Paula Deen's "Creamy Rice Salad with Country Ham & Peas" is definitely a keeper! I have to agree with my sister-in-law, though - it would be a much better side dish than main course. It was really good, but needed something more. I'm thinking it would really excel as a covered dish choice.

Due to a schedule change, Tuesday Night Supper will become Monday Night Supper next week. I'm having mixed feelings there - on one hand, I think Monday will work much better with the rest of my week. On the other hand, though, it's been kind of hard to come home from work on Tuesday and starting cooking. You may have noticed the recipes have become simplier in recent weeks! Monday may be even more tiring, but I have the rest of the week to 'rest'.

Next up: Asparagus and Prosciutto Baked Shells. I found this one on a website for Barilla pasta. I knew I wanted stuffed shells, but not the same old, same old. The cheesy ones tend to be too cheesy (according to some), and the meaty ones I've had several times. This sounded really different and tasty!

If anyone would like one of the recipes we tried, please let me know! I'll be more than happy to share.

L

Tuesday, November 8th was Breakfast for Supper night. Homemade pancakes, sausage patties, bacon, scrambled eggs and optional sauteed mushrooms. Rather plain and simple, but I was just tired. Left up to 'surprise us', that was the quickest and easiest thing that ran through my mind.

Next up: Paula Deen's Creamy Rice Salad with Country Ham and Peas. (I know, I know: these folks don't like peas, but I'm doin' the cookin' and I do!)

L

Trisha Yearwood has two fantasic cookbooks out - "Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen" and her new one, "Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood". Pretty much everything in both of them looks good, and so far, everything I've tried has been really wonderful!

Tonight, we had "Cowboy Lasagna" - your basic lasagna, but with ground beef, sage sausage and pepperoni. I made it with cottage cheese instead of ricotta, but I'd like to try it again the other way. It was pretty good. There were no leftovers, anyway - that's always a good sign. Although (much like Garfield), I've never met a lasagna I didn't like. There's another recipe in the same book (the new one) for Chicken Spinach Lasagna. It's on the menu for later this week simply because there were so many leftover noodles. I had a partial package from an earlier meal, so I went ahead and cooked it with the full one for tonight. Personally, I think the Chicken Spinach one sounds even better, but I'm partial to the unusual.

Next week, pot luck. They said "Surprise us", and so I shall. (That means I currently have no clue.)

Till next week, happy eating!

L

Tonight was "Edna's Scalloped Potato Soup", from Guideposts Magazine. It was pretty good - potatoes, carrots, celery, ham, onions, garlic, evaporated milk, etc. I love a good soup when the weather turns cool! We also had some "Steakhouse Brown Bread" - off the store shelf, but very similar to what they serve at Outback or Longhorn. We were prepared to add grilled cheese sandwiches if anyone didn't like it or was still hungry, but didn't have to resort to that.

This week, I rejoined "The Good Cook" book club and got 5 new cookbooks! Oh, joy! I've already skimmed through them looking for new ideas. (I can't wait to try something from the "Booze Cakes" one.)

One of my son's friends mentioned the other day that he had never had Lasagna. Hard to imagine! Much like Garfield, I've never met a Lasagna I didn't like. So, next week we'll be having "Cowboy Lasagna" from "Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood". This is her second cookbook - I have both and don't there's a single recipe in either one I wouldn't like. I wish I could say the same for my family. Oh, well - that's why we're having Tuesday Night Supper.

Happy cooking (and eating)!

L

Yum! The Slow Cooker Texas Chili was amazing! A little on the spicy side, but still good. Fortunately, John was off school today and able to get it all started. Bite size chuck roast, green chilies, chili powder, a little brown sugar, onion, garlic, hot sauce, tomatoes (with green chilies - do you sense a theme here?), topped with sour cream, scallions and cheese. The corn bread was amazing, too - with cream corn, sour cream, baking powder, corn meal and a little vegetable oil - so moist you almost needed a spoon. Dishes are done, too - thanks to Ginger and Jeff!

This week, I rejoined The Good Cook book club - five new cookbooks to look through for future ideas arrived today. I know what I'll be doing this weekend! Just for fun, I got the "Booze Cakes" cookbook, too. I can't wait to get into that one! I feel a cake baking coming on this weekend. :-)

Next week: Scalloped Potato and Ham Soup with crusty Italian bread. Happy cooking!

L


PS - yesterday I also found a way to be more giving, non-financially, as I posted a few weeks ago. I was honored to finish a project someone else started and was unable to complete. I have no idea why I was asked - the lady who contacted me didn't know me all that well, but she called me anyway. I have to believe there was some divine intervention there.

Grace and Peace,

L

I need to either figure out what week we've on or give up trying!

Last night was Chicken Korma, from the Food Network Cookbook (Thanks, again, Pam!!). It was acutally turkey, since I couldn't find ground chicken (although, admittedly, I didn't look very hard!). It started out with sauteed purple onion, to which was added a spice paste of pureed chopped red onion, minced onion, thin-sliced fresh ginger, cumin, coriander and water. That was reduced until dry, then the chicken (turkey) was added and cooked until opaque. Green peas and chopped cilantro were added until heated through, then plain yogurt. This was served on toasted pita rounds and garnished with fresh cilantro, plain yogurt and cashews. With all the spices involved, I was expecting an amazing, super flavorful dish here! It was just okay - very edible, good even, but just okay. Tasty, but a little bland. It was really quick to throw together, though.

Next week: Texas Chili and cornbread! Yum!

Til next time!

L

I was on vacation last week LOL. John grilled steaks and we had wild rice and salad - so nice to sit back and do nothing! I could get used to that! :-)

Tonight (I've lost track of my weeks), we had Pizza Stuffed Chicken Breasts (with pepperoni, provolone and basil), cauliflower with cheese sauce, leftover Onion Macaroni Bake (as a filler, in case we didn't have enough) and Mexican corn. Once again, everything was the same color! We're doing good with tasting different foods and cooking new and different things, but we always seem to end up beige. I guess it could be worse. We'll just have to be more creative on making colorful plates. This was a Paula Deen recipe and while it was good, it was just 'okay'. I think my breasts were too big (pun intended) and therefore, not enough of the pizza flavor came through. We may have to try this one again some day, but I'm not ready for repeats yet.

Next week: Chicken Korma! We'll have to come up with something green or red to go with it. Or both - you never know!

Until then, Happy Dining!