Welcome Home, Dillon!

A very special young man is coming home tomorrow!  His name is Dillon and he used to be a member of our church's youth fellowship where my husband and I are leaders.  He has served a tour of duty in Afghanistan for the past year and he will be arriving home on a bus tomorrow with many more men and women who have done this country proud! 

The war has stayed somewhat distant from me since I have not known all that closely anyone serving...until this last year.  I have kept updated on his well-being through his mom who has kept a flag and a light burning just for him until his return.  Tomorrow, she can take the flag down and extinguish the flame.  Wonderful day...

I was in Sioux City today for an appointment and saw the big tire man on the corner dressed up to honor our troops.....just loved it!

Welcome home, Dillon!  I am honored to call you friend!

Now about food....because it is so often about the food!  Earlier this week, I made a Greek salad.  It is the first time I have made it for myself and it. was. awesome!  I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman blog and the only thing I changed was to use reduced fat feta cheese and Splenda instead of sugar.  Oh, I also used basil-infused olive oil.  I enjoyed it with a slice of cheddar jalepeno bread I bought at Hy-Vee! Isn't it pretty?

Tomorrow night, I am going to a 40th birthday party and I am bringing homemade guacamole dip and cumin pita chips!  I love that this....

could turn into this....

Here's the recipe!
Cumin Chips
6 Pitas
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbls. cumin
1 Tbls. salt
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Split each pita in half. Brush both sides with oil and sprinkle with cumin and salt. Cut each half into 4-6 wedges and spread in a single layer on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes, turning pitas over and swapping position of pans half-way through, until pitas are crisp and golden.

Guacamole
2 ripe avocados
1/2 small red onion, minced
1 Tbls. minced seeded jalepeno
2 Tbls. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbls. lime juice (fresh from lime)
1/4 cup finely chopped tomato
salt and pepper
Mash the avocado with a fork until chunky. Mix in onion, cilantro, jalepeno, lime juice and tomato; season with salt and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly onto guacamole and chill for 20 minutes.