Make At-Home Salsa

Tastefully Simple Salsa

Salsa is pretty much a staple in our house.  When we have something simple like sandwiches or hot dogs and don’t want to go to the store for something “extra” as a side, we just have chips and salsa.  It’s also great for an afternoon or after dinner snack.  J

We ran out of salsa today!  What a travesty!  I remembered we had a jar of Tastefully Simple Simply Salsa™ Mix in the pantry so that’s what we did.  I used two cans of diced tomatoes and approximately 1/3 cup of the Salsa seasoning.  The seasoning mix does have a bit of a bite to it, so I didn’t quite double the seasoning. 

It worked out perfectly to use the salsa jar we’d just finished and now we’re fully stocked again. 

If you're not familiar with Tastefully Simple products click on the "Tastefully Simple" label on the left side of my blog to see other posts where I used Tastefully Simple products.  I highly recommend them!

Bacon Potato Salad

Joe needed a side dish for a BBQ-themed work luncheon.  Once again I decided to pull out some of my Tastefully Simple seasonings for this easy recipe.  This is another recipe I found from the Tastefully Simple recipe database.  We really liked this potato salad, and although the Fiesta Party Dip Mix can be a little spicy, it made this salad delicious.  I don't like spicy at all, and I liked this salad.  Next time I’d use less than a whole onion since I think it was a little overpowering.  All in all, it was a great recipe to try! 

If you don't have Tastefully Simple brand seasonings, you can still play with the ingredients.  You could use a bag of real bacon bits and any fiesta-type seasonings.  The mixture of mayo and other ingredients was really good with this recipe.  

Bacon Bacon Potato Salad

Ingredients
5 large red potatoes (I used Russet since it's all I had.)
½-1 small diced onion (I used 1 whole onion and thought it was too much.)
2 cups real mayonnaise
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup Bacon Bacon™
1-2 tsp. dry Fiesta Party Dip Mix™
Ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Boil potatoes in water until tender; cool and dice. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl; fold in potatoes. Refrigerate 1-2 hours. Makes 6-8 servings.

Variations:  The original recipe calls for dill pickle relish.  It would also be good with some diced hard boiled eggs.

I apologize that there is no easy way to make a photo of potato salad look appetizing. 

Recipe adapted from here.

Easy Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Many of you know that I love Tastefully Simple products.  No, I don't sell it but it's not totally out of the question for the future.  Anyhow, I decided to make some cookies using a recipe from the Tastefully Simple website.  They were delicious!  I highly recommend trying out their products.  You can get them online or many craft fairs have a table set up with a consultant selling it.  You can also host a party with friends at your house, and you'll get lots of free product.  (If you are interested in that, let me know.  I know a couple of consultants.)

So...on to the super easy recipe...

Absolutely Almond Thumbprint Cookies Ingredients Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix™ 1 egg 1/2 cup (1 stick) very soft butter Directions Combine ingredients; roll into generous 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet.   Press thumbprint into each cookie; top with half a maraschino cherry.  Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 8-10 servings.  You can find the recipe here.