Bring on Summer...bring out the salad!

The hot days of summer are soon to come.  For a lot of us that means eating lighter, yet satisfying foods.  Here is an idea for a summer salad that you might like to make over and over again!

Satisfying Summer Salad

serves 2

10-12 oz baby spinach, cleaned

1  6 oz. chicken breast, grilled and sliced

3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 seedless navel orange, peeled and cut into segments

1/2 red onion, sliced

12 toasted walnuts halves chopped

Make a bed of spinach on serving platter.  Artfully arrange bacon, orange slices,onion,walnuts and chicken slices over top.  

Serve with dressing of choice. Some ideas are champagne vinaigrette

or  citrus vinaigrette.

WW points: 7 per serving, excluding dressing

Cranberry Hootycreeks

It's time to post another "splurge" recipe...and these cookies are just soooo good!
They are really a variation of oatmeal raisin cookies..so I guess you you want to eat more oats this is one way of doing it!

Craisins
Image source: Mt. Craisin

Cranberry Hootycreeks

yield: 18-24 cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1⁄8 cup sifted flour, all-purpose flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 cup rolled oats, uncooked
1⁄3 cup granulated sugar
1⁄3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup dried cranberries
1⁄2 cup white chocolate baking chips
1⁄2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped



Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
Sift flour before measuring. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.


In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla 
until fluffy. Mix with brown sugar. Add dry ingredients and mix until well blended. Add oats. Fold in cranberries, white chocolate chips, and nuts.


Drop rounded tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until 
edges start to brown.

Cool on wire rack. 


Option:  These cookies can make a great gift in a jar...for details, click the photo caption above.

Barbecued Pulled Pork

This recipe comes from a family friend who's an excellent cook...and at one time owned a deli.
Now that summer is approaching, you might like to try this for company or a summer picnic.
We love it!

Barbecued Pulled Pork

Select a pork shoulder roast with bone that will fit into your Crock Pot.

The roast will need to be trimmed of fat and skin; it takes time to do this but the effort really pays off in the end. This is the best cut of pork for this recipe, according to our friend.  I do not doubt him and have never tried any other cut of pork.

Place trimmed roast into your crock pot.

Combine the following ingredients in a bowl:

2 packages McCormick's Slow Cooker Mix for Pulled Pork

4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 small cans tomato paste

4 T. Liquid Smoke (mesquite or hickory)

2/3 c. dark brown sugar, compacted

2/3 c. cider vinegar

Mix together; pour into crock pot.

Cover pot with its lid set to high for about 8 hours.  Cooking time varies with different crock pots, so check after 7 hours to see if meat falls apart easily.  Once shredding is possible, remove the meat from the pot and shred it with two forks. Remove connective tissue, cartilage, etc. from meat as you shred and discard it. 

Strain the sauce,  taking care to remove fat, bones cartilage from it  Mix strained sauce with shredded meat and mix together. 

If extra sauce is needed, Jack Daniels #9 is a good choice; however, you can really use any barbecue sauce that you like.

Note: Tartness/sweetness can be adjusted by increasing/decreasing the vinegar and/or sugar.