Vettin: I have a lot of recipes here are a couple. I'll put in Pre Baked Pizza Dough later. Lou's Pizza and Spaghetti Sauce I use canned tomatoes but make sure they are Italian or a red color. Some choices are Contadina , Red Pack , Hunts , All Red, = Tutto Rosso, Chento To use Fresh Tomatos Pulse them in a blender but leave some small pieces. Add one can of Tomato Paste. Pizza Sauce 1 Large can of Tomato Puree and Crushed Tomatoes or all Crushed Tomatos 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder ( add more later to taste ) or use 4 fresh Garlic Cloves smashed ,sautéed and chopped small. I use all Powdered Spices now, and get the same results 1 tablespn. of Onion powder. 1 teasp. Salt. or to taste 3 teasp. Sugar ( add more if it tastes too acidy ). An Italian pinch of pwd.cloves. 3/4 teasp. Oregano ( or to taste ) if it is strong. 1 teaspoon of Parsley, 1/2 teasp. Basil. 1/4 teasp. black pepper. ½ teaspoon + of ( Chicken flavored Soup Base ) Simmer for about ½ hour or use without cooking. Large handful of Parmasan Cheese, when done , after 1/2 hour. - - - - - - - - - - - - - Continue for Spaghetti Sauce This recipe can be used for Spagetti Sauce , just add a can of Tomatoe Paste , with water to thin a little ,.if the Sauce too thick to start it will burn easily. It will thicken as it cooks. Add to the Pizza Sauce: ½ cup of fine chopped Onion. And 3 bay leaves . Don't forget the Chicken flavored Soup Base. I add uncooked Meatballs, couple at a time or , ( I bake about 3 dozen meatballs and freeze them ) Sausage and Chicken Thighs, when you start cooking. (cook at least 1 ½ to 2 hours )Take the chicken out when it is done. ( About 1 ¼ hours ) Add the Parmasan Cheese " after " the sauce is cooked & stir ALSO !!! season to your own taste. Add more or less of what you like. - - - - - - - - - - - Lous Italian Hamburgers or Meatballs Do you use your KA for mixing Meatballs ??? I watched many of my relatives making Meatballs, thru the years. Break the eggs on the meat and start mixing with their hands. Then throw some bread crumbs in , with all the spices and keep mixing. Always thought there should be another way to mix the Spices, thru the crumbs and meat evenly throughout.. I did it this way now, for years. Ingredients: 4 ½ lbs. of Ground Sirloin 1 ½ lbs. Of ground Pork ½ Cup of fine chopped Onion ( micro wave 2 minutes ) let it cool. 3 cups of Italian Bread crumbs ( including 1 cup of Corn Flakes, ground to crumbs ) 3 tablespoons of Parsley 1 tablespoon of Salt 1 tablespoon of Garlic powder 1 tablespoon of Onion powder .3 tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese. 3 tablespoons of Powdered eggs or 2x large eggs beaten 1 tablespoon of Chicken Soup base , mixed in 1 cup of warm water, Put the meat into the mixer , in alternate spoonfuls . Use the paddle beater. Turn on low speed to mix. Meanwhile , in another bowl, put in the bread crumbs, Onions and all the spices. Add the Chicken water mixture, if needed add more water, to make a damp mixture. Add this to the meat in the mixer. Everything mixed thru evenly. And the paddle took all the Gristle, from the meat. - - - - - - - - - - - - Measure out the meatballs ( I use an ice cream dipper ) and roll them. Place in an oiled baking pan. And Bake at 350 Degrees for about ½ hour or, Until they are browned slightly or cooked thru. I made 38 meatballs. BUT I stole a piece of the meatball mix and made an Italian Hamburger. It was delicious in a slice of bread , with nothing else on it. Reminded me of when I used to steal a meatball and run out of the kitchen, before my Grandmother grabbed the Wooden Spoon. LOU

This is a totally different idea, but I wanted to mention it because I recently rediscovered my immersion blender. I wanted something I could take out of town with me that was small and easy to pack, and...I know this would sound odd to some...offered a little bit of ''help'' in case I decided I wanted to bake. (A readily-available kitchen is a good thing.) Anyway, I realized my immersion blender (Kitchen Aid) had a whip attachment (like a miniature hand-mixer) that I'd never used. Eureka! Of course I had to try it out, and it works beautifully. If your friend doesn't have one, she would probably love it for blending soups, making smoothies or chopping things. The best part is they're not terrible expensive. (FYI; maybe not for now, but for the future.)

Yum to everything mentioned! I am waiting for my husband to get home with takeout, and this thread it not helping my patience! My comfort food is usually something warm and soft. Soup. Mashed potatoes. No specific recipe -- I think I tended to eat things that were warm and easy on the throat when I was sick, and that temperature/texture is what defined comfort food for me. I'm not sure that this is quite the same thing as comfort food, but I also get a warm, family sort of feeling from sharing fresh fruit. Stems from my father's immense delight at purchasing fruit/hearing that we enjoyed eating it. His family was quite poor growing up and could not afford much fresh food, so my whole life, my dad's always been immensely pleased to see his family eat well. Drives my mom bananas (pun intended) because she thinks he spends to much on food, but it makes him SO happy. The fruit basket at my parents' house is probably the best stocked in the country. Since that was normal for me growing up, I also always have fresh fruit in my house, and my husband is usually so delighted to help me eat anything I've washed/cut up. It's all very homey.

THANK YOU, LAVENDER, for alerting me to the danger of glycation. My best dinners were made in a slow-cooker (low heat with plenty of liquid), rather than fried !! Here's the link to my Pinterest slow-cooker recipes: THANK YOU, VAPORVAC, for setting a good example of hot whole-grained cereals for breakfast. I used to do the same, but neglected that, thanks to eating my kid's pickiness. https://www.pinterest.com/clonewar/slow-cooker/ My sister convinced me to buy a pressure-cooker, and it WAS HORRIBLE IN TASTE. The temp. was so high that it ALTERED FOODS and made everything stinky, be it cooked beans, meat, or soup. I used that a few times, and never again !! I boiled chick-peas in that pressure-cooker, and it stank so bad my kid complained loudly & I trashed the whole mushy pot. Compare that to aromatic chick-peas boiled with low-heat over the stove top, which retained its firmness & flavor. I use the microwave to quickly heat up food (with liquid) to zap out germs, rather than long cooking high temp. like pressure cooker which destroys food. Cooking food to death is not a good idea. The high-heat destroys proteins 1st, but microwaving vegetables with water for a short time to kill germs .. that still retains nutrients and beans & peas are still bright green. I checked on the nutrients retained with microwaving veggies vs. steaming veggies, and microwaving FOR A SHORT TIME IN WATER retained more nutrients, with less loss in water. My personal measure stick for AGE (advanced glycation end-products) is HOW MUCH JUICE I NEED TO DRINK to chase away the "stinkiness" or "rancidness" of high-temp. cooking or over-processed foods. More juice = more calories. http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2014/11-nov/foods-high-in-ages.html Which foods are high and which are low in AGEs. Protein-rich foods: Red meat and cheese tend to have the most. In descending order, chicken, fish, eggs, and legumes have less. Grains: Boiled grains, such as rice and oatmeal, and sandwich breads are low in AGEs. When grains are processed into crispy brown crackers or fatty cookies and sweetened with sugars, however, their AGE content can soar. Dairy: Milk and yogurt are low in AGEs, but when moisture is removed and fat is concentrated (as in cream, butter, and cheese), the AGE content rises dramatically. Fats: Vegetable fats tend to have fewer AGEs than animal fats. Animal fats are also more likely to be high in unhealthy saturated fats. To further reduce AGEs, cook foods at low temperatures and with lots of water-based moisture by steaming, stewing, poaching, and braising. Stay away from fried foods. deep-fried chicken has more than six times the amount of AGEs than steamed chicken. When you grill meats, marinating your food in an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar before cooking it will reduce AGEs by up to half. http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2014/11-nov/foods-high-in-ages.html