Fruity Brown Rice Salad

Loved this great recipe from Mothering.com! Super easy and perfect for a light meal, picnic, or potluck - will be especially good with seasonal fruit this Summer!

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup vanilla or lemon yogurt
3/4 cup of honey
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Toss all ingredients in a bowl and serve.

Since our yogurt was vanilla-honey flavored, we left out the honey, and we only used one apple. Pleased the whole family!

This post is linked to Tuesday Twister, Tasty Tuesday, and Real Food Wednesday.

Shrimp Ramen Stir-fry - 15 Minute Meals

I'm excited to begin a new series of super-easy pantry friendly meals that I am labeling "15 Minute Meals." You'll find a link to all of them in the left sidebar. Hopefully by the next one I'll have made a cute graphic to go with it. :) First up: the only ramen my husband has ever liked!

Shrimp Ramen Stir-fry

serves 2

1 pkg shrimp flavored ramen

1/2 bag frozen stir-fry veggies

4 oz. bag of frozen pre-cooked shrimp

1. Mix shrimp seasoning packet with 1 cup warm water in a skillet and turn heat on.

2. Break noodles up as much as desired and cook in seasoned water until separated.

3. Add stir-fry veggies and shrimp.

4. Cook until water has evaporated, noodles are done, and veggies are tender. Add more water as needed.

5. EAT!

It seriously doesn't get easier or quicker than this folks! Customize it in a million different ways. I've done the same thing with chicken & chicken flavored ramen as well as beef and beef flavored ramen. If you want it to be a 15 minute meal, be sure to use pre-cooked meat. I'm also a big fan of preparing ramen as soup (per package directions) and adding in the same ingredients - the oriental flavored ramen is my favorite for soup, perfect vegetarian dinner if meat is omitted.

This is a light meal for 2 (and a toddler in our case), but you can easily double or triple it to meet your family's needs.

It was also super cheap! 1 pkg ramen on sale: $.20, 1/2 bag veggies: $.75, bag of shrimp: $1.50 = $2.45!

How do you like your ramen?

Southwestern Salad

1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Corn
1 Can Diced Tomatoes
1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, sausage)
1 pkg taco seasoning
tortillas or tortilla chips

Prepare meat according to directions on seasoning package, or leave out the seasoning and just cook the meat till done. Drain canned goods and mix together with meat in bowl. Warm everything together in microwave for a minute or so, or serve cold. Dish mix out into tortillas or scoop out of individual bowls with tortilla chips. Also delicious by itself if neccessary.

Substitute fresh ingredients whenever possible and rinse canned goods before use to reduce sodium.