Thanksgiving Again

Every once in a while, I will talk to my mom about trying a new recipe out on the family, and sometimes I'm met with "Ok, try it but don't make too much because people won't try it". This recipe was one that met that response a few Thanksgivings ago. It was GONE very quickly, so I doubled it the next Thanksgiving and it was still GONE. This recipe makes a nice sized batch, you could bake it in a 13x9 inch pan.

Cornbread Stuffing with Apples, Onions and Sausage

6 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix, follow the package directions, baking in two greased 13x9 pans
1 lb. pork breakfast sausage (the one in a plastic tube)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 apples, cored and finely chopped. Leave the peels on. I use a sweet red apple, not tart, and the red of the peel is pretty
1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley
2-3 c. low sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste.

If I'm making this for Thanksgiving, I'll bake my cornbread on Monday and let it get a little stale. You can bake it just before you make the stuffing and that's fine too. Crumble it up in coarse chunks in a large mixing bowl. In a decent size skillet, brown the sausage. Remove from pan, then add butter and bring pan to medium high heat. Add onions and apples and cook until soft but not brown. Stir the sausage, apples, onions and parsley into the cornbread. Add the broth, a half cup at a time and stir. You don't want this to be mushy, but wet enough that it sticks together. Taste it so that you can salt and pepper to taste. Pack it into a greased pan, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and let bake another 5-10 minutes if you like a little crunch on top. If you are making this ahead of time and putting it into the oven cold, allow an extra ten minutes of cooking time. By the way, if you already have a favorite cornbread recipe, by all means, don't use Jiffy. Also, if you have a cornbread recipe that doesn't call for flour, this recipe would be gluten free.

There you go. Super easy and only a few ingredients. We love this recipe and it has earned it's place next to my mom's Stove Top. I don't have any photos of this lovely finished stuffing, but it is so pretty on your table. This photo is from one of our infamous family game nights, I'm hoping that we can get together for one on Saturday night. Enjoy your weekend!

Thanksgiving Part Three

So your turkey is under control, now let's talk about your side dishes. Everyone has family favorites, dishes that they must have on their Thanksgiving dinner table. In my family, it is Stove Top stuffing. For real. It's what my mom always makes. For a few years I've made cornbread stuffing from scratch and it's now become one of those must haves. Watch for that recipe tomorrow. Today we're talking about shortcuts that can add some sass to your table. Here are a few for you to consider:

Cranberry Sauce - Buy two cans of whole berry sauce, stir in the grated zest (shiny part of the peel) of one orange and a teaspoon of vanilla. Chill overnight for a sassier sauce.

Corn - Cook your canned or frozen corn as usual, but just before serving toss in a couple of strips of crumbled bacon and a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet potatoes - Open and drain two large cans of Bruce's Yams. Add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 c. brown sugar, an egg and a splash of milk. Beat together until smooth and spread in a casserole dish and either top with a little butter, chopped pecans and a sprinkle of brown sugar or marshmallows. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Carrots - Rinse a couple of bags of fresh baby carrots, then place in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap and steam for 4 minutes or so. In a coffee mug, melt 3 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (in the microwave too). Pour over the steamed carrots add salt and pepper to taste and toss together.

You can think of some simple additions or ways to sassy up a recipe with your own creative spin. Don't forget about the power of color. A sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley makes any side dish prettier, and makes me feel better if I'm serving something straight out of the box. As far as your Thanksgiving desserts go, you have other shortcuts that can help you make a splash.

Pies - Homemade pies can be intimidating. Feel free to buy pie crust in a roll, or a ready made one (but put it in your own pan before baking) and try a new filling recipe. I guess that is what you call Semi-Homemade. Try something with a lattice top, just for the fun of it.

Cake - You aren't going to believe me here, but did you know that all you need to add to a cake mix to bake it is a can of pop? Diet or regular, any flavor. No eggs, oil or anything else. Just beat it with a mixer as you usually would. The result is a softer, moister cake that still serves well from a pan but doesn't do well for cupcakes. Great if you run out of eggs, for dieters, or people with egg allergies (if the cake mix is clear). Try a spice cake mix with root beer, devil's food cake mix with black cherry or vanilla cake mix with orange.

Have fun as you continue to plan your Thanksgiving dinner. One week from today...

Thanksgiving - Talking Turkey

If you haven't read my last post about simplifying your Thanksgiving, please do. Before we talk about how we are going to roast a turkey, let's chat about choosing the right one for you. As far as a whole turkey goes, anything under 20 lbs. isn't worth my while. Maybe it's coming from a big family, but if I am going to take the time and roast a turkey, why not take a little extra time and make it a big one. Even if you are only hosting a few people, the leftovers are great. The next point to consider is whether you (gasp) need to cook a whole turkey at all. If my mother-in-law will be at Thanksgiving dinner, I cook a whole turkey. If she isn't, then we have whole turkey breasts. I purchase several of them and roast them exactly the same way as a whole turkey. These wouldn't be the pressed and rolled boneless turkey roasts, but whole turkey breasts. Big difference there. We end up with only the white meat that my family prefers, and it is a much quicker process. This year we will have one whole turkey and one whole turkey breast.

When cooking a whole turkey or breast, always follow the package instructions regarding temperature and roasting time based on the weight. I generally err on the side of cooking it longer. I do use a meat thermometer to check to make sure it is done, you can click HERE to see how to check using one. Safety first, no matter how you are going to be preparing your bird.

Because we are going to roast our turkey on Wednesday, thawing time of a frozen turkey has to be considered a day earlier because you need it to be completely thawed in time. Wednesday morning, as early as I feel like it, the turkey gets rinsed, the neck and bag of giblets get removed (and tossed!), and patted dry. Make sure that you've prepared by having a huge foil roasting pan, big enough for your turkey and a rack of some sort, to lift the turkey off the bottom of the pan just a bit. You can buy one at the Dollar Tree, or even turn over a muffin pan and place it on that. For the last few years, I've used an electric roaster on my counter top so that my oven is free for baking. It can hold a big turkey, and you set the temperature just like an oven.

Now to season the turkey. It is all cleaned out, patted dry and ready to go, right? Give it a quick check to make sure that there aren't any pokey bits of feather left in the skin. That can happen sometimes, just pull them out. Here is what you'll need to season your turkey:

1 stick of butter, softened
1/2 c. chopped parsley leaves (no stems please)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 whole onion (skins too)
1 large carrot
2 stalks celery
Vegetable or olive oil

Mix the butter, parsley, garlic and pepper together. Coarsely chop the veggies and place them in the cavity of your turkey. Add the parsley stems too. This part is messy but worth it. Without removing any skin, place as much of the herbed butter under the skin of the breast and thighs of the turkey as you can. If there is any left, spread it on the turkey. Then put some oil in your hands and rub the whole turkey to coat. Then sprinkle with more pepper. I don't baste, but you can if you want to. Check your turkey several times during roasting, just to make sure that the breast isn't getting too brown too fast. If it does, take a sheet of foil and make a little tent just to set on top. That should keep it from getting over done. If you know for sure that your turkey is done and it's Wednesday, take your turkey out. Cover it with foil and set it aside for an hour to an hour and a half. That is going to give it time to cool sufficiently for you to be able to carve it easily, but it is also going to give it time for every bit of natural juice to absorb back into the meat, giving you a really juicy turkey. Toss the veggies from the cavity but reserve the drippings in the pan for later.

I use another foil pan at this point. When carving the turkey the day before, be careful to save as much skin in one piece as possible. Set that aside to place on top before you seal the pan with foil. As you are carving, start the white meat on one side and dark on the other of the pan, it's easier that way, I usually leave the legs and wings whole, and they go on top of the carved meat. Once you've carved everything, take some of the drippings from the pan and pour on top. If you aren't sure about this whole "reheating the turkey" thing and fear that it will be too dry, feel free to pour some low sodium chicken broth over too. Place the skin on top, then seal well with foil and pop in the fridge. Clean up your kitchen and you are one really big step closer to a very fun and relaxing Thanksgiving dinner.

Soup for you!

In honor or the summer cold that we've been passing around, today's post will be about THE chicken soup recipe. The basics of this soup were passed from my grandmother to my mom, then to me. That makes it special to me. I've played with ingredients just a little, because I can't leave anything alone, but this is it. Really simple and wonderful.

There are two parts to making really good chicken soup. Please read the recipe all the way through for ingredients, as they are listed as you need them. Here's how you start:

Place the following ingredients in a big pot, 8 quart sized is fine.
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen is okay for this)
2 cloves garlic, with the skin, coarsely chopped
a handful of celery leaves or tops (the stuff you usually throw away)
half an onion, very coarsely chopped, including the skins, so wash them first
fresh parsley, rinsed but whole, with the stems
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. peppercorns
1 gallon of water

Bring to a boil, partially covered, then lower the heat and simmer for an hour, longer if you are starting with frozen chicken. Check the chicken to make sure that it is thoroughly cooked and tender enough to shred easily. Remove the chicken and veggies and set aside. Strain the soup through a very fine metal strainer into a large enough container to hold the soup. Even a big bowl works, if that's what you have. The stock should be really clear. Right now you have lovely, flavorful chicken stock, with no added sodium and miles better than anything you can buy at the store. You could let it cool and freeze it for later use in your favorite recipes. We aren't stopping here today.

Wipe out the pot you started the soup in. Scrub the white filminess off and rinse well. Return the chicken broth to the pot. To it you will add:

1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
5 stalks celery, sliced
2 cups chunky - shredded chicken (that you boiled earlier)

Bring to a boil and simmer just until the carrots and celery are tender (about 20 minutes), then add

1/2 c. chopped parsley leaves (no stems please and I use curly for this)
salt and lots of pepper to taste

Serve over egg noodles that are just barely cooked.I cook about a pound, drain them and set aside to be added to the soup by the bowl. Whatever you do, never, ever cook your noodles in this soup. It will turn it starchy and unpleasant the next day. Please don't. This soup is special because of the richly flavored, clear broth. That should carry over even once you've added noodles.

A quick note: There are some that will tell you that you can't possibly make good stock without using chicken with bones. I disagree, and by adding flavorful ingredients along with the chicken, you give the stock a nice depth of flavor without messy bones and extra fat. You will probably have almost 2 cups leftover shredded cooked chicken after making the stock. I'm sure that you'll figure out what to do with it, but if you'd like, pop it into the freezer, we are going to be making chicken enchiladas soon.

Simple and easy

Sweet tea is something simple that makes my family really happy. I routinely get phone calls when people are headed home, just to check and see if there is tea made. Water, tea bags and sugar, sweet tea should have been really easy for me to figure out how to make. It took this Northern girl a long time to get it right. I didn't know that you can't just stir sugar into a pitcher of tea and expect it to work. It's about the timing. My husband's granny finally showed me the way. She uses a pot on the stove, but we do it in the microwave and use just a touch less sugar. Here's our standard family "recipe" if you want to call it that.

To make a gallon of tea, you start with 2 quarts of boiling hot water. We do this in the microwave, it takes about 3 and a half minutes. Add 8 standard tea bags (we like Lipton or Tetley) and let it steep for 20 minutes or so (you are making it double strength, so it needs to be dark). Do NOT squeeze out those tea bags or your tea will be bitter. Stir in 1 cup of sugar until dissolved. Fill a gallon sized pitcher half way full with cool water, then add the tea that you've made and stir. That's it. Perfect sweet tea.

One of my most simple and most requested recipes is for the easiest of re fried beans. Honestly, the recipe has evolved over time and we use the beans in several ways. Lately, we've been eating them right out of the pot with cornbread for a lazy dinner. They still remain the very best unfried re fried beans that we've ever had. Please don't be afraid of dry beans. This recipe doesn't require soaking and you're going to be using your crock pot.

Re fried beans
2 lbs. dry pinto beans
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
13 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. Chipotle chili pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin

Rinse and sort the beans. You are looking for little bits of mud or funky shaped or oddly colored beans. Pintos can have quite a few of these, depending on where you get them. Aldi's dry pinto beans are quite lovely and very inexpensive. Once you've checked through your beans, add them along with the onion, garlic, bay leaves and water to your crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours, checking a couple of times just to make sure that they don't get too dry. Depending on your crock pot, you may have to add an extra cup of water, but not too much. If you are uncertain, err on the side of too wet the first time you make this recipe.

At the end of 8 hours, the beans should be soft enough to smash easily against the side of the crock pot with a fork. If not, let them go another hour and check them again. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Your beans are ready to eat right now, just as they are with some fluffy rice or cornbread or both. You can also freeze these cooked beans, whole, in 2c. portions, to use in recipes that call for a can of pinto beans. The difference is, you have dramatically lower sodium compared to canned beans and they are much tastier. Use a slotted spoon to fill up your food processor with the beans, and pulse until smooth. You could use a blender, too, if that's what you have, just fill the blender only about half full or you might have a mess. The beans will set up just a little as they cool, but if your smashed beans seem too dry, add a little of the liquid from your crock pot. There are your unfried re fried beans. Vegetarian and fat free deliciousness.

Taste the beans once you've finished to adjust the seasoning if you like. Frankly, we like them well enough at this point give them a little sprinkle of cheese and call it bean dip. Allow your beans to cool, then freeze in whatever sized portion works for you. This recipe yielded four 2 cup portions of re fried beans and two 2 cup portions of whole pinto beans. Please try this recipe. You will never go back to the can.

Fancy Stuffed Bread

Sometimes it's all about illusion in the kitchen. Very, very simple things can look spectacular and give the appearance that you are an extremely experienced cook when the reality might be quite different. Remember that commercial for Rice Krispie when the mom throws some flour on her face and makes her family think she slaved over that pan of marshmallowy treats? That's pretty much the story of the stuffed bread.

You can either make some really quick pizza dough, or buy a loaf of frozen dough and let it thaw for this recipe. Better yet, see yesterday's post and use some dough straight out of your fridge. Cover your kitchen counter with plastic wrap. Wet the counter just a little first so that the plastic wrap sticks to it, but stays dry on top. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, not too thin. Mentally divide that rectangle of dough into thirds, lengthwise. Put your filling in the center.

About the filling. When I make stuffed bread for breakfast, I use 6 eggs, scrambled, 4 slices of bacon, crumbled, some fresh parsley, a cup or so of shredded cheese and lots of pepper and salt. I cook the eggs and bacon the night before most of the time. Veggies are nice too, but they need to sweat it out first, otherwise your bread will be too wet. After you've put your filling of choice down the center of the dough, you're going to cut the outer thirds of the dough in strips, about an inch wide, trying to have a similar amount of strips on each side. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Starting at one end, start overlapping the dough strips over each other, alternating strips and pressing down a bit to make sure that the filling is nicely tucked in. When you get to the end, do your best to tuck the ends in and make it look cute. If you don't have an even number of strips, just fake it. Everyone will be impressed with your pretty braided bread, they won't notice. Make sure that both ends are pressed closed. Spray a large baking sheet or stone with oil spray and shape the bread into a loose half circle on the pan. Be careful while you are transferring it, but if you lose some filling, just tuck it back in. This is pretty forgiving, really. Brush the top of the bread with some milk and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper, to make it look pretty. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until it's nice and golden brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Do not cover it while it's warm or your bread will turn soft from the condensation while it cools. You'll be sorry. Make sure you serve it whole with a little knife so that everyone can see how pretty your stuffed bread is.

So there are endless fillings that you can stuff this bread with. Here are a few of my favorites:

Grilled chicken (2 c.)tossed with Buffalo sauce, chopped celery and onion, shredded cheddar and crumbled blue cheese. Football party fabulous.

Mashed potatoes topped with sliced turkey and spread with a little cranberry sauce. Serve with warm gravy. Weird and wonderful.

Sauerkraut, rinsed, drained and squeezed dry, cooked with onions and layered with kielbasa. Spread the dough with a little spicy mustard first. You'll love it.

Really, you can't go wrong. Use whatever you love as a filling. Have fun in your kitchen.

Menu Planning Monday

Menu planning is something my mom taught me when I was really young. She planned our meals then made her shopping list. I'm thankful for her example in that way because it makes my life much more manageable. Being realistic is important in menu planning. If you know you are going to have a screaming busy couple of days, don't plan meals that include homemade bread or complicated recipes. If it's a frozen pizza night, then plan for it and make sure you have what you need to cook before that day or the drive through might tempt you. Here is this week's menu for us:

Monday - Ground beef fried rice (see recipe below)
Tuesday - Crockpot potato soup and homemade bread
Wednesday - Ravioli, salad and bread
Thursday - Bean and cheese quesadillas and corn
Friday - Football game (eat out with the team after)
Saturday - Grilled Buffalo chicken with celery sticks, homemade potato skins, brownies
Sunday - BBQ pork, beans and cornbread

So Tuesdays and Thursdays are consistently my busiest days. My son has a class at 5, followed immediately by football practice. If I waited until I was home from all that, it would be really hard to start dinner from scratch at that point, so it has to be either a crockpot recipe or something that is thrown together fast. The homemade bread part is easy, from a book that I will review soon. Yes, it's on the menu a lot, but remember that I'm feeding three teenagers :)

Ground Beef Fried Rice (for a crowd)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 eggs, beaten
2 c. frozen peas and carrots, thawed
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste
5 c. cooked white or brown rice

In a large pan, brown your ground beef, drain and wipe the pan out. Return the cooked beef to the pan, and add onion, cooking until transparent over medium high heat. Scrape the beef and onions to the outsides of the pan, leaving an empty space in the center. Pour beaten eggs in this area and cook quickly, scraping with a metal spatula as needed. When the eggs are cooked, use your spatula to chop them up in the pan. Stir eggs together with beef and onion, then add minced garlic and stir. Next add the Worcestershire sauce and peas and carrots. Stir in cooked rice and add salt, pepper and lots of soy sauce to taste. Add some crushed red pepper flakes too if you like. You pretty much can't go wrong with this recipe, use whatever veggies and meat you have in a pinch. This makes a large amount, but makes for great leftovers the next day with a little extra soy sauce.

Local Strawberry Heaven!

We are blessed to live right down the road from the winter strawberry capital of the world, Plant City, FL. My husband grew up on these beautiful berries, and no matter where the USMC sent him, he could always tell if he was eating a Plant City berry. He knows the difference between a Sweet Charlie and a Camarosa strawberry. Whenever we go picking, the variety of berry is important to him. He never met a local strawberry that he didn't like, but because of his family's background in local agriculture, he likes to know. We love to watch the process of the planting and growing season, pray for the crops when the hard winter freezes hit and wait to see just how good the next strawberry season will be.

Last year saw an especially hard winter for our berry farmers, and a mix of conditions led to a market that wasn't particularly favorable for them. We saw an early U-Pick season, where many fields could be picked for free. We repeatedly harvested berries from a local field and paid a whopping quarter for each quart. By the end of last season we had picked over seventy quarts, freezing many berries for smoothies and shortcake. Then there was the jam. I'm not certain how many batches we made, but it was more than ever before in one season. My husband's sweet Granny taught me how to make jam (always one batch at a time) going on a dozen years ago. She could make something out of nothing, but jam is something she is famous for in the family. I'm so thankful for the blessing of learning from her.

This weekend, we've done just a little strawberry picking. Most have gone into the freezer, but we did make some strawberry milkshakes and a new recipe. Last night I tried my hand at baking a strawberry quick bread. I couldn't find a recipe that made sense to me, so this is the one that I came up with. Surprisingly, it came out nicely.




Strawberry Bread
4 c. fresh strawberries, sliced and some slightly mashed
4 eggs
¼ c. olive oil (traditional, NOT extra virgin)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. sugar, divided
3 ½ c. all purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans. In a medium bowl, stir together strawberries, eggs, oil, vanilla and ½ c. of the sugar. Stir until the eggs are completely combined. In a large bowl add all dry ingredients (including remaining 1 ½ c. sugar). Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly. Stir strawberry mixture into dry ingredients, just until combined. Divide batter between greased loaf pans. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour, or until crust turns golden brown and passes the toothpick test. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

If you try this yourself, please don't be scared if you check the bread while it's baking and it's a scary grayish color. By the time it's done, it's nice and pretty brown. Trust me.

This would have been the day....

If we hadn't already made the decision to start making this dietary change, this would be the day that would've done it. Our youngest daughter's most recently diagnosed autoimmune disease (she has another one too) has taken to attacking another part of her body. An early morning doctor's appointment confirmed how much is going on. It was not good news but we are dealing with it the best we can. We are resting in our faith. There aren't many tools to fight this disease right now but knowing this dietary change might help at some point is one step in the right direction.

It seems a little boring to write about what we eat at every meal. When recipes or meals really stand out to my family as a clear hit or miss, I will post them here. I'll also be posting reviews of sorts, like last night. This evening's dinner was a clear hit. I had been contemplating something we could have as a hearty meal. Kindof like roast and potatoes without the roast. I am also trying very hard to get some extra calcium into our diet, especially because Prednisone is known to cause Osteoporosis, and Hay has been taking that for going on a year. Dinner tonight was Spinach with white beans, roasted smashed red potatoes and corn. Really simple and unbelievably delicious. My husband said he'd eat it anytime. Good thing, because he'll be seeing it on his plate again. It was super easy too. Here goes.

Spinach with White Beans

10 oz. baby spinach (washed well and dry)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 c. white beans (I used navy) if canned, rinse and drain

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil

Freshly ground pepper, salt and crushed red pepper flakes to taste

In a large frying pan with sides, coat pan with oil and let the garlic sit in it for a little while before you turn on the pan. Garlic can burn fast and it tastes dreadfully bitter when that happens, so be careful. Get all your ingredients ready to go before you turn on your pan because this goes really fast. Heat the pan with the oil and garlic to med/high. Add the spinach as soon as you hear the garlic sizzle a little. Stir the spinach in the pan (I use a metal spatula) and toss it around in the pan a little. As soon as it starts to wilt, add the beans. Keep stirring until the beans are heated through. Stir in basil, then season to taste. That's it. This recipe is on the stove top for less than 5 minutes from start to finish. Think really fast, you don't want your spinach to get soggy. Trust me, this recipe is worth trying. Soon.


Roasted Smashed Red Potatoes

This is one of those recipes that you will have to adjust your quantities yourself. Here are the basics:

red potatoes, scrubbed

olive oil

kosher or sea salt and cracked black pepper

I nuke my potatoes until they are baked, and let the oven preheat to 425 degrees while they are in the microwave. You could boil them too, but that's just another pot to wash, it's up to you.
Prepare a jelly roll type baking sheet by drizzling it with olive oil. Here's the complicated part: Put the baked red potatoes on the pan in the olive oil and smash them a little. With a potato masher or fork, just flatten them a little. Drizzle with a little more olive oil if you like, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake until they are crispy on the bottom and around the edges, about 25 minutes. Be prepared, these babies disappear in a quickness, so make a few more than you think you need. Especially if there are boys in your house.

Here's a picture of my plate. Might not be the prettiest picture, but you should try it anyway.

Totally day 1

Some people really need to talk their way through issues. I'm one of those people. Our dietary change has been discussed enough around these parts, so with the exception of the occasional question of whether we can eat a certain food or not, the talking is over. It's action time.

Breakfast is a pretty easy meal to have with no animal products My husband and I are fond of plain oatmeal nuked in the microwave (2 to 1 ratio, 1/2 c. water to 1/4 c. oatmeal) for a minute then with some Splenda, sliced almonds and either banana or dried cherries stirred in. Lucky for me, that's been my breakfast of choice for a few years. Even better, it's perfect for the world we live in now. Hay had a little berry smoothie and a Betty Lou's Almond Butter Ball that my very good friend brought for her to try. She liked it a lot, and once it cools off a bit, we'll be having these babies shipped in bulk.

Lunch was super easy. I made a double batch of the filling for this wrap yesterday, so we'll have plenty for the week and some to freeze for later. This is a recipe based on one that we have used at the really cool kid's cooking school that I teach at. My family has liked it in the past, and even with the modifications to make it work now, they still liked it a lot.

Yummy Sandwich Wraps

1 pkg. Spanish style Rice-a-Roni

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 c. chopped bell pepper ( we use Cubanelle)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 c. honey mustard

Chipotle Tabasco sauce to taste

Chopped tomato and (optional) black olives

Chopped lettuce

6 large flour tortillas

Brown rice according to package directions. Add onions and peppers, saute just a little. Add water as package directs, but do NOT add tomato/sauce as the box directs. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, then stir in black beans. In a small bowl, mix together honey mustard and Chipotle Tabasco, adjusting the "heat" to your level of comfort. Place roughly 3/4 to 1 c. of rice filling in the center of your tortilla. Top with lettuce, tomatoes and olives, then drizzle with sauce. Fold the top and bottom of tortilla over filling, then wrap the sides. Serve with a little extra sauce for dipping. Can be served warm or cold, and the filling also freezes well.

Guess that brings us to dinner. I love Mexican food just a little too much and cooked just a little too much of it in our almost 20 years of marriage. Effectively, my husband is pretty much over taco night at home. He and our son had football practice this evening so the girls and I took advantage of their absence to have burritos/tacos for dinner. We tried a new product called Fantastic Foods Taco Filling. It came in a box from Publix, inside was the filling in a plastic bag.

Boil some water with a little olive oil, add the filling mix and simmer. 5 minutes later, like magic, this really tasty taco filling appears.

This was not our first meat free taco/burrito night, but it was our first one ever without cheese or sour cream. We love cheese. We love Hay more, so it's gone. Believe it or not, we didn't feel like anything was missing at all. There was homemade salsa (made with lovely local yellow tomatoes), chopped onion, cilantro, olives and avocado along withour favorite sauces and some pinto beans that I pulled out of the freezer. That isn't shredded lettuce, it's baby spinach. Pull the stems off and shred/slice it finely and the pickiest won't know you snuck in a very healthy leafy green. Being sneaky can be fun.

I'll confess now that there were so many tasty trimmings loaded onto my burrito that I really couldn't taste the filling. After tasting a forkful of just the filling I am very happy to report that it was incredibly tasty. The texture was nice too. A big time beef eater would notice the difference if it was eaten alone, but loaded down with other stuff, chances are they would never guess it was something different. The secret is NOT telling them. That's another story though. Back to the taco filling in a box. It was good stuff and we'll be eating it again.

Bet you can sneak a healthier option somewher in your family's diet. It's fun to see if they figure it out.