Easy Snack Platter

Turkey, cheese, pickle platter

Once upon a time, I was busily involved in a local home school group.  I needed to make a quick, tasty, and nutritious snack for a meeting.  I decided to make a platter like the one above.  Since then, I have made several platters like this one over the years.  Now, my daughter is making them, too.

Easy ingredients and setup for platter

These are the simple ingredients:

--a block of mild cheddar cheese to cube

--a package of turkey breast slices to cut into strips to roll and pin with 

--toothpicks

--sliced kosher pickles

--knife to cut the cheese cubes and turkey breast

Hardest part of platter--the cutting of ingredients

Other considerations include vegetable and fruit platters.  Perhaps, I'll create another blog entry to reflect such platters.  They are delicious and healthy for you.  It's as simple as coming up with a multi-compartment container to house raw broccoli and carrots.  A platter could also consist of separate grapes and strawberries.

Well, thanks for reading about our easy snack platter.  I hope this informs you all of a quick set of snacks to throw together.

 

What about you, my readers? Do you like finger foods? Do you like cheese, pickles, and turkey breast?  Combining these simple ingredients into a platter is lovely.  I encourage you to get creative with quick meals.  Don't shy away from allowing your family members to eat what they want to eat, as long as they are eating from the recommended food groups, too.

May God bless you with His peace and wisdom, my beloveds.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads. I hope you enjoyed it!

Spinach and Pasta Balsamic Vinegar Salad

Some ingredients for spinach and pasta salad.

I wanted to jazz up the spinach salad with pasta.  I bought some Colavita balsamic vinegar and more baby spinach.  Many times, I have seen Lidia Matticchio Bastianich on PBS, with Colavita as one of her sponsors.  I came home with a bottle of the balsamic vinegar and researched online for a good recipe.  I already had the pasta; all I had to do was add a few touches.

I've heard that balsamic vinegar has many benefits.  Among them is that it suppresses your appetite and lowers your cholesterol.  It also acts as an anti-viral and antibacterial agent.  Who wouldn't want to receive health benefits by simply ingesting something?  I wanted to take advantage of these positive points to improve my health.

I used Wacky Mac spirals for my pasta salad.

Water boiled before adding the pasta.

Then, I stirred the pasta into the water.

The pasta became swollen ten minutes later.

I had the strainer ready to drain the pasta.

Hubby helped out.

Hubby poured out the pasta into another bowl.

Pasta was ready for other ingredients.

Mild cheddar cheese was a nice addition, as well as the lemon juice.

Here is a picture of the pasta with cheese cubes on the side.

I added cut up tomatoes.  I tore the baby spinach leaves into smaller bits.  I added about a teaspoon of the balsamic vinegar, a teaspoon of olive oil, a few dashes of lemon and some salt.  I left the cheese out because I knew my children would not want it in the pasta.  I loved the colors; they seemed so inviting.  

Croutons added a crunch.

Buttery garlic croutons added a good taste to my pasta.  I added a little bit more lemon juice to my plate.  The result was a wonderful symphony of taste.  All of the participating flavors conspired to create a delicious pasta salad.  I wonder if I will be able to duplicate it in the future.

All of the wonderful ingredients worked together.

This truly was a wonderful pasta salad.  The spirals were already packed with various vitamins and minerals.  I simply added tomatoes, spinach, olive oil, lemon juice, and balsamic vinegar.  I also added buttery garlic croutons and cubed mild cheddar cheese.  The ingredients did come together to create a delicious pasta salad, which surprised me.

My husband ate the spinach pasta salad with balsamic vinegar.

About an hour later after eating the salad, I still feel sated.  I feel the acid in my tummy.  It is not an unpleasant feeling.  Perhaps, and I hope it is true, the balsamic vinegar is benefiting my body.  I pray that I will keep using this pleasant ingredient--balsamic vinegar--in my diet.

Well, I hope you liked this version of a salad, 

which included balsamic vinegar. 

Thanks for reading this blog entry.  In the future, I hope to make a Greek Salad.  Stay tuned!

 

How about you, my readers?  Have you made a pasta salad lately?  Why or why not?  I encourage you to add balsamic vinegar; it's said that it's a better ingredient than any mayonnaise-based dressing.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads.