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My son also started day care this week. Well, gym daycare at least. I guess you could also call it kiddie gym. He stays in there all of an hour. On our first visit, he was overly excited, and had real tears when we left. I think he wanted to stay all night. On the second visit, he had a toddler tantrum when it was time to go, but settled down when he knew he could come back the next day. The third time was just as bad. We are going again tonight for a yoga class, and anticipate the same tantrum when we go to leave. I don’t know why we took so long to get back into going to the gym since I had our son, but am happy we are back to going again. I already feel better, and hope I can shed a few, post baby weaning pounds pretty fast. All my baby weight fell off pretty fast.  However, after weaning, I started putting on the pounds, fast.  It was something I was unprepared for, so I have a little work to do.(...)
Read the rest of Black Bean Mango Quinoa Salad (103 words)

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Don’t forget about the McDonald’s giveaway. You can go to my giveaway page here and in addition to entering the giveaway, you can also pledge family time you spend with your kids. For every second pledged, McDonald’s will pledge 1 penny to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. (...)
Read the rest of Beans and Rice Salad (210 words)

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Here is a great way to enjoy paella flavors in the heat of summer. The other day it was so hot, and I had a craving for paella. Mainly because my son keeps taking out a link of chorizo from the freezer and asking me to cook it. But it was just too hot to eat anything but a cool dish, so I just put this together. I only cooked the saffron with the rice, and left all the veggies raw. It turned out really good, my husband even liked it better than a cooked paella, and said it was the best dish so far this month. This dish is really versatile too, because you can use different kinds of veggies and different meats. I think next time I’ll just get pre-cooked shrimp and Spanish chorizo and add some peas. (...)
Read the rest of Paella Rice Salad (229 words)

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This quick and easy salad has corn, black beans, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. It is seasoned with cumin and oregano. It makes a quick and easy summer supper. Since It has been so incredibly hot here in Florida, and I have been trying to make more salads that serve as main course dishes. This recipe was sent to to me by my sister-in-law. It looked so good, I just had to make it the next day. I made a few modifications, like changing green onions for red onions, and using fresh oregano instead of dried. I have planted some herbs in containers on my patio that come in very handy.(...)
Read the rest of Black Bean, Corn and Avocado Salad (125 words)

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I have just discovered that I am completely in love with quinoa. Thankfully, so is the rest of my family. I have tried serving them other types of grains as salads before, but nothing was ever really been a hit. However, this quinoa was loved by everyone, even the toddler. I have been seeing lots of quinoa on blogs and on cooking shows lately. I even saw a beet quinoa risotto on a cooking show a few weeks ago. It got me thinking about all the other type of quinoa dishes you can make. The best part about cooking with quinoa is that it is not only good but also good for you. It is very high in protein, vitamins and minerals. Its one of the highest protein plant foods you can eat. I first got the inspiration for this salad at Kalyn’s Kitchen. I added a few ingredients, including some sunflower seeds, not pictured. Some feta cheese would have also been a great addition. My husband requested some bacon, although it was a great idea I didn’t add it to save on calories. Bacon does makes everything better, doesn’t it? Picky palate and Closet Cooking also has some great ideas for summer quinoa salads. I served this salad with some leftover roast chicken and a fabulous black Russian bread I’ll be sharing with you soon.
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Read the rest of Greek Quinoa Salad (106 words)

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This is one of the quickest and easiest salads. Its my favorite quick fix salad for the summer. The canned beans in this recipe are part of my regular pantry stock, so all I have to do is get some fresh parsley to put this easy salad together. I recently found three bean salad in cans at my grocery store. Although, on my recent trip, they were nowhere to be found. Instead, I bought 2 cans of yellow wax beans and green beans, and 1 can of dark red kidney beans. You could also use any other type of beans you would like. You could use cannellini, chickpeas or black beans. Add different types and combinations of fresh ingredients too, like celery, green and red bell pepper, and tomatoes. Its a very versatile salad that’s also nutritious.(...)
Read the rest of Three Bean Salad (87 words)

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I hope all the Mothers had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I had a wonderful day starting with Mimosas in bed and one of those recordable cards with my sweet little toddler saying, “I love you mommy.” My husband took me to a local restaurant here for brunch, Cravings. Then dinner at Colorado Steak House. Time in between was spent lounging poolside. I also got a surprise gift that was actually for the whole family earlier in the week for Mother’s Day too. I’ll let you in on that secret with a photo later in the week. Suspense!(...)
Read the rest of Garden Tuna Salad with Olives (190 words)

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Simple, classic, and easy enough for a busy weeknight meal. This elegant salad was first created at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, by Oscar Tschirky, in New York City in the 1890′s. It has since become a chicken salad staple at many restaurants, family picnics and other get-togethers. This is my husband’s favorite chicken salad. Eat it as a salad, in a sandwich or a wrap. It is very versatile. Its also prefect to take to a spring or summer picnic. To make this salad more healthy, replace the mayonnaise with plain greek yogurt.(...)
Read the rest of Waldorf Chicken Salad (99 words)

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This is my mom’s easy recipe for potato salad, with diced vegetables and hard boiled eggs. One of my blog friends, Kay, from Cooking with K, had asked me about my potato salad recipe. It took me a while to remember what all I put in it. Then I also remembered I hadn’t made it in quite a while. My potato salad has lots of diced vegetables for extra crunch and nutrition. I use crunchy onion, celery, and bell peppers. I also use pimentos and pickle relish. For extra flavor, I add some Dijon mustard. I used our Easter eggs we had colored for the potato salad, so there were little pieces of pink and blue egg mixed in the salad, very festive. I have been making lots of variations on this traditional potato salad, but had not made my mom’s recipe in a very long time. I decided what better time to make it than on Easter. Potato salad is a great complimet to ham or chicken. I had forgotten how much my husband loves this potato salad. I am going to have to make it more often. I served my traditional potato salad along with ham and blackberry bourbon sauce, roasted asparagus, and yeast rolls for Easter dinner.

The day before Easter, we took our son to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. It was put on by the city of Longwood, Florida and our local family radio station, Magic 107.7. They had lots of fun activities for the little kids, and the egg hunts were divided up by age groups. Unfortunately, we missed the 2 year old egg hunt by 2 minutes, so we had to put him with the three year olds. He did great, although the egg hunt was more like an egg run. All the kids start on a line and race for the eggs, placed in plain site on the lawn. Then they turn in their plastic eggs, no matter if they get 1 or 50, and get the same candy prize. Funny, I remember our church egg hunt were pretty challenging. We had to dig through pine straw, search under bushes, and scavenge through all the little hiding places we could think of like flower pots. He did have lots of fun though, got to meet the Easter bunny and the Geico Lizard. No we don’t have Geico insurance, but the lizard is cute. There were activities for little ones, like searching for treasure in a sandbox, matchbox car racing, and a train ride. There were also activities for older kids like a cake walk and crafts. After the fun activity, they gave the kids a candy prize. It was all very cute, but a much larger event than we had anticipated. It was very crowded, but so much fun.

My Mom’s Potato Salad

Ingredients

• 4 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 eggs, hard boiled, and diced
• 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
• 1/2 large bell pepper, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1/4 cup pickle relish
• 1 small jar pimentos
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup or more to taste mayonnaise
• kosher salt

Method

1. Place diced potatoes in water with a little kosher salt. Boil potatoes until tender, drain well. Add to a large mixing bowl. Boil eggs, peel, and dice.
2. Add all other diced vegetables. Add mustard and mayonnaise and stir well.
3. Refrigerate for 2 – 3 hours or until chilled.

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