I’m a momma.  A stay at home momma.  I make lunch.  Seven days a week.  I hate making lunch.  I get stuck in this rut of trying to make something easy and quick that my kids will eat.  My kids aren’t particularly picky, but they have the attention span of… wait, what was I saying?  They get bored easily.  So, lunch has to be quick and easy to make as well as quick and easy for them to eat.  And Big J has a weird sensory thing about getting food on his hands.

We have the usual fall-backs: Mac & Cheese, PB&J, hot dogs, spaghetti-O’s… you know, kid food.  Bland and somewhat boring.  Although, I have a weird thing for Spaghetti-O’s.  I get bored with their boring food, but I don’t have time to make everyone separate meals everyday.  So, I have to find ways to liven up their food so I don’t get insanely bored with eating.  Because I like to eat… it should be enjoyable.  This is my newest favorite spin on the quesadilla!

So… I was introduced to this “salsa” when I was dating Mr. Napping.  We were attending a potluck dinner on the 4th of July and this was the dish we decided to bring – together.  Yeah, big stuff.  We told my parents we needed to get together to make it and they didn’t really believe we’d show up with anything.  They figured we were just going to kiss and hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes like love-struck young kids do.  They were quite surprised when we showed up with this salsa – and it was really good!  My mom was doubly impressed when it wasn’t spicy (she has a weak palette and prefers her food quite bland), but still full of flavor.  We are now expected to bring this to Thanksgiving every year by my dad’s extended family.

BLACK BEAN SALSA

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Black Bean Salsa

Prep time:  25 mins

Total time:  25 mins

Ingredients

• - 1 can Black Beans, rinsed
• - 1 can Shoepeg Corn (we can usually find this at Wal-Mart, but it has been difficult to locate in grocery stores at times)
• - 6 to 8 Roma Tomatoes
• - 1 purple Onion
• - 1 bunch Cilantro
• - Italian Dressing (we prefer Kraft's Zesty Fat Free version)
• - Tortilla Chips

Instructions

1. - Rinse the black beans and the corn with cool water.
2. - Dice the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces.
3. - Dice about half the onion.
4. - Rinse and chop the cilantro.
5. - Combine beans, corn, onion, tomatoes and cilantro in a large bowl.
6. - Toss with Italian dressing.  We usually use around half the bottle on one batch of this recipe.
7. - Serve with tortilla chips.
8. Yields approximately 6 cups.  Serves approximately 12 (depending on serving size)

3.5.3208

You can adjust the quantities to your personal tastes.  It will get stronger the longer it sits.  Refrigerate any leftovers.  Keeps for 5-7 days in a sealed container in the fridge.

 

This post was written by Krista and originally appeared on While He Was Napping.

 

This is one of my favorite BBQ foods.  I love red potatoes.  And I really love them roasted. But that can take 30-45 minutes, depending on your oven, which is fine… Unless you are also baking rolls and they need the oven too.  And even on the grill, it will take at least 20-30 minutes, but that takes up valuable grill space for those steaks. So, here’s an easy way to speed up the oven cooking time and still get that yummy roasted flavor.

Ingredients:
– 4-6 red potatoes, washed and diced
– 1 tsp dill weed

This recipe is similar to the Eclair Cake I posted last June.  It’s simple, delicious and a crowd-pleaser.  Who can say no to Oreo pudding, chocolate and whipped topping?  That’s what I thought…

Ingredients:
– 2 (4.2 oz) instant Oreo Cookies & Cream pudding mix
– 1 can of milk chocolate frosting
– 1 tub (8 oz) of whipped topping (cool whip)
– 2 1/4 cups of milk
– Approximately 1 box of chocolate graham crackers

Directions:
– Mix the pudding mix, whipped topping and milk in a bowl until combined.  Don’t whip it, but it should be mixed well.
– Layer graham crackers on the bottom of a 9×13″ baking pan.
– Top with a layer of the pudding mix.  Use about a third to half of it, depending on how many layers you want.  I like three layers of crackers.
– Lay down another layer of crackers on top of that.
– Repeat the layers until you are out of pudding.
– Microwave the can of frosting in 30 second intervals until it is melted and runny.  Try not to overheat it, as it will get a little grainy if you do.  I usually only do 1 minute total.
– Pour the melted frosting onto the top layer of crackers.
– Refrigerate overnight for best results.  If you don’t have time to let it sit overnight, you can dip each of the crackers in milk before you put it in the pan and then let it sit for 4-6 hours.

Enjoy.  Serves 24-30.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

This is quite rich and smaller pieces are definitely not a bad idea.  Seconds are definitely a possibility though… enjoy!

Brooke from Two Texas Gals is here to share a delicious, super tasty recipe with us today.  It’ll make your mouth water, so be sure to pin this so you can come back to it.  Because you already have dinner planned for tonight, right?  Yeah, me neither.  Take it away, Brooke!  I have dinner I gotta figure out…