to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! 

​
​Also check out my past Recipe Blog Posts here or visit my our Recipes Pinterest Board. Enjoy :-)

FYI: there are always two recipes because I do not want to waste paper!
Thank you for visiting!
​Please 'like' us on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, or join our mailing list so you never miss out on a new post!
Sincerely,

Super Simple Cherry Tomato Sauce:

Both recipes are oh so simple...seriously.  

For dinner on a work day I will simply throw three to four chicken breasts into the crockpot and pour some barbeque sauce on top. Turn it on slow cook and when I get home from work it smells delicious and is nearly ready! All I have to do is pull the chicken apart using two forks, throw it back in the pot and serve it with some fresh rolls and coleslaw (check out my recipe here).  It's delicious, stress free, and can be eaten for days on end ... if there is any left!

And the dump cake has been around since, well, forever.  I think there are even recipe books that go back to the 70's.  The ingredients last a long time in the closet so once you buy them so they can always be there if you need a simple last minute desert!  And did I say delicious?  Of course I did.  The 'cake' can be made using apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, or any other kind of pie filling you can think of!  It's also simple to split the recipe in half as I did recently for Christmas. I used one can of cherry pie filling and added about two handfuls of frozen blueberries.  I used half the box of cake mix and half a stick of butter and it was a perfect desert for four people!  A scoop of vanilla icecream on top makes it even better!

Click on the button below the recipes to download the pdf file  and print one sheet of  8 1/2 x 11 cardstock paper.  Then cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards.  They always come two recipes per sheet in an effort to not waste paper! 

Visit my Recipes Page to view or print out previous recipes (pdf files) or to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! You can also check out my past Recipe Blog Posts here or visit my our Recipes Pinterest Board.

Enjoy!

FYI: there are always two recipes because I do not want to waste paper!
​
Thank you for visiting!

​Please 'like' us on Facebook or join our mailing list 
so you never miss out on a blog post!

Sincerely,

I seriously can't believe I am saying this: "I love my cast iron skillet."  I really do, and believe me,I never thought I would ever even consider using cast iron!  

Using cast iron was really sort of an accident for me. Cast iron is a pan that I have never even attempted to cook with.  In fact, my go to pots and pans have always been stainless steel. But if you have ever had to sit and scrub and scrub and scrub to get a pan clean then you know what I mean when I say stainless can be a real pain in the $%#.  I have also been through multiple skillets coated with teflon.  I say multiple because never has a skillet lasted more than a year in my house before the teflon started to come off. Thats how often we use the skillet!  More recently we were buying and using Green pans. They have a ceramic coating that is much healthier than using teflon and they did last a little longer. The big downside however was the price.  Not cheap by any means and still needed to be replaced after a lot of use.

Cast iron was never an option for me.  I didn't even consider it because I always thought it was cheap, horrible to cook on, and even more horrible to clean. I imagined needing to literally scrape eggs off the bottom of the pan and never really getting it clean....ever.  So imagine my surprise when my daughter and future son-in-law cooked a meal for 8 people using ALL cast iron pans and I volunteered (unknowingly) to do the dishes!  As soon as I saw what I had volunteered to wash I groaned and did my best to go at it with a smile on my face....only to find out how easy they all were to clean!!  In fact, they were easier to clean than the Green pans I had at home which were supposed to be non-stick!  After the simplicity of cleaning those cast iron pans that night, and eating amazing food that was perfectly cooked in them,  I was 'sold' on how awesome cast iron can be!  

I immediately purchased my first cast iron skillet and I have never looked back! I absolutely love cooking in the pan and am able to cook certain foods like steak and chicken indoors better than ever!  I have since added more cast iron pans to my list of must have's for the future.  

Here is a simple list of why I love my cast iron skillet so much:

• Cooks amazingly well. Meat seers just like it was grilled!
• Cleans so easy, almost like teflon and way easier than stainless or even ceramic. It really is a non-stick pan!  And my crochet scrubby's clean it perfectly! Buy my scrubby's or get the FREE pattern!
• *Cooks extremely evenly (see cons below).
• Great for gas or electric stove tops (not glass), can go in the oven, and can even be used over the camp fire (so long as it is not ceramic coated).
• Made of extremely simple, all natural, Iron (Fe)!
• Iron is actually good for your health and does not contain any harmful chemicals or toxins. If a little of it gets into your food, no problem! The same is not necessarily true for other metals such as aluminum.
• Can be used to cook at much higher temperatures than any other pan material out there.
• Extremely economical to purchase.
• Will literally last literally forever so you will only need to buy a skillet once.  Many people are currently using cast iron skillets that belonged to their great-grandparents!
• Lodge is a United States company! I chose Lodge Cast Iron specifically because of the quality and the fact that I wanted to support US businesses. Read about Lodge Cast Iron here.  Note that all but their porcelain enamel cast iron is made in the US.

Some of the cons:

• Heavy -  I choose to look at it as a form of exercise.  Using it daily keeps my arms in shape!
• Will rust if exposed to water for long periods of time - just don't put it in the sink!
• MUST use potholders and pot handles to touch or move pan.  Good habit to use them anyway especially since it can also go right in the oven. Talk about versatile...
• *Needs to be preheated in order to cook evenly.  Iron has a high specific heat meaning it takes time to absorb the heat.  This means that I need to turn on the burner and heat the pan for about 5 minutes before I cook on it. But, on the other hand it also means that the pan cools down slowly so I can literally shut the burner off 5 minutes before I am done cooking and it will still continue to cook! 
• Preheating is also important for the pan to remain non-stick.
• Must be allowed to cool down before handling to wash it. No problem, I just use a cup to add water to the pan while it is still on the stove cooling. After dinner it's ready, and super simple, to wash!
• Can't be used on glass stove tops. For me this is no problem. I have regular old electric burner and will be getting gas in the future. Glass top is not even an option for me!

Even the 'cons' aren't so bad!
And check out this video of a comparisson between this skillet and the Lodge seasoned classic skillet in action and the MUST HAVE Kitchen Tools video below it!

Thank you for visiting :-)
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​Sincerely,

There is nothing better than fresh food made from scratch! This eggplant parmesan was made with all natural and fresh ingredients, most of which was grown right in my backyard! The sauce is made fresh from cherry tomatoes I picked, the ricotta is made from scratch, and the eggplant is right out of the garden! I also used fresh grated parmesan cheese and fresh mozzarella.  There is nothing better! Simply delicious :-)

Simply delicious!
​

Thanks for visiting! Check out our Recipes Page or visit our Recipes Pinterest Board.
​
Sincerely,

Guess what? Despite the fact that in my "Ideas to Save Your Cherry Tomatoes" post I said that we don't really eat tomato sauce because we don't really eat pasta here I found myself needing it the other day! Not for pasta but for eggplant parmesan! What was I thinking when I wrote that post? We do eat tomato sauce sometimes and I needed it the other day! Since I only grow cherry tomatoes, it was either buy it, or find a way to make it with them, which of course I did since I have so many!  I have to say it was super simple and actually so delicious we had it with the eggplant parmesan and then the next night we finished it off with spinach ravioli. Yes, I know it is a pasta, but it is my husbands favorite and because my sauce was so good we made an exception. 

Watch this short video to see how easy it was to make!

Thanks for watching! Check out our You Tube Channel for more short "How To" videos!
Sincerely,

I had a lot of zucchini this year and I was simply tired of making the same old zucchini pie so I decided to try something different and I was not disappointed   These zucchini sticks are absolutely delicious, especially when dipped in a fresh tomato sauce! They are more like a healthy snack, but also make a great addition to any meal.

​The fresh ricotta, well, I can't tell you how simple it is!  I simply will never buy it since it is so easy to make!  I actually made it with 1% milk (shown in the picture), but if the more fat in the milk, the more creamy it will come out!  But since I only buy 1% milk that is what I use and it is still delicious!  Especially in my fresh eggplant parmesan :-)

Want to keep the recipes? Simply copy them down or click on pictures or the button below the recipes to download the pdf file  and print one sheet of  8 1/2 x 11 cardstock paper.  Then cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards.  They always come two recipes per sheet in an effort to not waste paper! 

Visit my Recipes Page to view or print out previous recipes (pdf files) or to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! You can also check out my past Recipe Blog Posts here!

Enjoy!

FYI: there are always two recipes because I do not want to waste paper!
​
Thank you for visiting!

​Please 'like' us on Facebook or join our mailing list 
so you never miss out on a blog post!

Also check out our Pinterest Recipes Board for more great recipes!

Sincerely,

Waste not want not.....that is the bottom line for this recipe post! Why? One, because we have 5 chickens and an abundance of fresh eggs that needed to be used to make room in our refrigerator, and two, because it was time to harvest our garlic scapes and why waste them when we can eat them!

​Simply copy them down or click on the button below the recipes to download the pdf file  and print one sheet of  8 1/2 x 11 cardstock paper.  Then cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards.  They always come two recipes per sheet in an effort to not waste paper! 

Visit my Recipes Page to view or print out previous recipes (pdf files) or to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! You can also check out my past Recipe Blog Posts here!

Enjoy!

Who doesn't love potato and macaroni salad at a barbecue?  Have you ever been to a barbecue that didn't have potato or macaroni salad and wondered "what's wrong with this picture?"  These are simple recipes but I can tell  you this - the potato salad recipe is my moms and there is not a summer party she's invited to that they don't beg her to make her potato salad! It truly is the best and there is NEVER any left!

​Click on the button below the recipes to download the pdf file  and print one sheet of  8 1/2 x 11 cardstock paper.  Then cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards.  They always come two recipes per sheet in an effort to not waste paper! 

Visit my Recipes Page to view or print out previous recipes (pdf files) or to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! You can also check out my past Recipe Blog Posts here!

Enjoy!