Meatless Mondays, Turnip Greens Tuesday, Weeds (oops I mean Salad) Wednesdays, Tomato Thursdays & French Fry Fridays

We are old. We now walk in the mall with the rest of the Seniors in the mornings. Because it is still too hot to walk outside, we have joined the Mall Walkers Senior Citizen Group of America. Randy said that next time we go we need to go a little later in the morning so we would be there when the stores actually open and reward ourselves with a cinnamon roll for all the steps we were getting.

After getting all settled in now and have all the boxes unpacked, we find ourselves putting on some of the weight that we had lost while we were in Italy. So we have come up with a plan. It started this past Monday with Meatless Monday when we decided that maybe we should keep up the “less meat” way of eating like we did in Italy. So we have declared Monday to be Meatless Mondays. As I thought back about the veggies I tend to cook, it seems that green beans and cabbage are usually a staple at our veggie meals. Looking through a Paula Deen cookbook, I ran across a recipe for squash casserole, which sounded delicious. I had everything for it except sour cram so I substituted Cream of Mushroom Soup. It was even better the next night when we had it for leftovers. Actually, Wednesday nights we head for El Fenix for the 2 cheese enchilada special. So We don’t really have salad Wednesdays, wait a minute. Yes we do. There is a little parsley on the plate of enchiladas so we count that as salad. We had got in the habit of making cut up tomato and mozzarella with olive oil for lunch when we were in Italy (I sill love saying or writing that, it makes us sound so suave and debonair) So we have decided that we need to keep that up instead of always driving to the closest Whataburger. Since my cholesterol had dropped 50 points from the time we left in April to the time we returned in July, I DO NOT want to hear a dr tell me it is back up to where I started. So we truly are trying to eat a little more healthy. In fact, just yesterday, I only ate one basket of chips with salsa at El Fenix. And today, having lunch with my sister-in-law at Houstons, I left half of my key lime pie to bring home to Randy. But…when Janece dropped me off at my car, I picked up the wrong bag and brought the bag that was suppose to go home with her. Being the kind person I am I had brought the other half of my pie home to Randy, but Janece ended up with that bag and I had grabbed her bag that had a whole piece of pie she had ordered to take home to her hubby. No…I didn’t know I did that. So after we share a whole piece of pie tonight we will plan on maybe easing up a little on the olive oil with tomatoes and mozzarella tomorrow for our lunch. What the heck, will cut back on the onion also, so we can have an extra piece of garlic bread to go with the bruschetta. Yes, we are a couple who thrive on eating healthy now and who are the proud owners of smart watches which count our steps as we walk to the donut shop.
Fridays we celebrate with hamburgers and french fries for all the healthy food we have endured during the week.

In case you have a veggie meal and you are in the mood for something different than green beans and carrots, try this squash casserole. It is delicious. The recipe calls for sour cream but if you have cream of mushroom soup,it works great also Either will be great.

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 medium yellow summer squash, thinly slice
1 large Vidalia Onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt & Pepper

1 sleve crackers, crushed medium to fine
4 tables butter

Heat oil and butter in little until butter is melted. Add squash and onion, salt and pepper and cook until squash and onion are tender.
Add both the Parmesan and cheddar with the sour cream, and stir until combined.
Pour into a baking dish and bake in preheated 350 oven for about 20 minutes. Remove and add crushed crackers over the top. Dot the 4 tables utter over the top and bake for about 10 minutes or until crumbs begin to turn golden.
(Actually I forgot, I used Progresso Italian Flavored bread crumbs instead of crackers and we loved using that. Tasted great.)

So from our healthy table to yours….you’re welcome. And Yes, the butter is healthy because…well, it just is. Just ask Paula Deen. Besides I have a cake server that has “LOVE & BUTTER” on the front. And if you can’t trust a cake server, what can you trust?