Anna's Blog

Summer is almost here, though it feels like it right now. So I was thinking why not do a salad with a taste of summer that let’s the vegetables shine though,  is real food approved, and healthy too!  So if you need a pasta salad that’s NOT covered in mayo or salad dressing, here you go!

 Ingredients     1  box  (16 oz ) of Whole wheat  pasta (any shape)  

     1  1/2 Pounds of Tomatoes

1 Cucumber

3 Table spoons of Olive Oil

1/2 Teaspoon of Basil   

1 1/2 Teaspoon of Garlic

Directions   1. Make pasta as directed on box.   2.  Meanwhile wash veggtables and peel cucumber if desired 4. Chop  tomatoes and cucumber into bite size pieces , 4. Mix vegetables and pasta together , add olive oil and herbs.

Notes     If able use fresh herbs, you will have to double the amounts though.                                                                                                                                                                          Organic and or local produce is best and will give the most flavor but in a pinch or on a budget regular tomatoes and cucumbers will be just fine.

Feel free to add what ever you have on hand and to change up the amounts of anything.

Some how I lost the picture of this salad in cyberspace so sorry about that.

http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/05/real-food-wednesday-592012.html

This is part of Kelly the Kitchen Cop’s real food blog carnival. Here’s the link http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/05/real-food-wednesday-592012.html .

Sometimes you need a little sun shine and for me this smoothie brings me some sunshine.

Ingredients

2 bananas

1 orange

1/2 to 3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup crushed ice

Directions 1. Peel and cut banana and put in blender 2. Peel Orange and divide orange into pieces and put in blender. 3. Measure milk and put in blender 4. Add ice 5. Blend till smooth

Makes 4 serving or 2 big servings !

This post is part of the  Real Food Carnival at Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s blog, Here’s the link http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/05/real-food-wednesday-522012.html

I love cooking and baking and would LOVE to help you with some ideas on  what to do.  Today we will be learning how to do Chocolate Pudding. This recipe is based off of  Diana Rattray an About.com Guide   and here’s the recipe with a few notes from me   .   This isn’t a real sweet pudding like you would get from a box, it’s more like a dark chocolate pudding with no dark chocolate . You can add sugar even a 1/2 cup more if it’s not sweet enough before you put it in the fridge. If you are serving kids this pudding more sugar is a must.

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces UN-sweetened chocolate ( your box should tell you how much that is)
• 3 cups milk (whole milk works better then skim milk but it’s OK if you don’t have it)
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 – 1 cup sugar (kids usually like more but most adults will be OK with 1/2 cup.)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons PURE vanilla extract

Preparation:

Testing  and fun two words you don’t hear much together. Call my crazy but I think tests are  fun. I love tests. Especially multi-choice state tests (no idea why) . I don’t like school that much but state tests and big semester or quarter tests I LOVE!!!!! I guess it’s just a great weird skill to have? Any of you like tests?????

Hard boiled eggs a yummy addition to ANY meal or snack. Full of protein and easy to pack. (If hard boiled eggs had an ad.) This morning I enjoyed a healthier Easter egg. Though my first attempt at dyeing them failed (the colors faded) they still were YUMMY not to mention cheap . Did you dye eggs??

Recently my family got 2 tooth paste samples one from Tom’s of Maine and, one from Arm and Hammer (other wise known as the baking soda company). The Tom’s of Maine is a kids tooth paste flavored Silly Strawberry. The other one was Arm and Hammer Advance White Fluoride , Brilliant Sparkle regular toothpaste flavored  brilliant sparkle and fresh mint. So which one do you think was better??? Ingredient-wise or taste-wise. Ingredient wise the winner was Arm and Hammer (surprise!) The ingredients that raise an heath concern according to good guide.com are fluoride (but I would rather have that then cavities) and Carrageenan (might cause cancer). Tom’s of Maine has the later. Taste wise they were pretty close but I prefer Arm and Hammer. So two wins for Arm and Hammer!!

Just goes to show that natural is just a word and doesn’t make stuff better for you.

Happy Brushing!!!!