Spring is in the Air (In my Dreams)

So maybe I'm pushing things a bit. It was still really chilly today, barely 40 and not at all spring like. But I like searching for the signs of things to come. Kind of like this guy who seems to be looking around for some signs as well.



What got me really excited were the little heads of this tulip foliage poking through.



And this Camellia bud wanting to open


And believe it or not I do have actual flowers blooming. We are lucky enough in the Pacific Northwest to have something available for bloom just about year round. I had about a week where this wasn't true in my yard, but once the snow melted the primroses started flowering again.





And the heather got pretty as well


Now a few weeks later the pulmonaria is starting its show. The pulmonaria rubra is always the first to show its color. The blue ones will follow in a couple of weeks.



And there are a few plants that although they don't have true flowers, they remind me enough of flowers that I am fooled a bit.




If my outdoor flowers don't cheer me enough (because they are very tiny and far between) I do have one blooming inside. I bought this orchid this past summer at a plant sale at work. Much to my delight it's sending out beautiful little yellow flowers! I can't take credit for this at all. Randy waters and cares for all of the inside plants. Doesn't he do a great job! :-)


And I'm not really sure what this has to do with spring but I just had to share this little bit of new color in my life. We had good enough weather this week that Randy was able to finish up painting the front door that we had primered a while back. The first color that we chose, Behr's Cranberry Splash was um...er....welll...PINK! We were looking for a burgandy red. The first coat we put on the door scared us to death!


So we headed to Home Depot and came back with Cherry Cobbler. Much better!



We bought new hardware for the door too. I really like how it turned out.

So that's the extent of my spring dreams. I'm sitting here with my fuzzy socks on and the fire place lit.

I haven't decided what's for dinner tonight, but thought I'd share my little lunch. It's actually kind of spring like. I wanted something filling and tasty but low in calories. I bought these wraps this week and decided they would be a perfect vehicle. I have tried a lot of these types of wraps in search of one that is tasty and tolerable in texture. Most I ended up throwing away. I finally have found one I can live with and even like ~ LaTortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Soft Wraps, Tomato Basil flavor. The taste is nice and they don't have that gritty texture that a lot of others do.


And here are my Smoked Salmon wraps with some carrots on the side. 4 pts for you WW people.

Smoked Salmon Wraps

Makes 2

Ingredients:

	3 1/2 oz smoked salmon, flaked (I used a cajun flavored one). 2 tbsp Weight Watchers Reduced Fat Whipped Cream Cheese (or brand of your preference)
	1 tbsp light sour cream
	1 tsp minced garlic
	1 tbsp onion(s), chopped
	1 tbsp bell pepper(s), chopped
	1/4 cup(s) packaged coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
	1/4 large tomato(es), chopped
	1/4 tsp garlic salt, or to taste
	1/8 tsp ground ginger, fresh ginger would be great if you had it
	1/8 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
	1/8 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
	1/4 tsp dried dill weed
	1/2 cup(s) romaine lettuce, you only need a few leaves
	2 item(s) LaTortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Tomato basil wraps
	1 tbsp cilantro, optional, but I sprinkled a few chopped leaves over the lettuce.

Instructions

Flake salmon and add remaining ingredients except for lettuce & wrap. Mix well. I used a cajun flavored salmon. Use a sprinkle of your favorite cajun seasoning if you can't find it. Lay wraps flat and place a few leaves of lettuce in the center of each. Divide the salmon mixture between the two wraps, laying on the lettuce leaves. Add cilantro if you're using it. Fold in sides and roll up burrito style. Cut in half and serve with fresh carrot chips or a green salad.

Flashback Friday

Since Friday is pizza night around here I will try to use this opportunity, weekly, to dig deep in the archives for something interesting. Lets rewind six months to Aug 2008. Summer was in full swing.

The lilies were smelling sweet



My namesakes were unfurled


Butterflies were flying



The hydrangeas were very blue


Jigs was very cute


The corn was about to start doing it's thing


And I had a modest harvest from my garden. Look at that funny carrot with pants....


And this is what I was eating



Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Yogurt Dressing
adapted from several different recipes using fruit I had on hand

Salad:
1/2 "Personal" seedless watermelon, cubed or cut into balls
2 small nectarines, peeled and cubed
1 cup of strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup blueberries (maybe more?)
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Dressing:
1 small container strawberry yogurt
1 Tablespoon honey (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Juice of one medium lime

Combine all in a container and shake well. Serve over prepared fruit.

When life gives you lemons..Make Lemon Bars!

Really there are no lemons in my life right now, but I had to come up with something catchy! I made these wonderful lemon bars for a United Way benefit I'm participating in. We are doing drawings and the winner gets a goodie of their choice..from a list of goodies that I wanted to make! The second winner picked lemon bars much to my delight. Here they are plated up and ready to go.



I Love them myself so I got the bonus of nibbling on a couple. But made sure to plate up the rest of the extras and brought them to share at work.



I used the wonderful recipe from Michael Lee West's awesomely funny book Consuming Passions. It's in the chapter about funeral foods. The only thing I changed was to use *gasp* bottled lemon juice because I found myself without the real thing and orange peel instead of lemon for the same reason. Also she suggested a powdered sugar and lemon juice glaze and I just sprinkled with powdered sugar. I also easily doubled the recipe Here's her version, posted with her permission. Check out her beautiful blog Designs by Gollum

Lemon Squares
Yield: 16 Squares

To make the crust:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut up

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the mixture until it's crumbly. Press the dough into a greased 9x9 square pan. Bake 15-20 minutes. The crust should be lightly browned.

To make the Filling:

3 lg eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon zest, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until blended. Add the sugar and blend. Add the zest. Gradually stir in the lemon juice. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the egg mixture and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture over the crust. Bake 25 minutes. Cool on a rack - do not remove from the pan.

To Make the topping:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Mix sugar and lemon juice Spread over cooled filling. When the icing sets, cut into squares.

Skinny Buffalo?

I was going to do these Buffalo Bites for the Super Bowl, but I decided I had too much as it was and held off until today to try these. I improvised after reading through a few recipes and came up with this "light" Buffalo Wings wannabe. They have all of the flavor and wayyyy fewer calories than the originals. Randy enjoyed them, so he is my gauge as to whether non-dieting people would still like them. He did say they made him sweat.......which means they were HOT!




Suzy's Buffalo Bites

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast chopped into bite size pieces (I use one of those monster flash frozen ones)
1/2 cup Egg beaters, or 3-4 lightly beaten egg whites
1 jar Franks Red Hot Wings Sauce Buffalo Flavor (this is the Wings sauce...not the Hot Sauce..there's a difference so pay attention)
3/4 cup panko crumbs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Heat oven to 425°. Put egg beaters in a shallow bowl. Add a tablespoon of Frank's sauce to the egg beaters. Mix well. Mix crumbs, flour, cornstarch and garlic salt in another bowl. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture, covering well, then dip and roll around in the crumb mixture. Don't be chintzy..cover the pieces up well. This will provide the "fried" texture. Now you can do one of two things. I placed the dipped chicken on a Pam sprayed pan and then poured the sauce over the pieces to cover. Don't use the whole bottle and if you do you will regret it...this stuff is HOT. Besides you will want to save some to pour on the pieces when they get out of the oven. I think you could probably also dip the crumb coated pieces in a bowl of the red hot sauce then put on the waiting pan. I'll try that next time. Either way you do it bake at 425° for 25 minutes or until crumbs begin to brown. Remove from the oven then pour a little more of the sauce over to cover the bites completely. Serve with Bleu Cheese dressing or Ranch dressing with a few celery stalks hand. The celery helps with the heat!!

Super Snacks

I made a few munchies for the Super Bowl game today. Mostly things that Randy loves. We will be eating on this stuff for days!!

Dill Pickle Dip


Simple recipe - mix equal amounts of whipped cream cheese & sour cream, add lots of drained dill pickle relish. Season with liberal amounts of salt and garlic powder. Sprinkle dill weed on for a little color. Dip your Ruffles!

Dip My Sky - another family favorite introduced to us by our good friend Rae, whose screen name is Bluesky. Randy loves it so much and renamed it in her honor.

Another simple one - mix equal amounts of cream cheese and miracle whip. Spread this in a casserole, top with salsa, cover with shredded cheese of your choice then garnish with green onions. I think black olives would really be great too but that's taboo here! Dip your tortilla chips in this.

Next up, Potato Skins! Topped with sharp cheddar, bacon, salsa, green onions and sour cream.



We aren't finished yet. Make room for bacon wrapped soy sauce soaked water chestnuts & Stuffed Mushrooms


The mushrooms were "light" and not too shabby in my opinion. Here is the recipe, adapted from
Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cookbook. By my calculations - 1 pt per mushroom if you care :-)

Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms

12 large fresh mushrooms
Olive Oil spray
4 dried tomatoes
1/2 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
2 Tablespoons grate parmesan
1 Tablespoon chopped green onions
2 Tablespoons chopped bacon
2 Tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt & pepper to taste.

Remove and discard mushroom stems. Spray mushrooms with olive oil spray or brush with olive oil. Arrange in a shallow pan, stem side down. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes and drain off any liquid. Meanwhile, cover tomatoes with boiling water; let stand for 10 minutes. Drain and coarsely chop tomatoes. In a medium bowl combine tomatoes, ricotta, cheddar, parmesan, bacon, bread crumbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Turn mushrooms stem side up and fill caps with ricotta mixture. Bake at 450° for 8-10 minutes or until heated through and lightly browned.


How about some Sweet and Sour Meatballs? Not so pretty, but might tasty! Premade meatballs, onions, pineapples, bell peppers, chili sauce, blackberry jelly, garlic salt, Tony's Chachere's seasoning to taste. Brown meat balls and then heat all in a crockpot.



And something just for me....I don't think Randy has had even one lololol. I tried to duplicate a recipe I had at a recent baby shower.

Veggie Pizza

Reduced fat crescent rolls
1 tub Reduced fat whipped cream cheese
1/2 cup Best Foods Light mayo
1/2 packet Ranch Dip Mix
Finely chopped veggies - I used carrots, broccoli & cauliflower.

Press crescent rolls into a casserole or pizza pan. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Let cool. Mix cream cheese, mayo and dip mix. Spread on cooled crust. Sprinkle chopped veggies on top. Refrigerate until ready to eat.