Strawberry Spinach Salad

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Have you been strawberry picking or just have a lot of strawberries you’ve found on sale? In that case, you might be looking for a new recipe to add to your summertime collection!  Last week, I asked the Thrifty NW Mom Facebook Fans what were some of their favorite ways to use strawberries & they responded with an awesome list of ideas.  I’ll list some of those at the end…but for now, this is a yummy recipe that Facebook Fan Christi emailed me!

Strawberry Spinach Salad:

• 1 bag spinach
• 1 pint strawberries
• 1/2 Cup pecan pieces for garnish

Dressing:

• 1/3 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp onion, grated
• 1 cup light olive oil
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Directions:

In a blender, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt & onion. Slowly add olive oil & blend for 1 minute (can also be whisked by hand in a large bowl, just skip the extended blending step).  Refrigerate until chilled & then dress salad. (I usually won’t wait for it to be refrigerated). We like our salad with minimal dressing, so I would be able to make 4 salads with just one dressing recipe.

Doesn’t this salad sound so good? And simple to make – my kind of recipe!

Here’s a list of some of the other ideas that the Facebook Fans shared for their favorite ways to use strawberries:

• Strawberry pie (anyone have a good recipe for this – I’ve been looking for one!)
• Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam
• Chocolate-covered strawberries
• Strawberries dipped in sour cream & then in brown sugar
• Fruit Smoothies
• Berry Crepes
• Red, White & Blue Pie
• Grilled halved strawberries with mango ice cream
• Strawberry Tart with French Pastry Cream

So, what is your favorite recipe to use with strawberries (or any fresh berries, for that matter)? If you have a great recipe to share (& even pictures of your recipe), we’d love to hear it! Email me at thriftynwmom (at) hotmail (dot) com or just leave it in the comments & I can share with the readers!

Thanks Christi!

Photo Credit

Quick & Easy Camping Recipes

Guest Post from Amber at Coupon Connections NW:

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is to go camping with my family.  We have gone even when our kids were babies and I don’t regret one minute.  But before I started using coupons, I would dread the price tag that came with it.  It seems that the “cheap” vacation became a huge expense.  I am so thankful that even though our income has dropped, that I am still able to give my kids this fun experience with the help of using coupons.

Today I am going to share a few of my favorite recipes that I like to make when I am camping.  Because this is our family’s vacation time, we like to pull out all the stops and eat well.  Here are some great recipes that you make ahead of time to alleviate some of the mess, but not sacrifice the quality or flavor.

Egg McMuffins

Now this may sound a little weird, but it works and it is good!

Ingredients:

Sliced Cheese
Egg
English Muffin

Pre-Cook your eggs in a bowl in the microwave.  This way they will be the size of an english muffin.   Make sure you spray the bowl with PAM first.  And I found that in my microwave 40 sec is perfect. Then once they cool stick in a ziploc bag ready for packing.

When camping use your BBQ Grill to toast the English Muffin & reheat the egg and add a slice of cheese if you would like.

Oh they taste good!

Lunch:

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

This is so simple, but yet SO good

Ingredients:

Tortillas
Shredded Cheese
Turkey Meat
Ranch Dressing (or one you prefer)
Lettuce
Red onion
Already Cooked Bacon*
{And whatever other fixings you would like}

I have everything cut and ready in ziplocs and just throw together when I am there.  I find that the wraps are better than sandwiches because you don’t have to worry about the bread smashing.  As well, with using ranch dressing, I am not having to pack mayo, mustard and all those other goodies.

*I just pre cook a day before trip regular packaged bacon and keep in ziploc bag.  You could use the already cooked if you would like

Dinner:

Fire Cracker Salmon

This is one of those recipes that gets better the longer you marinade it.

• 8 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• 1/2 cup peanut oil
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 tablespoons green onions, chopped
• 3 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Just add all the ingredients together and put the salmon in a ziploc bag or container and your ready to go.  Marinate at least 4 hours. I cook it on a Travel BBQ.

*Serve with Betty Crocker Instant Potatoes & Asparagus

There are so many recipes like these that are awesome for going camping.  No need to just eat hotdogs.  I actually prefer to make marinated meals because then you will not have to worry about bringing all the condiments and you will save some space.

Quick Tip: if you are ever wondering if a recipe would turn out okay…. do a practice run at home first.  I did that with the english muffins and I was very happy with it.

In the next month over on my site, Coupon Connections NW, I will continue to share some more of my favorite recipes that I like to take camping.  Hope that you will stop by for a visit.

Amber is married and a stay-at-home mom to 4 young children, living north of Seattle.   Make sure to check out Amber’s site, Coupon Connections NW. This is an informative & fun Northwest deal blog featuring  grocery store deals for NW stores, freebies, money-saving tips & much more!

Ways to Celebrate Easter – Resurrection Sunday

I have to say that my absolute favorite season is Spring! I absolutely love the trees coming back in bloom, the beautiful flowers popping up everywhere and all the reminders of new life emerging around us! And that’s why Easter is so important to me and my family -it’s a reminder of the sacrifice made by our Savior and the new life that each and every one of us can have in Christ!

As a family, we do participate in some of the fun Easter traditions (egg hunts, dyeing eggs, etc), but most importantly, we want our girls to understand the real meaning behind Easter & the fact that Jesus is alive & He is risen!  Here are a few recipes you can make tonight and tomorrow morning to celebrate His resurrection with your children!

RESURRECTION ROLLS:

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can of refrigerated Crescent Rolls or Biscuits {I’m sure you couponers have many of these from recent sales!} -you could also use homemade dough-even better! We used biscuits for ours.
• 8-10  Large Marshmallows
• Melted Butter {around 1/4 cup}
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons white sugar {we were out of white sugar & just used brown sugar-just as good!}

{Mix the sugar & cinnamon together in a bowl & have the melted butter                 in a separate bowl}

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (or whatever the package directions say)
2. Give each person a crescent roll triangle or a biscuit dough circle (with our biscuits, we used a rolling pin to flatten them a bit & make them larger) – This represents the tomb where Jesus was buried.
3. Give each person a marshmallow – this represents the body of Christ
4. First dip your marshmallow in the melted butter – make sure it’s covered in butter on all sides. Then roll the marshmallow in the cinnamon/sugar mixture so it’s coated.
5. Next, lay the cinnamon/sugar coated marshmallow in the center of the crescent roll or biscuit. Then carefully wrap the dough around the marshmallow & make sure to pinch the seams really good to keep the marshmallow in.
6. Place on a baking sheet and bake your rolls according to the package directions. Let them cool.
7. Have your children “break open the tomb” and see that the tomb is empty & Christ is gone – He is risen!

*We added a bit of extra melted butter & cinnamon/sugar mixture on the outside & it made it even tastier! They were yummy & meaningful at the same time!

RESURRECTION COOKIES:

Image from Women Living Well – visit this site for recipe!

Another idea that we’ll be trying tonight are Resurrection Cookies – Easter Story Cookies!  These are a great one to make on the evening before Easter, so you can open these up on Easter Sunday!  Very similar to the Resurrection Rolls, but they go into more depth about the Easter Story from the Bible!   I’m excited to try these as a family tonight to prepare our hearts for tomorrow’s celebration!

St Patrick’s Day Recipes & Crafts

Are you looking for some inspiration for St Patrick’s Day coming up on Wednesday? My daughter is really into celebrating all of the holidays now and loves to decorate the house, do fun crafts, and have fun things to eat along with the day. {We just finally took down our foam snowflakes hanging from the entry light and our string of Valentine hearts that she had put  up with her daddy to surprise me for Valentine’s Day. It was about time – it is only the middle of March!!} We’ll be switching to more Easter decorations now – but I’m still looking for a few fun St Patrick’s Day items to have up for a few days.

I was excited to see a new, FREE E-book filled with all sorts of fun St Patrick’s Day crafts, decorations, and recipes! {Check out the cute hat decoration above which seems pretty easy to make!}

Here are a few more fun ideas you’ll find in the FREE E-book:

-Felt Shamrock Garland
-Happy St Patrick’s Day Card
-Irish Shamrock Plate
-Homemade Bailey’s Irish & Cream
-Lucky Clover Pendant Necklace

Free E-Book – Healthy Chicken Recipes

I don’t know about you, but I am always in need of good, healthy chicken recipes! So, I was pleased to see this new e-book filled with 22 recipes for quick & easy healthy recipes for chicken! Head on over HERE to download this free E-book!  {If this link is not working, try clicking on the picture below}

Here are a few of the tasty recipes I found:

• Black Walnut & Honey Mustard Chicken Breasts
• Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken
• Slow-cooker BBQ Chicken
• 10 minute chicken & noodles

Game Day Appetizers – Free Ebook

Are you hosting a Superbowl gathering at your house or just heading out to a party & in need of a tasty appetizer?  Then, you’ll want to check out this new FREE E-book filled with 39 appetizer recipes and party pleasers perfect for satisfying those hungry appetites on game-day!!

Here are some of the yummy recipes I found:

• Cheesecake Factory Bruschetta
• Saucy Aloha Chicken Wings
• White Mexican Cheese Dip
• Market Day Bacon-Wrapped Jumbo Party Shrimp (my husband would LOVE this one!)

Check out these other FREE E-Books:

• 31 Top-Secret Restaurant Recipes (you”ll find recipes from Olive Garden, PF Changs, Macaroni Grill & more)
• 33 Hearty Slow-Cooker Recipes
• 32 Porkchop Recipes

Free Thanksgiving Recipe E-Book

Recipe Swap

I know I haven’t been posting as many deals these last few days–just wanted to let you know that I have a super busy week with some other responsibilities (one of which is a couponing talk I’ll be doing with 2 other gals for our MOPS group on Thursday!). So, unfortunately I’m having to slow down on the blogging until I get more things accomplished. But, I promise that I will have some great new deals for you later in the week.

Tuesday "Recipe Swap" – Apricot Chicken or Pork Chops

I’m a little late in the day posting this, but I wanted to still get this up today. It’s time to share our favorite recipes with each other! We had a great response last week and had all sorts of wonderful recipes shared….everything from homemade pesto, chili recipes, snack mix, salads, & more. Check out all of those ideas HERE .

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Are you looking for more tasty bread recipes – here’s one for Zucchini bread, a great fall treat! This recipe comes from a reader, Linda, who emailed me to say she heard about Thrifty NW Mom on the news. It turns out that Thrifty NW Mom was mentioned on the news last Friday (Komo 4 News out of Seattle) as one of their Deals 4 The Day and also mentioned on their website in their “Hotlinks” section. You can find it here (it’s now moved further down the page). Pretty exciting!

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