Tonight’s dinner: fresh from the butcher applewood smoked bacon (none of that processed Oscar Mayer bacon) wrapped around chicken breasts and baked alongside with sweet bay scallops topped with a ritz cracker crust and served with mixed greens and radicchio tossed with a pear and Gorgonzola vinaigrette and topped with a sprinkle of candied pecans.

This was all cooked/photographed by me in my tiny little kitchen.

My version of The Gas Lights Chicken Gorgonzola

Grill 1 chicken breast, let rest. Meanwhile sauté in butter some summer squashing cherry tomatoes till the tomatoes start to slightly pop, next add in 2 heaping handfuls FRESH baby spinach leaves and let them wilt down. Season with just pepper as you add veggies. Next add in some roasted garlic Alfredo sauce (eyeball the amount, your just looking to cost the veggies and have sauce for the chicken) and some Gorgonzola crumbles (add to taste). Next, plate the veggie/sauce mix reserving a bit of sauce to drizzle over the top of the chicken. Slice the chicken and plate it on top of the veggies adding the reserved sauce over the top of the chicken just for presentation. This serves 1 generously with left overs for the next day. I made this for my mom tonight. Serve with grilled bread and chilled white wine.

The finished product :)

I was hungry, the kids were hungry and I wanted to bake…. Hmmm a box of whole wheat Bisquick, some Quacker oatmeal, 3 cups Dole mixed fruit and some butter…. Let’s bake a cake!!!

1 1/3 cups Bisquick
The juice from all 3 fruit cups plus enough water to equal 2 cups liquid (go a bit shy of 2 cups since your using fruit which gives off moisture)
2 pouches bananas and cream Quacker oatmeal

Mix all of that together and pour into a greased baking dish (or muffin tins!)

Mix together 2 tbs melted butter and 2 pouches strawberries and cream oatmeal and sprinkle over the cake batter.

Bake in a 350 degrease oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Roast Beef French Dip Sub Toasted With Provolone Cheese.

So simple, and fairly cheep. 2 cans Campbell’s beef gravy ($0.99 a can), 2 lbs deli sliced roast beef ($6), 1 package sub rolls ($2), 1 onion ($0.99), 1 pkg provolone cheese ($3)

Ingredients you should already have at home:
Butter
Sugar
Black pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Put 2 cans beef gravy, 20 grinds black pepper, the onion sliced up, 2 tbs butter, a palmful of sugar in a sauté pan and heat through. Add the meat and cook till meat is hot and gravy is bubbly. Put cheese on sub rolls (between 2 and 4 pieces depending how cheesy you want it), pile on the beef/onions/gravy mixture. Pop in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes till the rolls are toasted and the cheese is melted. Plate and spoon on more gravy to make it extra juicy. This makes enough for 3 kids to have 1/2 sandwiches and 2 adults to have whole sandwichs with leftovers for about 1 more large sandwich.

Less than $20 and everyone gets a hot and filling sandwich. Serve with pickles and chips.

Pan seared pork cutlet seasoned with a little Carolina BBQ rub served with sautéed green beans and cherry tomatoes fresh from my parents garden served over a bed of hot buttered white rice.

Tonight’s dessert: Strawberry Shortcake. So simple yet so good! Pound cake, strawberries macerated in sugar to form a syrup, and whipped cream. :)

Completely grilled meal:

Teriyaki marinaded steak tips cooked medium rare, grilled squash, zucchini, asparagus and stuffed mushrooms. Served with cranberry couscous and cornbread. Followed by strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Grilled whole chicken legs and chicken drumsticks :)

Cooked on a charcoal grill with hickory charcoal and brushed with hickory BBQ sauce. Served with store bought pasta salad. Turned out really good, each of my kids had 1 big piece and 2 small pieces. Next time I think I’ll brush on a bit more sauce, and use Sweet Baby Rays not store brand. There really is a big difference in taste.

So, I had 2 boxes of Kraft Suddenly Salad bacon ranch. I didn’t want just an out of the box pasta salad. That’s boring. So, I used sour cream instead of mayo, added red onion, carrots, apple pieces, and dried cranberries. A little salt, pepper, lemon juice, sugar and it now tastes like a not from a box pasta salad :)