A Rainy Sunday

I suppose our gorgeous run of weather had to break sometime. As much as I love warm, sunny days, it is nice to have those chilly, rainy days that make you feel like hibernating. Or baking. I whipped up some Bisquik waffles with pecans. As much as I don't care for Bisquik pancakes, it does make a decent waffle and it sure is easy. I had hoped to also get some muffins made, but didn't get around to those. I did, however, make some Chewy Ginger Snaps at my husband's request.

Tonight we tried a new recipe for dinner. I was browsing through the May issue of Cooking Light and two spinach recipes caught my eye. I love spinach. My family is slowly coming around and I try to sneak it in wherever I can. This salad recipe caught my eye because it included egg and bacon. I find that it's often easier to get them to try something if it includes one or two things you know are winners (in this case, the egg and bacon).

Spinach Salad with Egg, Bacon and Goat Cheese

Funny thing is, when I went to make the recipe, I realized that it doesn't call for spinach at all! I'm so glad I imagined it - it's perfect with spinach. I strayed quite far from the written recipe, even beyond the spinach subsitution, and really only used the recipe as inspiration to try something new. The CL salad calls for toasted walnuts, pear and blue cheese. I'm not crazy about walnuts in salad and I often don't care for fruits in salad, either. I used goat cheese instead of blue cheese because that was what I had on hand and needed to use up. Instead of using their dressing recipe, I used this one that we've made many times and really like.

One thing I found interesting about this recipe was the way the eggs are cooked. You cook them in ramekins or custard cups in the microwave. This idea intrigues me as a quick and easy way to make an egg for breakfast in the morning. Maybe I'll give it a try tomorrow. I love a runny egg on buttered whole wheat toast. Yum.

This salad received two thumbs up from the boys. Even if I hadn't asked them, it was pretty obvious from the way they were shoveling it in! I think the strong flavor from the Dijon dressing and the goat cheese help to make spinach more palatable for them.

I still have a whole bag of spinach left, so next up is a frittata from the new CL and maybe this recipe for a brown rice risotto that I spied on Sweetnick's ARF round-up this week. Looks delish. What could be better than healthful comfort food??

VRC REMINDER! You have until tomorrow night to submit your favorite salad recipe. I will post the round-up tomorrow night. There are only a few entries so far, so I hope a few of you are still planning to participate.

And last, but not least, my submission for tonight's WBD over at Sweetnicks.

Poor Bailey. If they had animal protective services in our area, we might have been reported! His ears have a tendency to get dirty, but I often forget to check them until he starts shaking his head. He hadn't been doing a lot of that lately, but when my husband checked his ears, one of them was absolutely filthy. I have cleaned it 3 or 4 times and it's getting better, but not quite there yet. I feel horrible!

We go to the vet tomorrow for his yearly vaccinations and I'll have them check his ear. I'm also going to have a very worrisome spot on his nose checked and his paws too - his nails don't look healthy to me, so I'm worried about a possible fungus. Poor dog - sounds like he's falling apart! The ticks have been horrible this year (or it may just be that we live in an area more prone to ticks than our old house), so we've been battling those as well.

Anyway, here are two pictures (can't pick one) of Bailey getting his ears cleaned. He's not crazy about getting them cleaned, but his face tells us that he was rather enjoying it in spite of himself.

I'm so glad to have had time to blog today. Hopefully I'll get a chance again soon. Until then.......

VRC or CRV?

I've been completely MIA! I have to admit that my heart's not in blogging lately - I don't get a whole lot of quiet moments lately and when I do, I haven't been wanting to spend those moments blogging. Instead of committing to any kind of regular blogging like I keep trying to do, I guess I'll just have to say that it will be a bit irregular for a while.

In any case, I haven't forgotten about VRC: Salads and I hope some of you out there still want to participate. I'll try to post them by Monday, May 1.

And back to that French Connection I was alluding to.......Zoubida from Kitchen Culture has been very patient as I have taken forever to make this announcement. Sorry for the delay, Zoubida!

Almost 2 weeks or so ago (seems like much longer than that), Zoubida proposed doing a French version of VRC. I thought it was a great idea! The idea is that she will hold a French version of VRC for her French-speaking readers. Any bilingual bloggers would send their posts to both Zoubida and to me here at The Savory Notebook. Although translating all posts would be too time-consuming, Zoubida has proposed to have her readers vote for one post from our English round-up that would then get translated into French.

She has already posted about here in her blog. As you can see, the initials VRC get a bit lost in translation - in French, it's really more of CRV or "Club de Recettes Virtuel". I hope that her bilingual posters will participate - it would be great to share recipes back and forth.

So, if you haven't already given up on The Savory Notebook, please join me for VRC: Salad and send me a link to your favorite recipe. I made our entry last weekend and look forward to sharing it with you.

What's this? Pesto? at Wendy's?

I was dead-tired after work today and it was also Tae Kwon Do night for my oldest son, so we headed to the Wendy's drive-thru for dinner on the way home. We try not to eat too much fast food, but sometimes the thought of no preparation, no clean up and a quick meal is just too enticing.


My oldest son tried one of their new Frescata sandwiches and I asked him for a bite. It was actually pretty good! He tried the Roasted Turkey and Basil Pesto Frescata. Pesto? At Wendy's? If that wasn't shocking enough, the bread is actually crusty and chewy - very much unlike the squishy rolls that are the norm. The pesto mayonnaise isn't bad either. And get this, the sandwich also has roasted red peppers on it! That's more gourmet than most privately owned, non-fast food restaurants here in Indiana!

I only had one bite, so I didn't get to evaluate it completely, but certainly this is a step in the right direction for fast food. I almost want to buy them on a regular basis, just to encourage fast food companies to branch out and try new things.

The nutritonal information doesn't appear much better than some of their burgers and chicken sandwiches - 420 calories, 16 grams of fat (but only 3 are saturated and no trans fat), and 4 grams of fiber - but it tasted a lot better than having the same old boring burger. You can find the complete low-down on their website. Not exactly low-cal or low-fat, but definitely more interesting.

Fast food places are not my favorite, but it's nice to know that they are trying and that you might actually have some halfway decent choices if you're stuck having to eat at one. And I also must give our Wendy's kudos for actually being fast. You barely have time to pay and drive up to the pick-up window before your food is ready.

I will have to delay the announcement I hinted at yesterday. I need to iron out the details before posting. But just to give another hint......VRC-CRV.

Until tomorrow.............

Take a week off....

and come back to a Page Rank of 5? Must be a glitch. How can inactivity result in a better page ranking? I've been wondering when I'd earn a higher page rank, but I didn't think it would happen when I wasn't posting!

In any case, it's nice to have a chance to sit down and blog.

Last week got very busy with the arrival of my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and their four girls, ages 9 months to 9 years. It was fun, especially now that we have a larger house and they don't have to sleep in my living room anymore. The house we are in now is very well-suited for guests - there is a bedroom and a full bath in the basement, giving our guests quite a bit of privacy (not to mention a little sanity for myself). The closet in the guest room is even big enough to fit a portable crib for my youngest niece.

Once upon a time, I used to go all out for guests. We're talking appetizers almost every night, fairly elaborate meals and dessert. Not only was that a lot of work, but it was a lot of food. Nowadays, I try to keep things simple. Working full time has certainly cut into my cooking time, but I also found that I ended up spending almost all of my time in the kitchen instead of enjoying my guests. As much as I like to treat my guests well, that just wasn't working. And I honestly feel that a host can put his/her guests on edge or make them feel guilty for sitting around and enjoying themselves (as they should) if he/she is slaving away in the kitchen. If I do make appetizers and desserts, I do them all ahead of time and keep them in the freezer - very convenient and it frees me up to visit with my guests.

This time I skipped the appetizers and desserts altogether. I must admit it was for selfish reasons. Not only did I have time constraints, but I really need to lose some weight and I wanted to keep things simple and light. The menu was not only simple, but it was quite healthful as well. Lots of vegetables. Our grill got a pretty good workout too.

Friday was still Lent, so I made one of our favorite grilled salads, an interpretation of the Summer Vegetable Salad with Grilled Bread that I've mentioned here before. This time, I grilled a combination of mushrooms, red onion, orange pepper, zucchini and yellow squash. To that mixture, I added some whole wheat pasta, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes and feta cheese. I used the basic dressing in the recipe, but I added some Dijon mustard and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Leftovers of this salad are quite good lightly warmed in the microwave - I've been bringing it all week to work and just used up the last of it today. Yum!

Photo from Cooking Light

On Saturday, we had Cooking Light's Beef-and-Chicken Fajitas with Peppers and Onions. I served this with my own creation - a Black Bean and Grilled Corn Salad (I will post a rough recipe for that this weekend). I love fajitas - especially with a nice cold Corona - and they are great for guests, especially kids since you get to create your own.

On Sunday we had a Honey Baked Ham that we picked up on Saturday. Okay, I admit that at least part of the reasoning for ordering a ham was to give my SIL and me a reason to go out for a bit on our own - we snuck in lunch and a little bit of shopping while getting the ham. I feel it's my duty as her friend to make sure she takes some time to herself - something she doesn't do often enough. And besides - I love Honey Baked Hams. I look forward to the treat once a year at Easter. I had planned to have sauteed asparagus and twice-baked potatoes as sides, but I ended up adding sauteed spinach to the menu after 6 1/2-year-old niece begged me to make her some spinach. What's this? A child begging me to make spinach??? How could I refuse? My guys would NEVER beg for spinach, so I was NOT passing up that opportunity - I was more than happy to oblige.

That was our weekend of cooking. Very simply and fairly light and healthful. My BIL seemed very appreciative of all the vegetables.

We had a lot of leftovers and have been living off of them all week, mostly for lunches. Monday night I made quesadillas out of the fajita leftovers. Tonight we took a break from leftovers and cooked some burgers on the grill. Tomorrow I need to use up some eggs along with the leftover ham, so it will be some sort of scramble or frittata, not sure yet.

I hope that I will find time now to post more than once a week - maybe twice, at least??!! I've been cutting back on the junk food and snacking and trying to at least walk every day and still hope to one day get back to my weigh-ins. I don't know if it's wise to commit to posting certain days, but for now I'd like to try to post at least on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Perhaps Wednesday could return to weigh-ins and Saturdays could be a weekly recap. And maybe a WDB or ARF thrown in here and there...

I will be back tomorrow with an announcement that I should have made quite a while ago. VRC en Français............

A Day off and Chops on the Grill

I took the day off from work today to try to catch up with things around the house. Our house went up for sale yesterday and I definitely didn't feel we were ready. On top of that, we are having my SIL, BIL and their four kids here on Thursday or Friday for the holiday weekend. As much as I always look forward to their visits, it's a little overwhelming with all that's going on here lately. Having a quiet house to myself was most enjoyable - I love to quietly putter around the house. When I'm not rushed and I'm able to take my time, housework can almost be enjoyable.

I love grilling. It makes the food taste better, cleanup is easier and usually it's something I can pawn off on my husband. When the weather turns warm, meals around here get much simpler. It's just too hard to stay cooped up in the kitchen when it's nice, not to mention how uncomfortable it can make the kitchen to cook indoors on a hot day. It's certainly not hot yet, but the outdoors and fresh air beckon.

So, it was night #3 on the grill this week and this time it was BBQ pork chops and baked beans. These are both Cooking Light recipes that we've been making for quite a while. The boys love them and they are easy enough for them to help out.

The side dish contains pinto beans, an ARF, so I'll be submitting tonight's dinner to Sweetnick's ARF round-up if I'm not too late.

Barbecued Pork Chops

Photo from Cooking Light

Baked Triple-Bean Pot

Gorgeous Weather!

And gorgeous weather means more grilling.

Kalyn's chicken recipe from VRC: Most Requested Recipe looked like just the thing to grill for tonight. I had most of the ingredients on hand, so I whipped up the marinade last night and marinated the chicken overnight. The only two ingredients I didn't have were the Spike and the celery root. I could tell that it would still be quite flavorful without those 2 ingredients, and indeed it was, but I look forward to trying the recipe exactly as written sometime in the future.

So many times I am disappointed when a tasty marinade ends up lending very little if any flavor to the final product. Not so with this marinade - the chicken had plenty of flavor. It's definitely a keeper.

I served the dish with chipotle roasted sweet potatoes and a cucumber-tomato salad with balsamic dressing. I think that counts as at least a good-carb meal, if not a low-carb meal, right Kalyn? ;-) No pictures though - my chicken looked a bit strange and definitely would not have photographed well.

In closing, I'd like to announce the theme for the next VRC. The warm weather has me craving all of our summertime favorites and one of our favorite summertime meals is a big salad with lots of different things thrown in. I've already shared some of our favorite salads, but I have many left on my list to try, so I hope this month's theme will inspire me to do so. Seeing as the response was better this last time around, I will go back to making VRC a monthly event, so you have until the end of April to get your links in to me. Remember, you don't have to try a new recipe, you can simply share a tried and true favorite, even one that has already been published on your blog. Simply send me your link and mention VRC: Salads somewhere on your blog and you're done. Easy!

Tune in tomorrow for yet another night of grilling - if it's not too windy. Dinner will include 2 of my boys' favorite dishes - dishes that are so easy to make that they can practically make dinner themselves!

VRC: Most Requested Recipe

It was so nice to be in my own home all day long. Space, space, lots of space. It was also a very nice day, so we decided to grill some burgers and the boys even convinced me to eat outside. It was a tad chilly for that, but definitely worth it. Outdoor dining in April in Indiana - not a bad deal. Of course it's easier now that Indiana has joined the rest of the country in practicing Daylight Savings Time - the sun doesn't go down quite so soon and I love that.

After many delays, here, finally, is the roundup for your most requested and most popular recipes.

First we have Lisa from La Mia Cucina with Hank's Linguine and Clam Sauce. Linguine and clam sauce happens to be one of my favorite dishes, so I look forward to trying this recipe.


Biscuit Girl from You Gonna Eat All That? with Tres Leches Cake. I've never tried this, but I've always thought it sounded yummy.


Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen submits Rosemary Mustard Grilled Chicken. Hmmmm.....it's supposed to be beautiful this week - perfect for grilling - and I happen to have a bunch of chicken in the freezer......I think I know what's going on our menu this week!

Meeta from What's for Lunch, Honey? submitted her lucious-looking Mousse au Chocolat. What a lovely presenation!

Ramya from Exploring Culinary Gems comes to us with something I've never heard of....Blueberry Kickshaw. With the onset of warmer weather, it's hard not to long for some good blueberries.Oooo....pretty. That's what I thought when I checked out Cooking Debauchery, a "new-to-me" blog. Nice photos and a site that reminds me of a good glass of red wine....but I digress. This blogger (sorry, I didn't find a name on the blog and I don't like to "out" anyone who includes their name in an email, but not on their blog) submitted a 2-ingredient recipe that "never fails to bring kudos"- Midori Fruit Dip.

Haalo from Cook Almost Anything Once says that this recipe for Osso Bucco al Pomodoro has been passed along for years. I don't know what got me hungrier - the meat or the mention of polenta and creamy mashed potatoes!


Zoubida from Kitchen Culture submitted something that I recently tried, although my version was not likely all that authentic, so I would be interested to try other versions. Zoubida's version of Harira, like the one I made, is vegetarian, but she says you can add lamb if you wish.


This next recipe reminds me that I have yet to try a homemade recipe for my favorite tea. Marc from Mental Masala brings us a recipe for homemade chai, cleverly titled Marc-sala Chai. One of these days I'll get around to trying it.... really, I will.


The next submission comes from a blog called Garlic Breath. I love that name! It certainly describes my husband and me quite frequently when we're enjoying good food. Riana, the blogs owner, submitted her recipe for Mussels with Cream and Calvados. Looks divine.


And finally, my own entry. I had a very hard time thinking of something. I'm generally known for being a good cook, but I don't know that I have a most requested dish - I tend to try so many new things that I don't know if I'm known for any one of them. In the end, I decided to submit a recipe that I've shared here before - Spinach Balls. My mother-in-law is the one who actually made this recipe popular in my famly. It's something that everyone seems to like and has been talked about a lot on the Cooking Light boards.


Thank you to all who participated. I will post the theme for the next VRC tomorrow, after I've had time to think of what that theme should be. Until then..............

Back Home!

But first a gripe. I haven't blogged in just over a week and just now IE crashes, causing me to lose what little post I had written. Yes, I know, I should probably type in Word first, but I never think of it. Silly me for not going straight to Firefox which RARELY crashes, thank you very much.

So, anyway, all I wanted to say is that we're back from a long week of house hunting in PA. Isn't that an exciting way to spend a spring break?? Damn, it's good to be home after spending a whole week in two small hotel rooms with 2 young boys and a dog. Yep, we brought Bailey too. I can't say as he liked it much, but I kept telling him to think of it as the biggest, cushiest kennel a dog could ever want. After all, it HAD to beat being cooped in a cold, barren, smelly, lonesome kennel, right? Even with a 8+ hour drive there and back too (he HATES the car, but he's good)???? Too bad I didn't think to get a photo of him in the hotel room for WDB!

So.....Oops, wait, I'd better go hit save first.....

Phew, no lost post this time.....

I wish I could say that this meant that blogging would become a frequent occurence around here again, but we go from busy to busier. Our Indiana home goes on the market on Monday (2 days!!!!) and then we follow that up with a visit from the SIL/BIL and their 4 kids. Good thing we finally have a big house. Who knows what's in store after that....peace and quiet, I hope.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more details on our house hunting trip and the much-postponed VRC: Most Requested Recipe. I probably won't post that until later in the evening on Sunday, so you still have time to send me a link. I haven't had a chance to look at the submissions I've received, but they have been trickling in and I look forward to at least a little (a very little) time to look them over tomorrow before we get back to the old grind on Monday.