well, i'd just like to say

after this long blogging hiatus

to my two readers:

(you know who you are)

thanks and hello again!

the other day

i noticed a package of "fresh veggie grillers"

at walmart

for $4 for 3 skewers of veggies...

a little expensive...

but

what an idea!

i had never thought of this before, 

so we copied their idea using red bell peppers,

green and yellow zucchini,  onions and

mushrooms...

oh, yummy!

if you haven't tried this yet, it's a great way to add color and nutrition to a cookout, 

and the leftovers are delicious, too.

and it is so darn easy!

The second shameless copycat caper

was inspired by this salad

from panera:

which consists of 

romaine lettuce,

roasted chicken slices, 

mandarin oranges, strawberry slices, blueberries, pineapple bits

and pecans and poppyseed dressing.

this is a ridiculously easy summer salad, and it's actually pretty economical, too.

instead of blueberries, i used blackberries from the backyard,

and also substituted peach for the pineapple.

this would be fabulous at the beach

using rotisserie chicken,

 canned pineapple bits and mandarin oranges.