Meeting Grumpy's Wife (!!) and Easy times Ahead

I am so happy to tell you that I met Shelby from The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch.
Her cousin was in a Broadway production that came to our city and she and her family traveled down to see the play. Let me tell you that she is such a sweet and nice person...just as I expected! Shelby was one of the very first bloggers with whom I became acquainted so this was a very special and exciting meeting for me. Check out her blog for more info!

I find that now that the weather is getting nicer, I want to spend less time fussing with meals in the kitchen during the week. I try to do some more elaborate meals during the weekend when I have more time, and I love to make sure there is a healthy and balanced meal on the table during the week even though I work. But once the weather gets nice, I have to be creative to make sure meal time doesn't take away from our free time! I try to find recipes that are easy to prepare, yet are tasty and good for us. So for the next few days, I am going to post some recipes that take a few shortcuts, yet have the same qualities and taste as if you spent a lot of effort.

Tired of plain old baked potatoes? Want an easy way to perk up those potatoes?


Place some washed potatoes in your toaster oven at 400 degrees for about an hour . After you have baked your potatoes, let them cool for about 10-15 minutes. Cut the top third off each potato and discard them....or throw them onto your compost pile! Scoop the potato from the skin, leaving about 1/4 inch thick shell. Keep the shells. Mash the potatoes with about 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives, 2 Tbsp butter, salt and pepper to taste and 1 cup prepared, storebought low fat sour cream and onion dip. Spoon mixture into each shell and place on baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes until tops are lightly browned. Sprinkle with some chopped fresh parsley.