What's For Dinner

So, today is my parents' 50th Wedding Anniversary! The whole family will be going out for dinner this evening. This includes my sister Cindy, her husband Dave, their sons Chris and Tommy, my mom Dottie, my dad Bob, my husband Michael, and myself. We're going to Andria's, a really good steakhouse that was started by a family friend and his wife (Sam and Mugs). Yeah, I know - me in a steakhouse. I've already planned what to eat: a small salad to start, then the grilled portabello mushroom appetizer with a small baked potato for my entree.

Tomorrow is Sunday and dinner is planned! We're going to have Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Feta Vinaigrette from Cooking Light. I'll make it just a tiny bit lighter by using water-packed or dry-reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes instead of oil-packed. I'll also squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice into the salad to brighten it up a bit. Sounds yummy! With my adjustments I figure one serving of this recipe equals 6 Weight Watchers points.

We're also going to have baked sweet potatoes. To bake sweet potatoes:

1. wash them well
2. cut the ends off
3. bake them in a 400° preheated oven for 40-60 minutes.

Be sure to leave the skin on the potatoes. Also, either wrap them well in aluminum foil or place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Otherwise you'll find a mess in your oven from the sugars dripping out of the potatoes as they cook. These are so easy to make and yummy to eat, and only 3 Weight Watchers points.

Michael is making us a peach pie for dessert. He won't actually be with us for dinner since football season is now in session. In fact, I won't share another Sunday dinner with him until next spring (or unless there is a special event or somehow a Sunday without football). One-sixteenth of a peach pie is around 4 Weight Watchers points - one-sixteenth is half of what you might normally eat for a serving of pie. This works fine for me because I am not a big sweets eater. Mom and Dad will be happy though. After dessert is over, I'll split the leftovers to leave some with my parents and some to take home - Michael can have it later.

So, I think we're going to have a pretty good Sunday dinner. And in honor of Michael - go Raiders (although they are playing Monday night not Sunday). Oh - and Monday is our 18th Wedding Anniversary. Wonder how we'll be celebrating? I think Michael said something about making spaghetti and staying home. Sounds good to me.