[judipurple]

Hi Willow- I, too, have kids that'll eat pretty much whatever I put in front of them, so that allows me to plan meals that we all can eat. You mentioned broiled veggies - one of our favorites is grilled veggies. I'll mince some garlic, mix it in a couple tablespoons olive oil and add a pinch of salt & a couple grindings of pepper. I'll toss the veggies in the olive oil mix and grill the veggies to perfection. I use asparagus, red bell peppers (cut into quarters), zucchini (thick slices), carrots & potatoes (might want to parboil 'til crisp tender before grilling), green beans, even sweet potatoes (wedges), cauliflower... oh, the list goes on!

Another favorite is rosemary chicken & potatoes - I cut up a chicken (or use just thighs, or breasts - cooks best with bone in and skin on), place in a roasting pan. Cut up enough potatoes for everyone (2-3" chunks), some peeled carrots, and a couple onions peeled and quartered - put the veggies in a bowl. Toss the veggies with a few tablespoons olive oil and some salt & pepper, then scatter in the roasting pan with the chicken. Peel and chop some garlic (I use almost a full head, we LOVE garlic), and take some fresh rosemary, strip the needles off (you can coarsely chop if desired), mix with the garlic, and scatter both over the chicken & veggies, evenly. Roast in a 350 degree oven until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies brown on the edges. Yum! DH's mother was old-country Italian, and that recipe is comfort food!

[mctinez]

I wanted to second the Cooking Light magazine recommendation. I've been getting Cooking Light for the past few months and every month I get a couple of great recipe ideas. My fiance doesn't eat chicken and neither of us really like beef or pork, so we are very limited in what we can eat. It's great to find more fish and vegetarian options, but there are always beef, pork and chicken recipes too, and it lists the number of calories and nutrition info per serving so I can keep track of exactly how much I ate.

Every month I also try at least one of the desserts. So far they've been delicious and I really like being able to offer lighter desserts to my family, friends and coworkers.