Barbecue

Barbecue sounds good to me. I found this recipe for Memphis-Style Barbecue Tofu that sounds terrific!

When reading the "Let's Eat" section of the St. Louis Post Dispatch this week I found a recipe for Hotel Condon Corn Bread. I'm making that too.

I'm not exactly sure about other sides. Here are some ideas I'm kicking around:
Kidney Bean Salad
Mexican Bean Salad that my friend Amanda McKay told me about
Sauteed Greens with White Beans and Garlic
Tomato Bread Salad (I make this with cherry or grape tomatoes, fat-free croutons, cucumber, red onion, sliced black olives, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and goat cheese)
Mixed Vegetables
Fresh Green Salad
or something else

What do you think? Any other suggestions?

Whatever I end up making, I'll be sure to let you know how it all turns out!

After Dinner Thoughts - Quiche

Sunday's menu was:
Mushrooms & Spinach Quiche
Lemon-garlic Shrimp
Samosa
Chocolate Diet Soda Cake

Michael made the cake the other day. It follows the diet soda recipe where you use a box cake mix, a can of diet soda and one egg white lightly beaten. Mix it all up and follow the box directions to bake. It turned out to be a bit crumbly, but mighty tasty.

We had some frozen shrimp on hand and at first I thought I would put them in the quiche. Then I decided to cook them separately in olive oil with garlic and lemon. They were quite good.

The Samosa was also frozen. I had picked it up a while ago at the international market in Edwardsville. Mom, Dad, and I really liked these. Michael - not so much. They definitely had a middle eastern flavoring.

For the quiche, I followed a crustless recipe using the fresh mushrooms; a 10 oz box of frozen spinach thawed, drained, and squeezed dry; some gouda cheese; black olives; and some chopped onions. Mmmm mmm good! Unfortunately I smashed the quiche before taking the photo - to let some heat out, so you don't get to see how nicely it turned out. Oh well, live and learn!

IDK

I don't know what will be for Sunday dinner today. I have a couple of containers of fresh mushrooms, so they will be in whatever I end up cooking. I'll have to look throughout the pantry to see what I have on hand. And, if I need something from the grocery I'll have to decide that pretty soon so that Michael can pick anything up for me.

Today is the first Sunday that Mom and Dad will be coming to my house. Cindy will drop them off around 2:30 and I'll take them back to her house later. Mom's knee replacement has been great. Sure, she still has some pain and swelling, but nothing like before the surgery. Her doctor says she's doing terrific and that it will start to feel much better in a couple more months. Monday is the five week mark since her surgery. She really is much better than before and has started getting out more. YAY!

Yesterday Michael and I went to Penzey's Spices in Maplewood. WOW! Is that a fantastic place?! Nothing but spices, spices, and more spices - fresh, fresh, fresh. My friend Carol Stookey told me about this place. I picked up some cream of tartar, vanilla beans, Vietnamese cinnamon, rosemary, toasted minced onion, and medium hot chili powder. Mmmm...

I don't think any of those spices will end up in today's dinner, but you never know. Anyway - I better go figure it out. I'll let you know how it all turns out.