This cool, refreshing twist on typical July weather has spoiled me. I'm not ready to return to the sweltering, humid mid 90 degree temperatures rather typical for July in Chicagoland. Naturally, for the 4th of July, it's supposed to be more than 90's degrees. I had been thinking of a BBQ, but with that kind of heat, lighter fare is definitely in order.

In place of the BBQ I was planning, it's time to make great use of seasonal fruits and amazing deals. Here's my 4th of July non-BBQ menu:

Red & Green Grapes
Summer Fruit Salad
Sweet Corn on the Cob
Tortilla chips and Peach Salsa
Potato Chips
Sub rolls/sandwich bread
Cold cuts/deli meat (I've got some goodies in the freezer to pick from and I"ll hit Caputos to round out my choices - they are the cheapest deli with the best selection in town)
Cheeses (Swiss, American, Cheddar, Provolone)
Italian-style chicken salad
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pecan Sandies

The only thing I have to do is bake the cookies (probably tonight, before it gets any hotter outside) and cook the corn the day of - everything is just chopped, stirring and serving! I am so looking forward to kicking back and relaxing with this light and simple feast. What are your plans for the 4th of July? Does the weather affect what you plan to do this year?

DH & I popped in to Barnes & Noble and found oodles of goodies - all for $2 an item. This includes: board games (Worst Case Scenario: Office Edition was one of them), books (paperback and hard cover), some handheld electronic games (Guitar Hero - there were plenty of those floating around), cookbooks, kids books, and the list could easily go on.

I grabbed a Favorite Brand Name cookbook (it's one of my favorite cookbook publishers), a hardcover book, and 2 games - all for $8.68. If you need to grab some gifts for teens, tweens, and even adults/family gifts - this is a great time to stock up! Too bad a sale like this (for Barnes and Noble) only comes along once a year....

After that, we went to Caputo's and grabbed Fisher peanut butter for $.49 a jar. I grabbed 6, but will go back to day to score a few more. I ordered some coupons off of Ebay (20 of the $1 Fisher coupons) using a free $5 Paypal gift card from swagbucks - so the coupons were free, there is no limit on the peanut butter - last time I saw a sale on this, I had 40 coupons and the peanut butter was $.99 a jar. And I used every last coupon, too! Naturally, that's almost gone by now. Looks liek the sale popped up just in time. I love it when that happens.

It's been a while since I've seen enough good eals to do this - but, by golly - Caputo's has enough deals on stuff to make it a one-stop shopping trip to get you set for the week. I've got a list of items on sale, and a menu (click on each entree to go to the recipe) that combines quick and easy, not just in the store, but in the kitchen!

$.99 lb. pork roast
$.89 lb. roasting bell peppers
$1.49 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
$.79 La Bella Romana pasta (12-16 oz. pkgs.)
$1.49 18 oz. Fisher Peanut Butter
2/$1 heads of: Boston, Romaine, Red, or Green Leaf Lettuce
$.59 lb. Anjou Pears
2/$3 Dutch Farms 8 oz. shred cheese
$.99 Pillsbury rolls
$.79 lb. Gala apples
4/$1 bunches of cilantro
4/$5 28 oz. cans La Bella Romana tomatoes

What you'll need to have on hand:
potatoes
rice
carrots, optional
eggs
tortillas, corn preferrably
cooking oil
sandwich bread
margarine
salad dressing
onions
flour
chicken bouillion
brown sugar
soy sauce
spices

Meal Ideas:

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Mozzarella Frittata

Pepper and Tomato Pasta, side salad, garlic bread

Pork Roast with veggies

Tacos Carnitas

Chicken 'n' Biscuits, Cinnamon Apples

Peanut Chicken

Apple Crisp

Pear Crisp