Feed Your Family

During the summertime my family eats way better than they do in the school year. I'm just keeping it real. After I've taught school all day, done laundry and taken care of other house and church and family stuff sometimes there's not much more left in me than a bowl of cereal or a drive through burger. So during the summer time, we typically eat from the garden, enjoy fresh veggies and grill out..a lot. I love trying new recipes and just enjoying the time preparing foods that I hope my family will enjoy.

Here are a few new recipes that we have tried recently. Believe me when I say they are easy. Also, believe me when I say they are yummy. And in full disclosure...believe me when I say they may not fully comply with your summer dietary restrictions. 

This fruit salad is a recipe from the pioneer woman, Ree Drummond. She is one of my favorites. Her recipes tend to be easy and most of the time I can pronounce all the ingredients. My family loved the fruits involved in this summertime salad and the vanilla/orange syrup was easy to make and added a creamcicle/dreamcicle kind of flavor. On a side note, I didn't have a vanilla bean so I used regular ol' vanilla from my pantry. I added 2 teaspoons and it was perfecto. It gets even better as it sits.

Second, these mouth watering potatoes were the perfect side dish to the steaks Bruce grilled last weekend. Oh my word. Fresh potatoes are one of my favorite things about having a garden...and here I used about 4 large golden russet potatoes. There are still left overs in my fridge and it's kind of making me want to go warm up a bowl right now... but it's only 9:30am so that's kind of early...who am I kidding???...it's really never too early for all this goodness...You'll want to allow for a full hour to cook them through all the way. Super Yummy and a thumbs up all around from the family. 

And lastly, THE PEA PICKIN' CAKE ....seriously a yummy summertime dessert. With layers of fluffy whipped cream and pineapple frosting ....the cake screams tropical getaway. So if you're unable to visit one of your favorite tropical destinations this summer...make this cake, set up a lawn chair outside, grab your sunglasses and enjoy a snack because this dessert will take you away!

Feeding my family is not actually all about the food. It's about the time we spend together preparing it, the time we spend around the table eating and conversing with each other and the time we spend making memories. So many of my memories of childhood are from favorite foods and fellowships my mom would host in our home. She was an incredible hostess, always making the most out of what she had. I learned much about hospitality and caring for our neighbors while working along side her in the kitchen. So feed your family well, because some of the memories they take with them and eventually pass along to their own family one day, may just happen in your kitchen.

That's my story....

Gina