Yes, Alexa, I got that impression from another post you made some time back. I do have to say though, that you are in the minority. I have only had two people detest them: (well, that I know of): you, and one of my students. Yep. We all have different tastes. I love rich, and cheesy, and detest too cloyingly sweet stuff, whereas most of the others love the sweet stuff. Actually, what I said was, if a recipe sounded too sweet to me, I would not choose to make it. I make lots of savory recipes that don't sound good just to see if they are. I am interested to hear if she likes it. Actually, I like teresa's idea of using wine instead of ginger ale. That would eliminate the sweet. As a matter of fact, I think I will try it with wine. Now that does sound good to me.

Put some ham or turkey into a grilled cheese sandwich. Hamburger (or ground pork or sausage or a mixture) makes chili, sloppy joes, spaghetti, tater tot hotdish, tacos and a myriad of other things. Pork chops in cream soup/milk mixture makes its own gravy. Submarine sandwiches. Meatball subs using frozen meatballs & canned marinars sauce, topped with cheese, onion, green pepper or whatever you like. A plain old sandwich with good deli meats and cheeses on a good bread or bun is a treat. Canned and frozen veggies are a good assistant. How about a veggie tray? Chef's salad? Nachos can be hearty if you top it with some cut up cooked turkey, chicken, hamburger or what-have-you. Making lasagna isn't difficult. The pasta package has a good basic recipe and just add what your like. For that matter making a meatloaf isn't complicated. A good quality sausage and some rice or sauerkraut if you like it is easy. Decent hot dogs decked out how you like them. The whole point is you're not going to have YOUR cooking. Hopefully you'll enjoy a change of menu during your recuperation. BTW, putting a turkey in the roaster, or a ham or even a pot roast doesn't have to be that difficult or complicated. Bake some potatoes, salad or frozen/canned veg can be a source of pride for an accomplishment. Do you have any community cookbooks? Church, community or school fundraiser types? They usually have a lot of simple, homestyle recipes and give good detail if needed. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

My Mom often asks me to make the V8 stew, it is her favorite. Beef stew with V8 From Better homes and gardens new cook book 2 TBL all purpose flour 1 pound beef or pork stew meat 2 TBL cooking oil 3 ½ cups vegetable juice cocktail ½ cup chopped onion 2 teaspoons instant beef bouillon granules 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ tsp dried basil, crushed ½ tsp dried thyme, crushed 2 ¼ cups cubed, peeled potatoes 2 cups sliced carrots 1 cup sliced celery Place flour in a plastic bag. Add meat cubes, a few at a time, shaking to coat. In a large saucepan or dutch oven brown meat, half at a time, in hot oil. Return meat to saucepan. Add juice cocktail, onion, bouillon granules, garlic, basil, and thyme. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover, simmer 1  1 ¼ hours for beef (30 minutes for pork) or till meat is nearly tender. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover; simmer 30 minutes more. Skim fat. Makes 4 main dish servings. My notes say use 1 ½ lbs beef, 1 ¼ cups potatoes, 1 cup carrots. We prefer more meat and less veggies at our house.

Easy Italian Chicken 4-6 chicken breasts 1 very large tomato 1 large bottle Italian dressing (fat free is ok too) Grated Parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you like) Place chicken in baking dish. Pour Italian dressing over top.Cut up tomatoes to bite size pieces and place on top of chicken. Add cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour or until juices run clear. Serve white rice and pour juice over rice from the chicken. Source: SOAR My way of making this: I use skinless, boneless chicken breasts & cut each breast into thirds. Ive never used a whole bottle of Italian dressing. I like to sprinkle dried rosemary and dried basil over the chicken & tomatoes along with some garlic powder and dried red pepper flakes. I usually serve with vermicelli on the side. You can make everything the night before, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake. Sweet Potato Casserole 4 large sweet potatoes ½ cup granulated sugar ½ stick butter 1 Tbsp Half & Half (or more if it needs thinning) 1 tsp. Vanilla extract Walnut or pecan halves ½ cup Brown sugar 1/3 bag Miniature Marshmallows Boil, peel & mash sweet potatoes. Add butter, granulated sugar, Half & Half. Then add vanilla. Whip potato mixture in electric mixer until smooth. Pour into casserole dish; swirl in brown sugar and about 1/3 bag of miniature marshmallows. Top with walnut or pecan halves. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (Recipe can be made ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.) Note: I have also added the miniature marshmallows towards the end of the baking time so that theyre partially intact/melted. This is delicious! Thin Noodles with Bacon This was a favorite supper of mine as a kid. Cook noodles or thin spaghetti or orzo until al dente. After draining and placing in bowl, I add butter and then parmesan (either grind up a wedge or get the Digiorno shredded in the little plastic container). Salt and freshly ground black pepper. (sometimes I squirt a little fresh lemon juice over the pasta at this point). Then I sprinkle with crisp bacon cut in bite size pieces . Serve this with a tossed salad with vinaigrette or Italian dressing. You might want to just start with the noodles, butter and bacon to see if your family likes it and add the parmesan on your own serving. Meat Loaf 2 eggs 3 oz tomato paste ½ cup water 1 tsp salt 15 grinds fresh black pepper (probably should use way less ) ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 2 lbs ground beef, 85-90% lean ½ cup plain breadcrumbs 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, pressed Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk together the eggs, tomato paste, water, salt, pepper and cayenne in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and work together completely until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Place the meat mixture into a baking pan and shape into a loaf about 11" x 4" wide. The loaf should be in the middle of the pan. Blend some ketchup, a little chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and a little bottled BBQ sauce and spread over the meatloaf. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes, then uncover, and remove as much liquid as possible. Return to oven uncovered and bake another 15 minutes. Source: I adapted this recipe from Dave Liebermans recipe, "Bubbys Meatloaf". You can cut back on the onions, black pepper and cayenne pepper a bit.--Ann Great with whipped potatoes (I like to add butter, milk or Half & Half, salt & pepper and a little garlic powder, to boiled potatoes, then whip in electric mixer until very smooth).