#1. When going out to dinner what items do your order? Appetizers, soup, salad, dinner, dessert.

Sometimes we order an appetizer to share. I usually order a dinner that comes with a salad. We rarely order dessert, but if we do, we get one piece and split it .

#2. How predictable are you when eating out? Do you usually order a meal that you’ve had before or do you like to try new things?

I am very predictable. Every once in a while, I’ll try something new.

#3. When eating at a restaurant, what beverage do you like to order with your meal?

Usually water with lemon, but sometimes I order iced tea with lemon.

#4. Name a meal that you ate at a restaurant that you liked so much you tried to recreate it, as well as the name of the restaurant and the recipe.

I have tried to recreate several dishes in the past, but artichoke spinach dip is probably the main thing. Here’s a recipe a friend of mine gave me for Olive Garden’s Artichoke Spinach Dip. It’s really good, but I’m still trying to make the dip closer to what we’ve had at Charleston’s.

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. Cottage cheese. Small curd, large curd, chunk or whipped?

Small curd, low fat.
#2. Burgers. Made fresh, preformed fresh or preformed frozen?

Fresh, either way, on whole wheat buns made in Central Market’s bakery.

#3. If you could only buy one kind of salad dressing what would it be?

Ken’s Steak House Creamy Caesar is what my whole family really likes!

#4. Share a crockpot or slow cooker recipe.

Crock Pot Chicken

(I post the recipe separately so I can index the recipes.)

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. What’s your favorite food smell?

That’s a hard question. A good meal cooking on the stove and lasagna or pizza baking in the oven. Cookies, dessert, or bread baking in the oven. I guess I don’t really have a favorite…there are too many that I like.

#2. What’s your favorite kind of apple?

Fuji, Pink Lady, & Honeycrisp

#3. What veggies do you like in your salad?

Mostly Romaine lettuce, with some spinach, cucumbers, carrots, sprouts, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini and yellow squash sometimes.

#4. Share a recipe that uses beef.

Tamale Spoonbread Pie

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. American cheese. Sliced fresh or prepackaged processed cheese product?

Sliced fresh, but most of the time prepackaged is more convenient

#2. What is your favorite cracker?

Triscuits with Rosemary and Olive Oil

#3. What hot breakfast cereal do you like? Think oatmeal, farina, grits, etc.

Oatmeal with added cinnamon and a little brown sugar (and sometimes raisins)
#4. Share a recipe that uses corn.

I wrote a post last week for Shoepeg Corn Casserole that I published yesterday. It’s something I wouldn’t make very often because of the fat content, but it’s great for a special dish. (Shoepeg corn is a type of white corn known for its sweetness.)

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. What’s your favorite form of potatoes?

I guess my very favorite would be fried potatoes with onions, although we rarely have those because of the “fried” factor. A close second would be my “easy mashed potatoes” which are like a comfort food and yet healthy at the same time. I don’t have to feel guilty about eating them like I would the fried potatoes or mashed potatoes loaded with butter and cream.

#2. Pie crust. Premade or from scratch?

I loved my mother’s homemade pie crust. It was so delicate and flakey…so yummy. She passed away in 2000, so it’s been years since I’ve eaten her pies. (My friend, Michelle, makes the closest thing to my mother’s pie crusts that I’ve tasted.) I rarely make pies, but when I do, half the time I buy premade pie crust and half the time I make it from scratch.

#3. Vegetables. Fresh, frozen or canned?

Fresh, when in season. The majority of the time I buy frozen.

#4. What one dish do you wish you could prepare better?

I wish I could make pie crust exactly like my mother’s.

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. What’s your favorite fruit and how do you like to eat it?

I like all fruit. My favorite is a fresh fruit salad with a variety of fruits, and then in the hot summer we like to have a fresh fruit fruilatti nearly every day.

#2. What is the one spice in your kitchen you use more than any other?

I add parsley to a lot of dishes when I’m cooking because it’s super healthy, so it would have to be parsley.

#3. Pudding. Instant, stovetop or premade?

I prefer stovetop made-from-scratch pudding. It’s delicious plus I know it doesn’t have a bunch of additives in it. But if I don’t have the time, premade is good.
#4. Share a recipe using potatoes.

For those who like lumpy mashed potatoes, this is a healthy, different, & easy way to make them. You don’t have to boil the potatoes, just bake in the microwave: “Bake First” Mashed Potatoes

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes :

#1. What type of m&m is your favorite?

My favorite way to eat m&m’s is to make a simple trail mix with:

• 1/3 plain m&m’s
• 1/3 cup salted peanuts
• 1/3 raisins

#2. Peanut butter. Smooth, chunky, creamy. How do you like it?

I like Creamy Jiff Reduced Fat on a sandwich. If I’m making “Ants on a Log,” I prefer the chunky.

#3. Do you usually drink out of glass, acrylic, Tupperware type or paper cups?

I drink out of a glass. I’m a big tea drinker, so if I’m drinking hot tea then I’ll choose a mug from my collection of mugs that family and friends have given me.
#4. Share a chicken recipe.

Crunchy Chicken Crescents are easy to make and great for company or taking to a party.

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. Do you ever use scissors to cut any foods? Yes

Which? Raw or cooked?

Both. I use my kitchen scissors a lot, in fact, I have two pair of them. I use them the most to cut raw chicken. I get the best deal on chicken breast I can find and then cut it to the size I need. If I can’t get a good deal on boneless chicken but chicken breast with the bone is really a bargain, then I’ll use my scissors to cut it off the bone. Sometimes I use scissors to cut pizza.

#2. Popcorn. Homemade, microwave, bagged, hot, cold. How do you like it?

We like it popped in a hot air popcorn popper. Then we put extra virgin olive oil on it and salt (or sea salt). That’s our favorite way to eat it. And…I feel good about eating it that way because everything on it is healthy… in moderation.

(If anyone eats much of the microwave popcorn, I suggest researching the safety of the butter flavoring added to it. I’ve read articles that make me want to stay away from it.)

#3. Sushi. Love it or hate it?

I can’t stand the thought of eating raw fish. I think I tried it once when our s-i-l had some, and I didn’t like it.

#4. Share a dessert recipe.

I just posted a great dessert recipe that is easy: Pineapple Delight. If you like pineapple, this tastes like delicious pineapple cobbler. I got this recipe from a friend who has had several requests for her recipe.

From Fun, Crafts and Recipes

#1. Lasagne noodles. Do you find a difference in taste between the regular and the no bake noodles?

I haven’t tried the no bake noodles. But I have used the kind that doesn’t have to be cooked first before making the lasagna. I can’t tell much difference, but I prefer to use the regular noodles in the easy recipe that doesn’t require the noodles to be precooked.

#2. What is your favorite flavor PopTart?

I haven’t bought Pop Tarts in ages. Seems like it was strawberry.

#3. What’s your favorite type of pasta? Not how served, but the type - elbows, ziti, spaghetti, shells, etc. Why?

I prefer rotini. It drains easily, it’s easy to eat, and I like the way it looks.

#4. Green beans. What’s your favorite way to make them or dish to use them for?

My favorite way is to add toasted almonds and sauteed mushrooms.

Here are the four questions for this Friday from Fun, Crafts and Recipes:

#1. Tuna fish. Water or oil?

Always water

What do you add when making yours?

Varies. Last time I added light mayo, chopped apple, a little celery seed, salt & pepper

#2. Stuffing. What else have you done with a box of stuffing besides stuff meat (turkey, pork, chicken, etc)?

My daughter has this really good recipe where you mix canned chicken and cream cheese, put in crescent roll & roll up, dip in melted butter and then dry stuffing mix. Then bake. (I’ll have to get the exact recipe.)

#3. Orange juice. Pulp, some pulp, no pulp, fresh squeezed. How do you like yours?

My favorite is fresh squeezed, but I don’t like having to get out the juicer and then clean it afterwards just for a couple of glasses of orange juice. But I do get fresh squeezed at Central Market. Otherwise, it’s Florida’s Natural Orange Juice with some pulp or Simply Orange (whichever is the best price).

#4. Fast food restaurants. Do you have a favorite one and why?

I have three where I can get really good, healthy food.

First is Chick-Fil-A. They have a great grilled chicken sandwich on a wheat bun. They have the fastest & most efficient drive-thru of all the fast food places, and I like it that they’re closed on Sundays so their employees can go to church if they want to &/or have time to spend with family.

My second is Jack-in-the-box. They have great grilled chicken strips and great salads with chicken strips.

My third is Rosa’s Cafe. I can add all the fresh onion, cilantro & lime that I want at the condiments bar to a chicken & guacamole tostada .