Share a Spoon - Red, White and Blue!

The fabulous Think Tank Momma is hosting Share a Spoon today and Life as Mom is hosting The Ultimate Recipe Swap and it's all about celebrating the 4th!  All your favorite red, white and blue recipes....but it doesn't exactly have to be red, white and blue...just your favorite foods to celebrate the 4th of July!  So head on over, link up, and maybe get some new ideas for your upcoming celebration.

Maybe you'd like to start off your July 4th with these?

Pancakes (egg free) with a maple strawberry (red) and blueberry syrup?  So easy and sooo delicious!

All you do is add some strawberries, blueberries (mine were frozen) and a little maple syrup (or sugar) to a pot...

Heat them up on medium heat until it gets nice and thick and bubbly.  Whipped cream on top would be extra yummy.  (and red, white and blue!)

Then you may want to have a cookout!  Some barbequed boneless pork ribs maybe?

I just grilled these with a bottled barbeque sauce (it's red...sort of!)

Along with a white onion...take your onion and whatever other veggies you want (zucchini works well, so do small or quartered potatoes), I happened to have baby carrots - throw it all together in a tin foil "packet" - add a pat of butter, some salt/pepper, a dash of worcestershire and seal up the packet and put it on the grill with your meat.  This is one of my favorite ways to eat onion.

Or maybe a burger is more what you had in mind....

with a red tomato? and corn-on-the-cob is a must! maybe with a little herb butter? These homemade hamburger buns are also delicious.

and caprese salad? Red tomotoes, white mozzarella, fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar...yum!  I also just saw a recipe over at Pioneer Woman for a caprese salad with a balsamic vinegar reduction that sounded absolutely divine!

or chicken maybe?

Since I buy meat in large quantities from Sam's Club, I freeze it in portions. I read a time saving trick that you can go ahead and put your marinade in with your meat, then freeze.  Then, as it thaws, it will marinate at the same time...saving you a step!  That's what I did with this chicken...I froze it with italian dressing (fat free).  When I was ready to cook it, I let it thaw in the fridge, then grilled it.  It went along nicely with my white risotto ;)

And we can't forget about dessert....

 

Blueberry Dump Cake - great for a crowd (and way tastier than it looks in this pic)

and one of my favorites...

S'mores! Graham crackers, chocolate, (white) marshmallows....did I mention chocolate?!

I don't know about y'all, but I'm hungry now!