festival of salads

even though i make all these jokes about not being a cook and never making anything, i'd like to post a little about all the food that i have prepared in the last 2 hours. my aunt marylou and her husband brad and their two boys are in vancouver at this moment with my parents and brother and they are heading this way for dinner. i am in charge of dinner. okay...so it's just hamburgers BUT...i have made some other items to jazz it up a little.

first, a beautiful pasta salad:
2 cups PRIMO Rotini Pasta
2 cups fresh broccoli florets
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup KRAFT CALORIE-WISE Italian Dressing
1/4 cup KRAFT 100% Light Grated Parmesan Cheese

no directions here -- you all know how to make pasta salad right? these measurements serve 4.

a fantastic and breathtaking fruit salad:
watermelon
honeydew
cantalope
strawberries
green grapes
blueberries
cherries (yes, halved and pitted)

umm...a regular salad - use your imagination. and then we'll also have peaches and cream corn on the cob. yum.

for dessert: frozen chocolate mousse squares (get a pen, you'll want to write this one down.)


1 cup OREO Baking Crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 tubs (250 g each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread
1 can (300 mL) sweetened condensed milk
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

LINE 9-inch square pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. Combine baking crumbs and butter. Press firmly onto bottom of prepared pan.

BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, beating until well blended after each addition. Blend in chocolate. Gently stir in whipped topping; spoon over crust.

FREEZE 3 hours or until firm. Remove from freezer 15 min. before serving to soften slightly. Remove dessert from pan, using foil handles. Cut into 16 squares. Garnish with chocolate curls, if desired.

now the reciepe says that this should be cut into 16 squares and 1 square is 290cal with 20g fat BUT i made it with light cream cheese and low fat cool whip and it still turned out great. so that's got to be less cals and fat, right?

yeah, i guess reading this over, the only "impressive" part is the dessert but here's a reciepe that i made on thursday night. this has been posted previously on my cousin rachel's blog as "Souper Skillet Pasta". the longer story on this dish is that i guess at one time, my mom made this when my grandpa macdonald was out and he loved it and now it is his second favourite dish to serve when you go to their house. seriously. he refers to it as "judy's lasagna". i can't ever remember eating it at my mom's house -- only at grandpas. anyways...it's really good and easy and the leftovers are good for lunches the next day.

Judy's Lasagna aka. Souper Skillet Pasta

A super easy, one pot meal.

1 pouch Lipton Onion soup mix
1 lb lean ground beef
1 tsp oregano
1 796 ml can tomatoes, undrained
2 cups water
2 cups uncooked, medium shell macaroni
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
grated mozza cheese

In a large skillet brown beef, drain. Add Lipton Onion Soup mix, oregano, tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil; stir in macaroni. Simmer covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until macaroni is tender. Stir in parmesan cheese and top with mozza cheese.

I usually cook this in for 30min in the oven at 350 F but everything's cooked in it so you wouldn't have to if you were in a rush.

There you go. proof that once in awhile i make something other than chicken. :)