We're not building a rocket ship here. We're cooking, plain and simple. -Emeril Lagasse

Every once in a while hunger inspires me to be creative and try something new with dinner. Recently I have been craving all things spicy and I stumbled across habanero chicken sausage at Costco. To be honest I wasn't sure what to do with it.

I went out on a limb and sauteed it with peppers and onions. Topped it with tomato and served it over cheese grits.

The entire dinner was incredibly simple, very colorful, and almost low fat (minus the cheese grits).

Ingredients:

3 habanero chicken sausages (I used Aidell's brand)

1 medium red onion (diced)

1 green bell pepper diced

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 plum tomatoes

2 cups of cheese grits

Directions:

Saute bell pepper and onion in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove veggies from heat and place in a separate bowl.

Slice sausage and sauté in pan (no live oil needed).

Prepare cheese grits according to package.

Serve sausage and veggies over cheese grits.

Top with diced tomatoes.

6/19: So apparently my husband is a celebrity!

(www.photofunia.com)

More photo fun!

My Dining Room Table

After a Costco Run

6/18: Friday Night In

Can you tell who won?

You will run 4 miles and you will like it!

Sometimes I need to give my body a little tough love.

You see, my brain really wants me to be an athlete. To get into shape and feel good in my clothes and be confident in my body. My body on the other hand wants to sit on the couch, read Real Simple, and eat cupcakes. (I listened to my body two years ago and gained 30 pounds. Not cool!)

Working out, especially running is not easy for me. Its hard, sometimes painful, and almost always tiring. This means I need to give myself a bit of tough love to get out there and actually accomplish what I set out to do.

So today, I ran my 4 miles. I came home covered in sweat. And I am smiling. Because my brain and my body knew I could do it all along :)

6/17: Taco Thursday

I think Taco Tuesday has a better ring to it, but it's Thursday and we just ate half a pan of walking tacos, so Taco Thursday it is.

I was in the mood for Mexican tonight, really I just wanted to eat avocados and lots of pico de gallo. And I had some organic ground beef in the freezer. Walking tacos is basically your typical 7 layer dip, minus a few layers.

To make: layer the following ingredients in a 9x13 pan.

(I prefer glass so you can see the pretty layers, but mine was otherwise occupied with remnants of Sunday brunch).

1. Fat free refried beans

2. Diced jalapenos (I use the pickled ones in the jar. They are less spicy).

3. Cooked ground beef seasoned with the taco packet.

4. Cheese (I am on a reduced fat cheese kick)

5. Diced avocado (I used two. Also sprinkle your avocado with salt and pepper)

6. 3 diced plum tomatoes

7. 1 can of sliced black olives

8. 1/3 of a red onion (diced)

(Serve with chips or on a bed of spring mix)

Ok, so there are actually 8 layers. But it comes together super fast. Mr. R actually browned and seasoned the beef so I was only responsible for the veggies and assembly. Dinner was done in 15 minutes.

And yes, here is the proof! We ate half the pan!