I cooked up a batch of my rice and mixed grains with added quinoa, celery, carrots, and onions tossed in with the broth at the very beginning. I added some smoked sausage half way through, cut into half inch rounds and a couple of big handfuls of kale at the end. Hot sauce to taste! Yum. This concoction is also great with chicken or shrimp....or as a side dish. Nice on a cold evening.

Thanks, all. Sure wish I felt as good as they say I'm doing! But I'm getting stronger--couldn't have made that chicken salad two weeks ago, much less the second trip to the store. Dr. told me I wouldn't wake up one morning and suddenly be able to eat. Rather, it wil happen gradually. I'm so darned impatient. Sue, I'm not a big fan of blue cheese either. I love a good homemade BC salad dressing, though. I haven't had Spam or years. Back in the '70's when they had the meat boycott and people gave up meat for a week, we had Spam one night. Pam, that sounds so good I'm drooling. You always have the best meal ideas!! Jean, that sounds good. Around here they sell like one each red, yellow and green pepper together and call it "stop light peppers". Mary, hopefully that will be the last mowing for this year. I need a haircut but she's so far away I've been putting it off. Plus, Iost more than a little bit at the nape of my neck and up in the back so I'm trying to let the layers grow out. I'm at the last one so I guess I'll just keep whacking at it myself for a while. Jasdip, I'd love your soup--wish we were closer 'cause I'd come begging at your door :-) And I'm so ready for leftover turkey. (with lots of gravy) Glenda, great minds think alike. I picked up a can of pumpkin for bread this morning. I don't like our GC either. I will say one thing for GC. They have one heck of a good breakfast. I love those warm cinnamon rolls! Shirley, it sure pays to keep some quick things in the pantry for days like you had today. Thanks for the beet reminder. I just love them and have a jar of pickled beets that I keep thinking might taste good. Georgysmom, it sounds like you are having a great time on vacation. I would've had the fried oysters (again), too. It's something I don't do at home. Keep on enjoying!! Raven, do you feel okay? Hope you found something you liked for dinner.

Sue, I've been hungry for smoked sausage since someone mentioned having it with cabbage a while back. Sure makes for a good, quick dinner. Laura, hope you enjoy your dinner. Glenda, stay warm--we're getting colder by the minute here! Gazania, wow! That's a lot of dinner! Jasdip, you get the clean frig medal! I'd freeze if I sleptwith the window opened even a crack :-( Seagrass, we can't wait to find out what you had for dinner!! Jean, my bathroom's about the size of a postage stamp so I couldn't pull anything like that off. I love the sound of your shower curtain! (Hate that taping!) Mary, you'll enjoy those flannel sheets tonight for sure. BLT's! Sigh!! Monica, you are so right about homemade bean soup. It's delicious. Sometimes I make big fluffy dumplings and pour the bean soup over the top. Yum! Matti, you still have a while to figure it out. Salad sounds good to me!

We're both off work the rest of the week. This morning, we did some shopping & I worked on the living room Christmas tree this afternoon & evening. We've settled in for the night to watch Sleepy Hollow (it's filmed near us!). For dinner, we had a salad (spinach, pears, Trader Joe's cranberry goat cheese, and blood orange vinaigrette) with French onion soup. We're having crazy weather. Sunday & Monday were clear but in the 40's. Today was in the low 70's & rainy. Tomorrow will be the same. Thursday is supposed to be back in the the 40's again.