Try it Tuesday.....

This is a great side dish, or great for just eating by itself with crackers.  Only 100 calories.  Contains sugar snap peas, roasted potatoes, red peppers, and garden herbs.  It's my favorite!  Try it!!

I Wish You Love,

Mimi

We Love Tostones, and You Will Too!!

Tostones are made with green plantains. They are crispy and you sprinkle them with salt. They are very good with rice dishes such as Shrimp Creole, Chicken and Yellow Rice, Black Beans and Rice. They are a Cuban staple, and are quite delicious.

The yellow plantain which is ripening and should turn completely black before you cook it, is called a "sweet plantain" or "platano maduro". The tostones are not sweet. Both are very good with Cuban meals. I always have them in the house, since I cook a lot of Cuban Style meals, and the Cuban hubby loves them with everything.

Cut off the ends, and make 2-3 slits from one end to the other with a sharp knife. The slits make it much easier to peel off the thick skin in sections.

Cut into 1 inch pieces.

Cover the bottom of a heavy skillet with vegetable oil on medium heat fry the plantains turning 2-3 times just to soften them on the inside in order to smash them. They will turn bright yellow. You don't want to brown them.

Remove all of them from the skillet and place on a plate and let them cool for a minute. Now you are ready to smash. Place one at a time in the smasher.

And smash!!

Remove from smasher and set aside.

When they are all smashed, return to medium heat in your skillet with oil and fry until crispy on both sides.

Place on a paper towel and salt right away.

I'm truly a Southern Gal, can't you tell, there's my leftover bacon from the morning, Oh Yeah!

Make some Cuban Style Shrimp and Yellow Rice with some of these tostones, and you will not be sorry you did. Please contact me if you have any questions.

I Wish You Love And Hope You Try Different Foods From Different Cultures,

Goodness knows we are a melting pot here in the Good Ole' USA.

Joyce

Kidney & Garbanzo Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
3 hard boiled eggs chopped
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced onion
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

This is a cool refreshing salad for these hot and humid summer months. Hope you enjoy it.

Love Ya,
Joyce

Mimi's Potato Salad

"4th of July Repost"

Ingredients:

5 medium peeled red potatoes cubed
3 large hard boiled eggs cut up
2 tablespoons sweet relish
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 heaping tablespoons Miracle Whip
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Place cubed red potatoes and eggs in boiling water and boil about 10 minutes. Drain. Peel the shell off of the eggs, and chop. Put potatoes and chopped eggs in a bowl. Add relish, Dijon mustard, Miracle Whip, salt, pepper and combine. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a couple of hours. When you are ready to server just sprinkle a little paprika on top.

I hope you like it.

I Wish You Love & A Wonderful Weekend,

~Mimi~

Cole Slaw

I used the other half of the green cabbage head to make coleslaw. First half I used for the cooked cabbage recipe with bacon and onion. I shredded the raw cabbage coarsely, you may want to cut it up in smaller pieces, we like a good crunch. Anyway, cut it up as you like. Add mayo, about a cup, again I used Miracle Whip, because you will never find real mayo in my house, I don't know why, it's been like that since I was a child. Add a couple teaspoons of Apple Cider vinegar, 2 teaspoons of sugar, salt and pepper to taste. I know you're supposed to add shredded carrots but I didn't have any on hand. Oh well, it is what it is! Combine well and you're done. You can eat some right away, or put it in the frig to chill for a while.

Cabbage is very good for you!!!!
XOXO,
Joyce

Green Cabbage With Bacon Bits & Onion

When I went to see the vegetable guy this past weekend he had some nice heads of cabbage. Cabbage is not something that I cook a lot, just usually when I make corned beef and cabbage on St. Patty's Day. But it looked so good and was so fresh I bought one and brought it home. So I'm thinking, I used to see my Uncle Chic making cabbage all the time. So I called my mom, and she told me how he made it. He served it with fried chicken, or ham, or whatever meat he had, and cornbread, as always. I made a meal of it. Many times the meal was just a vegetable like this and cornbread. They didn't always have to have meat. Like when my Grandma Daisy made a big pot of white Lima beans with ham, we ate that with cornbread and that was our meal, and a delicious one at that!

Ingredients:
1/2 head of green cabbage(cut up)
1/2 lb. of bacon
1 medium yellow onion
Salt & pepper to taste

In a heavy skillet on medium heat cook the bacon until crisp.

Remove the bacon from the skillet and place it on paper towel to drain.

Remove all the bacon grease from the skillet except for about a 1/2 cup.

Saute the onion in the bacon grease until translucent.

Add the cut up cabbage to skillet with 1/2 cup of water and the bacon bits.

Salt & pepper to taste.

Cover and let the cabbage steam, keep your eye on it and turn a couple of
times while steaming.

When the cabbage becomes translucent it's done.

I had this by itself (trying not to eat too much meat and it does have bacon in it) and I just loved it. Served it to my husband with a steak and he loved it. Can be served with corned beef, steak, ham, chicken, or pork, and of course a nice piece of cornbread. I used the other half head of cabbage to make coleslaw.

Enjoy,
Joyce