April 2nd

	Husband	Annie	Green Bean	Turtle
Breakfast			Smoothie	Smoothie
Lunch	Wedge Salad	Wedge Salad	Tomatoes and Cereal	Oatmeal
Dinner	Italian Sausage and marinara	Scrambled eggs with salsa and sour cream	PB on crackers and oranges	Oranges, grapes, cereal

Guess I'm getting all my quick and easy meals out of the way! I got a few things at the store yesterday so there is some stuff coming along. In the meantime,  wedge salad is one of my favorites and it is so so easy to make. I usually have everything required in my fridge so it is a good and quick standby meal in case you forgot to cook lunch. 

Turtles and Green Beans "Wedge" Salad

I buy the 3 pack of romaine hearts and use one heart per person. While traditional the wedge salad uses a wedge of iceberg lettuce, I like romaine better so I use it. Tip: Sam's Club sells packs with 6 romaine hearts

Thick cut bacon freshly made is the best but if you have to use regular old thin cut bacon that is OK too. Please don't ever use bacon crumbles from the store!!

Cherry or Grape tomatoes are perfect but I have been know to slice up a tomato on the vine for a wedge salad so just do whatever works best (or you have on hand). Tip: Cherry tomatoes are very easy to grow in a pot on a porch/balcony or pick them up at your farmer's market!

So that is basically everything you would need for the salad. I would encourage you to consider throwing in some extra veggies (English cucumber and bell peppers are a great addition). I find the bacon and blue cheese make anything and everything have a pleasant taste. There is a wildly fascinating debate on the interwebz about veggies being better raw or cooked. In the grand scheme of things I think its probably best to eat a little of both so here is a good opportunity to expand your raw veggie intake!

Chop everything up to your liking and put some of Marie's Chunky Blue Cheese on top and you are good to go! 

Italian Sausage with Marinara 

My husband went to the store for me yesterday and while in the meat department grabbed a pack of Italian Sausage. Now these are not my favorite but I know several men in my life that love them. Usually I have my husband cook them out on the grill so that there is no clean up for me, but our grill is broken. So I threw them in my frying pan and cooked them according to the package directions. You can also bake them in the oven so they are good for any kitchen. 

Marinara is one of those things that you need a really good recipe for. I don't have one to give you. I use marinara 2-4x a month and I'm not crazy about making it. My freezer space is limited so I also can't make a ton and store it in there. Maybe canning is in my future, but for today, I use store bought. Enter in Rao's Homemade sauces. Not only is the marinara sauce incredibly tasty,  it has no sugar in it! Just heat it up in a sauce pan while cooking the sausage.

Ingredients: imported Italian tomatoes, imported pure Italian olive oil, fresh onions, salt, fresh garlic, fresh basil, black pepper, oregano

Parmesan Cheese. I use it a lot. Not the kind in the green can, but this wonderful shredded kind from 

Sam's Club. You can buy shredded parmesan at any store but it will cost you a lot more if you buy the smaller packages. 

Now I would normally not serve Italian sausage with marinara and parmesan cheese by its self, but I did. I would recommend doing some sauteed veggies. Bell peppers and onions are a good start. Some roasted squash or zucchini are also good. And then if you want to get all crazy, some green beans, asparagus or even broccoli would pair nicely. 

A new find in the salsa aisle

I normally like Pace salsa, but when we were at Sam's club they had a sample of their Italian Rose Fresh Salsa. I tried it as I walked away and then my husband and I looked at each other. It was amazing! We walked back and picked up a jar and have been enjoying it since. I tried it on my eggs last night and it was the bomb diggity. So much so that Husband has requested it for lunch! An egg request? How can that be? Italian Rose Fresh Salsa is why!

Ingredients: Fresh roma tomatoes, fresh onions, jalapeño peppers, garlic (garlic, water, phosphoric acid and sodium benzoate), salt, cilantro, lemon juice, lactic acid, sodium benzoate (preservative), potassium sorbate and xanthan gum

Scrambled eggs with Italian Rose Fresh Salsa and a dollop of Daisy Sour Cream

It is also Made in the USA! Which means its time for...