Banana Cream Fruit Salad

         This is just a quick little post I wanted to share with you before Mother's Day.
    A fast and easy fruit salad that would be great to give to mom or just for your family.
    I'm a fan of fruit salads and this one is creamy and delicious. I hope you all are having
      a good weekend and to all of the moms out there have a wonderful Mother's Day!

                                                          Banana Cream Fruit Salad

                                                          4 bananas, sliced
                                                          3 cups strawberries, sliced
                                                          2 cups fresh pineapple, diced small
                                                          1 jar maraschino cherries, drained
                                                          1 cup shredded coconut
                                                          1 container frozen whipped topping
                                                          1/2 can sweetened condensed milk

   1) In a large bowl mix fruit. In a medium bowl mix whipped topping and condensed milk
   and mix into the the fruit. Garnish with more coconut and strawberries.

Stuffed Peppers with Sausage and Potatoes

              When I write recipes there is never really a method. It seems as though some of
               my best and most interesting recipes are when, I'm at a traffic light, I wake up in
               the middle of the night or doing laundry. If I set out to have a nice quiet day of
               writing...I come up empty handed. This recipe came to me to other day when I
               was craving a sausage, peppers and onions sub. It was an instant light bulb, a-ha
               kinda moment. So there you have it. A process of my writing ( in a nut shell )

                       A healthy weeknight meal and packed full of flavor. Oh yeah, easy too.

                                             Stuffed Peppers with Sausage and Potatoes

                                             6 assorted bell peppers
                                             1 (12 ounce ) package spicy chicken sausage
                                             1 ( 24 ounce ) bag red potatoes - diced small
                                             1 red onion, diced
                                             3 garlic cloves, minced
                                             1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
                                             1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
                                             1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper ( optional )
                                             a handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
                                             shredded mozzarella cheese - for the top

           1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, In a medium size pot. Heat 2 tablespoons
           of olive oil, add potatoes and 2 tablespoons of water. Put lid on pot and cook until
           slightly soft. Add onions, sausage and seasonings. When potatoes are almost done
           throw in the garlic and tomatoes.
           2) Fill each pepper with sausage and potato mixture. Add cheese on top and bake
           for 30 minutes or until peppers are soft and potatoes are cooked through.

                       These cook easily become a vegetarian meal - just leave out the sausage.

Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

          I wrote this recipe early in the week hoping to get it to you by Cinco de Mayo, my -
                         personal favorite holiday and I'm so happy to be able to post this.

     I'm not sure if any of you have seen on the news that California is having some serious
     wild fires and I was evacuated yesterday and was able to get back home today, only to
     hear that I might have to be evacuated again. Luckily, that did not happen. Needless
     to say...I'm celebrating Cinco de Mayo today and counting my blessings!

                                                           Frozen Strawberry Margaritas

                                                           6 ounces of tequila ( Cabo or patron )
                                                           2 ounces grand marnier
                                                           1 quart of fresh strawberries
                                                           3 limes, juiced
                                                           3/4 cup water
                                                           2 tablespoons agave nectar
                                                           3 to 4 cups of ice

        1) In a blender. Mix all 7 ingredients until desired consistency. Pour into salt rimmed
        glasses!

         These margaritas are so tasty and make an entire pitcher full. Share and enjoy!!!

                    If you are interested in more margaritas you can try anyone of these......
                      coconut-lime-margaritas - pomegranate and cranberry margaritas -
                                                     watermelon margaritas

Fresh Pea Hummus

         This day and age there is no limits on delicious fresh and healthy foods. There is
      something that comes over me when I go to a Farmers Market and I see all the bright
      vivid colors of the seasons produce. You want to buy everything and that's a beautiful
      thing. We usually have a few stands that sell hummus and one day I picked up a pea
          hummus and it was love at first bite. This was my attempt to recreate it for you.

                                                            Fresh Spring Pea Hummus

                                                            3 cups fresh peas, shelled or frozen
                                                            1/2 cup basil
                                                            1/2 avocado
                                                            1/4 cup cilantro
                                                            2 garlic cloves
                                                            3 teaspoons tahini
                                                            1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
                                                            1/2 teaspoon cumin
                 
              1) In a small pot boil water and cook peas for 2 minutes. Drain and immediately
              cool with cold water.
              2) In a blender mix all the ingredients until desired consistency and serve with
              naan, pita, carrots, tomatoes, green beans. For garnish top - with olive oil, cracked
              pepper, sea salt, tomatoes and basil leaves.

                           You are really going to enjoy this healthy dip. Spring in a bowl.

Maui BBQ Quesadillas

            When dinner is this good...you crave it all the time. Quesadillas are so easy to whip
            up and if you have a big family and they all like different things, a quesadilla can
            be very versatile. These flavors remind me of the islands. Delicious.

                    Imagine yourself eating this sitting on a beach chair and sipping a Pina Colada.

                                                                        Maui BBQ Quesadillas

                                                                       6 flour tortillas
                                                                       1 1/2 cups monterey jack cheese
                                                                       5 slices deli ham, diced
                                                                       1/2 cup crumbled bacon
                                                                       1/4 cup red or sweet maui onion, diced
                                                                       1 cup barbecue sauce
                                                                       sour cream and parsley for garnish

           1) Heat large skillet and add some butter. In the meantime assemble your quesadilla.
           On one half of a tortilla.. put sauce, cheese ham, bacon, onion, pineapple and add -
           more cheese on top of that. Place the other tortilla on top and cook in skillet.

                                     When done....serve with your favorite condiments.