Dinner in the Summer Time/ Cordon Bleu

Last night I used a recipe from Allrecipe.com for a chicken dish I have only had in restaurants. Sometimes it is good sometimes it is to bland and dry to be good.
 Well this recipe was so good I will be using it over and over again. When I have guest I want to please or impress this will be my go to recipe.
Chicken Cordon Bleu
 So simple and easy to use and so much taste, your guest will never know how easy it really was. The flavor is 5 star making it seem like you have a professional Chef in your kitchen.

The creamy gravy that tops this classic dish is OHHHHHHHHHHH so good, I added mushroom and onion to the mix and was more then pleased.

I didn't want dessert last night I wanted more chicken Cordon Bleu. The name means Blue Ribbon and I can understand why.

Dinner in the Summer Time. Back to cooking.

I lazed about all day Sunday watching movies and playing on the lap top. I got dressed long enough to walk back to the neighbors house where Bill was hanging out and ask him what was for dinner. He told me "what ever you cook honey." That was not what I wanted to hear but pretty much what I expected to hear. So I trudged back up to the house and put my P.J.s back on and started thinking about dinner. 
 A quick look around the kitchen told me I had nice looking pork chops defrosted. I saw rice and beans in my future, that is until I noticed the nice big rip peaches sitting on the counter. Then my dinner plans did a flip flop and landed on a whole new taste idea. I didn't use this recipe last night but it is the recipe that flashed in my head when I saw the peaches.                                                                                              
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/pork/home-run-out-of-this-world-glazed.html?p=22
 My dinner last night was very simple and quick with out sacrificing any flavor. 

  I seasoned the pork chops with salt, pepper, onion, garlic, & curry powder. I pitted and quartered the peaches,placed them one the broiler with the chops. I drizzled honey on the peaches and sprinkled lightly with curry and cinnamon. I broiled on the 2 nd rack down. While the meat was broiling I was making the rice and steaming broccoli all in one pan using the steaming basket. I through a cinnamon stick in with the cooking rice. I wasn't sure how it would work but I had to try it any way. The peaches were done before the meat so I pulled them off the broiler and set them on the counter.I quickly found out letting the hot fruit cool is not such a bad idea.

Don't let the dark outer skin fool you just like a roasted marshmallow the peaches were perfect on the inside. Sweet, juicy, soft ( not mushy). Take the curry out of the line up and peaches cooked this way would make ice cream even better.

 Bill did not get left overs of this dinner.It was just that good you couldn't stop eating it. The cinnamon stick was subtle and aromatic not at all over powering. Curry and peaches were made for each other adding a special zip to the dish. I am always saying Bill can really cook a steak,well not to pat my own back or nothing but I have yet to meet a pork chop I didn't like!

Home From Seattle

I was very happy to return home yesterday afternoon from Seattle WA after having had the time of my life. 
  A big THANK YOU goes out to  Allrecipe.com for hosting such an incredible 3 day celebration. I learned so much and experienced even more.
  A group of over 60 women from all over the country and myself all converged on the city of Seattle this past week to celebrate 15 awesome years of Allrecipe.com and to learn more about them.
 While Allrecipe is the # 1 recipe, cooking web site we didn't learn about how to fry a chicken or how to hard boil an egg, they didn't show us how to read a recipe. We learned who Allrecipe is and how they came to be,from a cookie to the #1 recipe web site. We learned how our recipes and reviews and photos helped make the web site, how the web site is made by its members and it is the members needs and wants that guide the web site in its growth and success. We also got to meet the dedicated, delightful people that work behind the scenes and in front to make this web site possible. I walked a way from this 3 day gathering with a much clearer idea of who Allrecipe.com is.I can't help feeling a little bit of pride that in some small way that I am a part of all this and I help make Allrecipe, Allrecipe. I am pretty sure I am not alone in that feeling.
  While we didn't learn all bout cooking and recipes that doesn't mean this trip wasn't all about the food. It was nothing if not all about the food. Every where you looked you would see some one taking pictures of the food they had just been served and every gathering that took place outside as well as inside of the Allrecipe offices seemed to include food and fun. I only took 1 picture of the food I had while in Seattle, that was from dinner at the pink door. I was lazy about it I admit it,I did however get lots of shots of the Allstars enjoying meals and memories together.

Breakfast with new found friends. Laurie,Colleen, Carrie and her husband Jim. This is Athenia's  in Pikes Market place. The food was good the company better and the view perfect. We were looking out on the sound and there was a fog off in the distance making it seem as if the ships were coming from nowhere and disappearing the same way. Very cool to watch.

My dinner at the pink door and my one and only food photo. That is homemade pasta with meat sauce. A nice simple dish that was nicely plated. Just what I wanted

.Two of my dinner mates at the Pink Door. I have waited years for the chance to meet both Lillian and Peggi. Once again thank you Allrecipe. There was a few more of us there that night but I was much more interested in gabbing and eating then taking pictures so I once again slacked at the photo part.

Another group of Allstars that decided to have dinner at the Pink Door that night. The Allstars kept that restaurant hopping that night. A busy place to begin with the staff still was jumping to keep up with us. If you look closely at this picture you will see that the Pink Door just might want to turn up the lights a little. TeeHeeHee.

 Paula,Tracy,Lillian and I take lunch in the open air market. While the 3 lovely ladies have the crab bisque from Pikes Chowder.

I enjoyed a sandwich from sisters European Sandwiches. It was called the Hawain with black forest ham and pineapple and once again rosemary in the bread. 

This was my favorite lunch. I can't say what I at let alone spell it so I won't try. The beautiful ladies you are looking at are from left to right Dee,Me, Laurie, Peggi, and Lillian. We have all wanted to meet for years and at last we did. This was our last chance for all of us to get together one more time before everything was over and we had to start going our separate ways. We had lunch in the West Lake Mall I think it is a mall any way we ate in the food court. It was an awesome food court.My local Malls could take lessons. Just about anything you wanted  was there. we had some Indian, some Mexican, and some good ole American and a few dishes I wish I had the time to try. They looked good sitting across the table from me. Lunch was informal and easy going,we had so much fun posing for pictures sharing stories and getting to know each other even more. Kelly Melissa and one more lovely lady joined us for lunch making it even more fun. I am ashamed to say my memory is just going to fail me and while I can clearly see the other lady rounding out the table I can not put a name to the face. I even see her lunch clearly in fact I am still drooling over that falafal sample platter. Peggi's husband Harlen must have just loved being surrounded by so many lovely ladies.
 All to soon it was time to come home. Well maybe not to soon if I had walked up one more hill I think my legs would have fallen off in protest and I am sure one more bite of food  and I would have exploded.
   Thank you Allrecipe. To Allstars it was my greatest pleasure to get to meet you.

Dinner in the Summer Time/ Seattle, Folk fest & Food

In the morning I leave for Seattle Washington to help celebrate Allrecipe.com's 15th birthday. The trip is Allrecipes gift to its Allstars. I am so excited.
 My Camera has been packed since Monday. I have not worried about photoing dinner as I pack for my 3 day cross country trip. Dinner has been repeats and boring to write about since Sunday night. Still good food just written about before.
 Sunday I attended the picnic orientation for folk fest. Orientation a must for every volunteer, the picnic is the best orientation. While there I asked a friend of mine if she had read my blog about the rice spinach squares. She hadn't so I started to tell her about it an she said "Why aren't you working for me?" She is the head of the Annex and does a great job. Well that question propelled into an action and I am now a cook in the folk fest annex for the Philia folk fest. I am so happy. I have for longer then I can remember been a Field Supervisor ,an important and very detailed job. When Darla suggested that I work for her I am not sure why I just knew I would love to make the change. 
 I find it funny or coincidental that every thing in my life is becoming all about the food. I am about to board a plane, (one of my biggest fears ) for food. I changed a job I have done forever for food. 
 I am not sure how to end this  in fact I think this is not an ending but a beginning and I should say stayed tuned.   

Dinner in the Summer Time 07/21/2012

Boy oh Boy July has been such a busy month and it shows no signs of slowing down. That is just fine by me I like to be doing things and going places. Finding time to do everyday things like Blogging,laundry, and dishes has been a challenge but that is okay what is life with out a challenge.
 Saturday July 21,2012 was Christmas in July.One of the funnest (wow funnest is a real word. I need to look that up) parties of the year. This year was no different. In fact I was having so much fun that I was slow on the draw and didn't get my pictures taken fast enough of all the beautiful food that came to this party. By the time I got there....well the massacre had happened. I got a few pictures of the feast and with a little creative cropping you almost can't tell I was taking pictures of all but empty dishes. There was plenty of food and all of it very very good. Burgers,dogs,chicken made a few different ways and a variety of couscous salads,fresh salads and pasta salads as well.Then there were my favorites. My sister in laws roasted veggies,I like roasted vegetables and Rita has the touch. A pasta/potato salad made with pierogis was at the top of my list. I went back 3 times for that,so did my son for that matter. One of the couscous salads had chicken in it and tomato it was very very good too.

Roasted Veggies, Yummy!!

Perogi potato salad. Very very good

There is one dish I wanted to try and didn't get the chance it was the dish I brought. It was a new recipe and I was worried that it wasn't going to come out right. I still didn't try it took it untested to the party. So I don't know for myself how it tasted. All I know is it was the first dish to go empty and I received some very nice compliments. Based on all the good things said about the dish and no left overs I am going to share the recipe with you all and recommend you give it a try. I doubled the recipe and that is the only change I made when I made this recipe.

Sweet Potato Ambrosia

                     Sweet Potato Ambrosia
      1 1/2 qt. sliced cooked sweet potatoes
     1/2 fresh lemon sliced thin
      1 orange sliced thin
    9 oz. can crushed pineapple undrained
    1/2 cup brown sugar
    1/2 cup butter melted
    1/2 t salt
    1/2 cup flaked coconut
  In shallow 2 quart casserole arrange half of the sweet potatoes. Cover the potatoes with the orange and lemon slices. Top with remaining potatoes. Combine the pineapple,brown sugar, butter, and salt and pour over the potatoes. Sprinkle evenly with coconut flakes and bake in preheated 350 degree oven about 30 to 40 minutes.


Fun party, good food, great day!

Cooking & Me

If you asked Billy(my son) or Jim(Billy's Dad) if I can cook they would both laugh and say NO. When Billy was little I cooked all the time. In fact it was a baked pork chop with rice and cream of mushroom soup that propelled Jim to propose. By the time Billy hit his teens he locked his self in his room and didn't come out until the Caterpillar turned into a butterfly. Jim was working hard to provide a good life for us all and not always home. With all of this going on around me and no one home to eat my meals I quit cooking. More then a few years went by with my kitchen going unused and  gathering cobwebs and dust.  Billy's face was priceless when one night many years later we are sitting eating a delicious dinner of green beans, rice, and Chicken breast baked in a pecan crust, and he says to Bill "good  dinner thank you", and Bill answered "I didn't make this your mom did". I fell out of my chair laughing so hard when I heard this response "My Mom can't cook" 

Dinner in the Summer Time 07/20/2012

I was pretty much torn on exactly how to write this new entry. I still am some what torn so I will just start writing and see what happens.
  Thursday morning I wrote the 3 in 1 blog and then I was off to work. I totally forgot to take any think out for dinner before I left. When I got home I was tired and not to interested in dinner. Bill pulled out some brats and I pulled out hot dogs. While we sat and relaxed with a pre dinner  cocktail I batted around a few ideas about what to do with the brat and dogs. Bill was not being helpful at all what ever I suggested he said okay or yes, what ever is fine with me. I went in to the kitchen and after standing there scratching my head for a second or 2 I proceeded to make everything I suggested.

I call this the sampler dinner. A little bit of everything. On Bill's plate it is french fries,baked beans,pop corn chicken with a spiced up BBQ sauce and a Brat rolled in a tortilla shell with relish and mustard. My plate has a hot dog cut up in the beans and no brat. As I put Thursday nights dinner together I really thought I would be writing that dinner sucked. Frozen fries and processed meats are not my favorites. Much to my pleasure and surprise I enjoyed dinner a great deal. It was fun and tasty and just what I didn't know I was looking for.
  Friday  Night I picked Madeline up after work for an over night visit. I love my time with Madeline and try hard not to do anything to distract myself from her like house work or cooking. Friday however I did have to do a little house keeping and dinner did have to be made. Madeline helped me vacuum the pound of hair off the floor. Poor Domino it is so hot and he just can't help shedding. I planned to make a quick and easy dinner so I would spend as little time as possible in the kitchen. Again what I planned was not what happened. The steaks for dinner looked so good and needed a side dish that looked just as good. I happen to have a cook book open in the kitchen, to a page with a recipe that I was going to be using later in the week for a party. Right above that recipe was another recipe that looked so so so good and was just begging to be the side dish of the night. It wasn't a hard recipe just one that had many steps and required time. I got Madeline's apron and stool out cleared her off a work space and enjoyed the great pleasure of Madeline's help and company as I prepared dinner. She beat, mixed and stirred and watched intently as I showed her how to do this or that. It is by far the most fun I ever  had  making dinner. I can only hope for many more evenings like that one.

                   SAVORY SPINACH RICE SQUARES
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 T dry parsley flakes
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t thyme
1/2 t nutmeg
2 pkg.(10 oz. each) frozen chopped spinach, cooked and drained.
2 cup cooked rice
2 cup grated processed American cheese
 Beat eggs; add milk,butter,onion,parsley,Worcestershire sauce,salt,thyme,and nutmeg and mix well. Combine spinach rice and cheese and toss gently.Add egg mixture toss gently until evenly moistened. Pour into a greased shallow 2 quart baking dish.Bake in preheated 325 degree oven about one hour. Cut into squares to serve. Excellent served with baked ham, or roast pork, or veal.
 That is the recipe that Madeline and I made together. I have written it word for word as it is written in the cook book "recipes" recipes from the Tower kitchen by Carol Haddix, food writer The Detroit Free Press.
 I cut the recipe in half and used Munster cheese in place of American processed cheese. This recipe is excellent with steak.
 Bill cooked the steak to perfection as always and Madeline beamed brighter then the sun as we ate and enjoyed every bite of the rice squares she helped make.
  I wish I had pictures of all this but the batteries in my camera went dead just as I started taking pictures. I used my phone to take a picture or 2 and only the one above came out any good. That's okay  the memory of  Madeline in the kitchen working beside me will stay with me always. 

Dinner in the Summer Time / 3 Dinners in 1 Blog!

What a busy few days and they were great.Monday I was home all day cleaning and making a dinner that was worth writing about, Tuesday when I woke up the house was clean the sun was shining it was going to be HOT and I was bored so with out even looking at my lap top I packed my beach bag and headed for Wildwood. It is with good reason that this shore point keeps getting the vote for best beach in NJ. I enjoyed the day immensely. Dinner Tuesday night was not as impressive as the day and while it was good it wasn't all that exciting to write about.Yesterday was movie day for me. I spent a relaxing day doing laundry and watching movies on demand. Last nights dinner was by far the best dinner I have made this summer. Well at least I think so. 
 Movies, Laundry and another hot day that was yesterday. It was going to be its hottest right around dinner time so I woke up thinking about dinner. I got a single chicken breast half out of the freezer as soon as my feet hit the floor. By mid morning it was ready for the oven in a foil pack with nothing but salt and pepper. When it was done I let it cool removed the skin and bone then cut it into bite size pieces. I put it in the refrigerator until dinner. An hour or so before eating I put together my chicken salad and let it chill until we were ready to eat.
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/salad/chicken-salad/chicken-curry-salad.html?p=49
 This is the basic recipe I used. I made a few changes. I replaced the water chestnuts with pecans, I used yogurt in place of mayo,I left out the soy sauce and lemon juice and only used the curry powder.
  When Bill saw me mixing every thing together he says I don't want my bread toasted. I just smiled and said okay. Thinking to my self How long have we been married? I am willing to bet you already know I was not making chicken salad sandwiches. 
 Once all my ingredients were good and chilled I put them together. I topped off my little creation with garlic croutons I had chopped into crumbs and then I served dinner. 

    Yep chicken salad stuffed tomatoes and cottage cheese. The perfect dinner for a hot and sticky evening. Bill was so happy with his cold supper he didn't bother complaining about the curry. Every thing on the plate worked together to make one very tasty meal.
  Tuesday! what can I say about Tuesday,I can say what a perfect day I didn't even notice it was hot out. That is until I got home and remembered I had to fix dinner. I took ground beef out of the freezer before I left for Wildwood with out a single idea of what I was going to make. I still didn't know when I got home. So with no inspiration and even less desire to turn on the stove I looked around for the quickest thing I could put together and pass off as dinner. I found a jar of Alfredo sauce in the cupboard  as well as a bag of egg noddles,to all of that I added a bell pepper, a tomato, and onion. I chopped and diced what needed to be diced and chopped. I browned and boiled the meat and the noddles. Added the chopped and diced veggies to the meat and then added all of that to the noddles. The result was a jazzed up Stroganoff .

  Dinner was filling and tasted good just not one of my favorites.
 Monday nights dinner was an inspiration or an idea created from 3 different inspirations. I had all that left over pork from the roast and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Since we had burritos the night before I needed a different direction to go. My mind had been sitting on the idea of a hash all morning long. Only problem Bill is not a fan of left over meat hash. A true shame because it is a favorite dish of mine. Well I have made a hash or 2 that he really enjoyed but they always have carrot in them and I didn't have carrots on hand. Then it hits me I had just read a blog about"fried green potatoes" written by a friend of mine Lillian Russo. Basically she used spinach in her potato hash browns
http://myrecipejourney-lillian.blogspot.com/2012/07/fried-green-potatoesnot-tomatoes.html
 So I thought spinach and pork are perfect mates.That was inspiration # 2  Inspiration # 3 came from the mixture of pork and spinach and NJ's love for pork, provolone, and broccoli rhab  on a long roll.
 I made my hash based on that sandwich and Lillian's fried green potatoes. It was indeed a smashing success. 

  
    So good and so easy. Pretty much I just put every thing in the pan and brown it all up. Once it was all browned I topped it with slices of Provolone and stuck it under the broiler to brown the cheese. I used the left over meat juices from the crock pot as my liquid for cooking and I preboiled my potatoes till they were almost done, making them easier to brown in the hash. A good meal any time of the year an excellent meal in the summer time. One pan and done. Easy clean up and no real need to stand over a hot stove because a hash just about cooks it self.
  

Dinner in the Summer Time 07/15/2012

I spent the entire day in the kitchen yesterday, and only 30 minutes at most was spent on dinner. I cleaned that kitchen so many times yesterday and still this morning it looked like a bomb went off in there.
  The crock pot did most of the work for me yesterday. I rubbed a pork roast in a rub made of things like taco seasoning,curry, chili powder,cardamom, cumin, and a pinch or 2 of cayenne pepper. I put the roast in the crock pot with about a 1/2 cup of liquid, turned it on high covered the pot with the lid and basically forgot about it till an hour before dinner. Oh I did turn the crock pot to low half way through the cooking time. So an hour before dinner I started the rice  cooking and I started a pan of black beans at the same time to make sure they were nice and soft when I was ready for them. 

 The pork just fell into pieces as I took it out of the crock pot.

I can't express it enough how much I like brown rice.
 There is no picture of the beans because I took a real bad picture and I am not showing it. 
   So once all the food was ready I assembled it all on  soft tortilla shells with shredded cheddar and green onion.Then I rolled all this yummy goodness into  burritos. I topped the burritos with a sauce made from the liquid in the crock pot, sour cream and a small sprinkling of cheese.

                              Absolutely spectacular.  

I didn't plan it but I can't help notice that both dinner and dessert were roll ups. Rolled right into deliciousness.

Cook Books

I love cook books. I have a large collection of cook books. I have so many that I haven't read all of them yet. Well with all the time I have on my hands because of the quick and easy meals of this month,I have been catching up on my cook book reading. Reading cook books can be dangerous. You have no idea what you will get your self into.

I read 3 books this week and while every one of them had me going  " Oh wow look at this " more then once, only one of them had me in the kitchen all day Sunday. I do mean all day it is a good thing dinner was in the crock pot or there would have been no dinner just cake.

A chocolate sponge roll is what I decided to make. I had been drooling about this recipe ever since reading it a few days ago. I am not a baker I am unsure of my self when it comes to baking and have more questions then answers. So before I went into the kitchen I called Mary Ellen the best baker I know and got some answers. After a quick trip to the store for the proper pan, (This required 2 more calls to Mary Ellen) I was ready to bake a cake.
  I entered the kitchen armed with my cook book opened to the 2 pages of ingredients and directions as well as a head full of  good tips and helpful hints from Mary Ellen. I felt sure I felt ready I felt like a baker.

                                 I prepared my baking pan.

                       Sifted together my dry ingredients.

                           Beat the egg whites stiff.

              Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick.

                         Added the egg whites to the egg yolk.

                             Gently folded together.

               Folded in dry ingredients a little at a time.

Spread the batter in my prepared pan& put it in the oven.

  I sprinkled powder sugar on a towel larger then the cake.

I inverted the cake onto the towel removed the parchment paper and rolled the warm cake into the towel. Leaving it to cool completely.
  While the cake cooled I made my filling. A creamy orange coconut filling that I found in the same book. Once the cake was cool, I unrolled the cake.

                 I spread the filling over the entire cake. 

                         I rolled the cake up into a log.

Placed it on a plate and tried a piece before dinner was ready.
  I put the cake in the fridge until it was time for dessert and it sliced so much better after it was chilled.

The book I found the cake in was my mom's when she was a young wife and she used it as long as I can remember. I can see why. I am not a baker, but you couldn't tell that looking at my cake. All I did was follow the recipe directions and listen to some good advice.

Dinner in the Summer Time 07/14/2012

Dinner last night was a combined effort. The word effort makes it sound like we worked hard at fixing dinner. More like we played hard while dinner cooked itself. The prep work took less then 10 minutes and some of it was quite fun. Bill picked some beets and bell peppers from the garden and together we washed them and few small potatoes up,I chopped up some white onion and the bell peppers and put it altogether in my baking dish with chicken leg quarters. I added 5 whole cloves of garlic, some sage, rosemary,& oregano fresh from the garden as well as salt, pepper, Chinese ginger, and enough white wine to cover the bottom of the pan,I drizzled olive oil lightly over the top and the prep work was done. It actually took longer to write about it then do it.

  The pre cooked dish looked so pretty I just had to take a picture. I covered this with foil and handed it off to Bill for the grill. He cooked it for 30 minutes with the foil and the final 30 minutes with out the foil. It took a little over an hour for the chicken to be cooked all the way through. Giving Bill and I plenty of time to relax, play a few games and get caught up on each others day.
  As good as that chicken dish looked going onto the grill it looked even better coming off the grill.

This tasted exactly like it looks. The little golden beets where a sweet little treat and with all the flavor going on in that pan the potatoes didn't need butter or any other seasoning.The best way to describe last nights dinner.....
                         Finger Licking  Good !!! 

Dinner in the Summer Time 07/13/2012

 Bill and I did not want to cook last night. We wanted a cook and a maid to serve us. Well since we all know that wasn't going to happen Bill went ahead and made us dinner. He made a good  easy  no fuss meal. Not sure if it would have been considered a healthy dinner, there was no green veggie,on the other hand there also was no starch. Pure protein that is what is was.
 I do love a good steak and Bill is the best steak cooker I know. He gets them perfectly done every time. Pink and tender on the inside and nicely browned on the outside with grill marks to finish the picture. Last night was no different, he grilled us steaks done just right, sauteed some button mushrooms with a sweet white onion and called it dinner.               
                                    Delicious!

 I have been doing very good this month making meals that require very little prep time keeping me out of the heat of the  kitchen,I think however that I am doing just as well at staying out of the kitchen altogether. By the time the cool weather comes back I am sure I will miss being in the kitchen cooking up our favorite recipes, but for now I am enjoying the lighter meals and really enjoying the days I never enter the kitchen. No cooking or doing the dishes I call those Vacation Days.

Dinner In The Summer Time 07/12/2012

Today was just one of those days. It started last night just before I went to bed and rolled right into this morning. I missed placed my glasses last night and no matter how hard I looked I couldn't find them. I got up extra early this morning hoping to find them and still have time to write my blog before work. No such luck, I  looked all morning until I had to give up and get ready for work. Before I hit the shower I went to make the bed, and you know how people always say " you will find them in the last place you look" , well not this time this time they were in the first place I didn't look. When I went to tuck Bill in last night and kiss him goodnight I laid my glasses on the window sill and forgot all about them. I never looked near the bed,I just looked on the dressers and floor. So when I went to tie back the curtains there they were just staring at me as if to say "hey I have been looking for you".  I have the ailment known as C.R.S.(can't remember sh**t) and last night as well as this morning it was working over time.
    Last nights dinner was well worth writing about. I had one more head of cauliflower that needed to be used and the Mac&Cheese gave me another idea. I made tomato sauce and spicy sausage and used the cauliflower as the pasta. It was beyond good. So far that is 5 for 5 when it comes to substituting cauliflower for starch. Mashed cauliflower rocks, cauliflower potato salad is good, cauliflower gratin is also good. Mac&Cheese was a tasty dish, and now red sauce and sausage over cauliflower Yummy. I asked Bill what was better pasta or the cauliflower and he replied pasta of course, but this is really good and you can make it again.
  All I did was make a red sauce and cook hot Italian sausage as I normally do.
http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/sauce-spread/gravy/tomato-sauce-gravy-as-taught-to-me.html?p=41
 I cooked the cauliflower as I would pasta, not as al dente as pasta but not to soft. A butter knife  cut through a floret easily with out the floret crumbling.I Drained the cauliflower real real well so it wouldn't water down the sauce. Once everything  was ready I plated it like I would spaghetti. You can top with cheese if you like. I didn't use cheese and didn't think I was missing any thing.

This dish was so pretty to look at I had to share more then one view with you.  

Dinner in the Summer Time 07/11/2012

I used the stove and oven last night. The weather was comfortable enough that cooking indoors was no big deal. We are back to using fans and open windows. I love summer days like that.
  Bill had an appointment in the early evening and since I needed to go with him dinner was quite late last night. I knew exactly what I wanted to make and didn't think I could get a head start by doing any of the prep work before we had to leave. Now I think maybe I could have done a few things before leaving the house. It would have made dinner ready 30 minutes sooner if I had thought of this yesterday instead of as I am writing it now.
  I used the left over chicken breast from the night before(I hid it in the back of the fridge so Bill wouldn't take it for lunch,giggle giggle) All I did with that was leave it in the foil I wrapped it in to store it, and threw it in the oven at the very end to warm it up. I started warming it up on the lid of the pan my green beans were steaming in so it only needed 10 minutes in the oven. What I consider the actual main course of the dinner was the Mac & Cheese only I substituted Cauliflower for the macaroni. This is where I could have done some prep work earlier in the day. I should have prepared and cooked the cauliflower. That is 30 minute right there getting the flower tender. I made the dish just like I would make Mac&Cheese and it was GOOD. A few things I need to change up and remember but nothing big. Cauliflower doesn't soak the cheese sauce up like macaroni does so I need to cut the amount of cheese sauce down a little bit and make the sauce just a little thicker. Other then that it is a keeper.

Is there starch in cauliflower? Did I just manage to have a starch free meal? The cheese and milk are both low fat and the chicken was steamed,the green beans were fresh from the garden. This is about as close to healthy cooking as I seem to get. It certainly didn't taste healthy.

                                   Simply delicious!