Marinated Snow Pea and Cherry Tomato Salad Recipe

If you are looking for a very fresh, wonderfully nutritious, extremely delicious and boldly colorful salad, this marinated snow pea and cherry tomato salad is the one for you. It is a simple salad or side dish, consisting of just eight ingredients. Four are vegetables and four are in the marinade.

This salad is a salad that I always serve when we celebrate Christmas in July or June or August or whenever. However, it would be good whenever you need a fresh and crunchy addition to any meal. It also makes a great addition to a potluck dinner like your annual Christmas party though for that occasion you want to at least double the recipe.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

MARINATED SNOW PEA AND CHERRY TOMATO SALAD RECIPE

From Culinary Favorites From A to Z

Ingredients

1/4 lb. snow or sugar snap peas (ends trimmed if required)
1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
1/2 cup water chestnuts sliced (we like ours cut in half)
1/4 cup green onions sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Instructions

So easy. Just prepare your vegetables first, slicing as indicated. Our water chestnuts come in a can, pre-sliced. Blanch the peas for about 2 minutes in boiling water. Drain, rinse immediately with cold water and drain again. Add the tomatoes, chestnuts and green onions.

For the marinade, mix the last four ingredients together and pour this mixture over your vegetables. Toss gently and chill until supper time at which time you simply drain the vegetables and serve.

Find this beautiful hand painted snow peas bookmark

on Etsy by clicking here.

MORE SNOW PEAS

Crisp Snow Pea Salad Recipe from GroupRecipes.com
Chefelaine on GroupRecipes calls this a refreshing salad and recommends serving it with grilled salmon or chicken.

Cat Cora's Asparagus and Snow Pea Salad Recipe From Oprah.com
Oprah Winfrey's guest Cat Cora shares a delicious salad of asparagus and snow peas.

MORE CHERRY TOMATOES

Chickpea, Cherry Tomato, and Feta Salad Recipe From Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart shares a nutritious chickpea, cherry tomato and feta salad recipe.

Cherry Tomato Salad from Food and WineAnother simple sounding recipe, Food and Wine shares this one for their cherry tomato salad.

See you in the kitchen!

Brenda

Author's Note: This recipe originally published elsewhere in 2011.

What To Do For Dinner? Meal Planning Ideas For When You Are Struggling

Where Can I Find Ideas For Supper When I Am Not Motivated To Cook?

The age old question rears its ugly head over and over again. What to do for dinner? Where can I find ideas for supper when I am not motivated to cook?

I am frequently NOT motivated to cook. Therefore, I try to have a menu plan prepared because I find that the biggest part of the challenge at mealtime for me is deciding WHAT to cook, given the eating limitations that my personal situation presents. If I have a menu plan, the hard part is done.

My process for creating a menu plan is to sit down with a cup of tea in my favorite coffee mug and a few pieces of scrap paper and then to draw out the days of the week, noting when someone has an obligation outside of the house, which means that he will not be eating at home or that he will be eating leftovers later than the rest of us. I then look through my cookbooks and printed recipe collection and fill in the blanks.

Lately, however, I find that my menu planning process is more often than not FAILING and I come away frustrated and not much better off than when I started...I am simply STUCK for an inspiration and hard pressed to make a decision.

I wish there was a magic answer to the question, "What's for Supper" but there doesn't seem to be so I proceeded on the assumption that there are a few others out there like myself who struggle with the answer to that question. To offer assistance, I assembled a few ideas and resources on this page. They're all flexible to suit different situations and I hope they offer you at the very least a tiny bit of menu planning inspiration.

This article was originally written in 2012 when I had a family too cook for. Much still applies to our world as empty nesters though I have definitely found cooking for two adults to be radically different than cooking for two adults and two hungry boys.

TRY A MENU PLANNING BOOK

7-Day Menu Planner For Dummies 

A MENU PLANNING BOOK WITH 52 WEEKS OF MEAL PLANS.

If you are familiar with the Dummies series of books, you know how practical they can be. This book, the 7-Day Menu Planner For Dummies, also is very practical, delivering "a structured, nutritional approach to daily meal planning." It includes 52 weeks worth of menus.

Buy Menu Planner for Dummies from Amazon here.

Plan It, Don't Panic: Everything You Need to Successfully Create and Use a Meal Plan

A MENU PLANNING EBOOK FOR YOUR KINDLE OR OTHER READING DEVICE

Plan It, Don't Panic will help you make the most of your grocery dollars, to avoid the dreaded panic that entails when you don't know what to do for dinner and to prepare healthy meals for your family. Customer reviews for this book are stellar.

Buy Plan It, Don't Panic from Amazon here.

ASK YOUR FRIENDS WHAT THEY DO FOR SIMPLE SUPPERS

Brainstorming with friends about what they do for easy and quick dinners is a good thing. I did it. I simply asked a group of friends what they do when they are looking for an EASY and FAST supper when they did not feel like cooking. Here's a sampling of what they had to say. As you will see in a moment, once they got started, they shared a wealth of dinner ideas.

Dianne said, "I found a recipe for easy shepherd's pie and that is what we're having tomorrow. I made it up tonight so I can just pop it in the oven tomorrow." Brilliant idea, Dianne and I love meals for which the work is done today for tomorrow. Susan said, "I purchased salmon yesterday and baked that and we had a small baked potato and a big salad. Healthy. Tasted okay, but nothing special." I love the simplicity of Susan's meal -- NO recipe required! My version is cooking up three pieces of plain fish with just a hint of seasoning, some rice and lots of vegetables. Almost no thinking involved.

For an easy meal for company, Dianne said, "I buy a couple of kinds of bread and some deli meats, maybe some cheeses, and let everyone make their own sandwiches. If you like you can add some side dishes at the deli too. Potato salad, cole slaw, etc. or just have some chips." Joan said, "I am thinking of a spaghetti casserole for company. That would be easy for Saturday night, when they arrive because it can be done ahead of time." Brilliant, Joan will have her hands free to visit with her guests.

"Making a pasta salad is a great, customizable idea. It is good eating, requires cooking just once and makes a big batch plus you can add whatever you want in regards to fresh vegetables." This idea another one from Susan, that I have also used. However, we've never put pepperoni in ours, as her husband Chris does...and I am not sure that we ever will. (Sorry, Chris.)

Joan and her husband recently had two premade burger patties, stuffed potatoes and broccoli. She was right when she said that it was not fancy but we all wanted to go to her house for supper and we decided a fancy name dressed it right up. Who wouldn't enjoy a meal of "Pan Fried Hamburger Steak with Stuffed Baked Potatoes and Fresh Steamed Broccoli?" Dianne also suggested a stir fry with leftover veggies and meat. Another brilliant idea. (Smart group of friends, I have eh?) I've never thought to use leftovers in a stir fry and planned leftovers would be perfect.

"Bake a big ham and then plan meals around that. Ham and mashed potatoes, ham and scrambled eggs, ham and cabbage, ham and bean soup, ham sandwiches." Thanks, again, Dianne! "Bagged lettuce and whatever add ones you like. Leftover chicken or beef, boiled eggs, canned beans and the veggies you like. Make it a main dish salad." One last idea from Dianne!

Another easy dinner, that we personally love in my family, is make-it-yourself sub sandwiches with veggies and dip. My entire family loves assembling what they want in their sandwiches and I love watching those mouths open wide and those vegetable crudites disappear. This meal isn't quite as fast as Dianne's sandwich idea although you could simplify it by purchasing prepared raw vegetables. It is, however, a family favorite around here. Carma was late to the conversation but she responded with a resounding, "Eat Out!" We all know that eating out is always an option but for most of us it is an option we cannot enjoy frequently. Her final answer however was, "spaghetti or meaty mac, go-to meals that the kids love." She explained that Meaty Mac is her own version of macaroni and cheese with ground beef.

USE AN ONLINE MEAL PLAN

Recently, I looked into the following four meal plans and found myself intrigued. They're each a bit different.

Easy Dinner Ideas with Free Weekly Menus, Recipes and a Printable Grocery List

Make Dinner Easy is written by a mom who shares free weekly menus, recipes and even a printable grocery list. I've used her menus for a few weeks now but I do tweak them to fit in my own recipes. Read more here.

eMeals Meal Planning Program for Busy Moms & Frugal Cooks

The EMeals Meal Planning Program is not free but it does provide more menu choices than the other menu plans I have discovered. You can pick one that suits your personal cooking situation. Read more here.

COLLECT SOME EASY RECIPE IDEAS

Ten 10-Minute Meals By Simple Bites 

The meal ideas I'm sharing today are for those kinds of days. They're quicker then takeout and tasty to boot, so everyone can be excited about dinner and you'll find yourself lounging outside, or on the couch, in no time. Learn more here.

USE AN EASY DINNER COOKBOOK

Quick and Easy Cookbooks

These cookbooks are focused on making dinner easy.

Consulting a cookbook that has EASY and FAST menu ideas is another option. Check out these three by well-loved celebrity authors:

The Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family. Learn more here.

Weeknights with Giada: Quick and Simple Recipes to Revamp Dinner. Learn more here.

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast. Find it on Amazon here.

They are all beautiful, hardcover books packed with inspiration.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO FOR DINNER?

Wow, that helped and now I'm feeling motivated to put together a week's worth of menus. How about you? What are you going to do for dinner? Have I managed to inspire you or at least to give you a direction to start in? Will you be creating a menu plan? Will you be cooking something fast and easy for supper tonight or will you be resorting to a t.v. dinner? What do YOU do when you don't know what to do for dinner?

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

Mr. Coffee Cafe Latte Machine

The Mr. Coffee BVMC-EL1 Cafe Latte machine is an interesting little machine. One that boasts, "Delicious lattes in one simple touch." It's a small appliance for the home that makes lattes. Who knew? Not me! I discovered it by accident recently when it was on sale on Amazon.  It is still on sale though not at quite the discount it was at on October 23, 2013.

I cannot personally vouch for this machine but the Amazon customer reviews can and do.  Amazon customers like that it makes it easy to make a latte at home, that they can save money and that they can also make hot chocolate and tea lattes.  The biggest complaint is that it does not make a 'true' cup of latte. 

If you'd like to check Mr. Coffee's latte machine out on Amazon for yourself, just click here. It would make a great gift idea for someone who loves a latte.

Updated to add that this item appears to be discontinued. You can find it on Amazon by using the "See all buying options" tab on the right where it is available from private sellers. Or you can look for Mr. Coffee Cafe here on eBay.   


See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe

I'm in the midst of advance preparations for Thanksgiving. Part of our meal includes homemade cranberry sauce, which I make a day or two in advance and refrigerate or I make well in advance and freeze. 

The recipe I use is easy and very basic. Some cranberry sauce recipes add items like cinnamon and grated orange rind but we like ours simple because that is the way we have always had it and that is the way it is "supposed" to taste for us. Personally, I like it because it tastes good and because it is so easy to put together.

It is, of course, a perfectly acceptable choice to buy a can of cranberry sauce but making it yourself really is very simple and afterwards you can feel good about having done so rather than having opened a can.


The ingredients are simple. All you need is:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1.5 cups or 12 ounces of fresh or frozen cranberries

Put these three ingredients in a pot and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. If at this point your sauce seems very runny, you can choose to boil it for a couple of minutes longer. Doing so won't hurt the end product and will just make your sauce a bit thicker.

The cranberries release pectin, which helps the sauce to gel so you do not have to add anything else as a thickener.

This morning I used 2 cups of frozen cranberries and boiled them for five minutes longer.

I choose to serve mine in a pretty little glass bowl.  It is nice that the bowl is clear, which allows the beautiful red color of the cranberry sauce to be a decorative element on our table.

If you are feeding only one or two people, it is an easy enough matter to freeze half of the cranberry sauce for next time.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Brenda

 

Easy Mashed Potato Recipe For One

One of the first recipes that my younger son asked about when he moved out was mashed potatoes and, while mashed potatoes are a pretty easy item to make, when you are getting started in the kitchen, you need some sort of guideline so here it is, the simplest mashed potato recipe you will ever find.

If you are worried about the size of the potatoes, don't be.  Mashed potatoes are pretty forgiving so the following amounts do not have to be exact. If your potatoes are a bit bigger, you might need a little bit more milk and conversely, if they are a bit smaller, you might add a little bit less milk.

EASY MASHED POTATO RECIPE

3/4 tsp salt (though in our home we cook them without salt)

3 medium-sized potatoes

1-1/2 tbsp butter

1/3 cup milk

In a small pot, boil 3 cups of water and 1/4 tsp salt.  Add the potatoes, cover them and cook at a gentle boil. Potatoes do not need to be in hard-boiling water.   They'll need to cook for 20 to 30 minutes and you will know they are done by inserting a fork into a potato to see if it is soft.  Drain well and then add the butter, the rest of the salt and the milk, which I like to warm up a little bit in the microwave first.  If you are unsure about the size of your potatoes, add some of the liquid instead of all of it.  Using a potato masher, mash until creamy, adjust the amount of milk as required & ENJOY.

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda

The Best-Ever Glazed Baked Ham

It's been a little while since we've had the best-ever glazed baked ham. Not because we could not eat it every day but rather because we consider ham to be a 'treat' type of food. After all, ham is not particularly lean.

So we save our baked hams for special occasions like New Years Day and Easter.  I notice now that my children are grown, I receive requests for baked ham on birthdays and the other occasion that we love to serve a baked ham is in the summertime, cooked in advance with a side of potato salad. Ordinarily, we eat our baked ham with a scalloped potato and we use the ham to wipe up every morsel of the sauce from the potatoes.

It is hard to believe that Halloween is gone and it is now time to turn our thoughts to Christmas but it is. I will be watching the local grocery store flyers for a sale on smoked pork picnic bone shoulder ham and then I will tuck it away and anticipate the arrival of New Year's Day...

Brenda