Potato Salad with Bacon recipe,

I only have 7 ingredients for my creamy potato salad. And I NEVER put pickles or onions in mine. That's just wrong! With this great fall weather we've been having it seems like a good day to make ribs and potato salad!

Weekday Chef's Creamy Potato Salad with Bacon! 

This is one of my kids' favorite things that I make for BBQ dinners....great for summer picnics too. 

My 7 ingredients are: Potatoes, eggs,  bacon, celery, mustard, mayo, and salad seasoning. These 7 yummy things makes a great potato salad. But don't eat it that often because it is very high in calories and the egg yolks aren't so good for your arteries. But it's great for a special Summer BBQ.
      
I like to use either red, new potatoes, or Yukon Gold potatoes. Both just seem creamier to me.

And of course bacon makes everything a little bit better, now doesn't it? 

If I use the red, new potatoes, I don't peel off the skins, ever. But sometimes I do with the Yukon Gold, if I'm not feeling too lazy.
Potato Salad Ingredients List:
13 to 15 small and medium potatoes cut up into bite size chunks so it fills a big salad bowl
7 eggs (boiled with the potatoes, then chopped up)
1 1/4 cups of good quality mayo
3 Tablespoons regular French's Mustard
4-5 pieces of bacon cooked and crumbled
3-4 stalks of celery finely sliced (I like that bit of crunch)
5-7 shakes (to taste) of Salad Seasoning (about 2 teaspoons)

Seasoning salt and pepper if you need more flavor
Top with a few shakes of parsley flakes

It's hard to find this stuff sometimes, but it MAKES every single salad better, pasta, potato, spinach...I use it a LOT! 

The best potatoes to use are these red, new potatoes. Just leave the skins on! 

Yukon Gold also make great potato salads...leave skins on or peel as you please...I peeled mine for this salad. 

It's a great side dish. And it tastes even better the next day when all the seasonings have melded together as leftovers!  

THE WEEKDAY CHEF

Zuchini Recipes (Chicken Chili)

Zuchini Chicken Chili

My good friend Launa brought my hubs and I over some of her hub's garden goods; a few of these yellow squash and zuchinis. I love zuchini and my hubs loves yellow squash, but neither one of us had grown or seen these yellow zuchini before. Aren't they so pretty? I had to use them tonight in something.

Chocolate Chip Zuchini Bread and Chili are how I used up these garden veggies!

So I came up with a chili that I added the yellow squash to. It was really good. I had some leftover roast beef I used, some fresh tomatoes from the garden, corn off the cob and some leftover taco meat and leftover Jimmy Dean sausage I had frozen in a zip lock baggie.

Stir fried up the veggies and added the yellow zuchini to the mix.....I didn't have any corn so I added carrots instead. I use up whatever leftover veggies in my fridge with this chili. It's healthy and spicy too!

But not as spicy as this yummy Apricot Zucchini Bread I also made with the yellow Zucchini! Check it out HERE.

It was one of those nights where I just wanted to throw things in a pot and simmer it for an hour while I was finishing the wall painting in my master bathroom.We are remodeling again. Oh Crap!!

This is kind of the "Before Picture".  I'll be done with this in another day Woo Hoo!

We are down to the last 2 bathrooms and we have finished the tile floors. Now we just need to add granite countertops. I can't wait!

Add a packet of Lawry's Chili seasoning and some salsa to ground or shredded beef or cubed chicken.

Anyway, here is another use for zuchini!  Taco Chili

1 1/2 cups of diced chicken or fried & drained ground beef
(or shredded....I use whatever I have on hand)
1 small or 1/2 medium onion diced and sauteed for 8 minutes in oil/butter mixture
1/4 cup green or red pepper sauteed  with the onion
1 cup diced tomatoes or use a can of stewed, diced tomatoes
3/4 cup corn off cob or frozen yellow corn (or another leftover veggie)
1 can kidney beans
1 can chili beans (I don't drain the liquids)
1 quartered and sliced zuchini (small) yellow or green
1 packet of Lawry's chili mix (found in the spaghetti and gravy packet aisle)
1/4 cup fried up ground Jimmy Dean sausage spicy (Optional) I usually have some leftover frozen from doing sausage breakfast burritos.

Zuchini Chicken or Beef Chili....it's soooo good!

Fry up your onions first and then throw the green pepper in. While that is sauteed, fry up your ground beef and drain off the fat. Then mix the two pans together.  Then cut up your tomatoes, and zucchini and 1/2 can of corn or 1 cup of fresh or frozen corn, and dump them all in, your packet of chili mix and your beans. Let it all stew together for 15 minutes on medium heat,  I rarely ever have to add any more spice to this.

You can also add in any leftover veggies or spanish rice. It is kind of a "use up my leftovers" dinner. But BOY oh BOY those yellow zuchini look and tasted great! And my chili goes great with corn bread too!

Deck Restore Painting

We have an old house. I think it is around 35 years old. So this deck may be really, really crotchety! That means old in pig latin. And we redid the flat part last year.  This year we wanted to redo all the posts and cover up those dumb hearts. (who puts hearts on balconies except the Swiss? Are we living in the Swiss Alps or what?)

The awful Deck.  This is the BEFORE DECK RESTORE picture. 

When we started the project last year we had to do a lot of PREP! Oh my GOSH the deck was flaky. Is yours that way too? Yuck!  I took the power washer and washed off the entire deck really good. It took me an hour or so. Then I let it dry.

My Gardening Glove Collection

You know how people that cycle have all kinds of cool cycling gear? My hubs is a cyclist. Every spring when I get home from work there are days when he will get a package. It tends to either be computer gizmos or cycling gear. He loves to get a new shirt or some of those colorful stretchy pants.

My Garden Glove collection......I think I need to add some more colors!

I used to NOT wear gloves and my fingernails would get so dirty and my hands would get slivers in them and my fingers would get raw from sliding them along cement edging or bricks. I once even tried the Dove Soap trick. Scratch your fingernails along Dove Soap before gardening so you fill under your nails with soap. It did work better at keeping dirt out from under my nails, but it irritated me too. I didn't like it. So gloves it is.

This would be such a cute thing to make to hang the wet gloves up on! I love it!

Well, I think gardeners are no different. We love a good hat, some colorful or "feel good" gloves or a new and improved tool of some sort. I still dream about the day I get a ride on mower.....not that I mow the lawn all that much, I just would like a ride on a ride on mower, haha!
These Atlas gloves are listed as top 5 favorites in gardening gloves, and I think they are really neat. But I think I only need one pair at these prices! EEK!



So here is my collection of gardening gloves. I have all kinds.

I sure do have a lot of black gloves!What's up with that?


These are cute ones too. Gotta love a new, cute pattern on the gloves. Sometimes I like these loose, thick ones if I'm picking up twigs or pruning bushes. 

 There is always one pair out on the porch drying out from getting wet or muddy weeding or watering. I just throw them in the washing machine with a load of towels every time I weed or work in the yard.

Garden Gloves....I love the ones with cute patterns, but the thinner, rubbery ones work better for weeding.

And the funny thing is.....every time I walk past a display of garden gloves, I want to buy a new, cute pair! Just like a cyclist longs for a fun, new, pair of socks or some cool, new jersey design.

But my feeling is, HEY! If it helps motivate me to get out there and weed, isn't it worth every penny spent on my glove fettish? Oh yes it is. :D

Strawberry Pie with Jello Glaze

Strawberry Pie.....so good it's criminal!  I use Jello for the easy glaze! 

Fresh Strawberry Pie with Jello Glaze...don't ya want a bite? Yes, you do! 

I love fresh strawberries and I had a ton I got from the  market for $2.00 a package! What a deal!!  So I made a strawberry pie. This recipe is so easy and it was deeeeeeelish.  You make the glaze with jello! It is SOOOOOO easy peasy.  

     
I'm gonna do another one in peach as soon as they are in season.

Peaches from my tree last year were so yummy. It is just now filled with pink flowery blossoms!

Well, not as pretty as this little Peach at her Spring dance recital! 

                                   Here is Miss Megan being her cute, little, joyful self after the recital. So cute!

I like to make my pie crust with real butter. It just tastes better to me, like a yummy crescent cookie. So try your crust with butter to see if you like it too.

PIE CRUST INGREDIENTS.....
 I used 1 cube butter,
 cut in 1 1/3 cup of flour.
 Add 1/2 teaspoon salt
 3 Tablespoons ice water
(I add ice cubes to the water before taking out the Tablespoons. 

The glaze is easy..just jello mixed with sugar water and cornstarch...

Then I like to whisk it up mold it into a ball and roll it out on a large zip lock baggie. It just makes life easier and I was out of waxed paper. :D  I rolled it out so it was about 1/2 inch bigger all around than the pie tin layed over it.  Then I cut around it. 

I rolled it out onto the gallon size baggie...you could use waxed paper too. 

cuttin' around the upside down tin...1/2 inch bigger for the cute edging...

It's so easy to flip the pie crust into the pan and peel off the baggie...then toss it!

Making the beautiful edging is my fav part. Just pinch between your left thumb and your right thumb and forefinger to make the pointy peaks around your pie crust edge.  Or opposite if you are a lefty.

Don't forget to poke forkholes in the butter pie crust...then bake at 475 for 8-10 minutes.

While the crust was baking I did the glaze and cut off the tops of the strawberries and washed and dried them. The glaze is super easy.

Mix 3/4 cup sugar withStrawberry Glaze Ingredients and Directions
1 cup of water
2 tablespoons cornstarch   Mix first 3 ingredients....

Put it in a saucepan on the stove till it is smooth and when it is bubbling....boil  for about 2 minutes. Then take it off the heat.
Add 1 small 3 oz. strawberry jello into the thickening syrup.
 Whisk it for a minute till it is dissolved and then put it in the fridge for 15 minutes to cool.

Boil the syrup for about 2 minutes....It's a little bit thick...

Take it off the stove and toss in the small box of jello....

J

Here's my glaze before I refrigerated it for 15 minutes....

Then arrange the yummy strawberries with the pointy side up in the cooled pie shell. By the time I had the green tops cut off and them washed and dried, the glaze was cool!  Pour the glaze over the top,  coating each of the top strawberries. Then pop it into the fridge for a 1/2 hour until set.

 It was delicious because the top of the crust was still crunchy cookie tasting. I hate pie crust that is all soggy Ug! So we ate that baby up so fast!!!  It was gone by morning. Yum is all I can say.  But I wish I had made 2 of em.  

Who says you can't have a piece of Fresh Strawberry Pie for breakfast...NOT ME!

I'll be dreaming of this Strawberry Pie  for awhile......mmmmm good!

Homemade Insect Repellent

Here is a cool recipe for INSECT REPELLENT that is all natural and you can make it yourself! 



Combine in a 16 oz bottle:
15 drops lavender oil
3-4 Tbsp of vanilla extract
1/4 Cup lemon juice.
Fill bottle with water. 

Shake it and spray it! Keeps the bugs off during gardening or a BBQ party. 

Deer Proofing My Yard?

I have been ignoring my garden for the past few months. Mostly because it was covered in snow. But yesterday the weather in Northern Utah got to be around 60 degrees. It was so beautiful and sunny out. Everybody started working in their yards. Look what is sprouting up in mine!!

 And I noticed a few of my bulbs were peeking out from the frozen dirt. I noticed hyacinths in pink. It is so cute!

 And here are my cute little Easter chicks on Easter Sunday. Below is my first daffodil coming up in the front yard.

And here is a crocus in purple below. I love this lonely little daffodil too. Some bloggers say they don't love daffodils. I wonder how long before the deer find mine?

 I'm waiting for this one to burst open before the deer find it!  Maybe I'll have a few days of color before it gets chomped on.

 Here is a purple hyacinth above and a paperwhite below. They are such delicate little bulbs. I'm going to plant a few more of them. I have also heard that cayenne pepper in a water spray on the flowers can deter deer. I'm going to try it.

 Maybe I'll try this stuff from Sams Club if I get desperate! 

I have read that yarrow, coneflowers, lavender, blue salvia, and a few others are not loved by deer. Also that you can get wolf urine and hang it up in bags on trees and that will scare them off your property. I am thinking of trying it, as weird as that sounds. My hubs is against it. Haha. I might have to resort to something drastic.  Anybody got an idea to keep deer out of the flower bulbs?