suziebeezieland

mitsuwa snack run

Claire and I swung by Mitsuwa today on the way home from school to get her some snacks. Her Asian-heritage friends at school often share snacks with her, and then she wants to get them, too, but we don't know what they are or what they're called. But Claire knows what the packaging looks like. :)

this is delicious

steak salad

Here's a steak salad I like to make when the weather is warm. It's a good way to use up a leftover steak or two. (We tend to have leftovers because we are a family of three.)

Here is what you'll need:

Lettuce of some type :)

Leftover steak, previously marinated with the "savory marinade" recipe on the bottle of McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning (DELICIOUS) and then grilled, chilled, and chopped into bite-sized pieces ... the steak above is a tri-tip

Chopped green onions or red onion

Big yummy croutons

Italian dressing

Toss it all together and dig in.

Of course you can throw whatever else you want in there, but the main thing is the STEAK. :)

butterfly cakes

I recently bought Jane Cumberbatch's Pure Style: Recipes for Every Day because I have been a big fan of Jane Cumberbatch the designer for the past 15 years or so, so I thought maybe I would be a fan of Jane Cumberbatch the cook, too. And I am. :) Her philosophy of "keep it simple" carries over.

One problem I always have with British cookbooks (or, for that matter, cookbooks from any island country) is that I dislike seafood, and cookbooks from islands tend to be heavy on fish recipes. But there is plenty to enjoy even if you skip the fishies. 

For Easter, I made several batches of her Butterfly Cakes. They are very easy to make (I did all the blending for both the cake and icing in my food processor) and DELICIOUS ... it's all that butter, so they come out slightly crispy on the outside, and then very soft on the inside. Yum.

I found that using all the orange zest in the icing made them too bitter. So I'd say about half an orange's worth of zest, and then, as she says, just enough orange juice (also maybe half an orange) to make the frosting spread. You don't want it to be runny. If you wanted it to taste orangier, you could add a little orange extract.

Also, these are teacakes, not cupcakes or muffins ... they are short. :) So you can use a cupcake wrapper rather than greasing the pan, but they will not come up to the top of the wrapper unless you only make nine or ten. You will only be putting a generous teaspoon (that you eat cereal with) of batter in each cup to make one dozen.

Nobody guessed these were butterflies without knowing they are officially called "Butterfly Cakes," but we did have one guess for "Bunny Ears" and another guess for "Chicky Bottoms Sticking Up in the Air".

But those are all spring things, so it's all good. :D

The cookbook is lovely, and full of lovely photography and some non-cooking tips and tricks, also. I recommend it.

The recipes include measurements and temperatures for American cooks, but the ingredients have not always been translated into American English. That's why Google was invented.

In this recipe, "caster sugar" is "superfine," "ultrafine," or "baker's sugar" here in the U.S., and "icing sugar" is "powdered sugar" or "confectioner's sugar". 

Here is the recipe for Butterfly Cakes with Orange Butter Icing:

110g/4oz/1 stick unsalted butter, softened
110g/4oz/generous 1/2 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
110g/4oz/generous 1/2 cup self-raising flour, sifted

for the butter icing:
75g/3oz/3/4 (three quarter) stick unsalted butter
175g/6oz/1 1/2 (one and one half) cups icing sugar
grated rind and juice of 1 orange

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the beaten eggs, and then fold in the sifted flour with a metal spoon; or, if you have a food processor, process the whole lot. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into a greased 12-cup bun tin and place in the middle of a preheated oven, 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5, for 15-20 minutes, until well risen and golden. Leave to cool.

To make the butter icing: Soften the butter and beat in the sifted icing sugar, adding enough orange juice to give it the right consistency. Add the grated orange rind. It should be thick enough to hold its shape for spreading.

To make the butterfly wings: When the buns have cooled, cut a circle off the top of each, 1 cm (1/2 inch) from the edge. Fill the hole with a dollop of butter icing. Cut the circle in half and position the halves in the cream to look like wings. 

Hmm. As I look at this official photo of the Butterfly Cakes just now, I see that they do look more distinctively like butterflies. I will need to practice. :)

icecream + guacamole

Today I felt good again, and went a little nuts with the thrill of it.

First, I cleaned house and did laundry, big time.

Then after school, Claire and my niece and nephew and I grabbed some icecream. We visited a little and read a little, and experimented with gummy worms. 

Then Claire and I went to a plant nursery and bought a few pink flowers to put in the lonely pots of dirt on the back patio. Mostly I just wanted to be outside around nature, and the nursery seemed like a good, gentle way to ease back into it.

Then we called Bob to see if he wanted to meet close to his work for an early dinner, and he did. So we sat outside and had guacamole and fajitas and wow, the weather is great outside.

I've missed you, outside.

sausage bean soup

Katherine mentioned sausage bean soup in a comment below, and I realized it might be good if I reposted that recipe, since the last time I posted it was January 16, 2007, on the old suziebeezieland blog (that was password-protected). 

January must be soup month. :)

In 2007 when I posted it, I wrote, "We've had a hard frost three nights in a row, which is unusual for southern California! Our lawn sprinklers have been freezing the sidewalks into a big ice slick."

Not so 2012! It's been in the 80's (and even 90's) almost all month so far. It has been a very, very warm winter for us. Our tulip tree is in full bloom. I will take a photo of it for you tomorrow.

Anyway, here it is. I buy Italian sausages, slit each down the side, and pull the casing off.  I separate the meat in the pan with the end of the wooden spoon as I brown it with the onion and garlic.

I do love this soup. It is good with a big hunk of French bread, to soak up the broth. My mom or sister gave me this recipe. Or maybe they both did. I can't remember. Maybe they can remember.

Sausage Bean Soup

3/4 lb bulk Italian sausage

1/2 c chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

15 1/2-oz can butter beans, rinsed and drained

15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

14 1/2-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

14 1/12- can beef broth

1 T minced fresh basil or 1t dried

2 T shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, cook sausage, onion, and garlic until sausage is browned. Drain. Add beans, tomatoes, broth and basil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

4-6 servings

minestrone

I'm not a big fan of soup, usually, unless it resembles stew. It seems like kind of a rip-off as far as meals go.

But! I made some minestrone a couple weeks ago because it was such an efficient way to get large quantities of vegetables into my family. And it was delicious! And it was even MORE delicious heated up for lunch the next day! I will definitely make it again.

There is a lot of chopping prep, but that's kind of fun if your knife is sharp and you're not in a hurry.

I used Ellie Krieger's recipe that was in the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I forgot to grab low-sodium broth (I used vegetable), so I just omitted the teaspoon of salt when I made it and it didn't taste too salty or too bland to me. Here it is:

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, diced (1/2 cup)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium zucchini (about 8 oz.), diced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or low-sodium chicken broth (48 oz.)
1 28-oz. can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 14-oz. can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz. can low-sodium cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. whole grain elbow pasta
1/3 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. In large soup pot over medium-high heat cook and stir onion in hot oil 4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic; cook for 30 seconds. Add celery and carrot. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften. Add zucchini, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add the broth and the diced and crushed tomatoes. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add the beans and pasta. Cook 10 to 15 minutes more or until pasta and vegetables are tender. Top servings with cheese and parsley. Makes 6 servings. 

jones coffee roasters

One of our favorite Pasadena hangouts is Jones Coffee Roasters. I like it because it's the best coffee I've ever had. (Sorry, Intelligentsia.) I don't ever order any fancy espresso drinks when I go there, although I bet they are also delicious. I just get a cup of coffee.

It's also a good place to set up with a laptop for awhile if you can find a table, and get some writing done. Today I went with my sister. We also called our Charity, so she was there telephonically. :)

Jones moved last year from a small place without enough parking to a bigger place without enough parking. :) It's a big warehouse space, so the front door you come through is like a rolled up garage door.

Did you know this? I did not. When you get a disposable coffee cup, don't line up the drinking hole in the top with the seam of the cup, or it will leak.

There are some interesting hallowe'en decorations up this month.

This is the back of a stuffed crow. Nevermore!

But I think the best hallowe'en decoration is the coffee roaster itself.

Doesn't it look like something out of a steampunk movie?

chicken + noodles and also emilie's noodle bake(two recipes for the price of one!)

I am on call for jury duty this week (I didn't have to go in today, but I don't know about tomorrow or the rest of the week) so I made a few casseroles over the weekend and froze them, to reheat in a pinch.

Here are two recipes for very easy casseroles that everyone in my family (even picky Claire) swoons over. I am sorry I do not have photos to accompany these two recipes (instead, I took a photo of where I am sitting right now), but to be honest, they're not that pretty. Casseroles are casseroles. :) I am lumping them together here because they both require spinach noodles.

The second one has specific freezing instructions, but you can also freeze the first one before baking and then thaw and bake it later, although tack on a few minutes to the time if it is still cold from the fridge. (I've done this and it turns out fine.)

The first one is a little borderline tacky (although some folks think casseroles in general are tacky, but those people must not be trying to feed a family in a hurry, and I say, long live casseroles) because it takes canned chicken and mushrooms, but I'm telling you, it tastes good. It's all those onions and butter and cheese. :) But if you strenuously object, you could use two cups of uncanned chicken. :)

I cannot remember where I got these recipes, but I am pretty sure the "Emilie" is author Emilie Barnes.

Chicken and Noodles

10 oz. spinach noodles
1 c. milk
2 cans (about 6 oz. each) chunk white chicken 
1 can (4 oz.) mushroom stems + pieces, drained 
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 c. grated Romano cheese
2 T. melted butter
1/8 t. pepper

Cook noodles as directed on package; drain. Toss with remaining ingredients. Pour into ungreased 2-qt. casserole. Cover and cook in 350 degree oven until hot, about 30 minutes. Stir before serving. Serve with additional Romano cheese if desired.

Emilie's Noodle Bake

1/4 t. salt
1 t. oil
8 oz. spinach noodles (or more ... sometimes I use more)
1 lb. seasoned ground turkey (if you can only find plain, add a little garlic powder and celery powder)
2 c. spaghetti sauce (I like Ragu Roasted Garlic because it's sweet)
2 c. lowfat cottage cheese

Cook pasta 7 to 10 minutes (big range of time there, but basically until done ... the spinach noodles I buy come in little nests and it doesn't tell you how long to cook them ... mine are usually done at 9 minutes) and rinse in cold water. Brown turkey and combine with remaining ingredients. Place in casserole, cool, and freeze. Thaw when needed and reheat at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes.

skillet chili mac

We made the Skillet Chili Mac that is in this month's Everyday Food, and it was delish. :)

Here's the recipe. The only three things I would recommend are to go ahead and cook the whole pound of pasta (rather than the 3/4 they call for), because you'll have a lot of leftover sauce if you don't. And really salt the pasta water well, because rigatoni is big and bland and needs it. Also, it doesn't mention draining the fat off the ground beef, but do that. :)

coarse salt and ground pepper
3/4 pound rigatoni or other tube-shaped pasta
1 t. extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 small yellow onion, diced small
1 pound ground beef chuck (85% lean) 
1 + 3/4 t. ground cumin
1 c. corn kernels, thawed if frozen
1 small zucchini, diced medium
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 ounces cheddar, grated (3/4 c.) 

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and return to pot. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent. 3 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, add beef, and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Add cumin and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Add corn and zucchini and cook until zucchini is crisp-tender, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and juice, bring to a simmer, and cook until mixture is heated through, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide pasta among four bowls, top with meat sauce, and sprinkle with cheese.

happy trails

Today Claire and I met Bob for a sandwich at a little place in Pasadena called Happy Trails. It's primarily a catering business, but they open up and serve lunch for a couple hours. 

You go inside and order from a little menu (it changes each week) (I had the garlic roast beef sandwich, because it said "garlic" and "beef"), and you help yourself to water, tea, or lemonade from pitchers on the counter if that's what you want to drink. If you want soda, they hand you a can.  

You sit out in the garden to eat. (There aren't any seats inside ... it is a tiny building that looks to have once been the garage for the house next door to it, which is now another business.)

To get to the garden, you go back out through the front door, the way you came in, and walk down the side of the building to the back.

There is also self-serve water, tea, and lemonade out back, as well as napkins and plastic utensils. The napkins are in a little basket, and a rock is holding them down so they don't blow away. It is as if you are in someone's backyard for a picnic. Somebody brings your sandwich to you on a paper plate. 

It's genius, because it's such a simple (and delicious) operation. 

Because really, what more do you want from lunch than a really good sandwich while you are sitting outside under a gigantic camphor tree in pretty weather, with people you like, and the option to go get some more lemonade whenever you feel like it?

the luggage room

Tonight we had dinner at The Luggage Room. It's the pizzeria portion of a cafe we like called Le Grande Orange. Both places are housed in a restored 1925 Santa Fe train station. There are still train tracks next to it, but now it's the Del Mar Station for the Metro Gold Line that runs into Los Angeles.

The Luggage Room is called The Luggage Room because it used to be the luggage room. :)

Instead of giving the kids crayons and coloring pages, they give them Wikki Stix, which is kind of fun. :)

Tonight we had the best appetizer: cantelope and honeydew slices (cut thin with a mandoline), drizzled with almond oil, topped with paper-thin shavings of prosciutto, and sprinkled with fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and chopped basil. That sweet melon with that salt, and then the almond oil and basil flavors ... wowzers. Bob and I devoured it in no time flat. I'm going to try it at home some time. I will report back if all goes well. If all does not go well, you may not hear from me. :)

Claire ordered the kid's cheese pizza. She does not like any food even a light brown color on top (when I make toast for her, I put it on the "half" setting and it comes out looking like when it went in), so she was not enamored with the charred edges. Who would be? Not I. But she ate out the middle. :)

Bob and I shared a margherita pizza and an avocado pizza. I haven't tried anything else there because I always want these. :) They are soooooooooo good.

But a lady at a table near us ordered the chopped salad, and that looked pretty good, too.

We had already polished off half of each before I remembered to take any pictures of them. :D

 

baby chicks + a pizza shaped like a heart

Last night, we went over to our friends' home for dinner. They have baby chicks, which Claire was so excited to meet, hold, and feed. :)

We had pizzas barbecued on the grill. My friend shaped Claire's crust like a heart.

the cake ruckus

Tonight was our final school board meeting of the year. We have food at this last meeting, when we say goodbye to the board members who are rotating off and say hello to the new members who are coming on.

I was supposed to bring dessert.

The plan was that I would make this cake, as seen in Matthew Mead's (super duper fantabulous) Summer magazine. It is an easy cake. You make three layer cakes (from boxes), and smear each layer with whipped cream and pile them on top of each other and throw some berries on top. I went and got all the stuff from the grocery store at 1:45 today, and got back in time to go pick Claire up at 2:30.

Easy peasy, and very pretty and summery and delicious-looking.

And yet, something happened to my cakes. What? I do not know. I smelled burning about the time they were supposed to be cooked, and molten lava cake batter was spewing out of the cakes onto the floor of the oven. They looked like little volcanos.

See that shiny part? It's still liquid if you poke it with your finger. 

Have you ever had this happen before? These were just your basic Duncan Hines cake mixes. I have made a bazillion boxed cakes in my life.  I have no idea what I did wrong this time.

So then it's four p.m., and our meeting starts at six p.m., and I am standing there completely surrounded by no desserts.

So I told Claire to grab her shoes, quick, and we jumped in the car and started driving nowhere in particular, but fast.

And then I remembered Dots! Yay, Dots! Dots to the rescue! Except that I couldn't remember exactly where one was. So I drove in the general direction of Pasadena, and typed "Dots" into my GPS, but I ended up with some office supply company in Indiana, and I don't know what all else, and what use is my GPS if I can't just think "cupcakes" at it in a panic, and it tells me clearly and quickly where they are?

So then I had Claire call Bob on my cell and get directions. He knows Pasadena food sources like the back of his hand. All the guys in his office do. You could call any of them and name any dish that is part of any world cuisine, and you could say that you want to eat it at three a.m. on a Sunday, and they could tell you where to go to make that happen.

Except that Claire was just repeating whatever Bob told her and then saying "uh huh", without speaking to me or giving me any context:

"Huntington. Uh huh. Fair Oaks. Uh huh. California. Uh huh. Del Mar. Uh huh. Royal Parkway. Uh huh."

"Arroyo Parkway?" I asked her. "Is it on Arroyo Parkway?"

"Royal something. Or maybe Royo. Del Mar. California."

Finally, I very calmly and slowly and gently and patiently, and them some more calmly, just for good measure, suggested she put him on speaker phone, and he gave me the address (400 South Arroyo Parkway), and I said "okay, goodbye" too quickly, because then we couldn't actually find it.

I mean, I found the address, but Dots was not there.

"We just drove past 400 South Arroyo Parkway, and it's not there!" I said at the phone. I forgot to say "hello" or anything when Bob answered. I just started talking fast.

"It's there. Next to Pasadena Inn. Park in the Pasadena Inn parking lot. I was going to say that when you hung up on me last ..."

I hung up quick, and sure enough, the second time we drove by, Dots had materialized OUT OF THIN AIR and was there. It was definitely not there before.

I ordered one dozen assorted cupcakes, plus two.

The "plus two" were for Bob and Claire, my sweet and longsuffering helpers. :)

produce day

Yesterday was pretty exciting around here, as far as fruits and vegetables go. I went to visit my sister in the morning, and she gave me three oranges which the neighbors next door gave her off their tree. They look plain, but are sweet and good, which is true of so many of us, n'est-ce pas? ;D

Then, in the afternoon, I noticed that we had our first ripe cherry tomato. So Claire and I did our traditional "We grew a tomato!" dance, and then each ate exactly half of it. It was warm and delicious, and had that meaty, crumbly texture that homegrown tomatoes have.

I'm thinking cheese and tomato sandwiches on homemade bread, all summer long.

Realistically, if we have twenty edible cherry tomatoes total, we will be beating our previous records. But a girl can dream.

Then Bob came home in the evening and gave me these three onions, which his coworker Fred sent for me. It is terribly exciting in the summer to see what Fred will send home with Bob, because his wife is an award-winning gardener, and I do believe with all my heart that she is magic out there in the dirt. The things she can grow. One of her tomatoes last year made me get a little teary, it was so delicious.

A good tomato is a spiritual experience, testifying to God's goodness, creativity, and faithfulness to His people.

I'm thinking I'll use the onions to make an onion tart. I've got my eye on this Alsace Onion Tart here. Unless I've got it wrong, my French Huguenot ancestors were from Alsace-Lorraine. Or maybe that's something we just decided and don't actually know. I don't remember. Anyway, they make a mean onion tart.

chicken cupcakes

Last weekend, for Easter, Claire and I made these chicken cupcakes. And by "chicken cupcakes," I mean cupcakes that look like chickens. I do not mean cupcakes that have chicken in them.

And by "look like chickens," I mean that if I tell you ahead of time that they are chickens, you will see the chicken resemblance.

Afterwards, I wasn't really sure how Easter-y chickens are. I guess you could dye them yellow and then they would look like chicks. They are really delicious if you remove the Mike 'n Ikes and licorice before eating them. :) That buttercream frosting is extremely buttery. Yum.

After the first one, we decided to make the rest without feet.

As the buttercream frosting gets warm, the project and the chickens get messier. But do not let that deter you. Also, do not become discouraged if you run out of red Mike 'n Ikes. Other colors also work well. Because as long as you tell everyone these are chickens, they will believe you.

(It is true that during Easter dinner, Faith noticed that if you remove the red comb from the head, they look like Violet the Puppy cupcakes.)

chicken thai wraps

We had friends over for dinner last night and had Chicken Thai Wraps. I found this recipe on Catherine Thursby's delightful Red Shoes blog back in 2007, and have been making it regularly since then. Everyone in my family loves it. 

(Don't allow the peanut sauce to boil. If it seems too thin, add some more peanut butter.)

1 whole rottisserie chicken, shredded 
(or 4 chicken breasts diced and sauteed in olive oil with garlic, salt, and pepper)
1 bag of broccoli slaw
1 purple onion
1 tsp. fresh ginger (optional)
package of flour tortillas
cooked rice

Peanut sauce:
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup sugar
3T soy sauce
3T water
2T vegetable oil
1 tsp. minced garlic

Directions:
Dice purple onion and saute over medium heat in olive oil. Add ginger and broccoli slaw, and cook until crisp-tender. Set aside.

Warm tortillas.  Cook rice for a side dish.

In a small pan prepare peanut sauce. Add peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, water, oil, and garlic, and cook over medium heat about 4 to 5 minutes, until melted and slightly thickened.

Top a tortilla with some chicken, some broccolli slaw, and some peanut sauce, then roll it up and enjoy!

crockpot gingerbread pudding cake

I know it is completely the wrong time of year for gingerbread, except that it's not, really, because I have it on fact from our Susanna up and over in Finland that they're not thawing out until May or something crazy like that. And one of our beloved Saskatchewanians, my Michelle D., reports the same shocking info ... that they don't plant things until late May-ish. And our Marlene is currently in denial that her state is getting snow in April.

So I say, bring on the gingerbread.

Carolyn McCulley had linked to this recipe on her blog, and it sounded so good. I try to find one thing each week that is really exciting and delicious, to eat with my Weight Watchers weekly "fun" points. Last week it was those salt and pepper potato chips, and this week it's this gingerbread. 

This will make your house smell good for about three hours, and you'll feel like giving gifts to everyone and decorating a tree and singing about reindeer, for some reason.

ps I took a photo of it, but my photo looked disgusting. It would deter you from making it. So I'm using a different photo. :D

Crockpot Gingerbread Pudding Cake

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 14.5-ounce package  gingerbread mix
• 1/2  cup  milk
• 1/2  cup  raisins
• 2 1/4  cups  water
• 3/4  cup  packed brown sugar
• 3/4  cup  butter
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Directions

1. Lightly coat the inside of a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine gingerbread mix and milk until mix is moistened. Stir in raisins (batter will be thick). Spread gingerbread batter evenly in the bottom of the prepared cooker.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, brown sugar, and butter. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Boil gently, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Carefully pour sugar mixture over batter.

3. Cover and cook on high-heat setting (do not use low-heat setting) for 2 hours (center may appear moist but will set up as it stands).

4. Remove liner from cooker, if possible, or turn off cooker. Let cake stand, uncovered, for 45 minutes to cool slightly before serving.

5. To serve, spoon warm cake into dessert dishes. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition Facts

• You don't want to know.

roast beef sandwich

Here is a roast beef sandwich I like to make for special, like when somebody I love comes over for lunch. I got this from my sister, who is a delicious sandwich maker. So is my mom.

Here is what you'll need:

• bread (I use San Francisco International Sheepherder's Sliced Bread, and pull the longest slices out of the middle. It's a round loaf. Sweet Hawaiian is good for this, too.)
• thinly sliced lean roast beef
• a red onion
• leaf lettuce or romaine
• Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese Wedges (I use Light Garlic + Herb)

Spread one cheese wedge over two pieces of bread, then layer with roast beef (lots), one big lettuce leaf, and a few thin rings of red onion. If you don't like red onion you could use tomato, but red onion gives it some zing. :)

I like to serve this with the deli broccoli salad from our local Ralph's, which is really good. And a few Kettle Brand Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper Chips. (I eat chips rarely these days.*)

If you used whole wheat bread and served it with fruit, instead, it would be pretty healthy. :)

*I've lost 16 pounds so far, since January 31, if you're keeping track. :D I still can't tell by looking at me, but I've gone down a size, which has been exciting. I may have also lost a chin or two. I'm not sure. :) I have a lot to go, but so far, so good. An also-losing-weight friend at church passed on some pretty clothes to me in my new size (she's now smaller, hooray) and that has been fun. It's nice not to spend money on a size which I hope to pass through in a couple months. I hope this info is encouraging to any of you also losing weight, or wanting to. You can do it! Hooray! :)

enjoy your shamrock shakes