Low Fat Creamed Spinach

Happy Weekend!  Looks like we'll be saying goodbye to the warmer temperatures and welcoming sweater weather.  I love bundling up when it's mildly cold - still warm enough to play outside but brisk enough to warrant a big mug of hot chocolate.  Cute red noses, chilly hands, chili in a bowl, hot cocoa, nice brisk run in the early morning, time change, Christmas songs on the radio, Thanksgiving, Nutcracker, wrapping gifts, giving gifts, Christmas, parties... oh, I love it all and it's here!!

I finally found my pumpkin creamer at Publix and took every last one they had... to the tune of 6 bottles.  Mmmmm... I'm drinking a cup now and loving every little hot and creamy sip!

I went to the grocery store on Monday - actually, I went to my old Publix which I love so much (I know that I've already told you how amazing this Publix is) - I call it the boutique Publix because they treat their customers like royalty - everyone is so nice - asking you at every turn if you have found everything - taking your groceries to the car... it's a fabulous grocery store experience, I must say.  Anyway... I saw Pam, one of my old "neighbors" (we lived in the same neck of the woods before we moved), at Publix and I asked her what she was making for dinner that night.  She said salmon.  I asked her how she cooks it and she told me.  Shortly thereafter, I made my way to the seafood counter and bought two big salmon filets. 

Pam, thank you!!  We had the best dinner that night!  I cook seafood typically only at the beach and if I make fish, I usually grill it or sear it in a skillet on the stove.  Seafood is just not something I usually cook here, but thanks to Pam, I think I'll be cooking it once a week!

Per Pam's instructions, I turned on the broiler on my oven, sprayed a cookie sheet with Pam (ha!),  sprinkled the fish with salt and pepper, and laid it skin side up on the cookie sheet.

I broiled it for a few minutes (I had to set my timer because I am the queen of putting something in the oven and totally forgetting about it.  When Matt and I were newly married, I remember a time when, before work, I got up and cooked eggs and bacon and biscuits - you know, trying to show him what a good wife I was... we ate the eggs and bacon but I forgot about the biscuits and when I got home from work that afternoon, they were black and the size of marbles.  I've used timers ever since.).  When the skin started bubbling up, I removed it with a fork.

I then sprinkled some salt and pepper on that side and continued to broil for about 3-5 more minutes before flipping it over.  I kept checking it and ended up broiling it for close to 18 minutes or so - they were pretty thick which I suppose is why it took so long.  But it was a heavenly piece of salmon!  Champ and I devoured it. 

I made some healthy creamed spinach and ate my salmon alongside that.

Let me preface this by telling you that I am a HUGE spinach lover - I love it raw - I love it sauteed - I love it with eggs - I love it with steak - I love it in a salad - I love it creamed... mm mmm - I love it!  I defrosted 2 packs of frozen chopped spinach and then squeezed most of the liquid out of it.  I put the spinach into a pot on the stove and added about 1/2 block of cream cheese and a little skim milk.  I just added and stirred - added some more and kept stirring until it looked and tasted just perfect for me.  I also sprinkled some fresh nutmeg, salt and pepper on it.  I let it cook with the lid on for about 10 minutes so that the spinach got good and cooked through - and soft.  It was HEAVENLY!  It reminded me of the creamed spinach that Chops serves.  It was delicious!! 

In fact, Brooke and I are on our way to the grocery store and I am going to by several packages of frozen chopped spinach!  It's inexpensive, easy, and SOO good for you!

Calgon and Corn Dip

How is it that a whole week can pass so quickly?  Let me catch you up.

Last week, mid-week, I felt like I was drowning - totally overwhelmed by LIFE.  You see, I'm a pretty positive person and I feel that God has blessed me with a very positive outlook on life... most of the time.  Life for me, most of the time, is rainbows and roses - but lately I've felt a bit overwhelmed.  My part-time job feels like full time in that my workload is abundant and I have not felt caught up in a long time.  A large part of me loves that - it's very exhilarating to be mentally busy all day long - engaged in exciting work, but lately, it has spilled over into my personal time.  I'm up early on the computer before the kids get up - I'm logging back on when Brooke takes her nap and then every evening I'm on the computer again swimming in data and emails.  It's just a busy season and I know the stress part will die down as my projects wind down for the year.  BUT... regardless, I have felt overwhelmed. 

So, I come home from work to three children.  Three sweet, adorable children who, quite frankly, drive me nuts sometimes.  And just as work has been crazy lately, so have my three sweet, adorable children.  At times, I have imagined myself in a t.v. commercial where I am the frumpy mom in the kitchen trying to unload the dishwasher or put food on my kids' plates - and one is tugging at my pant leg, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" - the other is saying, "Mom, sit with me and help me with my homework - I want you to sit with me..." and the other is begging to ask someone over to play - they have school projects, tests, laundry that needs washing, mouths that want to be fed, papers that need to be signed.... wait - that wasn't imagined - that is my life!  What I have imagined or daydreamed about is me being able to pause the commotion (with a remote control), look up and say, "Calgon, take me away!"  Remember those commercials?  What I wouldn't give for a box of Calgon, a tub, some hot water and an hour of peace and quiet.

Matt took notice - perhaps my nightly, "We need to get away for 24 hours - I need a break from life as we know it" hit home because the sweet man that he is... he emailed me last week on Thursday, writing, "Let's get away on Saturday for the night."  Oh... I could have cried tears of joy right there at my desk.  He made all the childcare arrangements (thank you, Mimi and Papa!) and canine arrangements (thank you, Mimi and Papa!) and off we went.  We dropped off the three amigos at 11:30 on Saturday and headed downtown where we checked into the Ritz - we got a fabulous deal. I suppose that's what you call a STAYCATION - and it was everything that it's cracked up to be. 

We enjoyed just about 24 hours of peace and quiet- and fun conversation with each other!  So much of our conversation lately is either WITH our kids or ABOUT our kids - nice to know that after 12 years, we still enjoy being with each other.  Oh, to dine leisurely - to enjoy several glasses of wine with nowhere to be...to take a nap for several hours and wake up at dinner time - it was just what we needed.  It was like life took a deep breath for a moment - just enough air to keep us going. 

On Sunday, we rolled right back into sports, 2 year old running around, Sunday cookout, homework, 2 year old running around, social studies project, 2 year old running around...but I felt that I could handle it all after our break. I highly recommend to all my married friends - a night away. 

Back to life - back to cooking... what is trending right now in our house? 

Kale

Kale, kale and more kale. 

We are all totally digging kale chips.  I know that I have blogged about kale before - but if you haven't gone out and bought a bag of cut kale, get in your car when you're finished reading this and buy yourself some kale.  I've been buying the big bag of cut and washed Kale.  I pour about 4 cups onto a cookie sheet - drizzle with olive oil and salt - and then bake at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes (I like mine really crispy).  It's fabulous!  Aside from the tiny little kale pieces showing off in my teeth, it's easy!  (now if I could just get into the habit of checking my teeth before I start smiling at someone...I'd be better off.  Side note - two years ago, I went to a Christmas party alone.  Brooke was an infant, Champ was sick and Matt stayed home with the kids.  I ate and laughed and smiled my way through the evening.  It was the first time I had gotten dressed up since Brooke was born and I was feeling good!  I got home and looked in the mirror and much to my horror, I had a big black bean plastered against my left front tooth - as if I was dressed up for Halloween or something.  Why didn't anyone tell me?  Better to tell than not to tell, folks - so now, if I ever notice something like that, I tell the person.).  All that is to say, enjoy your kale but check your teeth.

We had a neighborhood cookout a couple of weeks ago and I tasted the most wonderful corn dish.  I was sitting at the table getting to know some neighbors - having a nice quiet conversation, when I slowly lifted my spoon, filled with this corn something or other, to my mouth - and the second it hit my taste buds, I wanted to jump up and down and praise the Lord above that something so great exists here on earth.  I finished the little scoop on my plate and went back for a second helping - only it was gone.  Guess I wasn't the only one who realized how delicious it was. 

My neighbors shared recipe and it might be the easiest little side dish/dip you'll ever make! 

Here are the ingredients:

Frozen corn, cream cheese, butter, garlic powder, salt and pickled jalapenos



This dish is really a dip, but it performed well as a creamy side dish to tacos the other night!  When served as a dip, Frito's go really well with it!

Thaw out the corn (the recipe calls for frozen white shoepeg corn - I was not patient enough to locate this so I bought a medley of white and yellow corn) and let the cream cheese and butter get to room temperature.  Then mix together cream cheese and butter until creamed together. Add 2 TBS milk, a little garlic salt (I only had garlic powder, so I used that and then put some salt in on top of that), and chopped/diced jalapenos (to taste).  Add the corn and mix it all together. 

Bake it at 350 degrees until nice and bubbly. 

Doesn't that look scrumptious!!?  It was really really good.  I like a lot of spice, so I went a little heavy on the jalapenos. 

Here is the recipe:

Corn Dip

1lb bag frozen white shoe peg corn* (you could probably use canned as well)
1 block cream cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt
4 Tbs butter*
2 Tbs milk
chopped/diced jalapenos

Let butter & cream cheese soften at room temperature.  Then mix together. Add milk, garlic salt, & jalapenos. Mix all together. Add corn. Put in oven @ 350 degrees until nice & bubbly.  Serve as a side dish or as a dip with Frito's!

**if you buy the frozen corn with butter, then do not add butter.

Your call to action:  Book a night away with your loved one.  When you get back, make tacos and corn dip!  That's making life easy for yourself!

The Debate and Meal Ideas

No, this is not a political post.  I like to steer clear of political discussions with anyone other than my family - or perhaps I steer clear of anyone with an opposing political persuasion.  Call it what you want...it does get personal (for me) and I'd rather keep my friends as friends and not as political frenemies.  Anyway... I'm typing this as the debate is on the t.v. in the background.  I'm in and out of it - feeling excited, nervous, hopeful, anxious.. so my blog tonight serves as a diversion for me. 

I had a lovely weekend filled with family, nice dinners, fun with my kids, a couple of good runs... On Friday night, my sisters and I (we missed you, Karen!) took my dad out to dinner at Canoe - it was a just because we love you dinner.  We started off at my house with a glass of wine and then headed over to Canoe where we enjoyed three hours of good conversation, nice wine (& cocktails) and delicious food. 

{feeling very stressed as Romney and Obama go at each other - heart is thumping}

On Saturday, we had a block party in our culdesac - it came together effortlessly as everyone brought a side dish, our resident chef on the culdesac prepared the meat, neighbors brought chairs and their own drinks - and we partied until 10:00.  It was a great way to visit with our neighbors - and can I get an AMEN for the beautiful weather that God has blessed us with lately!!

{oh dear, I'm feeling very anxious watching both of these guys standing up and talking over each other}

On Sunday morning after church, we loaded up the car and headed to... I'm almost embarrassed to say... Six Flags.  Yes, Six Flags.  Again.  And yes, after my last Six Flags adventure I did make a little promise to myself to show up next time wearing a helmet and ahemm... a diaper, but I did not {:)} - instead, we took Brooke.  We had free tickets that were only good on Sunday so we piled in the car and westward we went.

{is anyone else uncomfortable when either the President or the Governor interrupts the moderator? oh geez - I am}

We had a great time - yet again at Six Flags.  Matt and the boys enjoyed all the fun & scary rides while Brooke and I had fun in Toon Town and walking around the park with the stroller. 

After Six Flags, we raced home, showered, and greeted my friend, Emily, who came over to watch the kids while Matt and I had a lovely dinner at Bone's!  How nice is that!?!  We were really longing for a couple of hours alone away from the kids and we soaked up every second of our adult time together.  The wine was dynamite, the service impeccable and the food was out of this world.  The filet, cooked medium rare, melted in my mouth.  I LOVED their signature Bone's salad - soft lettuce, thinly sliced granny smith apple, pistachios, Stilton cheese all tossed in a light vinaigrette of some sort.  I love good salads and get really excited when I'm served a great one. 

So, what do I do when I stumble upon something I love?  I try to recreate it - again and again and again.  Last night, I made my balsamic vinaigrette dressing and tossed it together with oak leaf lettuce, pistachios (which Champ kindly shelled for me), thinly sliced granny smith apple (now is the time to enjoy the many different kinds of apples as they are gorgeous and IN season!) and sliced Parrano cheese.  It was delicious, fancy and tasted like a special treat!

Yumm... if your salads are feeling a little boring, try making this simple salad - where the combination of flavors really comes together nicely on your palate.

{oh goodness - the talking over the moderator is killing me - it makes me very nervous}

And though I love reinventing the salad every few weeks at my house, my boys aren't big salad lovers.  So, to make something special for them, I cooked French Toast on Monday morning.  You could say I healthified a typically really unhealthy dish.  I used a couple of pieces of whole wheat bread.  I mixed together 2 eggs, a splash of heavy cream (I had some on hand), a small spoonful of sugar and a few dashes of cinnamon. 

 

I dipped each slice of bread into my egg mixture - making sure to coat both sides.

Then I put each slice into my hot skillet and cooked it until it was toasted. 

I plated it nice and hot and poured some maple syrup over the slices.  Kiss your finger and thumb and in a French accent say, "Whalaa!" 

My littlest patron loved it!

From breakfast to dinner.... Let me tell you about a good little chicken dish I made that consisted of 2 ingredients:  chicken and lemon pepper.  Five o'clock came a little too soon on Monday.  Fortunately, I had taken a package of chicken breasts out of the freezer earlier in the day.  Unfortunately, I had yet to do anything with them. 

In a pinch, I sliced the chicken breasts in half so that each chicken breast turned into 2 thin pieces.  I pounded them just a bit with my mallet, sprinkled each slice generously with lemon pepper and let them sit in a Ziploc for about an hour.  I warmed some olive oil in a skillet and cooked the chicken on both sides until cooked through.  Lean protein: check.  I poured 1/3 bag of chopped kale onto a cookie sheet, sprinkled it with olive oil and a little sea salt and roasted it in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes.  Green vegetable: check.  I made the salad I told you about above.  Another green vegetable:  check.  I threw some whole wheat rolls in the oven (my kids like to drizzle some local honey on the hot rolls).  Starch:  check.  It was a great meal!  The lemon pepper chicken pleased my pickiest of eaters.  That in and of itself made my day!

One more dinner idea and I'm pretty sure I have blogged about these already.  I threw a pork tenderloin into the crock pot with about 1/2 a bottle of barbecue sauce.  I cooked it on high for 2 hours, and then low for the rest of the afternoon.  When it was done, I shredded it with two forks and using potato rolls

{oh dear - they are fighting for speaking time again - eek!}

Okay - and using potato rolls, I made little mini barbecue sandwiches and served them with steamed broccoli and sweet potato tots.  What a healthy, delicious and kid friendly - EASY weeknight meal!

{wondering why these folks have their questions written on folded pieces of paper tucked deep within their jackets or pockets when they're on national television knowing they will be asked at any moment to read their question... hmmmmm...}

I hope this gives you some ideas for meals - sometimes it's just nice to find out what someone else is cooking - whether you cook the same thing or if it just gives you an idea of something else you'd like to cook and serve... I hope it helps!

Napping and Surviving

I was reminded of a funny story the other day as I attempted to take a nap and I think I'll share it with you.

A few weeks ago, I woke up and decided to set out on a run considerably longer than I'm used to - more than my average 3-4 miles.  I enjoyed every second of it and was reminded how wonderful it feels to really run and sweat for more than half an hour.  As great as it was, I was really tired later!  I showered, did some stuff around the house, and then Brooke and I ran a couple of errands while Matt and the boys enjoyed their weekly baseball workout.

Brooke and I got home and had lunch and then I put her down for a nap.  I started a load of laundry and then so excitedly headed upstairs to my bed - yes, my bed. I didn't want to doze off on the sofa for a few minutes.  I wanted to really sleep for an hour or so between the sheets.  The house was quiet. Boys were gone.  I got myself all nestled in my bed and just as it ALWAYS is, about 30 seconds after I dozed off, I heard Matt's car pulling up the driveway.  Ugh.  Well, I stayed put with no guilty feelings.  Of course, I did not get the hour of sleep that I wanted - not even close - but I did enjoy my 45 minutes of laying in bed (which included frequent interruptions by the boys).

So, a few years ago, life was a little different from how it is today in that we had only 2 kids, I wasn't working, and the boys were, for the first time, in all day school.  While Matt spent 40+ hours slaving away at the office, I spent my time volunteering in the kids' classrooms, playing LOTS of tennis, enjoying frequent lunches with friends, cooking, etc.  (& watching the Food Network, Lifetime Movie Network, going on long runs, shopping...).  You could say that I was living the "country club life."  Of course, I downplayed it all to Matt - exaggerating the amount of time I spent doing the productive things and downplaying all the fun time I was having.  I felt guilty that he was working so hard and I was... well, not.

One afternoon, after a long early morning run and several hours of playing tennis, I came home, closed my blinds, showered, put on my pj's, set my alarm to wake me up a few minutes before the bus would arrive, and Sandy (our lab) and I jumped into my bed. Mmmm... I was so happy to be snuggled up with Sandy with an hour and a half of sleep ahead of me.  I closed my eyes, just started dozing off (when you're in that beautiful feel good sleep that comes just before you delve into real sleep) when I heard the garage door open and sure enough, Matt was driving up the driveway.  {Expletive!}

Quick as lightening, I jumped out of bed, threw on some shorts and a t-shirt, grabbed a can of Pledge and a rag and you better believe, I played it off like I was busy cleaning.  I believe I even began cleaning tables and faked a 'oh, I've been working so hard' pant.  "Oh, hi honey!" I said as he walked through the door!  He never suspected a thing and though he would have given me a hard time in a teasing sort of way, he wouldn't have cared - but I cared.  (I played it off beautifully)

Fast forward a few years - add a child, a job, and a few years in age, there is very little time for napping, but if I need one, I shall not feel guilty about it!  Sometimes, they are necessary to continue functioning the way we moms must.

If your kids are home, you want a nap and you need them to entertain themselves, please allow me to introduce you to the paracord nation.  Matt and I took the kids a few weeks ago to the Sandy Springs Festival (which I loved and decided that I could just bounce from fair to festival to fair every weekend and love every second of it!), and we stumbled across these bracelets:

Apparently they are "trending" right now amongst the kids at school.  Champ wanted to buy one for $5.00 from a vendor at the festival.  When we walked up to the vendor's tent to buy one, we saw tons of cord in all different colors, clips, and a lady was standing there making one!  We inquired and before we knew it, we did not buy the one already made for $5.00 - instead, we bought $5.00 worth of cord and clips so that Champ could go home and make 20 bracelets.  What a great consumer lesson for Champ - you can save quite a bit of $$ if you do the work yourself.  Not only that, but he and Matthew loved being able to "customize" their own bracelets.  They are called Survival bracelets because you have to use several yards of cord to make one bracelet, and if you ever happen to find yourself out in the wilderness, cord can come in quite handy - you just undo the bracelet and whalaa... you have yourself a cord (to do what with, I'm not quite sure - strangle a bear?  tie yourself to a tree like Katniss does when you need to sleep?). 

I am going to buy a TON of cord (and spend less than $20) for the boys for Christmas because it's a great indoor activity for them that is creative and they enjoy doing it - and pretty soon, we will encounter some cold days when we're looking for something other than X Box or tv to entertain our kids. 

Here is the buying information so that you can order some for your kids!  The folks we met at the fair sell this cord on Etsy.  Click here for the link.  If you don't want to order 100 feet of a particular color, you can write to them in the notes section that you only want to buy a few feet. 

When you are ready to begin making them, search "paracord bracelet how to" on You Tube and find a 2-3 minute tutorial on how to make them.  Then the designing begins!  Your kids will have a ball making these and trading them. 

Perhaps I will have them make one for me and the next time I need a nap, I'll use the cord to reinforce the lock on the door so that I don't get disturbed.  :)

Have a great weekend!

Bright Side & Scalloped Potatoes

I should be fired from my blog for being so remiss with my postings.  It has been "one of those weeks."  And by "one of those weeks," I mean that it has been a series of one thing after another. When I got home from work today, Brooke was not her normal jovial little sweet self.  She was a mess - she cried and screamed and couldn't make up her mind.... Bright side:  it is 7:30, she's in bed, and mama is enjoying a glass of 75 Cabernet. 

Last week mid-week, Matt turned ill with a terrible sinus infection and the most painful (the adjective my nurturing side chooses) and annoying (the adjective my selfish side chooses) cough possibly on the entire planet.  He slept for almost 4 days straight.  Bright side:  I had to put everything on hold and just enjoy the kids.  As wonderful as that was, I realized that being a single mom is not for me.  I missed having Matt around - both because I missed his company and I missed his help, but the kids and I had a nice time, anyway.   

So, the kids and I made it through yet another evening at Six Flags (thank you, Chelsea, for stepping in for Matt and accompanying me - I'm not sure who had more fun - the kids or us!).  I woke up the next morning to 4 hungry boys, a toddler running around and a man to take care of.  It was hard manual labor all weekend.  Then on Monday evening, just as I was really getting excited about going to work the next day (for some peace, quiet and adult time), our sweet nanny called to tell me that she had fallen ill and wouldn't be able to come.  Bright side:  I would get an extra day at home to spend with Brooke and get my house in order. 

Then I woke up to a HUGE oil spill under my car.  I drove it to the car dealership where I was quoted $3,000.00 to fix it.  I politely said, "no thanks" as I chose to take it elsewhere.  Bright side:  they washed my car. 

And so it goes - you know, just one of those weeks....Bright side:  Matt is better and tomorrow is Friday!! 

Last weekend when Matt was in bed and it was cloudy and raining, I decided to make a comfort food dish. And it turned out comfortingly delicious. I made homemade scalloped potatoes! I used three potatoes.  I peeled the potatoes and sliced them in my Cuisinart.

 

When I finished that, I heated 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream with a sprig of fresh thyme, chopped fresh garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg.  I let that simmer for about 5 minutes. 

 

 

 

I buttered a dish and placed a layer of potato, in an overlapping pattern, on the bottom of the dish.  Now - let me say that I had to cut the potato into small strips to get it to go through the little opening in the Cuisinart so my slices are less than elegant in style.  Oh, and I didn't have time to overlap them in a beautiful pattern - I tossed a bunch into the dish and quickly spread them out.

I seasoned the potatoes with salt and pepper.  I removed the cream mixture from heat and then poured a little over the potatoes - I used a 1/2 cup measuring cup to do this.  Then, I sprinkled some Parmesan cheese over that.  Oh.... yummy!

Repeat that two more times and generously sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on that top layer.  Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes - then broil until the cheese browns, about 5 minutes.

How scrumptious does that look!?!  They were so warm, slightly creamy, simple and comfortingly delicious.  Alongside a nice salad, it was a great meal!  This is an EASY dish that you can serve as a side dish to any grilled meat.  I will be making this again for company for sure.

I thought that as a variation, you could scatter blue cheese in between the layers instead of Parmesan cheese - that would be delectable, wouldn't it?! (if you are a blue cheese lover).

So... I mentioned a side salad.  Let me tell you about the most wonderful little salad we had.  And we grew it ourselves!!! 

About 6 weeks ago, Matt and I set up our Tower Garden.  For several months, we toyed with the idea of planting a true garden in the ground.  But the more we read about it, the more we realized that it would take quite a bit of work to set it up and lots of continual maintenance to keep it producing fruits and vegetables.  And as much as I would love to spend my days tending to my garden and cooking, we've got too much going on.  Allison, my wonderful sister-in-law, introduced me to the Tower Garden.  For $40 bucks a month (for one year), I'll have this $500 product paid for -and so far, so good.  This contraption is truly amazing.  We have a lot of fresh produce growing on our back patio and we just watch it grow without having to do a thing!

Just like when Matt and I get the Christmas tree all situated in its tree stand every year, or the time when we put a mailbox in the ground...we teetered between staying married and getting divorced while putting this tower together (not really), but all in, it took less than an hour and we remain married to this day.  We planted seeds in little natural wool fiber pods (that come with the garden) and once we saw little sprouts, we transferred them from a container to the little pods in the tower garden.  What you see in the picture above is about 4 weeks into it.  It waters itself every 15 minutes for 15 minutes, and folks, it's yielding produce!!! 

We picked lettuce the other night and made a salad!!!

 

Talk about fresh and clean.  This was the best little salad (with cucumber and vinaigrette dressing) that we've ever had!  The kids were excited about it - Matt and I were excited about it.  It was a really great salad. 

We are growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, basil, thyme... we will soon start squash and some other winter vegetables.  No soil, no maintenance, no fuss... it's easy - and space efficient if you happen to have a small backyard.  And your kids will be EXCITED about growing their own stuff!  You can pick up the seeds anywhere - the hardware store, Home Depot, Walmart, grocery store, etc.  I highly recommend that you look into this.  If you want to order one, let me know and I'll hook you up!!

Tomorrow is Friday and Matt is well again (though that uh ummm.. annoying cough... remains), so we may enjoy yet another salad from the Tower Garden tomorrow night and a small steak.  That coupled with a nice glass of Cabernet or Malbec, and mama is one happy camper.  We are thankful for all the rain last week as it watered our newly sodded front yard. 

There is a bright side to most everything, you see.  You just have to seek it out.  Happy weekend, my friends!

 

Scalloped Potatoes

 

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 sprig fresh thyme

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices

salt and pepper

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a saucepan, heat up the cream with a sprig of thyme, chopped garlic and nutmeg. 

 

While the cream is heating, spray a casserole dish with Pam.  Place a layer of potato in an overlapping pattern and season with salt and pepper.  Remove cream from heat and then pour a little over the potatoes, and season with salt and pepper.  Top with grated Parmesan cheese.  Make 2 more layers and then bake uncovered for 45 minutes.  Broil the last 5 minutes until cheese browns.