My Daily Plate

Tonight was diner's choice: either chili dogs or breakfast for supper. I chose the chili dog for My Daily Plate. I made the chili with 96/4 ground beef, mustard, ketchup, tomato sauce, molasses, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce, chili powder, garlic and onions. I added pico de gallo and cheddar cheese to make a nice, spicy dog. The other choice was lean breakfast sausage and chocolate, chocolate chip pancakes made with whole wheat flour. I'm told that the other dinner offering was also a big success. It was a tasty Friday night supper that was quick and easy to make.

All day today I have been craving guacamole. Three days ago I bought the most beautiful avocado known to man. Today was the day -- guacamole day. I had the menu for Today's Daily Plate all planned out: chicken burritos, fresh pico de gallo, mixed salad greens and, yes, delicious guacamole. I saved the making of the guacamole until very last to keep it from turning dark before supper. After everything else was ready, I gently sliced into the avocado, mouth watering in anticipation. I twisted it open to find...that the entire avocado was brown and rotten. I was so disgusted I actually threw down my knife. Not smart, but perfectly justifiable! So, My Daily Plate today features chicken and bean burritos with fresh greens and pico de gallo, sans guacamole. The chicken was sauteed with onions and cajun seasoning. The beans were left over from a couple of days ago, reheated and then mashed for refried-style beans. With some cheddar cheese added, they were decent burritos, only missing

Today's Daily Plate is a combination of several comfort foods. It pairs jalapeno pork sausage (what can be more comforting than that?) with whole wheat pasta and adds three different types of cheese in a homemade cheese sauce. Just talking about it makes me comfortable all over again! Oh, and don't forget homemade whole wheat bread on the side. The pasta was made up of odds and ends of packages and boxes I had on the shelf. Mostly it is penne and shells, but there are also some bow ties. The sausage was a local store brand of link sausages filled with jalapeno and a bit spicy.  To this I added onions, bell peppers and a couple of fresh jalapeno peppers and sauteed the lot up in a skillet. Meanwhile, I boiled the pasta until al dente, and combined the two in a large casserole dish. Then, I made a roux of equal parts flour and butter (I was making an extra large batch, so I used 6 tablespoons of each which made 4 1/2 cups of final sauce and would have been better with five cup