For those who prefer a bread dressing, this bread and herb stuffing mix will fill the bill!

Homemade Herb Bread Dressing (Stuffing)

Is it stuffing? Or is it dressing? Does it really matter? Course not!

It's really the same to me - just depends on the presentation, as far as I'm concerned. I say if it's cooked in the bird, it's "stuffing;" if it's cooked in a separate dish, its "dressing." Whatever you call, we sure love it!

A great combination of seasonings, perfect for dressing and stuffing, but has a multitude of uses also.

Bell's Seasoning Copycat

You can purchase Bell's seasoning at a variety of stores across the nation, yes, even in the south (yes, now even in my south) or online from a number of sources, but if you've forgotten to pick it up, this is a copycat version that you can get by with in the meantime. Use it to season burgers, meatloaf, chicken, soups, stews, and more, but especially stuffing!

A good sturdy basic peanut butter cookie.

My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies

I love peanut butter cookies and every once in awhile I get a craving for some. I can say two things for sure - that I do not like the 3 ingredient, flourless peanut butter cookie recipes, though I've included that one for those of you who do. We used to make those back in my low carb days, using Splenda. Second, I have to have the right balance between the sweetness and the nuttiness, and not too much of the one or the other. I really like this recipe because it seems to have a nice mix of the two.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seasoned generously and grilled, sliced and wrapped along with some veggies, in a flour tortilla.

Grilled Tomato Basil Chicken Wrap with Bacon

This is a revision of one of my old Weight Watchers standby recipes, so yes, though the fat has been reduced a tad, it's all about adding in some flavor pops here with a little Tiger sauce or your favorite hot sauce infused into some mayo.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts are enhanced with a generous sprinkling of some tomato, basil and garlic seasoning and grilled, added to a flour tortilla, spinach here, filled with veggies and topped with just a bit of salsa, making for a pretty flavorful wrap.

A ragu made from tomatoes and leftover brisket and tossed with rigatoni pasta.

Leftover Brisket Meat Sauce with Rigatoni

I made this dish using the last of the leftover oven-braised brisket that I made for New Years. I'm actually surprised there was any brisket at all leftover because while it was a huge brisket, it was a dish The Cajun totally loved and devoured, but I'm glad we did have some leftovers because this pasta dish was excellent!

Boneless pork chops, pounded thin, dredged in an egg wash and crushed saltines, pan fried and finished with a lemon and butter garlic sauce.

Pork Schnitzel

A schnitzel is basically a thin slice of meat - like a cutlet - that is breaded and sauteed or fried. Generally, the thinning comes from pounding with the flat side of a meat mallet.

Closely linked to the German Wiener Schnitzel, meaning Viennese cutlet, though some sources claim its origins are actually more closely related to Milan, Italy and others say it came from Austria.

 

A mix of assorted vegetables, stir fried in peanut oil, with strips of chicken breast, curry powder and red pepper flakes for heat, tossed with an Asian sauce.

Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

This stir fry has a nice bite to it thanks to the seasonings - which I think is key when you are lowering your fats - but substitute your favorite seasonings here if you don't have access to those.

A mix of lettuces with vegetables, shrimp and crab and tossed with a Creole Vinaigrette for a light main dish salad.

Godchaux Salad - Shrimp and Crab Main Dish Salad

This is one of my favorite salads. Nice and light, fresh and just delicious, perfect for ushering in spring!

It's a take on the Godchaux Salad from Galatorie's Restaurant, said to have been named after one of the department store owners of the same name in New Orleans. Patterned somewhat after a similar but retired salad, it's pretty famous in the Quarter.

How to Construct an Oyster Po'Boy, Mississippi Style

Fresh Gulf oysters, dredge in cornmeal, fried deep and crisp and piled high on po'boy bread, dressed and pressed.

Oyster Po'boy

I just love my Paw-in-Law! My in-laws called the other night to see if we wanted some fresh-out-of-the-Gulf-just-last-night oysters. Well, um... YEAH. You know we do!

Dad had gotten himself a couple of sacks of those oysters and is so sweet that he had 'em shucked already and gave us a whole full quart of those delectable little bad boys all cleaned up and ready to go. Some of those went into my seafood gumbo of course, but I told The Cajun to pick us up some french bread on his way home so we can honor those babies properly! So here, my friends, is how we construct a po'boy, Mississippi style.

A rustic, free form tart made with apples, pears and a cream cheese and grape filling.

Fresh Apple and Pear Crostata

I was watching the Food Network channel the other day and saw Sandra Lee making what she called a crostata - which is really pretty much just a tart.

Well, a free form tart, aka rustic.