At Home My Way

A friend of mine at work brought leftovers for lunch the other day.  It was a bright little bowl of macaroni and tomatoes.  I had to ask her what she had made because it looked so yummy! She told me it was a simple dish that she often made for herself when her hubby wasn't hungry for supper- "Noodles & Tomatoes". My friend lives in the boonies so that explains why she would be making this dish when eating alone instead of my temptations when eating alone (take out chinese or the golden arches-eek!) LOL.   I remembered making a similar dish a few years ago.  I'm a fan of simple dishes, the ingredients for which I would have in my pantry.  I'm also a fan of cheap, frugal food and this fits the bill on all counts. This dish is a little more complex than it seems.  It can be dressed up or down with the addition of cheese (purely optional- I prefer no cheese in mine).  You can add spices (I don't).  I like it in its purest form - pasta - ...

Cherry Cola Jello Salad I made this bright and refreshing Cherry Cola Jello Salad  to go with our super bowl menu.   I had made it a very long time ago and this weekend was looking for something refreshing and not as heavy as my usual chocolate cake dessert.   My daughter and her boyfriend were in from KC and they just loved it!   I was concerned at first that the addition of cherry pie filling would make this dessert overly sweet (because I couldn't really remember much about the last time I made it other than we loved it).  Rest assured, it does not taste overly sweet.  The crushed pineapple combined with the cherry pie filling and jello gives this dessert the perfect combination of sweet and tart.  It is easy to put together and I made it the morning of our super bowl meal. I also made Homemade Whipped Cream to serve with our  Cherry Cola Jello Salad but it really isn't necessary. This dessert easily stands alone! Take it...