Monster meals on rainy days

Today started out all rainy and booming. Actually, I've been enjoying the storms. We haven't gone swimming much this summer, and I'm longing for fall now. I miss firepit nights, bread baking in the evenings, long walks, playing in leaves...

This morning we felt the air tinged with that kind of fall crispness. Soooo, all before 8am, we baked Focaccia, wheat bread, and lemon pound cake. Mmmm....mmmmm... the house smelled so good!

Thanks again for planting the rosemary for me, Papaw! It has been delightful to have!

I found a new cookbook that I LOVE, The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook: Your Guide to the Best Foods on Earth. Yes, Fred is thrilled. (Okay, you'd really have to know him to understand just how sarcastic I am being.) He watched me stuffing those beautiful green bell peppers yesterday and said, "you know I'm not going to eat that." And he didn't. (Ah, but my feminine wiles may overtake him yet.)

I'm veering off of my intended path, but you need some background. We've been married for almost 12 years, and my husband has never eaten a salad. And I mean NEVER. He shuns all condiments, but especially salad dressing. (Go figure, he loves chips and dip!) He does NOT eat lettuce, spinach, or anything else healthy-sounding unless you put one of the weak white pieces on a cheeseburger. Tomatoes are never accepted unless they are in sauce.

It took me about 5 years to get him from whole milk down to 1%. Then I eased into skim milk sllll-oowww-llly. It took about the same amount of time to get him weaned from that white bread fluff. And straight Velveeta. (A unison EEWWWW please) He coated fruits with sugar to eat them. Ladies, make your sons eat well NOW, so their wives don't have to do it later on. C'mon, good foods are GOOD.

He's okay with the changes now, but this was a process. Why do I bother, you ask? Well, for one thing, I didn't want him to leave me widowed. For another, he feels better when he eats right. Plus the kids watch him... AND I don't enjoy cooking multiple meals for supper.

So, anyway, I try to compromise now and then. He buys chips when he goes shipping and I say nothing (well, I try to say nothing.) When I shop, I buy tons of fruits and veggies, and only healthier-alternatives-to-heart-attack-foods.

Take hot dogs. He loves them. And not just any hotdog, but the cheese-filled, extra-large Ballpark hotdogs. One has about all of your calories for the day.

My compromise? I buy turkey franks and make monster meals (or threaded dogs, depending on the child you're talking to.) It's not exactly something a foodie would endorse, but it's progress... And it's fun.

We sprinkled fiesta-blend cheese on the finished product.

I found this idea (and many other great ones) at Plum Pudding. :-)

Check out how Simply Stork made hers look like googly monsters with legs!