What's for dinner tonight

Yes, I borrowed Rachael Ray's tag line, but I love her and it's perfect for what I am about to write. It's been a while since I've cooked dinner because my husband is home and he's been doing it, or we're both too tired to cook and end up eating a sandwich. Tonight, I cooked, and I cooked healthy.

Every time I go to the doctor, he preaches to me about eating more vegetables, so tonight I took his advice and made Roasted Veggies. I actually have two different recipes for this. One is a Weight Watchers and one is a South Beach Diet recipe. Tonight, I combined them and added a new seasoning. To go along with the Veggies, I fixed Salmon Patties. Both are so easy to make that I felt just like Rachael Ray while I prepared them tonight. I only wish I had a staff to clean the kitchen and do the dishes afterward like she does.

Enjoy,
Carol

Salmon Patties

1 can Salmon
1 sleeve saltine crackers
2 eggs

Crush crackers in a food processor and mix with salmon and eggs in a bowl. With hands, form patties and fry on medium heat with a little olive oil until golden brown. If you don't like the odor of Salmon in your home, try preparing them outside on the grill.

Roasted Veggies

1 medium zucchini
1 medium summer squash
1 red bell papper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 medium onion
1 C. baby carrots
1 C. fresh green beans
salt
pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut all vegetables into bite size pieces. In a casserole dish, put all veggies and drizzle with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. My new ingredient is to sprinkle the mixture with a little Mrs. Dash original flavor. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until veggies are tender. Stir often. Just about any fresh veggies that you like can be used in this.

Frying eggs

Last week, my mother and I went out to eat for breakfast to a nationally franchised restaurant. I won't say which one because we have gone to several restaurants and have had the same thing happen. Why can't chefs fry eggs the way we order them?

Mom and I usually order our eggs medium cooked. Without fail, the eggs still have the whites still runny. I can't stand eating eggs that are not done. This time though, we thought we would outsmart the cook and order our eggs well done. When the food came, Mom's eggs were so well done, they were unrecognizable as eggs. Seriously, I even said something to the waitress about Mom not getting her eggs. Mine on the otherhand, were not cooked well done, but rather medium. The waitress noticed this and said she would take them back. I said no, I would just eat them that way, hoping that maybe they would be okay. I was wrong. As soon as I cut them with my fork out ran the uncooked egg white. We learned our lesson and will probably order scrambled eggs from now on.

Both of us should have sent the eggs back, but who wants to wait any longer for their breakfast. I really shouldn't complain too much about over-cooked eggs. If any of you have read the story in my "Masters & Disasters" cookbook, you know I ruined eggs so bad once for my husband's breakfast that he took them to the trash can and pushed them in before even sitting at the table.

Below is the recipe on how to fry and eggs correctly.

Fried Eggs

2 eggs
1 T. butter

Melt butter (or margarine) in a skillet to medium heat. One at a time, break eggs into a small bowl and then pour into the skillet. For medium eggs, cook until the whites are set, then turn over and cook until the whites are set on that side and a film forms over the yolks, about 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Breakfast for Two

I promised that I would post one of my husband's recipes and this morning he made breakfast and it was wonderful. He made a Frittata.

4 large eggs, beaten
1 c. frozen shredded hash browns
1/4 c. chopped onion
5 slices bacon
shredded cheese

Fry bacon until crisp, crumble and set aside. Drain most of the grease from the skillet and add hash browns and onions. Cook until almost done, then add beaten eggs and bacon. Once the eggs are done, serve on a plate with shredded cheese on top. Serves two.

I believe that normally a Frittata is baked, but this way is so much easier and fast. He's a wonderful cook and breakfasts are his speciality. Although, he is outside grilling pork chops right now for dinner. I love this guy. 

Carol

I want my kitchen back!

I am still recovering from my surgery of three weeks ago, and as such I cannot do any housework yet. I am relying on my husband for that. I love him dearly and he does do a wonderful job, but right now my kitchen is a mess. Because I am limited on what I can do, all I have accomplished is doing dishes and fixing an easy breakfast each day.

I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, he is doing the laundry. He also is working part time right now, so his time is somewhat limited, too. But, the kitchen floor hasn't been swept in two weeks, the garbage can is over-flowing, and I can't see my countertop. I could get broom out to sweep, but I can't bend over to push it into the dustpan. I could ask my mom to come over and help, but I am the type of person who hates to ask anyone for help.

I have three more weeks before I am released to go back to work. Surely, by then I will have my kitchen back. Since I am not really doing any cooking this week, I don't have a recipe for you. I'll have to pick out one of my husband's dinner items and post it soon.

Thanks for reading,
Carol

Hospital Food

I recently was in the hospital for some surgery and once I was given the okay for solid food I gave the food service department a try. You always hear horror stories about how bad hospital food is, but in talking to patients of various hospitals it seems that the quality of the food has gotten better. This was not the case for me, at least with the sandwich I ordered. It was a Chicken Salad on whole wheat. I really can't say it was bad, but it could have been better, more flavorfull. For breakfast the next morning, I had a Ham and Cheese Omlet and I have to say, it was pretty good.

Oh, but that sandwich. Maybe it was because I like chicken salad so well, that I was disappointed. Below, I have put my recipe for chicken salad, that can also be found in my cookbook, Masters and Disasters of Cooking . Hmmm, maybe I should send it to the Food Service Department at the hospital.

Chicken Salad

1 1/2 C. cooked chicken, diced and chilled
1 C. mayonnaise
1 C. chopped celery
1 C. seedless grapes, sliced in half
1/2 C. almond slivers, optional
1 t. salt

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together. Chill. Serve on a bed of lettuce, or as a sandwich on bread or pita pockets. Makes about 10 servings.

Mother's Day

I want to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day. I hope all of you were waited on all day and had no cooking to do. My day was nice. My husband had to work until noon and my daughter had to go to work around 9 am. I had several hours to myself and enjoyed every minute of it. Friday, my husband and daughter went out to eat to celebrate Mother's Day since their hours for work today overlapped.

Once my husband got home, we along with my brother, took my mom to the local casino for an afternoon of gambling. Actaully, we were only there for a couple hours and that was enough. I never win and neither did my mom or brother, but my husband started out with twenty-dollars and came home with fifty. Not a bad day and he bought my supper on the way home, so no cooking for me this evening. 

Tonight, I'll make some buttered popcorn and spend the night watching the season finale of Survivor.

Carol

I won first place!!!!!

We had a Derby party at work on Friday. Well, sort of a party, we had to work all day, too. A contest was held for the best Derby hat and I won. Since I didn't have a hat to start with, I had to go buy a cheap straw hat and decorations. Do you know how hard it is to find a small toy horse, even around here. I went to two Walmarts, a Dollar Tree and two Dollar General stores. I ended up having to print a racehorse from the Internet. I put play money behind the picture and glue all to the front of the hat. Surrounding it, I place fake red roses. I'll post a picture soon. It was raining when I left work Friday and since I didn't want to get it wet, I left it at work.

The party part of the day was a pitch-in lunch at noon. There was so much food. I made a pasta salad and am including the recipe here. This is one of those dishes where there really isn't a recipe, but instead you throw everything together. I'll list the ingredients below, but you're on your own with the measurments. You really can't go wrong with it.

Pasta Salad

cooked pasta, any type
chopped carrot
chopped green pepper
chopped tomato

Sauce:
Equal amounts of sugar and mayonnaise (I use Miracle Whip)
add a little milk if it's too thick. If it's not sweet enough, add more sugar.
Pour over pasta. Chill before serving.