Garden Salad

Another day, another salad...right? I find soooo many different kinds of salads going through my recipes. Most of them are jello based but we'll save that for another day. This one, while it's called Garden Salad, does not have any type of leafy greens in it. However, it does have...vinegar! So much vinegar! Let me say that if a "salad" recipe doesn't call for jello, it calls for vinegar :) This particular salad was a hit amongst many individuals who tried it. It made a pretty big batch, so I was able to share it with others, which makes my heart happy :) Oh! And don't let the amount of green onion sway you to cut back. I was skeptical but 2 bunches worked just fine.

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Garden Salad

1¼ cup sugar

¾ cup crisco oil

¾ cup vinegar

1¼ tsp black pepper

Mix & bring to a boil & cool.

1 can shoe peg corn

1 can tiny English peas

1 can french style beans

1 small jar pimentos

1 cup cut up celery

1 cup cut up pepper

2 bunches of green onions 

Mix all vegetables, pour dressing over all & refrigerate.

*I used apple cider vinegar

*Two bunches of green onions was not too much like I thought it would be

*You can easily add more veggies because the dressing is a lot

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Cornbread Salad

The only package of cornbread I could think of.

Everything chopped and ready to mix.

All mixed together.

Who loves cornbread besides me? I love all kinds. Sweet, not sweet, jalapeno, messican style, all of it. As a side note, there's a healthy store here called Sprout's and they make a jalapeno cornbread that's more like a cake. Y'all it's so stinkin' good! Anyway, this recipe definitely caught my attention. I didn't know what packages of cornbread were used. The only one I know about is Jiffy, so that's what I used. I made it the day before and completely forgot to take a picture...oops! After baking it, I HAD to cut a little corner and taste it (for quality control of course :)) and I totally forgot it was a sweet cornbread. I was worried how the sweet and savory would work together but it totally worked in my opinion. I was thinking this would be more like a Thanksgiving side but after tasting it, I think it would be great as a side for Easter. The one thing I would change would be to cut back a bit on the green onion. I love onions, but my bunch must have been super strong. Total onion breath! Haha! Anyway I really liked this recipe! I'll definitely make it again :) 

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Cornbread Salad

2 packages cornbread (cooked & crumbled)

1 bunch chopped green onions

3 stalks chopped celery* (see note at the end)

1 chopped bell pepper

8 slices crisp bacon, chopped

1 cup mayo

2 chopped tomatoes

Combine all ingredients.

Chill & enjoy!

*I baked the cornbread the day before.

*The recipe calls for 3 stalks of celery. Technically when you buy a package of celery, you're buying one stalk of it. The pieces you break off are called ribs. I usually follow these recipes exactly, but after discussing it with my mom, we both decided that 3 packages of celery would be a bit much. So I used 3 ribs of celery and it was the perfect amount. 

 

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Carrot Salad

When I first saw this recipe, I immediately flashed back to my childhood when my Grandma would take us to the local cafeteria for lunch or an early supper. She would get some carrot salad. I would usually get a regular salad with ranch, and a piece of jalapeno cornbread. I know my grandma would have loved this one had I had the chance to make it for her. Surprisingly, my 12 year old daughter liked it. So much so, that she would take some for lunch! Mom win!

My interpretation of the recipe:

Carrot Salad

Grate 3 carrots (raw)
1 can crush pineapple (17 )
2 fresh apples cubed
Little lemon juice
1 tsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbs sugar

Mix together. Serve cold
Add raisins before serving.

*I wish a can of crushed pineapple was 17 !

*Red apples were uesd

*Fresh lemon juice was used

*I added raisins to each individual serving

 I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Shrimp Salad

 I've been looking for recipes to make that require a short baking time or no baking at all since it's so hot in Texas this summer. This sounded like the perfect one to try. I personally love a cold pasta salad. Plus shrimp? Yes please! Now, I'll be honest. I've been the only one eating this. My family snubbed their picky little noses at it. It's been a good lunch for me the past few days. 

I used the big shell pasta. Not the big ones that you can stuff, but bigger than the shells and cheese kind. They were the only ones my Aldi carried so that's what I bought while I was there. I like how the little pieces of shrimp and things get caught inside the shells. I can't help but wonder if the smaller shells would work better though for more even bites. Either way, I liked this salad!

My interpretation of the recipe:

Shrimp Salad

Mary Ann

12oz noodles (shell)

1½ pounds shrimp (or 3 or 4 cans -> drained but don't rinse)

pineapple (cut up 4 little "tibbits) just a few

dash of black pepper

2 green onions (greens and all cut-up)

4 or 5 hard-boiled eggs cut up

Miracle Whip -> add milk and about 2 teaspoons sugar

Mix - let sit overnight

Next day add more mayonnaise if dry

* I used the medium sized shell pasta

* I used jumbo shrimp and then cut them up into smaller pieces

* I used 4 pineapple chunks cut up into 8 pieces each

* I used 4 hard boiled eggs

* The ingredients called for miracle whip, so that's what I used. Although the directions say mayonnaise.

* The measurements I used for the miracle whip/sugar/milk mixture were: 6Tablespoon miracle whip, 4 Tablespoons milk, 2 teaspoons sugar. You might use less if you use smaller pasta shells.

* After letting it sit overnight, the next day I did end up adding more salt and pepper along with 2 Tablespoons of miracle whip. 

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Mexican Salad

While looking for a recipe to revive my blog, this one caught my eye. Who wouldn't love a Mexican Salad? So I looked over the ingredients and was surprised to see "rat cheese" listed. Sounds yummy, right? What the heck is "rat cheese"?!? I turned to Google, and my wonderfully intelligent friends on Facebook, and came to the conclusion that "rat cheese" was what they used to call cheddar cheese. It was used for rat traps and cut off of a big wheel of cheese. Okay. We happen to love cheddar cheese so this quickly became a must try recipe. 

I used a head of iceberg lettuce and chose medium cheddar cheese. We actually like the extra sharp, but I figured that would have been used for something like this back in the day. I got the good old black label ranch style beans, sweet yellow onion (because it's what I had on hand), a 16oz bottle of Kraft Classic Catalina (didn't think they had the family size option back then either) and a regular sized bag of original Fritos, not the family size or scoop kind. 

This was a super easy and quick salad to make. After tasting it, Anthony and I agreed that it screams Church potluck to celebrate the pastors anniversary, or some occasion like that. It was good. Cheesy for sure! The iceberg lettuce seems to wilt a little after being mixed with the dressing, but adding the Fritos before serving brought some crunch back to the dish. 

A few changes I would make next time would be to possibly try romaine lettuce, purple onion, another can of beans and Anthony said cilantro as a garnish once served. 

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Mexican Salad

1 head lettuce

1 lb rat cheese

1 can ranch style beans chilled and rinsed

1 sm chopped onion

3/4 bottle of Krafts Catalina dressing

1 pkg Fritos - mashed

Cut lettuce, grate cheese, add beans, onions, add dressing, refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. Add Fritos. 

This was found in a small recipe binder. Behind each divider is an envelope to put clippings in. The recipes are handwritten on loose leaf type of paper. A lot of them are just tucked in because the holes are torn. The very back cover of the binder has the name Janelle Parker written on it. It's the same handwriting as this recipe shows. I'm going to assume the owner of this collection was Ms. Parker :)

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.

Three Bean Salad

Front of card

Back of Card

After trying a few sweet recipes, I thought I'd try a vegetable side. My aunt makes a three bean salad so I thought I'd give it a shot. Although this one was similar, it was a little different. Next time I make it, I will probably cut back on the amount of oil and use whole green beans instead of the french cut style. Also, I couldn't find 1 pound cans of anything. They were all just under a pound. 

If anyone knows who Mari Hooley is, please let me know!

Here's my interpretation of the recipe:

Three Bean Salad

serves 10 

From the Kitchen of Mari Hooley

1 - 1 pound can French cut green beans

1 - 1 pound can yellow wax beans

1 - pound can red kidney beans

½ cup minced green pepper

½ cup minced onion

½ cup cider vinegar

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

⅓ cup oil

Day before, if desired: 

Drain beans; place in glass bowl.

Add: green pepper and onion

Mix: oil and vinegar with sugar, salt and pepper.

Pour over bean mixture; toss.

Refrigerate, covered until served.

I hope you enjoy and give this recipe a second chance in your kitchen too.