Spices for Grilling

As my mother used to say, "What's hard, is not the cooking for my family, but coming up with menu ideas every week", so if you also agree with my Mom, here's my tip for the day... check out a terrific blog called,  This Week For Dinner, yes what a great resource... Mom blogger, Jane Maynard gives you weekly meal plans, dinner ideas, and recipes.  You can follow her plan or just use it as inspiration, a way to open up to new ideas...  and she lives in the Bay Area, which for me, having lived in San Francisco for 11 years, I consider Foodie Heaven!

 Janes Homemade Berry Saucy Syrup

Yummy!

Another way to ratchet up your ideas for the weeks menu, now that we're into the grilling season, is to have an arsenal of grilling spices on hand... one way I found to do that is to make a trip to TJ Maxx, where they sell gourmet food items discounted... some of my favorites... gourmet cooking oils, spices, dips, and pasta.

A few weeks ago I purchased both Ginger Citrus Seasoning and this Jalapeno Pepper Flakes from "Victoria Gourmet"... I made hot wings, and a tomato and onion salad, served on a bed of Butter Lettuce with Blue Cheese dressing...

We (except for my husband, who I made wings with another rub) like it hot...

Marinate the wings in Sriracha sauce and the pepper flakes

Coat with a little canola or olive oil and grill

Dressing is olive oil and red wine vinegar

Lettuce in a bag?!... gotta cut some time from my busy day

P.S. By the time we ate it was 7:15pm and we were all so hungry (with 2 boys in puberty) that I forgot to photograph the finished product... and it looked so good layed out on the lettuce!

Oh, and I found a new Blue Cheese dressing made by Marie's, using yogurt, so it has less calories and tastes great too...