This salad comes out of the refrigerator ice cold and packed with flavor. It is a one stop meal, just add some toasted garlic bread and it is ready for the table. Our Basil Chicken and Pasta Salad  with Honey Lemon Dressing has fresh garden vegetables and herbs, and is topped off with a special dressing and Feta cheese. The chicken was grilled at another time and frozen in recipe size bags, ready to go in the freezer for just this kind of recipe. I have  taken this salad to several pot lucks, and family dinners it is always a  hit.

Hello everyone and welcome to the last Sunday and Monday of July, then on into August. Yes it is here already, the heat and the realization that spring has definitely left us for this year. We have been enjoying the summer, having lots of fun with house guest and trying to make cooler meals to keep the kitchen heat down low. This week is certainly going along those lines for simple and cool meal plans. I love this time of the year for fresh fruits and vegetables, which I love to have on my meal plans.

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 651. This is our Top Ten Features week from last weeks party! It is always a fun party to feature the Top Ten post that the readers choose with their views. I look forward to seeing what you are looking at and hungry for. Come on in the party and find something cold to drink, it is hot outside. We are saving you a place at the table today and can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today. 

Spring arrived with lots of rain this year and made us a little behind in our planting. After we  finally got everything in the ground then here came the blast furnace. What a gardening year here in our part of Texas. We had to do some initiative things to get the plants to sustain in the heat and then produce. Once the harvest was ready it was so important to get it out of the ground before it was destroyed by the heat. Our highest heat this summer has been 111 degrees and that is hot!! These different weather patterns are one of the challenge's that gardening brings. When we are able to meet the challenge and bring in a harvest, then it has been a success. Although it is not the biggest harvest we have had, we like to say it is a success, we brought it to the table!

  Come on in and enjoy the celebration! I am celebrating 13 years of publishing my blog and this meal plan this week. I am also celebrating my 84th Birthday this weekend with family, I am going to have so much fun! For all of you who have  been here from the beginning and all of you have come along though the years, thank you so much for your support and being a  beautiful part of this blogging community! I hold each of you dear to my heart, and count you among my many blessings!

Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 650! Wow 650 weeks without fail, Full Plate Thursday has been posted and the amazing food that has been placed on this table through the years. Some of you have  been here from the very beginning or came shortly thereafter and it is because of folks like you whom I have become friends with through the years that this party has been become a favorite for food bloggers! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are the greatest!

  This recipe for Grilled Honey Pork  Chops is packed with flavor and so easy to prepare. The chops go into a honey based marinate for a short time, then on to the grill for perfection. Grill them on a grill in the great outdoors or in your cool house with your grill pan, either way these chops are winners! This is one of our go to recipes for pork chops that our whole family enjoys.

  Hello everyone we are keeping real busy try to keep up with the summer heat. Today we are placing an umbrella over the air conditioners to help keep the air conditioner cool to give us better service. We are breaking heat records everyday. When I think of preparing meal plans for this weather I am thinking fresh and cool. I am off to the garden to harvest what is available for this week. I will also be doing an inventory in the freezer, at least that will be a cool job. What are you and your family doing in this hot weather, what kind of meal plans are you making? 

  Hello everyone and welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 649! I am so happy to see you here today, come on back to the back patio, we will sit under the shade and enjoy a  Watermelon Lemonade Float , yum! We had some great post last week and we have some amazing features from that party that are posted here today. I sure hope that you will enjoy each one of them. Every week we post the features to our Features Page on Pinterest and feature some of your post on our  Whats For Dinner Next Week   I can't wait to see what you will be sharing with us today, thanks so much for coming to the party today!

What's In Season and How Do I Use It? July is here with its parades, fireworks and great fresh foods. Many of the foods that we have had in our basket for the past two months are still producing and can be found at many of the farmers markets. Some of the foods this month are produced here in the south, however my granddaughter that lives in New York can often times find some of them. Some of the recipes that I will share with you this month have been passed down in our family for generations, I hope you enjoy them.

I remember when my Mother would make this budget friendly Bologna Spread. She would grind the bologna with the food grinder, food processor's were not available in that day and time. I remember her putting the mix in the ice box, there was no refrigerator in our home at that time. She would place the container of spread as close to the ice block as she could get it, so it would get nice and cold. When we finally got to eat it as a snack or on a sandwich, it was delicious. When I placed my container in the refrigerator for this recipe, I had so many wonderful memories about the Old Fashioned Bologna Spread.

Hello everyone, so glad to see you here on the screen porch with me today. We sure had a great 4th of July with lots of activities. It is good to sit with you for a bit and plan some awesome meal plans for the week. We are in full swing of vegetable season and I am loving all the fruits and vegetables that we enjoy this time of the year. We have had great garden production this year to preserve and enjoy at the table. I love being able to go to the garden and bring the harvest into my kitchen and then to the table. We are truly blessed!

  Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, 648 and July heat! Wow what a 4th of July celebration we had here in our area and our little community. I hope that all of you had awesome celebrations or great summer weekends with friends and  family. We had a  great party here last week with some very talented bloggers and I sure appreciate all of you coming to the party and sharing. You are sure part of the reason we have a great blogging community here at Full Plate Thursday each week.  Each week, we share the features on our special board on Pinterest and some of your post I share on my  Whats For Dinner Next Week .  Thanks so much for coming to the party today!

  These amazing Apple Puff's were created by our daughter Melody who is visiting us. She decided to treat us with a night off in the kitchen and made these delicious Apple Puff's. Like any blogger, I said hang on a minute let me get my camera, I want to do a blog post on the recipe. She is a great cook and we love seeing her when she is able to come home for a visit. She also made us a delicious Shephard's Pie. Melody, thanks so much for an awesome night off and a great new recipe! 

Welcome to July and the special week of July 4th! It is so much fun to live in our community during this time of the year. There is such an energy in and around all the lake and community activities. There will be traditional and new foods on our meal plan for this week. We will be having friends and family here this week to enjoy the festivities with us. Our little community will have the 4th of July parade, with a country store to follow, not to mention all the lake and water activities.