Summer Recipe Carnival ~ BLT Macaroni Salad

Come on, join in on this Summer Recipe Carnival with...

 

Domestic Fringe is hosting this fun way to share great summer recipes.  I am no cook, and have had to really learn how to whip things up in a hurry. That´s why I love this recipe from an old Taste of Home magazine. It´s quick, easy, and yummy. Especially easy if you have a food processor.

 Hope you enjoy it as much as we have.
Looking forward to seeing all ya´ll´s recipes.

"This and That" "Fitness and Health"

Today is Friday, and with that comes Fitness Friday! Sandy at God Speaks Today is opening up the meme for those who want to post about fitness. I am so excited because this way we can all get so many new ideas, meet each other and encourage each other to stay healthy and fit! She has posted some guidelines if you are interested in joining in.

Well, I don´t have any great fitness break throughs to write about, and I don´t have any great healthy natural food advice, I just want to write a little "this and that" about health and fitness.

This:

click on image to view or print recipe.

This is a great healthy recipe! I use to make it a lot and had forgotten about it. It has lots of veggies! I also add chicken for my non vegetarian husband. He has to have meat at every meal.

I made it today and was so pleased with its light and yet filling content!

To make it even healthier, you can use whole wheat pasta. Here in Spain, whole wheat anything is almost twice as expensive, so plain pasta for my men and I just eat less pasta and more veggies.

When trying to lose weight and get into shape, eating more vegetables has been a must. In fact I love having a salad for supper. I add some of my favorite cheese and my favorite Balsamic Vinegar and I am one happy bunny rabbit!

Do you have any healthy, recipes you like preparing? Maybe you could post it for Fitness Friday.

So "this" was a Pasta Delight ...

And "THAT" is:

Well, actually better said "these" are

Resistance Bands.

I have just started a new phase in my work outs! I am so excited about Resistance Bands! I thought they were a little silly, but that was before I met Sarah @All Pain and No Gain. She explained how you can use them in your home and get a full work out.

I thought, "I can do that."

So I went out and bought me some.

Then I made my own work out routine.

"Can you do that?" you ask.

Why, yes! There is so much at our finger tips now days.

I went immediately to Google! When I googled it, I didn´t want just any exercise, what I need is an intense concentration on certain areas, ehhhem... the hind quarters.

Here is what I have put together. Maybe it will be a help to you as well.

I will be doing a Cardio workout (usually stationary bike) before these exercises.

2 sets of 10 reps, is a good beginning.

Squats - Stand on the band with feet shoulder-width apart, keeping tension on the band by holding a half-bicep curl. Lower into a squat, keeping knees behind toes, and pulling on the band to add tension. Return to start and repeat.

Lunges - Stand with right leg forward, left leg back and band positioned under right leg. Keeping tension on the band by bending elbows, lower into a lunge until both knees are at 90 degrees, front knee behind the toe. Return to start and repeat.

Side Steps - Tie resistance band around the ankles (make sure you're wearing socks) so that there are a few inches of band when you stand at hip-distance apart. Take 8 steps to the right, contracting the glute and outer thigh. Repeat on the other side.

Butt Blaster - Get on your hands and knees and wrap a resistance band around the right foot. Hold the handles in each hand and begin the move with the right knee bent and flex the foot while extending the right leg straight back, squeezing the glutes.

My hubby said this last one sounds like a villain in a movie!

For further resistance band exercises and photos on how to do them you can go to this tutorial.

Oh, and stay tuned till Monday for the winners of this great fitness challenge.

@

All Pain and No Gain.

Happy workout!

Food, Family, and Fun

These four "F"s go so well together. Don´t they? I think many of you actually have used them in many of your titles. It´s just so alliterated.


Well, I did not get to blog about Making my Home Sing Monday as planned due to trying to make my home sing with company. We enjoyed every minute!

Last night, our guests, Matt and Kathy bought all the fixings for a wonderful Spanish supper! ( They are, btw, English folk living in Germany)

Requirements for a good Spanish Supper:

Good bread

Good ham

Good sausages

Good cheese

Great olives

Matt and Kathy bought good Asturian Spanish products that we don´t normally get to buy. It was such a treat! These cheeses were "grown" right in our area. It´s so fun to try new cheeses! I think I could be a connoisseur of cheeses and olives! God sure did prepare me for Spain.

Here´s Matt and Kathy on our city´s beach.

Friday we went to the Mountains not far from our home.

What you don´t see is the huge snowy mountain behind the mountains in the forground. They were so impressive and totally covered in snow!

Our boys on top of the world!

And of course more food! This was a chilly picnic on top of the mountain look-out. We had "Empanadas" a typical Spanish meat pie.

Living proof that something beautiful can grow on "stoney ground".

And of course more food! This is our church fellowship time after our Sunday evening Singspiration.


I was tagged by Ashely to give seven blessings. Oh, our God is so good to give us SOOO MANY BLESSINGS!!

I am so thankful for:

1. My Salvation! It´s free and it´s forever! John 3:16 and Efesians 2:8-9

2. My family! my Husband and children... That´s 4 right there!

3. My parents and brother! I have the most wonderful Christian parents who support us in the Lord´s work here in Spain and who have always supported me in everything.

4. My Hubby´s family! My hubby´s parents are loving and supportive as well and our boys have wonderful Aunts and Uncles

5. My Country! I am thankful to be an American.

6. My adoptive country! I love Spain!!! I love serving Jesus in this country and the more I live here the more I love it.

7. My dear friends who encourage, support and always leave comments! :)

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Tuesday Tortilla and Not a Chip

No it´s not a new meme. It´s not a mexican flour tortilla, and it´s not even a tortilla chip.

I will now attempt to demonstrate how to make a Spanish Tortilla or better known in the USA as a Spanish Omelet.

It´s so ironic. My friend Pilar learned how to cook in the USA, my home country and I learned to cook in her home country, Spain. When I got to Spain, I had to learn how to make everything from scratch.

One dish that I always wanted to know how to make since I arrived, was the Tortilla. It smells so good cooking. But I would always end up making scramble eggs and potatoes. It never turned out. Until I learned the secret. Read to the end to learn the secret.

All you need is:
6-7 medium potatoes or 3-4 large potatoes.
7-8 eggs (there is a secret...read to the end)
1 onion (optional)
2-3 garlic cloves (optional)
Olive oil (to be healthier) or you can just use plain ol´vegetable oil.
and a Non-stick deep frying pan.

1. Dice up the onion and mince the garlic. I love the onion and garlic flavor and tend to add more.

2. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add garlic and onion to fry till tender. Try not to brown any of it.

4. Dice the potatoes very small.

5. Add them to the onions and garlic. Fry them till they are so tender that they mash easily but don´t mash them all up. Try not to brown them too much. The torilla looks so much nicer when it´s not so brown.

6. Add salt. I never add enough. Today I added about a tsp. to the potatoes and another 1/2 tsp to the eggs.

6. Have the eggs already beaten and set aside while the potatoes are frying. Don´t forget to add the salt. Then add them to the potatoes.

7. Turn the heat way down. Flatten and move the potatoes around till the egg is even all around. Keep the edges from touching the sides. Round them off. This helps form it into a round pretty piece of art. Cook it on low till the sides firm up and the middle is no longer liquidy.

8. Now comes the fun part. FLIP
I use a plate large enough to cover the pan. Cover it tight and flip it.

9. Then slide it back into the pan to cook the underside. Remeber to keep it on low. Cook till the middle is no longer wiggley. (that´s a technical cooking term)

10. Flip it back onto the plate when it is done. and Wa-la! You have yourself a very popular Spanish dish! Everyone eats them. They are even in every restaurant. We eat them for mid-morning snack, Comida (lunch at 2:00), Merienda (afternoon snack) or even for Cena (supper).

Don´t forget the bread!!

The secret to a great tortilla:
always use more egg than potato
and enough salt.

Go ahead now, you can do it. It takes practice so don´t give up on the first try.

Do you have something fun or ethnic you like to cook?

A Christmas Nostalgic Touch

As a child my family would buy egg nog every Christmas so it´s become a tradition with my boys, too. But here in Spain we can´t buy it already made. I usually try to make it for Christmas Eve, but this year I want to make it for our decorating day. This evening we are going to decorate!!
Here is a new recipe for Egg Nog.

Classic Cooked Egg Nog
(1 1/2 quarts or 12 (1/2-cup) servings)
•6 eggs
•1/4 cup sugar
•1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
•1 quart milk* divided
•1 teaspoon vanilla
•Garnishes or Stir-Ins, optional

In large saucepan, beat together eggs, sugar and salt, if desired. Stir in 2 cups of the milk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon with a thin film and reaches at least 160°F. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 2 cups milk and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, several hours or overnight. Just before serving, pour into bowl or pitcher. Garnish or add stir-ins, if desired. Serve immediately.
*For faster preparation heat milk until very warm before stirring milk into eggs and sugar.
MICROWAVE: In 2-quart liquid measure or bowl, beat together eggs, sugar and salt, if desired, until thoroughly blended. Set aside. In l -quart liquid measure or bowl, cook 2 cups of the milk on full power until bubbles form at edges, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir into egg mixture. Cook on 50% power until mixture is thick enough to coat a metal spoon with a thin film and reaches at least 160°F, about 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 cups milk and vanilla. Continue as above.

GARNISHES AND STIR-INS
Choose 1 or several:
•Chocolate curls •Cinnamon sticks
•Orange slices
•Extracts or flavorings
•Peppermint sticks or candy canes

How about your family? Do you have some special nostalgic recipes? I would love to add some new ones to our traditions.