Remember orange creamsicles from your childhood? Well I do, and I used to love them.

I love making homemade versions of my favorite foods because they are usually healthier and less expensive. I knew orange creamsicles would not be hard to create at home because they are basically just orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream.

I have seen quite a few different recipes for these, but I think this one is the easiest and closest to the real thing.

Well, okay these don’t look quite like the real thing, but they sure taste like them.

Here is what I did.

Homemade Orange Creamsicles

orange sherbet

vanilla ice cream

Let the ice cream and sherbet sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes. You want it slightly soften. Line a 9×13 pan with plastic wrap and scoop ice cream and sherbet into pan. I alternate the scoops and then swirl it together. Freeze in the pan for a few hours or until solid. Cut into bars and serve. (You could also make these in a loaf pan). Cut into bars and enjoy!

This post linked to I’m Lovin’ It and Frugal Fridays.

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I recently updated both my about me pages to include a little more information about myself and the goals I have for both Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures and my allergy site Lynn’s Recipe Adventures.

If you are a new reader or a long time reader that would like to know a little bit more about me you might want to check it out.

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This time of year is the perfect time to use fresh tomatoes. Fresh from the garden tomatoes are one of my family’s favorite summertime food.

Right now tomatoes are in peak season in most parts of the country. Even if you do not grow your own tomatoes, you can easily find them at the farmers market or grocery store.

Fresh salsa/pico de gallo is a great way to use tomatoes.

This recipe is based on one that came from my aunt and we always called it fresh salsa. It is basically a pico de gallo. I have compared a lot of recipes and I really do not think there is any difference between fresh salsa and pico de gallo. I think it just depends on what part of the country you live in.

Do you call it pico de gallo or fresh salsa?

Fresh Tomato Salsa

• 3-4 tomatoes, chopped ( I used a mixed of red and yellow ones from our garden)
• 1  onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Few sprigs cilantro, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, chopped (more if you like it spicy)
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Mix ingredients together and serve with chips. We do not like our salsa very chunky, so I chop the onion, garlic, cilantro, and peppers in the food processor. Then I chop the tomatoes by hand and mix in the other ingredients.

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We love grilled tomatoes. They work great in pasta dishes and salads because they have so much flavor.

Not only do grilled tomatoes taste good, they are really easy to do. I simply toss the tomatoes in a little oil with some salt and pepper.

I like to cut larger tomatoes in half and then place them directly on the grill. If I am using smaller tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, it works best to put them on skewers.

I then grill them for just a few minutes on each side.

You can now use the tomatoes in pasta, linguine, pasta salads, or however you like.

Have you ever grilled tomatoes? If so what is your favorite way to use them?

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First of all, I am loving all the pork chop ideas that you are leaving on my menu plan post, so keep them coming. I am getting lots of ideas to use up some of our pork.

Now on to corn soup, which might actually be good served with a pork chop dinner.

I love soup, but I have said many times that I do not like it during the summer. I am more of a cold weather soup person, however I made an exception a few weeks ago, and I am glad that I did.

Our neighbor gave us some corn. It was so nice to have fresh from the garden corn, however some of it was not quite at its best.

I cooked up most of it and we ate what we could right away, but I had a few cooked ears left over. I also had a few ears that I had not cooked that needed to be used up.

I came across a Martha Stewart recipe for corn soup that inspired me to try make something similar. It was really easy and we all loved this.

I thought it made a perfect summer time meal, so I guess I can no longer say I won’t eat soup in the summer.

What are your thoughts on soup during the summer? Am I the only one that thinks soup is mainly a cooler weather meal?

Corn Soup

• 8 ears of corn, I used part cooked part raw, so I think either would work
• 3 tablespoons of butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups of water
• 1 cup of milk
• 4 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped

Slice the kernels off the cob.

In a blender puree corn kernels with 1 ½ cups water.

Place pureed corn into a sauce pan.

Add remaining water, butter, and milk.

Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until completely heated through.

Serve with bacon pieces.

This post linked to $5 Dinners and Tasty Tuesday.

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Yesterday, I made my flourless chocolate cake to take to a church dinner, and can I just say I forgot how good that cake was. I really should make it more often.

In other news, you will see leftovers on the plan twice this week, which I doubt my family will be too happy about.  For some reason we have  lot of leftovers right now, so we are actually going to have them for the next two nights in order to use them up.

Right now I need some help/inspiration when it comes to pork chops. I have a freezer full of pork since we raise hogs, but I always seem to end up making the same recipes when it comes to pork chops. I am looking for some new ideas, so what are your favorite ways and recipes for pork chops?

Here is the plan for this week.

leftovers

leftover South Carolina pork

fajitas

pork chops

pizza

Mexican beef and beans

hamburgers and potatoes

For more menu planning ideas see Meal Planning Mondays.

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Menu planning is something that we often hear about doing to save money. Many people plan their menu around sales and coupons.

I agree that menu planning saves money and the main reason I started menu planning years ago was to save money. However, I now menu plan mainly because it saves me time.

Why does it save me time?

If I have a plan done ahead of time, I don’t panic at 5:00 looking around the kitchen, opening every cupboard to see what I can throw together for dinner.

If I have a plan I know what we are having and I can get right to work on cooking dinner. The time it takes to sit down once a week or several times a month to put together a plan, pays off in the end.

Not only does menu planning save time it allows us to eat healthier without putting much thought into it.

If I plan meals ahead of time I tend to make them more balanced. If I don’t have a plan, I find all to often that the fruits and vegetables get left out. I either forget to buy them or I forget to use them. It is much easier to plan out what fruits and vegetables we are going to eat during the week.

Next week I will post more details about how I menu plan and I will offer some tips on making your plan work for you.

Now I am curious, how many of you menu plan? And if you plan, why do you do it?

This post linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesday.

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It is no secret how much I love America’s Test Kitchen and their cookbooks. I really like  how they explain the science behind food.

Their new cook book The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook is fast becoming my new favorite cookbook.

I checked this cookbook out from the library a few months ago and immediately loved it. I started looking through it and within no time I had over twenty recipes that I wanted to try.

I ended up buying this book because I knew I would use it all the time and that it would be a great book to add to my collection

I love watching the America’s Test Kitchen on TV, but I do not like the fact that they do not share the recipes with you. They require you to pay to subscribe to their site if you want access to the recipes from the show. This always bothered me and I rarely watch the show because of it.

This cookbook gives me the recipes from the shows that I have always wanted to try. From their baked ziti, hungarian stew, and chicken kiev to their raspberry squares, key lime pie, and chocolate bundt cake, this book includes recipes from the last 10 years.

I have already tried and enjoyed several of the recipes in this book, including the key lime pie, which I will post soon.

Not only do they include the recipes in this book, they have a whole shopping guide section that is full of product reviews.

Now I will admit  is not a cheap cookbook. This is a bit of an investment, however this book has 646 pages. It is a large cookbook full of information and recipes.

I think The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook is well worth the investment.

Has anyone else seen this cookbook? What did you think?

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This is one of those recipes that is almost too simple to post. However, it is really good, so it is worth posting.

We love my easy chicken tacos, but since tacos and other Mexican type meals are often on the menu plan, I like to have variety.

Not only that, I like to freeze different taco and burrito type fillings ahead. Although, we like my chicken taco filling, I prefer something with a little more sauce as a freezer meal.

This recipe is perfect for making a large batch. You can cook it, shred it, and freeze it in the sauce. Then you can use the filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, or even nachos.

Different types of taco meat are my favorite freezer meal to make because they are so versatile. You will almost always find Mexican chicken and beef taco meat in my freezer.

This amount is usually plenty for us for one meal and for at least one freezer meal.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

• 4 chicken breast ( I use boneless skinless)
• 1   8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 teaspoon cumin

1. Combine ingredients and cook in crockpot on low for about 4 hours or until done.
2. Shred meat and serve with sauce as taco, burritos, nachos, etc.
3. Freeze any leftovers.

This post linked to Frugal Fridays.

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I will admit that I am a little late to the whole Swagbucks thing. I really thought it was too good to be true that I would get paid for searching the Internet, so I put off signing up. Then once I signed up, I was unsure if it was going to really be worth it, but after using it now for quite some time I love it.

I really does pay you to search the Internet. Now, you are not going to get rich of Swagbucks, but it will make you a little here and there.  As your points add up you can cash them in for prizes and gift cards.

My favorite prize is the Amazon gift card one. This has been a fun way for me to save for cookbooks and kitchen gadgets that I have been wanting to buy. Yes, Swagbucks is helping fund my cookbook collection. Who wouldn’t love free cookbooks?

I do have a few tips for using Swagbucks.

1. Download and use the toolbar. It makes it so much easier. I also have it set as my default search. There are directions on the Swagbucks website on how to do those things. It is really easy.

2. The first few results for each search are paid advertisements. So scroll down a few to get the best results.

3. Not every search earns you points. Some searches have a few points and others have larger amounts, so be patient.

If you are like me and do a lot of searching on the internet, especially for things like recipes, I think you will be surprised at how easy this is and how quickly your points add up.

It is free to sign up and you are not out anything if you do not like it. Give it a try.

What are your thoughts on Swagbucks?

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