Enjoy Each Bite

I didn't have to dig up any clams or really do much at all for this delicious dinner, thanks to Sprouts, my very favorite farmers market. In their deli section, they sell stuffed clams all ready to be baked. And to my utter astonishment... They have NO MILK ingredients! So, they became our dinner and were much enjoyed. (At Sprouts they range from 45 cents-$2 each, depending on sales) Bake the prepared stuffed clams at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. Serve hot with rice and a vegetable.

This is a great addition to pasta or wild rice. Just fry it up in a little olive oil with seasonings of your choice. I choose garlic salt (of course) and Italian seasonings. My opinion on asparagus: I chop it into small pieces and discard several inches from the bottom ends because they are more tough. I like asparagus cooked for only a few minutes so it is just barely softened, a few minutes before it starts turning brownish green.

Sometimes that pasta dish just needs an Italian friend at the dinner table. Broiling french bread to make garlic bread is a great addition to any Italian meal. What you need: 1 loaf French bread (white or wheat) 3 tablespoons olive oil Italian seasonings Garlic salt Slice the french bread at a slight slant creating 1 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the slices of bread flat on a cookie sheet. In a small dish, mix together olive oil and seasonings. Use a small kitchen brush to generously brush on oil/seasoning mixture on each slice. Broil on HIGH for 1-3 minutes until browned and slightly sizzling. Watch it carefully since broiling browns fast.

Marinating chicken makes it more moist and deeply flavorful. Start marinating 30-45 minutes before you barbeque. In a shallow dish (I used a Pyrex baking dish), mix the following: 2 Tablespoons soy sauce 1/2 cup brown sugar pinapple juice from 1 can of pineapple tidbits 2 cloves garlic (I used 2 tablespoons of minced garlic) Add your chicken thighs or tenderloins. If using chicken breasts, cut into smaller (thin) pieces. After marinating, grill until completely cooked (medium heat). I served my chicken with white sticky rice and sauted onion, orange bell pepper, celery and pineapple tidbits.

The simple combination of Betty Crocker's Cream Cheese Frosting, Ritz Brown Sugar Cinnamon Crackers and my taste buds is a delightful one. Try it for a simple tasty treat! By the way, ironically the Cream Cheese flavor of this frosting has no millk ingredients! Hooray for fake!

I love soup, especially on a cold day. This soup is inexpensive and rewarding. And a great way to put a ham bone to good use as well, which gives the soup a rich, wonderful flavor. I like to cook my soup in the crock pot (slow cooker), but it is also possible to make this soup in a large pot on the stove, but it will require soaking the beans overnight prior to cooking. Here's how I make my delicious soup: Add to crock pot: 1 ham bone with some meat still on it. 2 cups bean/barley mix (I get mine in the bulk section of Sprouts "7 Bean and Barley soup mix") Approx 8 cups of water 1 bay leaf 2-4 Tablespoons minced garlic 1 diced white onion Garlic salt, pepper, salt, other seasonings of choice to your taste preference. Cook on low for about 7 hours or high for about 4 hours. Soup is done once beans are soft. Once done, remove the meat off the bone (it will just fall off) and remove the bone piece(s) and the bay leaf. Serve hot with rolls or biscuits.

I made loads of delicious snickerdoodles and unfortunately many of them dried out before they were eaten. I didn't want to eat them hard, even though they still tasted ok. So, I got the idea to throw them in the food processor and make a pie crust with them. It was delicious! So after making cookie crumbs in the food processor, I pressed them into the pie dish with a bit of melted Smart Balance Light (just enough to moisten the crumbs). Then, I put canned peach pie filling in my crust and added cinnamon to the top and baked it for about 25 minutes. This made a great snickerdoodle peach tasty treat!