Well, I just finished breakfast, but now I want potato pizza, Hong Kong noodles, fish and chips, AND dessert! Last night I fixed a Lancashire Hotpot with beef, onions, potatoes and carrots. This is such an easy dish I don't know why I don't make it more often. I bake mine at 300 for 2 hours or more then up the heat to 375 and remove the cover of the casserole to crisp up the potatoes on top. And...I have leftovers! Today I'm going to make a 15 minute Curry Vegetable soup to use up some broccoli and cauliflower. This is a new recipe to try. At one point last week I had 3 homemade soup recipes in the fridge, which I love because I usually go home for lunch on work days. Lancashire Hot Pot based on the recipe from Marie at The English Kitchen blog Serves 4 I guess you could call this the English version of Irish stew. One pot cooking of the most delicious persuasion. 1 TBS olive oil 750g diced lamb (or beef) 2 onions, peeled and sliced 2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunky pieces 1/2 medium swede (rutabaga) peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (can omit) 500ml lamb stock 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce 2 sprigs of fresh thyme 750g of potatoes, peeled and cut into thin slices butter sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Pre-heat the oven to 160*C/350*F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the meat in batches and fry it until browned on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large casserole dish (one with a lid) as it browns. Set aside. Once all the meat it browned and removed from the skillet add the vegetables to the pan. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring them occasionally. Return the lamb to the skillet and pour over the stock. Add the Worchestershire sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix it all in well and then carefully pour the mixture back into the casserole dish. Tuck the two sprigs of thyme into the mixture, burying it. Cover the top of the mixture with a layer of half of the sliced potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and then dot with butter. Finish layering with the remaining potatoes and adding a final dusting of salt and pepper and dot once again with some butter. Put the lid on. Bake in the heated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and bake for a further hour until the meat is very tender and the "thatch" is nicely browned in places and tender as well. Serve hot spooned out onto hot plates along with seasonal green vegetables on the side and plenty of crusty bread and butter to mop up the delicious juices.

I live on the Texas Coastal Bend, and we get fresh fish all of the time. The following is one of my favorite ways to cook fish because the fish stays moist and tender. Copano Bay Fish Cooked in Banana Leaves -Fish filets, trout, flounder, redfish, snapper, Wahoo or your choice of fish, 2-4 fillets depending on size and the number of people serving; even a large redfish can be cut in half and cooked the same way so chose your favorite fish -Butter, softened, about 2-3 tablespoons -Olive oil, about 2-3 tablespoons -Yellow onion, thinly sliced about ½ large onion -Garlic, finely chopped, 3-5 cloves -White Wine Worcestershire Sauce, about ¼ cup -Lemon and/or Lime, sliced -Fresh Dill, torn or chopped, about ½ cup, dried dill can be used, about 1 large tablespoon -Salt & Pepper to taste -Green onion 2-4, chopped *Banana leaves two large ones or more if needed according to the amount of fish being cooked Line the bottom of a large skillet, pan or casserole dish with one banana leaf. Arrange fish fillets on top of the banana leaf. Cover the filets with softened butter then top the filets with thinly sliced onions, chopped garlic and sliced lemons and/or limes and then drizzle some olive oil over the top. Pour the Worcestershire sauce over the fish, and then finish toping with the dill, salt & pepper. Add some wine around the edges of the fish so that it will steam the fish. Then spray the remaining banana leaf with a cooking spray and put on top of the fish securing the leaves together. Cover tightly and start cooking on high heat and cook for about 10 minutes and then lower the heat and continue cooking until fish is tender, but not dried out. Top with green onions right before serving. Serve with fresh lemons and/or limes. I cooked my fish in an electric skillet for a total of about 45 minutes because I had large red snapper filets, but the time will vary according to the thickness of the fish. This can be cooked in an electric skillet, on the stove top, in the oven or on a grill. Just keep it well sealed so the flavors donÂt escape and the fish dries out. Variations can include adding sweet bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives, capers or whatever meets your fancy. *If you canÂt find banana leaves, aluminum foil or parchment paper can be substituted. However, banana leaves not only look beautiful, but also lend a subtle aroma and taste when foods are cooked inside them. And banana leaves can be used for barbecuing, baking, or steaming foods. While functioning as a wrapping material, they also lend a hint of flavor to your food that is very pleasant (unlike aluminum foil or parchment paper)! Serves 2 to 4 depending on the size of the fillets. A whole fish can serve more people. Remember this recipe is for 2 to 4 filets. If serving more filets or a whole fish, the measurements will need to be increased accordingly. Linda Rockport, TX

Carol: I'm happy and proud for Holly. Autistic children are VERY SMART, and VERY GIFTED. Jess: I was puzzled by the 40 lbs. mistake too, I saw your hand in one of the pic., it's a slender hand. I'm happy that it's only 20 lbs., due to the kilograms conversion. Twenty pounds is easy to lose. It took me 6 months to lose 20 lbs. when I had the time to eat salad & apple & carrot & exercise. Then I got busy & get into fast-food & IV myself with juice ... and gained back 20 lbs. WEIGHT-LOSS is a life-long-habit to MAINTAIN, rather than a goal to achieve. People achieve that goal, go back to the old habits, and re-gain all-over again. Jim: Thanks for that link on processed meat, I read the entire article. I wish it would say how many people were involved in that study, or how many test-subjects. Re-post info. from Huffingpost on tips to lose weight: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tips-losing-weight_562e8606e4b00aa54a4ab51b "Aim for 20 to 35 grams of fiber a day from plant foods, since fiber helps fill you up and slows absorption of carbohydrates. " Portion control: Popular “100-calorie” food packages do the portion controlling for you Eating mindfully means giving full attention to what you eat, savoring each bite, acknowledging what you like and don’t like, and not eating when distracted (such as while watching TV, working on the computer). Chew slowly, and savor each bite: Keep in mind also that the most pleasure often comes from the first few bites of a food; after that, it’s the law of diminishing returns. Thus, you should focus on those first few tastes of chocolate, cake, or other indulgences, as this may be enough to satisfy. Get protein in all meals: Some research suggests that distributing your protein throughout the day also helps in weight loss, rather than eating the bulk of it at, say, dinnertime. According to a 2015 paper in theAmerican Journal of Clinical Nutrition, higher-protein diets that include at least 25 grams of protein at each meal may reduce appetite and thus body weight, compared with lower-protein diets. Limit variety at meals. Don’t drink your calories. Allow for (controlled) indulgences. Consider weighing yourself regularly—at least once a week." Huffington Post Tips. **** From Straw: I agree with the above. My lowest weights were achieved when I snacked on high-fiber & high-protein cereal with soy milk ... with at least 35 gram of fiber per day. Also at least 25 g. of protein for each meal, be it peanut-butter or eggs for breakfast, beans for lunch, or fish/meat for dinner. I gained weight whenever I forget to weigh myself at least once a week. Really love their tip of " Keep in mind also that the most pleasure often comes from the first few bites of a food; after that, it’s the law of diminishing returns." So true, I really enjoy the first 4 bites of peanut-butter toast, that's all I can remember ... the rest was just to fill my stomach. Dolly Parton stays slim with her life-long habit, she eats 3 bites of a yummy food, and NO MORE. Practice portion-control is actually fun, once it becomes a habit. So proud of myself last night, I had a sour fruit, so I grabbed a fig-bar, took 3 bites, it was too sweet ... Instead of finishing that, I told myself "You don't have to eat that, you can give it to God." So I wrapped the rest and put away, GREAT FEELING! It felt good to be in control over a piece of junk, and turning something over to God, rather than torturing my body with that.

When I was down in Connecticut, I got a lot of wild-caught fish and shellfish, several varieties depending on what was caught. Up here in western MA I find farmed salmon, slave-labor-farmed shrimp from Indochina, and maybe sometimes some fresh mussels. Other than the mussels, I don't want these. I pay attention to the Seafood Watch. When I go down to CT (to look after the old home prior to sale) I pick up fresh sardines (very sustainable - small and full of healthy oils), New England fishes, smelts, bluefish; sometimes arctic char which while farmed is a freshwater fish that doesn't leak out and harm wild fishes, and occasionally scallops depending. Mussels are still viable there. I only prepare fish fresh, but shellfish I may freeze. An exception is that salmon still is good after freezing. (I aim for wild-caught, here.) I will also freeze eel, but I only buy one a year.