Amy suggested if I'm not able to blog about quilting maybe I could do recipes and meal plans in order to keep in the daily blog habit. LOL! What a hoot! More often than not a meal plan at my house consists of about 4pm me calling my DH and asking him what he wants for supper. And his response is usually, "Where do you want to go?" Do I have him trained or what? LOL!!!

Seriously we do eat out waaaaaay too often. It was so bad that when I checked my credit card statement in April we had so many restraunt charges I called David and told him we were going to try something radical for the month of May. NO EATING OUT for an entire month. And we did it. And on June 1st David called ME about 4pm and said, "I'ts not May anymore. Where so you want to go?" LOL! So we're back to eating out but usually only once a week instead of 3 times a week and my credit card statement sure could tell it. Of course grocery store charges have gone up but not as much as restraunt charges have gone down.

We really do eat better if I at least take a few minutes each night to think ahead to what we'll eat the next night. For instance last night after supper I pulled a package of pork chops out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to thaw. When I get home tonight I'll toss them in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper and brown them on each side in a tiny bit of oil. The skillet I use has a metal handle so it can go in the oven. After the chops are browned I'll slip them in the oven (about 350) for approx. 30 minutes. While those cook I'll make some rice or mashed potatoes and maybe heat a can of green beans, with a little bacon grease of course. I am after all a southern cook. Once the chops are done I'll pour off all but about a tablespoon of the fat and stir in a couple tablespoons of the seasoned flour left from coating the chops. Make a light brown roux with that and then slowly stir in a cup or so of milk whisking all the time to keep the lumps to a minimum. Served with a salad and we'll have some fine eating for around $6 for the 2 of us. A fraction of the cost for the same meal in our favorite restraunt - $8.95 per person and the potatoes aren't nearly as good as mine!

Now I'm not claiming you HAVE to think ahead to have a good homecooked meal in the evenings. Last night I had no idea what we were going to have when I left work. So I resorted to an old favorite standby that is always good, quick and easy. We had baked salmon, cheesy rice and garden salad. 30-35 minutes from start to finish INCLUDING defrosting the salmon. I buy my salmon at Sams in a bag with individually vacumn sealed portions inside. I pay a little more for this but it's so easy and keeps us from eating out so it's worth it in the long run. So home at 6pm. Pull 2 portions of salmon from freezer and put in a bowl of cool water to thaw. Next I start a pot of fresh iced tea for supper. We're tea snobs and do not like tea that's over about 2 hours old so it has to be fresh eveyr night. The cheesy rice is Rice-A-Roni 4 cheese flavor. It takes about 20 minutes from start to finish so that gets started next. Once it's simmering I throw together a salad and preheat the oven to 350. Just before the rice is done melt a little butter in an oven-proof pan. Put salmon in butter, season with salt and pepper. Turn to coat other side with butter. Season that also with salt and pepper. Sometimes I also sprinkle some chopped dill on my piece as I love the flavor of the dill/salmon combo. Bake the salmon for 8 minutes. When I put the salmon in to bake it's about time to take the rice up and add the seasoning mix. Once you do that and let it sit together for the recommended 5 minutes the salmon is done. And we're eating around 6:30. A meal that would have cost around $10 apiece in a restraunt for $7-$8 total.

And to make this kinda quilty. If you've spent all day in the sewing room and realize it's almost time for your DH to be home expecting supper, try the salmon meal. Take a few minutes to set the table with nice china and stemware and maybe a candle and some real cloth napkins and he'll think you've been slaving for hours on a romantic dinner for 2. :-)