So far, outside of a twitch in my eye and a headache, we seem to be holding up.  My living room is still filled with more stuff than you would think would fit into a 5×8 bathroom, but things are getting accomplished.  

Big confession:  I am so out of it with the messy, dusty house, the RA flares and the new assignments from a 3rd local newspaper that I’m getting confused about what I’m writing about at times.  

Have patience with me, please.  This column was actually supposed to be last Friday’s when I was leaving town for the weekend.  Got invited to an very impromptu business trip with my hubby and out the door me and my brain went!
Plus I was on deadline for a story.  

Our meals-lots of those foil packets.  I also love that we found that safety pan for grilling fish and smaller veggies.  Haven't made any cookies or cakes and brownies.  Just too darn hot and humid.  Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to make and freeze several zucchini, pumpkin and various banana breads.  That covers brown bag desserts and with the help of a toaster some tasty breakfasts.

If someone wants something sweet later on, I'm keeping lots of berries and stone fruits on hand.  Actually-I'm making sure that the peaches and nectarines are freestones.  That way I have been able to give them a schmear of pure maple syrup and some grill marks and plop some sorbet or non-fat ice cream on the top for some very tasty and healthy desserts!

Back to the main meals-getting some use out of the "slider" stuff we bought.  I used it twice.  We had some beef sliders one night when the grandkids were over and the other I used turkey.  

I made the beef with just some garlic salt and minced onion.  For the turkey I used some of the hickory smoked pepper and worstershire sauce.  I kept both moist by adding about ½ C of very crushed ice to the mix.  Try it-this works very well when using very lean meats.

I made fish packets out of salmon, catfish or tilapia.  I simply added a teaspoon of olive oil, a couple of slices of fresh lemon and some minced garlic to them and put them on for about 10 minutes.  

I'm not really one for doing veggies in packets-unless they are the heartier ones like carrots, potatoes and onions.  The rest-I give them a quick spritz of olive oil and salt and pepper and grill-this works great with asparagus, green beans and pre-steamed artichokes.  Even cauliflower does well with this method.  

Pork chops and whole cut-up chickens are very versatile!  Make them plain and serve with tortillas and salsa.  

 Marinate in just about anything you like and serve as is.  Find an asada mix you love, add some colorful sweet peppers and serve over rice, barley or polenta.

As usual, even if I've used the same main items, I'm certainly not serving them the same.  

Tomorrow-I'm breaking down and serving hubby's favorite:

Traditional ribeyes (marinated in Montreal steak seasoning, soy sauce and evoo)

Baked potatoes

Spinach salad with mushrooms, cranberries, grape tomatoes and feta with balsamic vinaigrette.

Next week?  Who knows-this is an adventure and I love adventures.