Food Friday - Girls' Lunch

from Kris B.

So the lazy days of summer have truly set in and I am loving it!  This unscheduled and uncomplicated days are much needed and even more appreciated!  These feelings have made me think back to my summers as a kid.  Summer break is way different for me now, as it is also for kids.  How many of you remember disappearing in the morning to go play with your neighborhood friends knowing that at lunch time whomever's house was closest when hungry struck would be where everyone ate lunch?  That lucky mom would make a few simple sandwiches, grab some chips, apple, and maybe a few cookies and happily feed all the neighborhood kids, knowing that tomorrow it would be someone else's turn.  As an aside, we could eat chips and cookies because we were outside playing and burning those calories.  For many reasons, kids today don't have the luxury of this simple life.  They have "play dates" at commercial establishments specifically designed for them.  Kids' lives have to be planned way in advance, phone calls have to made, calendars have to be checked, outfits have to be chosen...it all seems so complicated.

Truthfully speaking, things are not much different for adults.  Most people don't extend hospitality from their homes as often as once was done.  We meet our friends for coffee, or for a quick burger, or maybe a nice sit-down dinner somewhere every now and then.  I think that one of the reasons that we don't gather in our homes as much anymore is because life has become too competitive - Thoughts like "I'm not as good a cook as so and so, my house is clean enough, my dishes aren't pretty enough, and so on" invade our thinking and we buy into all of that.  All of those things might be true, but are they what really matters?  If I chose my friends based on their culinary skills, I would probably eat a lot less.  If I chose them based on their taste or ability in decorating, I'm not sure how many I'd have.  Thankfully, I don't choose my friends on any of these things.  I choose them rather on things like their levels of compassion, trust,  integrity, sense of humor.  It doesn't matter whether we are eating hot dogs or a fancy multi-course meal, we always enjoy being together, because just being together is what is important.

I wonder what would happen if rather than meeting our friends at Starbuck's or the local burger joint, we invited them over for a sandwich, and chips, and maybe fruit and a cookie?  This week's recipe from me is a simple sandwich that might inspire you to give this a try.  It consists of only four ingredients - deli roast beef (or perhaps leftovers from last night's dinner roast), fresh spinach, tortillas, and prepared garlic and herb cream cheese.

Spread the cream cheese so that it covers the tortilla, layer in some meat and then some spinach.  The amounts are up to you.  Roll it up and cut it in half.  Simple and tasty!  Now enjoy lunch with your friends!

And here is a summer surprise!  Next weekend is the 4th of July. Crazy, right?  But that is not the surprise.  If you read my Tuesday post, you know that I indulged my creative block in a few phone apps.   They are fun; whether they have gotten me out of my slump is yet to be determined.  Because we believe in sharing the fun, next weekend, in honor of Independence Day, we are giving away a $20 gift card for either Apple or Google Play.  If you want to have some summer fun with phone photography, leave us a comment on any or all of the posts here between today and next Friday.  Let us know which type of gift card you would prefer should you be the lucky winner.  And, if you forward this information to a friend and they mention you in the comments, we will give you both an extra entry!  This is a great opportunity to get some of those apps that you have been wanting!



from Tracey G.

It's been a long time since I've made this recipe, and I forgot how much I really like it, lol. Harry loved it - minus the frosting because it has crushed pineapple in it, lol. Go figure, my favorite part is the one he doesn't like - but that's ok because he scrapes it off and gives it to me, lol. It's a win-win ;-)

This is one of those recipes that couldn't be easier, which is a good thing, because things have been crazy it seems, lol. When Kris and I talked about what to make this week, she asked me if I had a sandwich recipe I'd want to use and I said "other than put some salami or turkey on bread, with mustard and eat - nope, I sure don't! But dessert recipes I have more than enough of..." So, she suggested a lunch theme and this was a dessert I thought I'd make for something like that. :-) Although, I'm sure I could find a lot in my recipe book that I'd like to make, this is one of those that jumped out at me because it's light (not light as in low-calorie, although I did swap out a few ingredients to help lighten the calories - like half the oil for some applesauce and Lite Cool Whip for the regular) and cool for a summer day. And honestly, can brighten a winter day as well, lol! :-)

Ingredients are simple, a yellow cake mix, a can of Mandarin oranges, a can of crushed pineapple, eggs, vegetable oil (I used 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 4 oz. applesauce), a package of instant vanilla pudding and 8 oz. container of whipped topping. 

For the cake batter, in a mixer you combine the cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil (or applesauce/vegetable oil combo) and the  Mandarin oranges with their juice.

Mix until well blended. 

You then pour the batter into a greased and floured 9x13" pan - I skip the flouring because I use the cake release stuff by Wilton, saves having to do that extra step. Bake at 350° F for about 35 minutes.

When the cake is completely cooled, make the frosting - combine the crushed pineapple with the juice, vanilla pudding and cool whip and stir until well mixed. Spread over the cooled cake. Serve! :-)

Mandarin Orange Cake

1 18.25 oz. yellow cake mix (I had a 15.25 oz cake mix and it worked out just fine)

4 eggs

1 11 oz. can Mandarin oranges - undrained

1 c vegetable oil

1 8 oz. container whipped topping

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple - undrained

1 3.4 oz. box instant vanilla pudding

1) Mix together the cake mix, eggs, oranges with juice and oil. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13" pan.

2) Bake at 350° F for 35 minutes. Cool completely.

3) Beat together whipped topping, pineapple with juice and pudding mix until well mixed. Spread on cake.

And in case you missed it above, here's the giveaway information one more time!  

And here is a summer surprise!  Next weekend is the 4th of July. Crazy, right?  But that is not the surprise.  If you read my Tuesday post, you know that I indulged my creative block in a few phone apps.   They are fun; whether they have gotten me out of my slump is yet to be determined.  Because we believe in sharing the fun, next weekend, in honor of Independence Day, we are giving away a $20 gift card for either Apple or Google Play.  If you want to have some summer fun with phone photography, leave us a comment on any or all of the posts here between today and next Friday.  Let us know which type of gift card you would prefer should you be the lucky winner.  And, if you forward this information to a friend and they mention you in the comments, we will give you both an extra entry!  This is a great opportunity to get some of those apps that you have been wanting!