Whole Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients:
1 med head of cauliflower
1 cup mayonnaise or plain yogurt
½ cup crushed Lay's Limon chips (Regular with a little lime juice sprinkled into mix will work if you can't locate the Limon chips)
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
½ tsp Greek Seasoning
A Sprinkle of Sage

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray your cookie sheet, set aside.
Remove leaves and cut back the core just a little so when you sit it on your cookie sheet it is firm in place.
Mix remaining ingredients together with a spoon. This will be thick like icing. You can turn the head over to cover the bottom some and then place right side up on cookie sheet and finish coating the rest of the head (use all the mix). Now that it is completely coated place in the oven and back 35 to 45 minutes until tender. Mine took almost 50 minutes. I poked mine with a knife. If tender, turn off oven and let sit about 10 minutes.

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆

Tex-Mex Dip with Homemade Tortilla Chips

Dip
Ingredients:
1 can fat free re-fried beans
1/2 cup salsa, divided
1/4 tsp cumin and chili powder
1/4 cup low fat sour cream
1 Tbsp dried cilantro (2 Tbsp fresh, minced)
Black olives, diced (optional)
Shredded lettuce
Colby Jack cheese, shredded
Roma tomato, seeded and small diced
Homemade Tortilla Chips (recipe follows)

Directions:
In a med sized bowl, mix the re-fried beans, 3 Tbsp salsa, cumin and chili powder. Spread this into a round dish with shallow sides. In same bowl (make sure cleaned out well of beans), mix sour cream and cilantro. Layer this on beans, topped by remaining salsa. Top with olives, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate up to 1 day in advance or eat when prepared… the longer it sets, the more the flavors develop. (…so good!)

Chips

Ingredients:Corn tortillas
Chili powder and Kosher Salt, equal parts
Vegetable oil (2-4 Tbsp)
Baking sheet and a cooling rack

Directions:
Cut tortilla chips into desired sizes. Combine chili powder and salt in a small bowl, set aside. Heat oil in a skillet over med high heat until hot, but do not let oil smoke. Cook tortilla pieces in batches, turning each after 15 seconds and allow to lightly brown. Lay these on the rack that is sitting on the baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle desired amount of salt mixture and finish all chips. When done, bake in a 300°F for 5 -7 minutes to make chips crispy. DO NOT LET BURN! Allow to cool and serve with your delicious Tex-Mex Dip! Enjoy! ~

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆

Not a gardener? But love homegrown vegetables?

This one is especially great for those who have back problems and difficulty getting up and down to do gardening. Bring the garden up to standing level.

It's a simple, weed-free way to grow lettuce, spinach and even radishes. Take a 2 cubic feet bag of potting soil, rumple it around quite a bit to loose the soil, poke quite a few holes in the back side for drainage, then lay the bag on a smooth surface that will allow drainage and not get too hot, and cut out the top, leaving about a 4 or 5 inch border all around. Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more, then carefully, and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. NOTE: You can put the seeds in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes. Then, with some added cornmeal to the seed mix, it can allow to see that the soil is covered evenly with the seeds. (Shake seed and cornmeal mix well)
If doing radish seeds or spinach, just make lines the depth mentioned on the seed pack, plant the seeds and cover appropriately. For salad greens, sprinkle a light covering of soil over the cornmeal and seeds, and then mist water them in.
In the photo, the bags are rested on metal sawhorses and grates to make them waist level. This keeps the bags off the hot concrete, or from damaging grass. The best part, no bending over when harvesting. To harvest, just use a pair of scissors and cut what you need, but don't pull the plants out, as they will grow back from the original roots. Spray mist the seeds and plantings at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bags are not as deep as a regular in-ground garden. Best if kept moist, but not sopping wet.
Happy growing!! :)

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:
1 lb large strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
1 tsp vanilla extract
graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or Ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆

Favorite Guacamole

Ingredients:

3 Haas avocados - halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime - juiced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Cayenne optional
Jalapeno optional
1/2 medium red onion - diced
1/2 cup chunky style salsa - heat of your choice
2 tablespoon fresh cilantro - chopped
3 clove garlic - minced

Directions:
Place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice in bowl.
Toss to coat with juice.
Add salt, cumin, and cayenne.
Using a potato masher - mash.
Fold in the onions, salsa, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic.
Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.
Best at room temp. If you refrigerate it, let it warm back up before serving.

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆

Cucumber salsa

Ingredients:
2 Cucumbers peeled , seeded, and chopped
2 Tomatoes chopped
3/4 cup of diced green pepper
1 Jalapeno seeded and diced
1 clove minced garlic
1 small red onion chopped
2 Tbs Lemon juice
3 Tbs Fresh parsley chopped
1/2 tsp Salt

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve with tortilla chips... pita chips..healthy alternative: serve on sliced cucumber rounds! Enjoy!

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆

Bargins at Target

If you keep an eye out for good bargains, pay attention if you're shopping at Target!

EVERY Target shopper NEEDS to know this:

If the price ends in 8, it will be marked down again.
If it ends in a 4, its the lowest it will be. Targets mark down schedule. -
MONDAY: Kids Clothing, Stationery (office supplies, gift wrap), Electronics.
TUESDAY: Women s Clothing and Domestics.
WEDNESDAY: Men's Clothing, Toys, Health and Beauty.
THURSDAY: Lingerie, Shoes, Housewares.
FRIDAY: cosmetics.

Also if you look at the top right corner where this tag says "50" that is the percentage mark down. The highest target will ever mark down is 75% off. There are certain occasions like holiday merchandise that may be marked lower but it is still rare.

★☆★★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★★☆★☆★☆★☆