Fruit Salad

4 servings Instant Vanilla pudding

3/4 c sour cream

1 1/2 c milk

1/3 c frozen orange juice

Mix pudding and milk and bring to boil (stirring continuously). Add sour cream and juice. If you double the recipe -- only use 1/2 c orange juice.

I like to pour over cut up fruit ... can use any kind of fruit

ie - 3-4 apples, big bunch of grapes, can of pinapple chunks, can of mandarin oranges, peaches, blueberries, bananas (add right before serving), walnut chunks optional

**Miriam Flannigan brought this to a party here, and everyone loved it! The boys devoured the leftovers as well; kept for about 2 days.

Broccoli Salad

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 7 cups broccoli florets
• 1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped

1 cup mayonnaise

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar; set aside.

2. Place broccoli, bacon, grapes, raisins, sunflower seeds and red onion in a serving bowl. Pour mayonnaise mixture over top and mix well to combine. Refrigerate for two hours before serving.

**Easy and excellent!

Country-Style Barbecue Ribs

Makes: 6 ribs Cook: Slow-cook 6 hours on HIGH or 9 hours on LOW
Prep: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark-brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 4 pounds country-style pork ribs

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together ketchup, molasses, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, hot sauce and liquid smoke.

2. Place pork ribs in the slow cooker insert and pour 1 cup sauce over top, reserving the rest for later. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 9 hours or until very tender.

3. Remove ribs from slow cooker and brush with reserved sauce.

**We loved this recipe! It was the first time I had made ribs, so I was a little intimidated, but it was very EASY! The meat literally fell off the bone.

*Served with Broccoli Salad

Greek Salad

7 oz. spinach, torn
1 head lettuce, torn-I used one bag of Romaine lettuce
1/2 c. feta cheese-I used whole 8 oz package, which is almost 1 c.
4 medium green onions, sliced
1 can black olives
3 tomatoes, wedged or 1 pint tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced

Lemon Dressing
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 TBSP. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Mix lemon dressing ingredients well. Refrigerate while preparing greens. Toss with dressing right before serving.

**Kristi gave me this recipe a couple of years ago, and it's ALWAYS a hit! Easy and delicious!
It doesn't seem like there will be enough dressing for all that lettuce, but there is-I almost doubled it, and am glad that I didn't!
Serves 8-10

Grandma Bev's Banana Bread

1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 T sour milk or buttermilk
3 bananas, mashed and allowed to set until brown
1 tsp baking soda, dissolved in milk
2 c. flour

1. Cream oil and sugar.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly.
3. Pour into loaf pan.
4. Bake at 325 for 1-1 1/2 hours.

**Easiest banana bread recipe I have ever tried! I let the bananas get brown, then freeze until I need them. Thaw in bowl, cut the top off and the banana squeezes right out! Sounds gross, but makes the best bread!

Grilled Pork Chops with Shallot Butter

If made ahead, allow the butter to come to room temperature before spreading over the pork. You can also combine the oil and herbs a couple of hours in advance.

Yield

8 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop)

Ingredients

• 8 (7-ounce) bone-in center-cut pork chops
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 1/2 teaspoons minced shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Preparation

1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

2. Sprinkle both sides of pork evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Combine oil, chives, thyme, rosemary, and garlic, stirring well. Rub oil mixture evenly over both sides of pork. Place pork on grill rack; grill 6 minutes on each side or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of pork registers 155°. Remove pork from grill; let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

3. Combine butter, shallots, and lemon rind, stirring well. Spread about 1 teaspoon butter mixture over each pork chop; let the pork stand an additional 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Calories:208

Fat:12.2g (sat 4.5g,mono 5.9g,poly 0.9g)

Protein:22.5g

Carbohydrate:0.7g

Fiber:0.1g

Cholesterol:68mg

Iron:0.7mg

Sodium:360mg

Calcium:28mg

**We all loved these chops, and they were very quick and easy. Unfortunately, I skipped the shallot butter sauce and according to some reviews, I should've made it!

Harvest Time!

It's finally time to start harvesting the vegetables in our little garden! We have just enough green beans for the four of us tonight.
1. Steam green beans
2. Add:
little olive oil
slivered almonds
chives
salt
pepper
3. Serve!

Very quick and tasty!

S'More Bars

Makes: 24 bars
Bake: 33 minutes

Cook: 2 minutes
Prep: 25 minutes
View Nutrition Facts

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 14 whole graham cracker boards, crushed (2-1/4 cups crumbs)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, melted
• 
  
• Brownie:
• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 
  
• Topping:
• 1 jar (7.5 ounces) marshmallow cream (about 1-1/2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup mini chocolate kisses
• 3 whole graham cracker boards, broken up

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F.

2. Crust: Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt and melted butter in a small bowl until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Transfer the crumb mixture to a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan; press crumb mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan, pressing the crumbs evenly into the corners and along the sides of the pan. Refrigerate the crust until chilled and set.

3. Brownie: Combine the bittersweet chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe glass bowl or glass measuring cup. Heat chocolate mixture in a microwave oven on high until the chocolate and butter are melted, about 1 minute. Stir the chocolate mixture until smooth.

4. With a hand-held electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until well blended. Reduce the speed to medium. While continuing to beat, gradually add the melted chocolate-butter mixture to the egg mixture; beat until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the side of the bowl occasionally.

5. Stir the flour and salt into the egg mixture. Then stir in the vanilla until smooth. Scrape the brownie mixture into the crust-lined baking pan; smooth the top level with a rubber spatula.

6. Bake in 350° F oven for 30 minutes or until the top is smooth and the center is set when gently pressed with fingertip.

7. Topping: While the brownie layer is baking, whisk together the marshmallow cream and the milk in a small bowl until the mixture is well blended and smooth.

8. Pour the marshmallow topping mixture over the brownie layer in the pan. Spread or tilt the pan to level the topping and cover the brownie layer completely.

9. Sprinkle the mini chocolate kisses evenly over the marshmallow topping. Then scatter the crumbled graham crackers all over the top.

10. Bake in 350° F oven for 3 minutes or until the chocolate kisses are glossy and the marshmallow topping is set. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

**A little time-consuming, but DELICIOUS. Really shouldn't be on a "healthy" blog, but too good to not indulge in and share:)