It's HOT outside, and I'm thirsty!!!

If you've been outside lately in our neck of the woods, you would swear its August- instead of May. We've seen a few 90 degree marks, and the humidity- WHEW! And there is nothing better when its hot out than something cold to drink! Today I'm sharing a couple of my favorite punch recipes...

Mixed Fruit Punch Recipe

You'll need : 1-46 oz. can pineapple juice, 1 cup orange juice, 2/3 cup lemon juice, 1 1/2 tbsp. lime juice, 1 cup sugar, 1 -2 liter bottle chilled ginger ale, 1 - l liter chilled club soda, 1 cup strawberries (quartered), 1 thin sliced lemon, 1 thin sliced lime.

Here's what you do :  Combine the first 5 ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover & chill for atleast 4 hours. Stir in ginger ale & remaining ingredients.

THIS MAKES 5  1/2 QUARTS

Sangria Punch

You'll need: 3/4 cup lemonade flavor drink mix, 1 quart cranberry juice cocktail, 1 cup cold orange juice, 1 tbsp. lime juice, 3 cups cold club soda, 2 medium oranges (sliced), 2 mediun limes (sliced).

Here's what you do : Empty drink mix into a large pitcher. Add cranberry juice, orange juice, & lime juice- stir until drink mix is dissolved. Refridgerate until ready to serve. Stir in club soda & fruit . Serve over ice cubes in tall glasses.

Enjoy !!

Easy Sides to Share

Looking for a side dish to go with that yummy main coarse? Look no further! And they are veggie related - so it's good for you ;-)

*Broccoli Casserole*

YOU'LL NEED  : 1 -10 oz boxfrozen chopped broccoli, 1 med. grated onion, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 small jar of sliced mushrooms, 1- 8 oz. jar of Cheez Whiz, 1 1/3 cup cooked rice, 1/2 cup butter,

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO : Cook the broccoli & onions according to the directions on the broccoli box. Cook the rice separately. Then mix all of the ingredients , pour into a baking dish thats coated with cooking spray. Then bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.

YUM !!

*Corn Casserole*

YOU'LL NEED  :  1- 16oz. can whole corn, 1-16 oz. can creamed corn, 1 stick butter, 1 -16oz. tub of sour cream, 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO : Melt butter in a glass dish. In a mixing bowl , pour box of Jiffy mix- then add in the sour cream. Mix well. Add both cans of corn (include the "liquid" from the cans of corn). Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Enjoy :-)

Create-A-Pasta !!

As a lot of you probably already know- I love pasta. I could eat it daily , and be perfectly ok with that ! As we were eating dinner last night (yep, it was pasta), I had a thought for todays post. I used to love eating at Romano's Macaroni Grill, before they closed the one in our area. One of my favorite things there was the "build your own pasta" - i loved the idea of personalizing my pasta. And today, I'm gonna help you to personalize YOUR pasta! Choose from the following :

Pick a Pasta: Ziti, Rigatoni, Bowtie (my personal fave!), Elbow Macaroni, Fettucine, Linguine, Angel Hair

Pick a sauce: ** Garlic Alfredo- you'll need: half a brick of cream cheese (cubed), 1 cup milk, 1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese, 1/2 stick butter, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder.

Combine all of these ingredients in a saucepan on medium heat. Stir until cream cheese is melted & mixture is well blended. Add to hot pasta  ;-)

** Cheddar Cheese Sauce-  you'll need: 3 tbsp. butter, 3 tbsp. flour, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. white pepper (black pepper is ok to use if you can't find white), 1 1/2 cups milk, 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese.

Melt butter, remove from heat. Stir in the flour & seasonings. Gradually add milk, stirring until well mixed. Cook over low heat , stirring constantly until thick & smooth. Cook for 5 minutes longer then add cheese. Stir until smooth & well blended. Serve over pasta ;-)

** Marinara Sauce- you'll need : 1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 sm. onion( diced), 2-3 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp. fresh parsley (or dry), 2 tbsp. olive oil, 6-8 leaves fresh basil (or dry), Salt and pepper to taste.

Lightly saute onions and garlic in oil. Add tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper. Simmer about 5 minutes; add basil. Add to pasta!

Now the fun stuff- Toppings !!

Choose your toppings-veggies: mushrooms, olives (black or green), broccoli, carrots, califlower, onions.

  meats: chicken, sausage, ground beef.

seafood : shrimp, clams, crabmeat, mussels, scallops

Ta-dah! Now have fun & make your own designer pasta ;-)

** tip- when doing veggies, add them to your pasta boiling water for the last 3 minutes of the cooking time- then drain. Makes veggies tender !

** cook pasta according to package directions

Enjoy !!!!