Glorious Tomatoes!

I never thought that I'd think tomatoes were cool. lol. But, we grew lots of them this year, and I especially like the yellow ones! Who would have known? I didn't know before this year that there were such things! Yellow tomatoes? They are gorgeous, and their flavor is so much milder...ahhh.

Anyway, I've actually made two things I've never made this summer -- Salsa and homemade marinara sauce. I think the salsa turned out too hot, but we haven't tried it yet; and the marinara tastes okay, but it's kind of chunky and I didn't get all the seeds out...live and learn! Well, my sister-in-law had Roma tomatoes, which apparently are THE best tomatoes to make tomato sauce, so I'm going to be doing that today with the rest of my red tomatoes. The freeze got the plants we couldn't get pulled up and we have tons of green tomatoes that I'm hoping will turn red within the next month or so...

But for today, I wanted to share a recipe I got from a farmer's market in August. I was hoping for more than it was, but perhaps next year I'll know better. This recipe is the best though...and be sure to use fresh cilantro if you have it -- it's amazing the difference it makes.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa
(U of U Extension)

1 15oz can Black beans (I use low sodium) rinsed and drained
1 11oz can whole kernel corn (I used frozen)
1 tsp minced fresh jalapeno pepper (no seeds)
1 Avocado, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 red bell pepper (I used green ones from our garden)
1/3 C chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C diced red onion (I used a sweet one)
1/4 C fresh lime juice (about 2 limes -- I used the reconstituted stuff)
1 tsp salt (I never put salt in...lol)

Italian dressing (dry packet made into dressing- I didn't use the Italian seasoning, I didn't have any. I just mixed some olive oil into the mixture)
Tortilla Chips

Combine all ingredients except avocado and chips. Add Italian dressing to ingredients. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. (drain excess dressing off before adding avocados) Add avocado just before serving.

The batch I made filled a large salad bowl. I'm not sure how much this makes, but it looked like quite a bit. My whole family loved it with chips. Enjoy!!

Viva Summer!

Okay...Here I am complaining about how many deadlines I have for writing, and I'm creating a new blog? Sigh.

But I couldn't help it -- I love to cook, I love recipes, and I think so many cooks (or chefs) don't think of the Low Income group of moms (i.e. those that are stay at home moms or work part time outside the home) when they are dreaming up those recipes that call for expensive ingredients.

So -- Here is my new blog. One dedicated to everything FOOD! I love to cook, but I'm getting to where I hate to shop. sigh. That's to do with price...lol

Anyway, hopefully you've discovered this because you like food too, so I hope that what I end up posting will be something you enjoy as well. I figure sometimes I'm an Italian at heart, so it's probably going to be more pasta than anything else...just a forewarning...grin.

But hey, we're in America, the land of homemade rootbeer, fruit pies, BBQ everything and that homemade ice cream that melts almost faster than you can dish it up.

Viva Summer!