Taco Pizza on Lebanese Bread

Over the Memorial weekend, my husband I and went north to Minneapolis. We had a wonderful weekend just the two of us. 

That doesn't happen very often, but our girls went south towards Des Moines to visit with their sister for the weekend, and they took the pooch!

FREEDOM!!

So we had 3 full days all to ourselves, at first it was like, gosh, what do we do?

We were packed in a flash and heading up to the Twin cities in no time. I had been dying to go up and visit the Global Market that I had read about and even saw featured on the Food Network. 

On the way there we drove right by the "dollar house" that Nicole Curtis of the Rehab Addict on HGTV had remodeled!!

Inside the Global Market were lots of different stalls offering Mexican, Italian, Greek, and Middle Eastern foods. There was also a Middle Eastern market and I picked up 2 different kinds of Lebanese flat and pocket bread. 

And of course one of the first things I made turned out awesome. Taco pizza is one of my family's favorites and it comes together in a snap, plus I had avocados to use. The bread made a beautiful crisp crust and it browned  nicely.

Taco Pizza on Lebanese Bread

Sweet and Sour Smoked Sausage

We have been having some of the most extreme weather. 

It's definitely getting old...

I mean, storms with rain and more rain and ...

more rain. 

Hello! We can all use the moisture, but living in an area that is focused on farming, this is the extreme. Fields are flooded, gardens are flooded. 

We are under a Flood Watch. Goodness, the beautiful plants we got from our friends at Beaver Creek Gardens are just hanging out in our garage, still waiting to be planted in our garden. We can't plant yet though, because everything is so wet and muddy. 

I have to admit, they look great and are growing like weeds, even in their original 4" pots. We hope to be able to get them out in our raised beds soon, I hope. 

Cross your fingers!

Tonight I made a dish that we all agreed was stellar and delicious.  

So easy and ready on the table in a flash. 

 Sweet and Sour Smoked Sausage is so good, easy to whip up. It only takes as long as it takes to cook a pot of rice-20 minutes folks. 

Nice thing about this dish, is that it holds well also, if you have family members eating at different times, which we do with a daughter in sports. It reheats well and is still YUMMY!

30 Minute Goulash

This is, hands down, a family favorite. 

Beaver Creek Gardens, Fertile IA

DH recently went and got some awesome plants to get our garden started. Craig works with Scott McCullough in Forest City, IA, and has been fascinated by the business that Scott and his wife, Suzanne, have been "growing" for the last couple of years.

Scott, together with his wife, Suzanne, originally built this awesome business to provide fresh garden vegetables at their peak of freshness and explore a side business opportunity for their "Golden Years". Boy oh boy, did it work!!

This year, after putting up some awesome greenhouses, they have expanded to provide bedding plants and even gorgeous flower displays. Who wants fresh, artisan grown vegetables available at their peak of goodness???

I do, I do!!! And I know you will to!

Spinach Chive Pesto

Sunday dinners are a relaxed affair for us and I try to include my parents as much as possible. We always enjoy their company and they are the only relatives close to us; living in the same town, let alone state.

So on Sundays I try and make it extra special! So for dinner we had Chicken Parm Croquettes, Pasta with Spinach Chive Pesto, a huge green salad and sourdough bread!

With all the fresh Spinach I have and now Chives have popped up in the garden I was looking forward to making a pesto and boy did this turn out really well.

Oriental Ramen Salad

It's going to be another hot one today, along with the requisite Tornado warnings that follow along with the hot and humid weather of the Midwest. 

So for dinner I decided to make a family favorite, one that is full of flavor and cool crunch. 

Oriental Ramen Salad