mmmmmm...making my mouth water

I'm a very lucky girl. Very, very lucky, for a number of reasons but right now I'm thinking I'm so lucky b/c I have a boyfriend that not only likes to cook, but totally can and does. More often than not (the few nights we do have together) B concocts some yummy thing in the kitchen while I piddle around keeping him company. I'm not completely useless though; I enjoy picking out recipes and I'm pretty good at it (if I don't say so myself). B will tweak a recipe one way or another, but I like to contribute creative, fun meals that are kind of healthy and mostly affordable. In order to save money, we eat at home...A LOT and we do our best to cook things that will hold over to the next day so that I can have lunch too. I want to share two mouthwatering-ly yummy dishes we've been eating lately.

The first is from 101 Cookbooks a healthy recipe journal that my friend Flynn introduced me to. The recipes are vegetarian but could easily have meat added to them, if desired.
I know the picture below looks like a big messy concoction (sorry, I couldn't obtain a better photo), but it's a hearty, lentil soup that is rich in flavor, protein, and veggies.

Lively Up Yourself Lentil Soup recipe

We've made this a couple of times now and prefer to use kale instead of chard. We also like to top it w/fried shallots and a fried or poached egg. This soup makes you feel good when you're finished and it lasts forever so it's definitely worth it for us working girls (or guys). This soup is perfect for icky, cold nights when a little bit of warmth and comfort is in order.

This second recipe is not so great for lunch but makes an awesome dinner/appetizer/potluck dish. I obtained the recipe for Smoked Salmon Quesadillas off of Allrecipes.com (another favorite source for recipes b/c the site has pretty much any dish you could want).


We used a mixture of cheddar and swiss cheese and didn't really deviate from the recipe. These are DELICIOUS (I wouldn't recommend if you don't like salty things). The smoked salmon cooks just a little bit, but maintains a lovely texture.
While I'm talk about food, take a peek at these pepper grinders, on sale, at Anthropologie.

Spice Market Mill in yellow and mint $12.95

Ok, all this food talk has me hungry. Stay warm tonight, it's supposed to be a cold one!