Lately my dinner goals are increasingly simple - I want recipes that are fast & delicious.  And those two criteria are indeed possible.  This recipe definitely worked for both. The shrimp cooks up in minutes and is great served over pasta, with a rice dish, or on a bed of spinach.

A great salad idea from my friend Kelly (again!).  She says:  When we moved, I mourned the fact that there was no Panera here.  But, I found a substitute -- Wildflower Bread Company.  They have a new salad this summer that I really like, so I decided to recreate it.  And once you find all the ingredients, it's a very easy and quick meal to assemble, and so full of fun, interesting textures.  Oh, and it tastes good!

My friend Kelly (of ThisterThaster) brought this pie to a lunch play date we had last Wednesday.  And it was DIVINE.  So I want to make one on Monday.  And I want to share her recipe and picture with You today.  It's peach time, after all.

I tweaked this America's Test Kitchen recipe a bit and all of my boys gobbled it down, with Jim proclaiming "this is the best quesadilla I've ever had".  I don't know if I would personally go so far, but it was a quick and enjoyable dinner.  Best yet, I doubled the recipe (which on its own makes 4 quesadillas that easily fed my family) and now I have filling to quickly make my own quesadillas for lunch this week. 

My mom always made fabulous lasagna.  Of course, I didn't appreciate it until I was older.  But then I copied her and started making fabulous lasagna of my own.  The only problem with it was in the cutting.  It did not ever produce perfect(or even imperfect) squares, but blobs of noodle, sauce and cheese once plated.  So, adapting with another lasagna recipe from America's Test Kitchen, my sister and I soon discovered that you can have your lasagna both delicious AND presentable.  This one's a win/win, my friends!

In my most humble opinion, this was to-die-for good.  We grilled some great kebabs a few weeks back, but they have faded from my memory while the accompanying bread remains most vividly.  So, next time you grill something, promise you'll slap these on after the meat is done.  You won't regret it. 

We served the pita bread with a roasted red pepper and walnut spread (recipe included here), which is super easy (and delicious) to prep in a food processor.  A homemade hummus would also be delicious.

I was hanging out with my sister Megan yesterday and we got an itch to do some baking (or was it eating??).  After poring through the recipe books on hand, we decided to try this one out.  These brownies turned out rich & delicious.

Sometimes I feel twinges of guilt when Jim gets home and is greeted by an empty kitchen.  He never voices any disappointment, but I'd truly love to be the perfectly prepared homemaker who always has something lovely awaiting her lovers' return from the grueling workforce. That *perfect reality* is - sadly - more the exception than the standard. 

Yesterday I was hot & tired, so he came home to Papa John's pizza (and a sparkling clean kitchen, at least!).  Today I'm more hot & tired, so I manufacted something deceptively impressive.  This chicken dish was moist, flavorful and involved 3 ingredients and exactly 2 minutes in the kitchen.  It's not amazing by any means, but it's a very good dinner for a very small price.  And - best yet - Jim never guessed it was my second day in a row of kitchen avoidance. 

I served it with some broiled asparagus (simply toss with olive oil, salt & pepper and watch it under the broiler) and amazng red grapes from Costco (which doubled as dessert).