Lower Fat Potato Salad...

I know I said today would start off my five day menu madness, but sadly my friend who I was working with on this is in the middle of a family crisis and we've had to put a hold on our food fun...so, today I'm going to post a recipe of my own creation for a lower fat potato salad.

I didn't do any measuring when I made this salad, I just eyeballed it so I'm going to guess about my measurements here, but if you have a good eye, you should be able to discern just how much of each ingredient you'll need.

Heather's Red Potato Salad

1-3lb Bag Red Potatoes, washed and cubed
1 1/2 cups Non- Fat Greek Style Plain Yogurt
2-3 Tbsp Course Ground Mustard
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2-3 Tbsp Minced Garlic (I used the kind in the jar)
4 Hard boiled eggs, chopped
3-4 Stalks green onion, sliced
Salt & Pepper to taste


Boil potatoes till soft. Add all other ingredients in large mixing bowl. Let potatoes cool (I recommend allowing the potatoes to cool before mixing them with the other ingredients, they are less likely to fall apart or turn to mush if they've had a chance to cool) Mix potatoes with rest of mixture, be sure to thoroughly coat your potatoes. Place in fridge to chill (I recommend overnight, this is best served nice and cold)

That's it! Again, I made this up as I was going along so the measurements are guesstimates, just use your own judgement and make sure you taste it before you put it in the fridge to cool. If it needs another ingredient add it before the flavors have time to set. :)  

Enjoy!

Make it Pretty...

It's all about the presentation baby! I love to cook and I really love cooking for friends...throwing dinner parties is such a gas! One of my favorite things about dinner parties is the presentation of the food. There is one simple rule in my book: make. it. pretty.

I have been known to take pictures of my food, in fact my profile picture is of an avocado & crab "salad" I made for a dinner party a few years ago. I love plating food, making it clean, colorful and delicious!

It's hard to describe how to make your food pretty, but basically if you place the cuisine gently and artistically you've likely managed to pretty up your already delightfully delectable food.

I have a friend who has family coming in for a week so she will be dealing with dinner parties every night for five nights. Together we are coming up with a delicious menu for her to serve to her family. Over the next few days I will be posting one nights dinner menu with each post. I'll be including the recipes for each dish.

Well folks, it's been a long day of travelling for me and I'm starting to fade, so I'm going to sign off for now, but ... I will be back tomorrow night and I'll post up something delightfully yummy.

Goodnight all!

Spices are key...

Okay, so there are a few other key ingredients I must have in my kitchen. 

In addition to garlic, fresh or minced in a jar, I must have garlic salt or powder. Garlic adds such wonderful flavor to just about any food. Some people don't like a lot of garlic and some dishes don't call for a lot of garlic so having something on hand, like garlic salt or powder, that's a little more mild than fresh garlic is always a good idea.

I also try to keep Lawrey's Seasoning Salt in my spice cupboard. Really, you can have a generic seasoning salt or, for those of you who need to be conscious of your blood pressure, there are some great salt substitutes out there as well. Basically, whatever your favorite seasoning salt (or no salt) is, be sure you have plenty on hand! 

Spices are so important. Without the proper spices even the most delectable dishes would come out bland. I try to keep my spice cupboard full of variety. Some of my favorite spices, next to Italian Seasoning, are Cumin, Paprika, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Onion flakes or Onion Powder, Parsley, Oregano and Basil. Of course fresh spices are always preferable to dried or powdered spices. But fresh spices can be expensive and spoil quickly so it's always good to have the dry on hand.  

The Idea...

When my Sister-in-Law told me she'd looked through her cookbooks and couldn't find a single thing that sounded good, I asked her what she had to work with...she gave me a list of the ingredients she had on hand and I gave her a meal idea using those ingredients. Now this is something I had done before for my sister and my friends, but today, after talking with my Sister-in-Law, an idea was born...

Now I am not a chef or a schooled culinary artist, but I do know what things taste good together and I'm not afraid to experiment. Most of the time, the experimenting pays off and I end up with something that's not only edible but pretty darn tasty too, just ask my husband!

So you think you can't cook? Nonsense! Everyone can cook! All you need is the right ingredients, a little bit of patience and a sense of adventure! There are three key ingredients that you can always find in my kitchen; olive oil, garlic and Italian Seasoning. These are a must! You'll likely always find hot sauce in my refrigerator too, but not everyone likes things spicy the way I do!

Bottom line, if you can boil water, you can cook. It's as simple as that!

I'll be sure to post some of my favorite recipes too!

Now...tell me what's in your kitchen!