Creating The Perfect Wrap With Leftovers

Leftovers seem to multiply in my refrigerator. When there are only two people in the family leftover food seems to get forgotten. I always buy too much and I always cook too much. I am forcing myself lately to use all leftovers the very next day before I cook anything new.

This bad habit stems from growing up in a large family. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister. I always had to help mom with the cooking. I can't say that I was a very good cook considering we ate a lot of hamburgers, spaghetti, pinto beans and cornbread.

Things have changed drastically. My taste buds have matured and I will basically eat (or try to eat) anything. I love to experiment with new dishes and explore new tastes, textures and colors. I must confess that I do not like liver, but my husband T. says that I just haven't had the right person cook it for me.

Lately, My husband T. has gotten up every morning and fixed himself something for breakfast or has asked me to prepare breakfast. Since I am usually groggy and barely had my first cup of coffee I am thinking “fast and quick”. I have been buying “Tomato Basil Wraps” that are made with extra virgin olive oil from Walmart. These, or course, are not organic but trying to find the time to drive 20 minutes to the organic food store and 20 minutes back gets to be somewhat difficult at times. When I am short of time I can be at the Walmart in 3 minutes.

I begin building the wrap by scanning which protein needs to be used immediately. Next, find any cooked, steamed or jarred veggies. These must be held together by some type of binder like mayo, mustard, garlic salt, cream cheese or maybe even some ricotta cheese.

One thing that I have learned from experience. Mix your binder together in a separate bowl and then add it to your protein and veggies or you will have mush. Lightly toss together and place in your wrap. Fold over and cut on the diagonal for a pretty presentation.

We Did It! - Hickory Smoked Salmon

I am going to try to make a long story very short. My husband T. travels alot. His friends took him to a restaurant in Tulsa, Oklahoma that served the best hickory grilled steak that he had ever tasted. All of his friends said that they had tried to duplicate this flavor but had no luck.

When he got home last weekend that is all I heard for days was how good the steaks were and he was going to succeed in getting this smoked flavor in his meats. He started with buying a bag of hickory smoke chips and they laid around the house for a few days. He had eaten at this restaurant two times the week before and had exceeded his red meat limit. He decided he couldn't wait a few days so we went the the next best thing Sockeye Salmon.

He insisted that he needed a little black cast iron box to layer his hickory chips in the bottom. I always use cast iron cookware so I suggested that he stack them in the cast iron skillet. Now...we needed something to place over the skillet to cook the salmon. We had recently purchased a stainless steel basket for grilling so that food would not fall through the grate.

T. soaked the chips in water for about 30 minutes and then drained the water off. He put the chips in the cast iron pan and laid the grill pan on top, lit the grill and let it get very very hot. The hickory chips began to smoke and turn black. He then cooked the salmon for about 5 minutes on each side. I had covered the salmon with olive oil, salt and pepper.

When T. took the first bite I knew that he had succeeded with his hickory grill experiment. I took one bite, but had already made myself a salad and baked potato. I would savor the salmon the next day for lunch. I have a gut feeling that we are going to have an abundance of hickory smoked foods for the next couple of months. Now...how do I get my pan back?

Breakfast: plain yogurt, blueberries

Lunch: small steak & cheese sandwich

Dinner: salad, baked potato w/sour cream, chives

Things that I am thankful for: husbands who like to grill my dinner.

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