Bean & Pea Salad

This is my favorite side dish this summer!  I had a similar version of this at a friends house and loved it so I decided to make my own.  Another one of the crazy foods I cannot have anymore is Kidney Beans  but this salad works really well with Kidney beans too!  At our house we normally eat this as a side dish to go with sandwiches or wraps for a quick lunch.  I have also eaten it as a semi-meal.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!  

What you will need:

1 can Blackeye Peas (drained)

1 can Northern or Navy Beans (drained & rinsed)

1 can Artichoke Hearts, quartered (drained)

1 can Black Olives, whole medium sized (drained)

Small Package of Grape Tomatoes

1/2 of a Cucumber 

1 Green Bell Pepper (or red, I have used both), remove the seeds inside and the stem

Red Wine Vinegar

Preparation:

• Pour your drained beans and peas into the mixing bowl.  
• Cut the whole olives, artichoke hearts and grape tomatoes into slices and add to mixing bowl.
• Dice the cucumber and bell pepper and add it to the mixing bowl.
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar to the mixing bowl.
• Stir it all up and then transfer it to a large tupperware and put the lid on then let it chill in the refrigerator for an hour or more before serving.  If you are in a hurry, you can serve it right away.  It tastes delicious for up to about a week!  Enjoy!

Below is a picture of my favorite way to serve this delicious Bean & Pea Salad:

Migraines, Headaches and Cheese

Most of you are looking at that title and wondering how those three things go together.  I recently found out that I am very sensitive to cheese.  It triggers headaches and migraines for me.  I am no longer able to eat any of the cheeses that I love and love to cook with.  The only cheese I can have now is Mozzarella, cream cheese, American, and Velveeta cheese.  There are several other foods that I can no longer enjoy as well but none as sad as the cheese.   So how will this affect you?  Well, I have reworked many of my staple recipes to be either cheese free to have exchanged the cheese for one of the ones I can have.  I am finding that it's not as big of a loss as I thought!  If you would like to learn more about this "sensitivity" please feel free to message me.  

Easy as Pie...Pie!

 What you will need:

•   One package of Light Cool Whip

•   One regular size fruit yogurt, you pick your favorite, I use blueberry

•   One graham or dough pie crust

•   Small pieces of fruit for topping

Preparation:

•   Heat the pie in the oven according to package instructions, and let cool about 20 minutes

•   Mix cool whip and yogurt thoroughly in a bowl

•   Fill pie shell with cool whip/yogurt mixture and put in fridge to cool and set for an hour or longer

When you are ready to serve it, top the pie with fresh fruit and enjoy!

I'm Back...Finally!

Oh my goodness it has been a while since I have posted on here!  But don't worry, I have still been cooking this whole time and taking pictures so I have a lot of updating to do!  Lots of fun new recipes are on their way!