Garden Vegetable Salad

This would make a great side salad to any meal, or even a wonderful snack.  If you can keep it cold, you can even pack it for school or work lunches, or as part of your picnic meal.

This salad is easy to prepare, and can be almost completely free if you grow everything yourself. If you purchase the items needed, you should look at spending about $15.00. You will have leftover ingredients to use with other meals.

Adding salads to an already vegetable rich meal is a healthy way to get in all of your vegetable servings each day. I have read that we should be getting in about 9 servings of vegetable a day, rather than the 4 or 5 servings that we are all used to.

Garden Vegetable Salad:

Serves 4:

4 cups cabbage, shredded

4 cups lettuce, shredded

1 cup snap peas, uncooked

1 cup beans, uncooked

1 cup carrots, shredded

1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

20 cherry or grape tomatoes

1 cucumber, sliced

1) Combine everything into a large bowl.

2) Toss and serve.

Tomato Soup Idea #3

You may realize by now that we love tomato soup here. It is great on the chillier days that we are still having, especially after a walk or yard work.

I regularly come up with ideas for making soup more wholesome. I do this very cheaply, either by using leftovers or by purchasing items on sale. Sometime, the entire meal is free. This happens when everything has come from the food cupboard and/or friends or my own garden.

Tomato soups are easy to make:

1 can tomato soup

1 can milk or water

corn

tomatoes, diced

 

You can serve this soup with oyster crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich.

What interesting things do you do with your tomato soup?

Shannon

Tomato Soup Idea #2

I wanted share another soup idea with you today, again using tomato soup as the base. Tomato soup is high in sodium, so you may want to try to find a brand with less sodium for optimal health effects.

I regularly come up with ideas for making soup more wholesome. I do this very cheaply, either by using leftovers or by purchasing items on sale. Sometime, the entire meal is free. This happens when everything has come from the food cupboard and/or friends or my own garden.

Tomato soups are easy to make:

1 can tomato soup

1 can milk or water

peas

celery, diced

 You can serve this soup with oyster crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich.

What interesting things do you do with your tomato soup?

Shannon

Tomato Soup Idea #1

I regularly come up with ideas for making soup more wholesome. I do this very cheaply, either by using leftovers or by purchasing items on sale. Sometime, the entire meal is free. This happens when everything has come from the food cupboard and/or friends or my own garden.

Tomato soups are easy to make:

1 can tomato soup

1 can milk or water

carrots

broccoli

 

You can serve this soup with oyster crackers or a grilled cheese sandwich.

What interesting things do you do with your tomato soup?

Shannon

Snack Platter for a Crowd #2: Fuits and Veggies

Here is another snack platter that I used to prepare for the daycare children. They always loved the snack platters that I would prepare for them.

Children don’t care if they share a platter with others. Few of them will even ask for their own plates. It is great.

Remember to have a pitcher of something cold to drink available, as well as some napkins. We used cloth napkins.

Ingredients:

peanut butter stuffed celery

orange sections

grapes

yogurt for dipping, in a bowl

carrot sticks

strawberries

broccoli

cauliflower

watermelon cubes

1. Be sure to rinse all fruits and vegetable before cutting.

2. Prepare fruits and vegetables as indicated.

3. Arrange everything on a platter, with the bowl of yogurt in the center.

Yum!

Shannon

Berry Plate for Breakfast, Lunch or Snack, or as a Salad with Dinner

I love berries during the summer months. If you can pick them in the wild, they are free.

Serves 4:

8 learge strawberries

2 cups rasperries

2 cups blueberries

Yogurt for dipping.

Snack Platter for a Crowd #3: Crackers Plus

This is a yummy one.

I wanted to mention that all three of the snack platters that I am posting are the main tray for the entire get-together, whatever it may be. Your only expense is the platter ingredients and something for everyone to drink.

Ingredients:

crackers

peanut butter

cheese slices, cut into quarters

sliced pepperoni

cream cheese

strawberries

grapes

celery sticks

carrot sticks

1. Make peanut butter cracker “sandwiches” and place them on the platter.

2. Make cheese cracker “sandwiches” and place them on the platter.

3. Make cream cheese pepperoni “sandwiches” and place them on the platter.

4. Be sure to rince all fruits and vegetables, dry them and arrange them onto the platter.

5. Rinse strawberries and pat dry. Add them to the platter.

Delicious!

Shannon

Vegetable Plate for Lunch or Snack

This serves 4:

4 stalks of celery, sliced long

4 carrots, sliced long

8 cauliflower flowerettes

peanut butter as a dip placed in the center of the plate, mixed with sunflower seeds.

Toast Treats

Sometimes we have an over abundance of breads and condiments in the pantry, but not much else. This has led me to making  ‘treats’ from what is on hand. These are for snacks, or can be used for breakfast and lunch if you add a bowl of fruit.

 

Toast

Appropriate fillings

• Cinnamon and sugar
• Peanut butter
• Peanut butter and jelly
• Peanut butter and fluff
• Butter and jelly
• Cheese and meet
• Sliced banana and peanut butter
• Thinly sliced apple and peanut butter

Each treat will consist of two pieces of toast and your chosen filling. Make the sandwich and cut into one of the following:

• 4 squares
• 4 triangles
• 4 strips

NOTE: You could also use a cookie cutter to cut out the center for your child. You could then eat the outside yourself.

Shannon

Holiday Trail Mix

This one is cheap when buy store brands and on sale with coupons.

cinnamon cereal

white chocolate covered pretzels (homemade may be cheaper)

cheap Christmas candies

dried cranberries (maybe even yogurt covered)

 

Just mix everything together and place around in bowls at your next celebration.