I made this for dinner the other night and it was SO good! Yum! I’ve actually made this recipe several times. It’s quick and easy to make. Don’t let the fancy name fool you.

This recipe comes from Epicurious and was in Gourmet Magazine. So I can’t say if it’s healthy or not. I’ll share my healthy options below. If you try it let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds precooked polenta (in a tube), cut into 4 (1/2-inch-thick) rounds
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
1/2 pound mixed sliced fresh wild mushrooms
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups bottled marinara sauce

Accompaniment: grated Parmesan

Preheat broiler.

Broil polenta rounds on a lightly oiled large heavy baking sheet 3 to 4 inches from heat until lightly browned in spots, about 7 minutes. Turn rounds over and sprinkle with cheese, then broil until polenta is golden in spots and cheese is melted, about 7 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until it shimmers, then cook sausage, breaking up lumps, until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Heat remaining tablespoon oil in skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add wine and boil, scraping up any brown bits, until reduced by about half, about 2 minutes. Stir in sausage and tomato sauce and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Season with salt.

Serve ragout spooned over polenta.

My Healthy Version: I use sweet Turkey sausage and omit the Parmesan cheese. When cutting the polenta I just cut the whole tube into 1/2″ slices and I’ll brush olive oil on one side when broiling.

I wanted to tell you about a couple cooking blogs that I read regularly. I’ve had a lot of fun finding new recipes from them and learing more about cooking. So instead of a recipe, here’s a couple blogs you should check out:

Fulltummies - written by 2 sisters who are the mothers of young children they have a lot of “family friendly and not very complicated foods.” A personal favorite, their Compromise Cookies.

Simply Recipes - great pictures, good foods, I’m looking forward to trying her Chicken Curry Salad.

Smitten kitchen - pictures during the cooking process, delicious food, decadent desserts.  A favorite that I made for small group: Brownie Mosiac Cheesecake

I had this pizza recently at Pam’s house, and it was delicious, especially since I love chicken wings. Yes, our LIFE group has great food - and of course fellowship and all that spiritual stuff too!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Pam Robinson

• 2 12 inch pizza crusts (ready made is fine)
• 2-3 Medium size chicken breasts – cooked & chopped into small pieces
• 1 small bottle of blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
• 1 bottle of Frank’s hot wing sauce
• 4 cups of grated Colby/jack cheese – cheddar will work too.

Put chopped chicken in frying pan. Pour a generous amount of hot sauce over chicken and sauté until hot and bubbly. Spread light coating of salad dressing (especially blue cheese dressing) on top of crust. Top with ½ of chicken mixture. Sprinkle 2 cups of grated cheese over chicken. Bake 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is brown. If using unbaked crust, you will need to bake it 15-20 minutes on the lowest rack of the oven. Remove from oven and sprinkle more hot sauce over top.
Enjoy!

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My mouth is watering just looking at this picture! I never thought I would not only like, but actually crave ‘kale’, that’s right kale. I worked at Burger King when I was a teenager and remember using kale to decorate the salad bar (yes BK used to have a salad bar) and I thought it was only good for was decoration! Needless to say I’ve come along way. I’ll share more of my story and how I got where I am today at another time. My daughter begs me to make this too! We eat this 3-5 times a week. Most of the recipes that I will be posting are ones that I have created or modified to make my own. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. Enjoy!

Marinated Greens

(Serves 1-2 as a main dish or 4 as a side)

1 bunch of Kale (or combination of kale, mustard greens, spinach, swiss chard or collard greens) - remove thick stem and chop

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Lemon Juiced (I use a citrus press)

1 Garlic Crushed

1 t Sea Salt (or to taste)

4 Green Onions, finely chopped

1 Avocado, diced

Combine all ingredients, except avocado in a large bowl. Work with your hands until the greens are wilted, add avocado and serve. If you prefer, you can mush the avocado too, it’s a little messier though.

For a variety - add any of the following: sunflower seeds, finely chopped tomato, sprouts, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (natural alternative to soy sauce), fresh ginger and/or cayenne pepper.

Here is a link for nutritional benefits of kale:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38

Wow, have there been a lot of babies born in the last couple months!!! Congrats to all the new moms out there! This Chicken Curry is the dish I often take to new moms (or others that I might take a meal to.) It’s easy, freezes well, and tastes yummy. My kids love it, and ask for it at least once a week (don’t worry, we don’t have it that often.)

Chicken Curry - from Rinnie Hersman
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
10.5 oz can cream of celery (or mushroom) soup
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup milk
3 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon powder
1/2 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 Tbsp melted butter

Mix all ingredients but bread crumbs and butter in a baking dish (8×8 pan or 2 quart pyrex dish.) Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Put topping (bread crumbs plus butter mixed together) on the last 10 minutes of cooking. Serve over rice.

May also put cooked rice in bottom of dish, and then put sauce and chicken on top and bake like that. Alternately, you can put in raw chicken, but should cook it for an extra 15 or so minutes.