Baked Potato Salad

3 - 5 lb bag of redskin potatoes, cut up, and cooked (not too mushy)
1 bag of bacon bits (I get them at Aldi - they are called Real Bacon bits or something)
2 handfuls of cheese (you can determine how big your handfuls are)
5-6 green onions cut up
equal parts of sour cream and mayonaise
~2 T of dried parsley
salt and pepper

Cook potatoes.  drain.  while still warm... add bacon bits and onions.  doing this warm releases the oils in these foods and makes it in all the potatoes.

Once cooled...  mix in cheese.  Remember to be kind of gentle - potatoes are delicate

Mix together mayo & sour cream, parsley, and salt and pepper.

Mix into potato mixture

ENJOY!

Sorry this is kind of 'this and that' but that's how I cook!

Homemade YUMMY Croutons!

I don't know why I've never attempted homemade croutons, because I don't really like the kind purchased in the store...  Today was my first attempt!  and they were good!!  These could make the pickiest of salad eaters eat salad!  I got the recipe from Family Feasts for $75 a week!  One of my favorite cookbooks!  The recipe below is doubled!  Mostly because I could eat a single recipe as a snack!  I used leftover sub buns from Milano Bakery.

8 slices bread, cubed
4 T butter
4 T olive oil (I only had veggie oil so that's what I used)
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano
1 t garlic powder

Preheat oven 425*

melt butter, mix all ingredients except bread together.

Get a big bowl, toss, bread and butter mixture together

bake 10-15 minutes.  Let cool.  ENJOY!  you can store in an airtight container for 1 month (I have no idea how you could get them to last that long!)

Broccoli salad

8 slices of bacon (or if you make it like me, the WHOLE package!)
2 large heads of broccoli, cut up
1 1/2 c sharp cheddar, shredded
3 green onions, cut up
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/8 c white sugar
salt & pepper to taste
2/3 c mayo
1 t fresh lemon juice

cook bacon until crispy and crumble

In a large bowl, combine broccoli, cheese, bacon, and onion

prepare dressing combining vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, pepper, salt, & mayo.

Combine dressing with salad. Mix well.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I adapted the recipe from here.

I just started making this... Oh man it's so yummy!!

Black Bean Salad

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained well
3 artichoke hearts, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1-2 T chopped green onion
1-2 T chopped fresh parsley
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 T olive oil
Salt & pepper

Mix well!! So good!!

Nutritional Info for the WHOLE thing:

442 Calories
16g fat
21g Protein
66 carbs