Speaking of chili--it's pretty chilly here today. How is you weather and what are you having for dinner tonight?

Dinner will be a green salad and a spinach/cheese lasagna - leftovers from Christmas Eve. Yum.

Ended up a Burger King, it is rare that I go fast food, and had their mushroom swiss burger. Pretty good, but small. No fries.

Think my pb butter fudge is getting the best of me.

Mary c, do you have the recipe for the spinach/cheese lasagna? I sure would love to have it. I try to have a meatless meal every week, but it has to be special--and that sounds really special!

Raven, I was thinking about red beans/sausage/rice today. Something a little spicy sounds good after all the rich stuff.

Tobygirl, I bet your dinner is/was delicious. The soup sounds wonderful, but the grilled cheese sounds even better.

Glenda, I've had to put some of the goodies in the freezer (even though there is no room). I know what you mean about feeling stuffed--and I have only had one (maybe 2 or 3) pieces of peanut butter fudge.

It sounds tasty to me.

I remembered to have the leftover stuffing today. So I heated that with hashbrowns made out of yesterday's boiled potatoes. BLSL chicken breasts with herb goat cheese in the centre and breaded. DH is really full, he says, as he's doing the dishes. Apple cobbler warming in the oven for later.

Sue in Indiana

Louisiana-Style Red Beans and Rice (Kalyn's Kitchen)

1 large onion, diced small
2-3 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp creole seasoning
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste --salt isn't necessary because of the Creole seasoning
4 cups cooked small red beans (or use 3 cans red beans, rinsed and drained and add 1/2 cup more chicken stock)
3 cups diced lean ham or Louisiana Hot Sausages (dice into pieces about the size of the cooked beans)
3 cups homemade chicken stock or canned chicken broth
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. green Tabasco (or use a smaller amount of red Tobasco)
2-3 bay leaves
1 tsp. red wine vinegar

3 cups cooked white or brown rice for serving

If using dried beans, soak overnight and cook on stove until they are fairly soft, or cook in pressure cooker about 25 minutes. Drain beans. If using canned beans, rinse with cold water until no more foam appears, then drain. You can also cook them in the slow cooker the day before.

Cut ham or sausage into small pieces, about the size of cooked beans.

Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan, then saute diced onion about 5 minutes, or until onion starts to brown. Add garlic and saute 1 minute, then add Creole Seasoning, dried thyme, and dried oregano and saute 1-2 minutes more.

Put onion mixture into small crockpot. Add cooked beans and diced ham or sausage. Add stock, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, bay leaves, and red wine vinegar, and stir to combine.

Cook on high for 4-8 hours, until the beans are dissolved as much as you prefer. I like this best when the beans are at least 3/4 broken apart and dissolved into the liquid. Canned beans are usually softer and will break apart more quickly. An immersion blender works great to thicken the beans.

Serve hot, topped with white rice. In New Orleans this is usually served in a bowl filled about 2/3 full of the soupy bean mixture, then topped with a scoop of rice.

Shirley

So I defrosted some ham pot pie soup that I froze last year and stumbled upon, made a tossed salad with fruit added to counteract the heaviness and the salt, that hit the spot!

I also do both dry and canned depends on how long I have to cook. I add a can of rotel to mine and use Tonys seasoning, no vinegar, I like mine pretty thick tnot soupy.