I confess that, IMHO, it's hard to beat Swiss Miss, but I do believe that it's been done: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-cocoa-recipe/index.html

For those occasions when you have lots of leftover collard greens, some lentils to use up, and you've got a hankering for a Lebanese dish: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentil-and-Green-Collard-Soup/Detail.aspx Delicious and really easy!

What's better than chicken soup when you're sick? Chicken soup + vitamin C in the form of lemons! My sweet husband made this avgolemono last weekend and I am, indeed, over my cold now. That grandpa in My Big Fat Greek Wedding was right--the Greeks are really on to something.

We use bacon sparingly, but it totally, completely makes this recipe amazing. The red wine vinegar sounds like a weird addition, but it really works. I added some dried dill as well and we enjoyed this soup every day for a week (be warned that it makes a lot!)

GOOD Recipes-- Seven seasonal recipes from one of my favorite magazines

When life gives you loads of flatbread...make fattoush! We spent a fantastic Fourth of July weekend in Toronto visiting our friend M and her family. M's brother-in-law works in an Afghani store, baking incredible treats to be sold and to be brought home to his family (and shared with guests!) We came back to NYC with a sack full of Indian snacks, the most delicious baklava I've ever had, and several 3-foot long loaves of flat bread. I love bread as much as the next person, but even this was a bit much for Mark and me to consume all on our own before it was going to go stale, so I got a chance to make something I'd been dying to try for awhile. It includes several of my great loves: bread, olive oil, veggies, salad (a recent fave due to the recent heat wave), my chopper, and using up leftovers creatively. I borrowed loosely from this recipe. No telling how authentic it is since I haven't had the real deal and since it didn't include sumac, but my Americanized version turned out great.

Salad:
1/2 flatbread loaf, cut into small pieces
1/2 head of Romaine, leaves washed and torn
1 tomato, chopped
4 radishes, chopped finely
1/2 white onion
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 C lemon juice
1.75 t red wine vinegar
dash of salt
1 t lemon pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 C olive oil

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Assemble salad. Coat bottom of skilled in olive oil (very thin layer) and heat on medium heat. Fry bread pieces until golden brown. Mix with salad, pour dressing over and serve.

The quest to eat as well as possible on as slim a grocery budget as possible continues. Now that I'm employed as a homemaker (while I search for more gainful employment) I have a little more time to do research on recipes that include ingredients we already have. We're going to visit friends over Memorial Day, so I've accepted the self-imposed challenge of cleaning out the fridge/freezer/cupboards until then. I'm finding that one of the keys to this kind of lifestyle is being comfortable with regarding recipes as nothing more than suggestions and being willing to substitute often. I made this last night, using up some beans I'd cooked from scratch in the crockpot a few weeks ago and then frozen, half a bag of shrimp, and a few other little leftover items. I substituted some frozen corn for the fennel, omitted the carrots, included dried dill instead of fresh and cooked beans instead of canned, and I served it on arugula instead of watercress. And it was still delicious! Perfect for a warm summer night's dinner.

Shrimp and White Bean Salad with Creamy Lemon-Dill Dressing

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons plain fat-free yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup chopped fennel bulb
• 1/3 cup julienne-cut carrot
• 1/4 cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
• 1 1/4 pounds cooked peeled and deveined large shrimp
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces trimmed watercress (about 1 bunch)

Preparation

Combine reduced-fat mayonnaise, yogurt, 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, dill, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add fennel and next 4 ingredients (through beans); toss well to combine.

Combine oil, watercress, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons juice, and remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; toss gently to coat. Divide watercress mixture evenly among 4 plates; top each serving with 1 1/2 cups shrimp mixture.