Fourth of July!

It's the Fourth of July and I have no plans. I'm not sure how or why that is, but such is life. I did help a friend host a party over the weekend, which had a HUGE slip n slide for adults (that was great!!), so I guess I had some plans for this important celebration. We also had some yummy food! I will share one of the recipes, but it isn't mine... I borrowed or found it and was in such a rush that I didn't even have time to make it my own. (I feel like Simon Cowell or Randy Jackson every time I say that!)

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

• 3/4 large bag of fresh spinach (You can adjust this according to how many mouths you're feeding)
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced (again, adjust your servings as needed)
• 1/2 c vegetable oil
• 1/4 c white wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar (the recipe called for 1/2 c, but I thought that was too much)
• some paprika
• 2 T sesame seeds
• 1 T poppy seeds

I would suggest to NOT put this salad together ahead of time. I wanted until right before the meal to toss it all. The last thing I wanted was gross, mushy spinach!

In a large bowl, toss spinach and strawberries.

In a separate bowl, or in your Pampered Chef dressing mixer, mix the remaining ingredients and pour over salad. If you don't have a dressing mixer, get one. Really. I love it. =]

The other dish I made was simple grilled veggies in a foil packet. I know we've ALL done this before so it's nothing new and/or exciting. I used onions, tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, mushrooms, and red peppers. To season them, I used olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Oh, and I used some minced garlic. Put some oil and rosemary on the foil, add the veggies, top with a little more oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary. Fold up the foil and cook until tender. Easy enough, right?

Happy Fourth of July!!