Recently, one of you asked me, “Do you cook a big fancy meal every night?” The answer is “NO!” I am just like you, racking my brain about what to get onto the table.

This recipe is a good example of shooting from the hip to get dinner done in a pinch.  I made a nice meal one night with a large piece of salmon that I grilled and glazed with raspberry-chipotle sauce.

The next night I used the same bottled sauce to turn the leftover salmon into a quick pasta dinner.  Just like you, I’m throwing stuff together at the last minute with what I find in my fridge!

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A few weeks ago I filmed a TV segment with Scott Light of NBC Channel 12 EVB Live. The segment is called “Wednesday’s Child.” Scott now fills the shoes of longtime, now retired, Channel 12 anchor Kent Dana, who started the monthly segments more than 20 years ago. “Wednesday’s Child” is a profile of special-needs children available for adoption thru AASK, Aid to Adoption of Special Kids. In a 2009 interview, just before Kent Dana was to be inducted into the Arizona Broadcasters Hall of Fame, he said, “I’ve profiled over 1,000 kids over the years, and close to 80 percent were adopted. That show really changed lives, and it was a fun thing to do.”

It was fun for me to do too. You may recall that I am good friends with Tram Mai, Scott’s co-host on EVB Live. Tram had mentioned to Scott that I was adopted, so he asked if it would be all right to ask me a few questions about that during my interview portion of the segment. I, of course, said it would be absolutely fine…. but then I met Robby…

The first people to show up at my house that morning were three women from AASK, including the two videographers. Next came Robby and his foster dad. I fell for Robby the second I saw him.  My heart just melted as we talked and then even more so as we cooked and hung out afterward.

Scott and a couple more people from AASK came and we got busy with the filming. The shoot was of Robby and me cooking together in the kitchen. He was so sweet and interested and curious and polite and sweet, oh I already said sweet. He had wonderful manners and insisted on helping me clean up. Then, as the adults all gathered to figure out how and where to shoot the interview portions of the segment, Robby and I played a little Foosball outside on the back patio. I’m pretty good – but he beat me.  Next, Scott came out and Robby beat him too. He has so much joy and confidence for a child who has not had it easy and who has been shuffled around.

You might think that AASK is only for kids with physical, mental, or emotional special needs. There is any number of needs that make a kid “special” and in Robby’s case all I could see that made him “special” was that he is 12 years old, not an infant, who is up for adoption. You can check out Robby’s AASK profile HERE to see what I mean, this little boy stole my heart! Oh, and we made the Lasagna Soup recipe you will find below – just take a look at the list of foods he likes. I didn’t know a thing about it until about an hour ago when I pulled up his profile to write this! That just makes me smile.

The segment will run sometime tomorrow on EVB Live between 4:00 – 5:30 PM.  I am dreading it a little bit tough, because after Robby and his foster dad had gone, while Scott was interviewing me alone, I broke down. I don’t know how much, if any, of that they will show, but I’ve never cried on camera before. What if it’s the “ugly cry” as Oprah calls it? I have no idea how they will edit the interview. Channel 12 doesn’t do any of that portion, they just provide Scott and the airtime, AASK does the rest.

Oh well, it is what it is, that sweet boy and the position he, and so many other children like him are in, just breaks my heart. So if the segment has any impact and helps him get adopted by a loving family, any old ugly cry is worth it!

On Valentine’s Day evening, Dave walked into the house with two huge bouquets of flowers for me and I made seafood pasta for him. Although dinner was delicious, I think I got the better end of that exchange. The meal is long over and there have been four more dinners since then, but my beautiful flowers are still bringing me the reminder of being loved. <3

Note: To make the rose napkins above; Open a large cloth napkin. Fold in half diagonally. Beginning at the long end, roll into a rope. Then start at one end of the rope and roll into a spiral. Secure with a paper clip if needed and “garnish” with real rose leaves. I swiped the ones I used from my neighbor’s yard! She loves me, so it’s OK.

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This is what your life looks like when you are looking through puffy watery eyes.

All blurry and miserable. Puffs and NyQuil, that is what got me through a full week of a massive head and chest cold.  I did my very best to keep it to myself and not pass it along to Dave. I slept in another room every night and washed my hands like a criminal trying to wash away the proof. It didn’t work. I’m over it and he has it in full force.

Luckily for him, I know how to make chicken soup! Stat! Quick, easy, tasty, cold-curing chicken soup.  And just in case the bug travels from this keyboard, through the internet, and onto you… you can make it too.  Get yourself to Costco, stock up on Puffs and NyQuil, and pick up one of their huge-breasted five-dollar rotisserie chickens.

Seriously, these are huge chickens with the breast meat weighing in at more than the entire amount of meat you’d get from a grocery store chicken! One and a third pounds of breast meat in the case of this particular bird!

I was actually going to title this post – “Big Breasts”, but considering all the spam I already get (the post that gets the most spam is titled “Manly Man Salad”) … yeah, I just don’t want to attract any more of that sort of attention!

So, back to the soup. Put in any vegetables you like or have on hand. I can’t stand cooked carrots, but Dave loves them, and since this soup IS for him – in went the carrots. I also had leftover sliced potatoes and a roasted poblano pepper – in they went. I have previously spoken of my affection for the under-rated and overlooked broccoli stems, they are in there. You get the point, whatever suits you and your family’s taste – put it in.

As for the chicken itself, I put in mostly dark meat and save those big breasts for sandwiches and such, you do as you please.  See – there is nearly a pound of dark meat for the soup.

After you pull off all the meat, you’ll use the chicken carcass to enrich a box of purchased chicken broth. You will be on your way to feeling at least 90% better in no time.

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I’ve shared with you my newfound love of Pinterest. That is where I found the idea for these adorable pearl cherry tomato hearts. If you and your loved one are going out for Valentine’s and leaving the kids at home, what a wonderful salad this would be to serve to your beloved children.  Or… just as a casual any night of the week with an extra special loving touch.

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You’ve had your tart, and your panini, so now it is time for a big helping of roasted veggie lasagna.

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Everyone has their favorite way to eat up their leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I’d guess that a good old turkey sandwich would be the hands-down winner for most of us. I like my sandwich one way and one way only – on white bread that is slathered in Miracle Whip with sliced turkey breast only. I don’t eat any of the leftover sides, I just relish that sandwich and I am as happy as can be. If I haven’t remembered to purchase a jar of Miracle Whip before Thanksgiving so that it is ready to be cracked open on the Friday after… well, someone (someone who is not me!) is going to the store to get me my Miracle Whip! Mayo will not do! I buy the smallest jar because this is the only thing I ever use it for, leftover turkey sandwiches.

Connor, on the other hand, makes a sandwich that looks like this…

He’s got the required white bread but tops it with turkey (white or dark), then spoons on the gravy and the stuffing, tops that with the other slice of bread, and heats it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Interesting, but not to my taste.  Marissa also must have the breast only and tops her’s with cranberry sauce and eats some stuffing and maybe some gravy on the side.  Finally, there is Dave, he will eat it all and will eat it any and every way, sandwich or a full redo of the Thanksgiving plate.

After a couple or three sandwiches, I am through with the turkey, then it is time to remake it into an entirely different meal, such as this lasagna. Now, this is how you get rid of leftover turkey!

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Steak and blue cheese are a classic combination. I discovered a 4-pack of rib-eye steaks in the back of the freezer and although there are only the two of us, I grilled up all four steaks. I used the extra two to make this pasta dish a couple of days later. Any leftover beef will do, just be sure to slice and cut it up directly from the refrigerator.  When the beef is cold, it is easiest to find and cut out the fat that is marbled throughout.

I purchased a wonderful 6-pack of organic pasta imported from Italy at Costco. In it, there are two packages of casarecce, two packages of penne, and two gemelli. I chose the gemelli for this dish because the other two styles are meant to hold lots of sauce. This dish has minimal sauce, so the gemelli works best out of the three. If you want to use penne or maybe fusilli, I’d advise throwing in a can of undrained chopped tomatoes to make the pasta saucier.

A funny thing I noticed was that the pasta packages are 17.6-ounces in weight, instead of the usual 16-pounces. Since I generally run on about 2% brain capacity on any given day, I was thinking, “What’s up with that?”  It took me quite a while to notice that the other weight on the packages is 500 grams.  Finally, another 3% brain powder kicked in and I figured out that this was true Italian pasta, so of course, it would be measured in grams and the ounce weight was just placed on there for us metric-challenged Americans. Grazie Garofalo Pasta, I need all the help I can get when it comes to math!  Oh… and it’s really good pasta too, so pick up a 6-pack the next time you’re in Costco.

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See that cutting board full of mustard greens, kale, radicchio, and Napa cabbage?  That was what I had purchased to use a liners and decoration for the platters of food at Terrie’s birthday party on Saturday night. Why is it on my cutting board today, 3 days after the party? You guessed it, I forgot to use them.  In the rush to dish out and serve the food, the greens in the refrigerator produce drawer were forgotten.  And as is typical, I remembered later that night as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep.  Peggy and Terrie discovered the drawer full the next morning while they were cleaning up, and brought them to me.  This recipe is what I came up with for using the kale, mustard greens and some of the radicchio. Tomorrow I’ll use the remaining radicchio and Napa cabbage for a crisp fresh salad or maybe a slaw for fish tacos.  P.S. I had planned on topping this dish with crumbled feta cheese, but when I opened the package… mold – eww.  So I shredded on some Jarlsberg instead – Yum!

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Many years ago I was a “white meat” snob. I claimed to not like dark poultry meat. I knew dark meat was generally juicier, less dry, and more flavorful, but I went with the thought that “ladies” eat white meat.  I am not certain where I came up with that, maybe something to do with dieting and the fact that white meat does have less fat and calories.

But honestly, there isn’t a huge difference. One-half cup of chicken breast has 129 calories, 5.2g fat, and 52mg cholesterol. One-half cup dark meat has 135 calories, 6.3g fat, and 61mg cholesterol. So, once in awhile it really is OK to eat a chicken thigh or leg quarter, especially when it’s in your freezer and you are diligently working on cleaning out that freezer. When am I NOT trying to clean out the darn freezer? It’s a never-ending battle.

This pasta chicken dish made me happy that I had that chicken meat stash.  Feel free to sub white meat for the dark, but trust me, it’s darn tasty with the juicier, moister, and more flavorful thigh meat!

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