Chicken Piccata is a most forgiving and generous dish. Incredibly easy to make and almost better the second time around.I made this while listening to my dad contemplate how he will use up his perishable foods before he moves (he won’t).

Chicken Piccata (two recipes)
4 Chicken breasts (Prepare at least double what you need for one meal)

1. Slice breasts in half horizontally. (Pound between plastic wrap or in plastic bag to increase tenderness).
2. Put flour and some salt and pepper in ziploc bag and place 2-3 breast pieces in, seal and shake. Shake off flour.
3. Heat oil in pan (2 T) over medium heat.
4. Cook pasta just a minute or two under the recommended time, drain.
5. Brown chicken on both sides in large pan and then remove the chicken.
6. Pour chicken broth into pan, scraping the chicken drippings from the bottom of the pan. Heat the broth and let it get thicker. Don’t let it boil.
7. Add lemon juice (lemon zest if you’re ambitious) from lemon and capers.
8. Add the chicken back to the pan, let cook a little longer and add in the pasta.

Freeze in vacuum sealed bags. I useFoodsaver products I bought at Target. The manufacturer indicates that the handheld product and bags are for refrigerator only, but I froze the food and reheated it in simmering water without having to fork over $100+ for the freezing system.

Everyone knows how good fish is for both the brain and body. I could cite tons of studies or just point out that without lots of fatty salmon, I doubt that Native Alaskans could have survived both the depressing lack of sunlight and rigorous physical challenges that accompany winter in the far northwest of our continent. Like the natives we stock up on our Omega-3’s in the summer when the wild salmon start running up river and the price of salmon runs down at the grocery. Because it’s still costly and only around for a brief season, we use every bit of leftover salmon. (Coincidently also the name of a grunge band).

It’s summer, strawberries are spilling into the grocer’s aisles and they’re cheap – how can I not make this dessert? So, I have refashioned Strawberry Shortcake with help from great online resources to make this old time favorite more nutritious, less caloric, but not sacrifice flavor.

Strawberry Shortcake (recipe) read more

I admit, sausages make me snicker like frat boy. “I miss Jack”- who can name the movie?

We lovefood reinvention at crunchtime. We start with a great summer meal: grilled chicken apple sausages, asian slaw, corn on the cob, and watermelon.
I buy the links at Whole Foods where they grind their own sausages (snicker) without nitrates or hormones, from real organic chicken breasts. I insist on smelling all the meat before I take it home with me (snicker) because, sadly I’ve purchased items that have taken a sorry turn far too often from the store that usually grants all of my grocery wishes. Better to be safe.

We grill twice as many sausages as we’ll need, because that luscious, smoky and sweet sausage will be reinvented into minestrone soup.

I’m partial to Tyler Florence’s Hunter Minestrone, but have modified it for my very own real food meal and offer options for speed and ease.

Sherri and Tyler’s Minestrone Soup (recipe) read more

Sunday is Prep Day for the rest of the week here and so we start the morning with a big batch of waffles that can be frozen and reheated as the week drags onward. To boost up the nutrition for those long days where school runs immediately into sport practice, I mix 1:1 white flour with flour from a high protein grain. My favorite is emmer, also known as farro. Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum for you gardeners who love latin names) is the original ancient wheat. It was first cultivated in the Middle East then migrated to the Mediterranean where it literally fed the Roman Legions. Why were they so successful in building their Empire? Emmer flour contains twice the protein of regular white wheat flour!!