Summer Recipe Roundup

I don't have a lot of time to post tonight, but I have some great recipes to share:

Asian Noodle Salad:
I've shared this one before, but it's so good that I need to tell you about it again.  This is a really versatile dish, as you can add whatever vegetables you like or have on hand.  My kids are fairly good about eating their veggies, but it still surprised me how quickly they both devoured this salad.

Chicken Pitas:
We made these last night for the first time in over a year, and I'm not sure why we don't eat them more often.  I only had time to marinate the meat for about an hour, but they were still super flavorful.  We like the thicker, softer pita bread more than the pocket variety.  Oh, and don't forget to add feta!

Popsicles!:
Hadley and I decided to make popsicles the other day, and I'll admit we got a little carried away.  We made three flavors, each was different but delicious.  

The first was strawberry yogurt, made by blending a bag of frozen strawberries and about 3 cups of strawberry greek yogurt.  I didn't add any sweetener because the yogurt had plenty of sugar.  Being just yogurt and fruit, I'd feel okay about letting the kids eat these for breakfast or a healthy snack.  I'm sure fresh berries would be even better, but I just used what we had on hand.

The second flavor was Watermelon Raspberry.  I cut the sugar down to 3 TBSPs and didn't add the corn syrup.  These were really delicious, but I wish I had strained the mixture to get the raspberry seeds out.  Once again, I used frozen berries.

The third and final flavor was the easiest, but it was also my favorite.  Vietnamese Coffee popsicles have a wonderful coffee flavor and they are just sweet enough.  I thought the flavor was a bit reminiscent of a frappucino.

A tips:
  -Use small dixie cups for make shift popsicle molds.
  -To get the sticks to stand upright, cover the cup with tin foil before freezing and poke the stick
    through.  The foil will hold it in place.
  -I just learned how to pick out a watermelon, after years of playing the guessing game.  Do you know
   how?  Look for a dull, not shiny, watermelon.  The watermelon should feel heavy for it's size and be a    
   symmetrical shape.  Look for a large "field spot" which is the white to yellow patch on the melon;
   the more yellow, the better.  Knock on the watermelon and listen for a hollow sound.   Cross your
   fingers and hope for the best!