Rosa Marina Salad

This "salad" is named after my great-great-great Italian Grandma, Rosa Marina. God rest her soul.

Ummmm. I lie..I don't have a Great great grandma named Rosa Marina and I am pretty sure that I don't have an ounce of Italian in me. But who ever this Rosa Marina Bee-otch is, she sure made a yummy salad.

My friend Bobbi actually wanted me to make this salad for our little 4th of July party. She said her relative made it all the time when she visited Pennsylvania. I guess Rosa Marina is a type of pasta (damn, my grandma theory sounds soooo much better) that is popular in Pennsylvania.

Since Rosa Marina Pasta is no where to be found in Florida, I used Orzo Pasta. Bobbi gave me her family recipe..but I made a few changes as always. My husband has since renamed this salad Maggot Salad.(cause he thinks the cooked Orzo looks like Maggots) Yeah, real appetizing huh? Mmmmm, lets have some Maggot Salad. Tasty

ROSA MARINA SALAD

Printable Recipe

1 box Orzo (16 oz)

1 can crushed Pineapple (20 oz)

1 can Chunk Pineapple (20 oz)

1 Large can Mandarin Oranges

1 jar maraschino Cherries (10 oz)

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp Flour

1 Tbsp Corn starch

16 oz. Cool Whip

1-2 cups pecans, toasted and chopped

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, rinse and cool.

Drain the juice from the cans of pineapple, oranges and cherries into a large sauce pan. Reserve the fruit.

Beat in the eggs, sugar flour and cornstarch. Cook until thickened. Allow to cool somewhat and mix into the pasta. Cover and pop in the fridge overnight.

The next morning loosen up the pasta mixture with a sturdy spoon.

Add the fruit and nuts.

Fold in the Cool Whip

Texas Caviar

Waaaahhhhooo.no meat, no chocolate AND no butter??? What, have I completely lost my mind?

I know you all must think I eat awful. But truly I don't. Sure, I do splurge every once in a while, but I cant remember the last time I just baked up something for shits and giggles. Hasn't been as much since my metabolism seems to have run away with my pre-childbirth hips. I mean come on, do you really want to come to my blog and see chicken and steamed veggies?? Big whoopee-do! I would say I only post about a quarter of this things I prepare, if that.

So here is a nice and (mostly)healthy treat that is easily whipped up. Do you see all of that fiber in there?

"Beans beans, the more you eat, the more you fart, the more you fart, the better you feel, so eat some beans at every meal!" Or maybe just take some Beano before you start munching on this.

OR WAIT..better yet..ya know the in laws..the ones you cant stand, the ones that are coming over for dinner?? Serve this and DONT take your Beano, and I am sure they will make it an early night.(Evil I am..EVIL)

Make this the night before you serve it, so all of the flavors have a chance to incorporate together.

There are a ka-zillion recipes out there for Texas Caviar, but I think you will enjoy this one.

Fancy it up with some blue tortilla chips.

TEXAS CAVIAR

Printable Recipe

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen or fresh corn

1 small jar pimentos

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

Salt and pepper

In a small sauce pan over medium high heat, bring vinegar,oils ans sugar to a boil and cook until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.

Add all the veggies in a large bowl and pour the liquid over the top.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Stick a spoon in there and mix it around every so often.

Before serving season with salt and pepper if desired

Thursday July 23rd

I will be on "Daytime" again on Thursday July 23rd. For my local readers it is on NBC at 10 am.
Of my out of towners..check here to see if it is on in your area.
I will do my best to get it on my site as soon as I can.
If you missed my last segment and have 4 minutes to spare..you can view it here.

Creamy Chicken in Puff Pastry

Before you get turned off from the beige on beige picture, let me tell you about this delectable dinner.

This is not what I started out to make. My original idea was to take chicken breasts, stuff them with a yummy cheese mixture and then completely wrap them in puff pastry sheets and bake them up. Well after I had split my chicken breasts and made my cheese filling, I opened my freezer only to find out that I had purchased Puff Pastry SHELLS and not SHEETS. Well shit. I stood there, cussin at the box of pastry shells and moved on. Now I had to go in a completely different direction with dinner. So I cubed the chicken and made my stuffing mixture into a sauce using some wine. And oh my gracious, let me tell you how FABULOUS this was.

Sure I got the standard, "ewww, I'm not eating that" from my kids to two completely cleaned plates from them!!!! Winner winner chicken dinner. YEAH!

CREAMY CHICKEN IN PUFF PASTRY SHELLS

Print this Recipe

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken boobs, cubed

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

8 oz light cream cheese, softened

6 basil leaves, finely chopped

1 oz(about 2 TBSP) sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

3 slices bacon, cooked(crispy) then broken up

3 Tablespoon Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, shredded

1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine

Cook your puff pastry shells according to package directions.

While your shells are baking, heat your Olive oil over medium heat.

Add the chicken to the pan and season with salt and pepper.

Cook until no longer pink. About 5-8 minutes

In a medium bowl mix together the cream cheese,basil,sun dried tomatoes,garlic,bacon,cheese and wine. Mix until smooth.

Slowly add it to the chicken. Mix with the chicken until no lumps remain.

Remove the middle part of the puff pastry and set aside per package directions.

Place chicken mixture into the hole in the pastry and put the little "hat" on the top of the chicken.

****This sauce would also be yummy over pasta or rice***

REWARD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

$10,000,000.00 REWARD.....

For the safe return of my metabolism in WORKING order.

Thank you

My TV Segment is finally up for viewing!!

I finally got my TV segment on a DVD. Uh huh, I am sooooo computer illiterate I had to take it to a Video production company and have them get it in the right file form for me. So y'all owe my $22. I mean you can round it up to the nearest $100 if you want! ;)

Cute Giveaway!

While my kids are no longer babies, I still oogle over baby stuff in the stores. Seems like every year they come out with stuff that is soooo much more hip and trendy than the year before.
So check out the Diaper Bag Diva. She has some SUPER cute stuff on her site.
But it gets better..She wants to give one of my lucky readers something of your choice off her site. You choose! (a value of $40 or less) So hop on over to her site and pick what you would want(under $40) and leave me a comment on what it is. The giveaway ends on Saturday July 11th at 11am EST. Please leave your email if you dont have a blog.

*even if you don't have babies anymore..you can still enter..think of baby shower gifts!!!

http://www.thediaperbagdiva.com/