Cold Peanut Noodle Salad

This is actually the hot version, Noodle Salad with Peanut Mmmm Sauce:



But I put leftovers in the fridge. Later on that week, I was packing for a picnic. Heck, just grabbed the whole contained and was ready to go. Turned out to be a pretty nice picnic lunch. Wish I took pictures of that. I served it with broiled tofu, which was good with the peanut sauce, but really, just tasted like burnt tofu.

Here is a picture of a meal eaten outside.



My husband requested brats for his birthday dinner. I paired them with sweet potato fries and as a special surprise, his favorite red cabbage. Yes, my husband is weird, but that guy really loves his red cabbage.

Pizza sticks- for lack of a better name.

My sister gave me a great recipe for pizza dough made in my bread maker. Here's the recipe for the 2 pound setting:

12 oz flat beer

3 3/4 cups flour

3Tbsp Sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp Butter

1 1/2 tsp yeast

I've used all whole wheat flour and half whole wheat and half bread flour. Either way, it turns out light, slightly sweet and delicious.

The only problem is that it makes a huge batch. So we made one pizza using leftover roasted veggies from our CSA share. Then I had another idea for Henry's lunch. Add a cheese stick and pepperoni.

And roll them up.

The end result is pretty tasty. I didn't seal up the edges very well, so we lost some of the cheese. But I think Henry preferred that. he asked for no cheese next time.

Add some pizza sauce for dipping and you've got a lunch.

Even June ate it, and that's saying a lot.

Lunchables.

This month's theme is great because two weeks in, I'm already packing the same boring lunch for Henry every day- some kind of nut-free butter and jelly sandwich. I'm pretty sure Henry doesn't mind, because my kids would survive on PB&Js alone if we let them. (None of my kids have touched a supper I've made in YEARS.)

Last year, Henry started asking if I would buy him Lunchables, like ALL the other kids had. If there's one thing in life I am against, it's Lunchables. Nothing in those $3 meals even qualify as food. They are just food PRODUCT. Luckily, Ziploc makes these awesome containers that look like a Lunchable, and appeased Henry for the most part. And I only have to wash one container (because plastic baggies are number 2 on my list.)

Here's Day 1. A few of the whole wheat banana oat muffins, applesauce, and ham and cheese on a whole wheat bagel. Eh. At least it's not PB&J.

Day 2: I made kebabs, as they're all the rage on the mommy lunch blogs. Grapes and peaches, and cheese, tomatoes, and ham. Plus muffins, and some gross crackers Henry picked out at the store.

Whole wheat banana oat muffins.

I've been looking for some good things to pack inside lunches now that school is back in session and refrigeration is not an option. I found this recipe for whole wheat banana oat muffins. Halfway through the recipe I realized I didn't have any eggs, so I substituted about 2 tablespoons of applesauce and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Despite my last minute change-up, they turned out great.

Whole wheat banana oat muffins

1 c. oats

3 tbsp. sugar

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. mashed bananas

1/4 c. milk

2 tbsp. oil

Mix well and bake at 350°F for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins. I used a mini muffin pan and ended up with about 36 little muffins.

Finally, I had to post the photo of my version of Kerri's roasted veggie wraps. If you haven't made it yet, Yum Sauce is awesome! Of course, we had to add feta to our wraps.

You'll notice a bunch of cookie cutters in the above photo of the wrap. I guess sugar cookies count as a take-along food, too?

Black Bean Salad

So, thanks to some of Kerri's posts, I've started checking out this blog and found lots of yummy things. I was intrigued by the barbecue tofu since it has been a looooong time since I've had anything barbecued. Corn on the cob seemed like a natural companion, but I was stumped for what else to serve with it. After raiding the pantry and fridge, I came up with this black bean salad. I must admit that though the tofu was yummy, it was the salad that everyone wanted seconds of--no leftovers! This salad would also be good with frozen or fresh corn off-the-cob mixed in. As I was eating it, I occurred to me that a little Cotija or mild feta would have been a nice addition.

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4-1/3 cup red onion, finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup minced cilantro
2-3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2-3 Tbsp live oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients. Serve cold or at room temp.

Corndog Muffins

I was snooping around on another blog the earlier in the week looking for "freezer recipes". (This is my new thing to do. And so far, so good...I've found two keepers!) Anyway, I scored some on-sale-AND-I-had-a-coupon Butterball Premium Turkey Franks at the grocery store, and remembered that I had seen corndog muffins on the other blog. Hmmmm....seemed easy enough.

I know there are multiple (and probably much healthier) ways of doing this, but mine was the quick-n-dirty way. I had 4 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix on hand, so I mixed them up and poured the mix into the (sprayed) muffin tins (two 12-count). I took the dogs and cut 8 of them into thirds (it was a 10 pack, so munchkin got the others for lunch), and then placed one in each muffin.


I covered the dogs up (extra step that's not necessary, I just wanted to) and popped them in the pre-heated oven at 400* for 15 min, as per the box instructions.

They're not bad! I think I'd prefer them with beef franks, and the cornbread was pretty crumbly, but that may have just been the type of cornbread I used. (Again, it was what I had on hand at the moment.) Will be freezing the rest for later :)

Stuffed Banana Peppers

With my CSA, I have gotten a ton of banana peppers. I am about to call uncle on the banana peppers and cucumbers. If you would like any of either and live in the area, please let me know. Ms Jenny. Please call. Or Text. So finally broke down and googled banana peppers. I mean, after you pickle them (check) what do you do? Well, I ran across a lot of suggestions of just stuffing with them with sausage. Seems easy enough. I got some mild pork sausage and put them in the peppers. It seemed a little naked, so I drizzled some Mmmm Sauce on some of them. Not bad. I think this would be a good one for a tailgate. I served them with homemade pizza and intended on eating it (outside) in the screen in porch, but the kids had a pre-dinner bath and I didn't want them to get dirty again.

Really the purpose of this post is not so much about the stuffed banana peppers, but to bring up the that I have posted before. I made these again and followed the recipe a little better. I made 15 of them (30 halves) and brought them to supper club. Gone. Made another batch for a Labor Day dinner. Gone.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-stuffed-jalapenos-50400000113748/

Roasted Veggie Wrap

Our first outing To Eat Outside was last week. We were going to watch the parade. We means, me and the two kids. My husband was actually in the parade. The parade started at 6pm, and my plan was to get there at 5:15 and eat dinner. For me I made one of my recent favs, a roasted veggie wrap. To make, I simple take all my veggies from my CSA, cut them up, and roast at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. I usually add a sliced onion, but I get that from the grocery store.



I also baked and mashed a sweet potato to add to the kids' cheese quesadillas. Yeah, that didn't go well. My kids are too smart. James ate cantaloupe and Andy ate chips.



A key ingredient of this wrap is Mmmmm sauce from Peas and Thank You. It is like a cheesy curry sauce and is oh, so good! I forgot to take a picture of my wrap, but it was delicious. Later on I took a post-parade picture of Mark's dinner.





And what do you know, later on, the kids managed to choke down their sweet potato and cheese quesadilla:

Foods to eat outside

First of all, I did make some additional foods for last month challenge, but incase you haven't noticed, my photosharing site, photobucket and I were in a fight. It has now been resolved and if you were wondering...I lost. Which is fine. I really like photobucket, so I will pay for it for a year and see what happens. At any rate, I did make a Cashew Vegetable Korma. I halved the recipe and it still made a ton. This was a very nice little recipe, but I did feel it was missing...SOMETHING. Not sure what, maybe a hot pepper in the puree, but if you want some Indian Food, this was a good starting point.

For the September challenge, I should tell you, I live in a College Town. Now that football season is hear, tailgating season is also here. I need your BEST recipes to eat outside. Picnic versions or any other. Bring it!