That all sounds wonderful! I would do the roasted string beans and roasted tomatoes and the cucumber mango salad. That way you have color and flavor combined. And fresh and cooked. Yes to the acorn b/c you can count it on the starch side( and b/c it will be fab).
And yes yes yes to both pears and chocolate molten desserts.

And yes to the 3fc dinner party at robin's!!

OMG - I'm on the way Robin.... :drool: Who says that healthy whole foods are dull? :lol:

And that lemon violet sorbet sounds amazing - except where can I find fresh violets this time of year? :)

Sorry - I thought you were looking for a second dessert option! You talked about the molten cake and then seemed to self-shoot it down.

I made some candied orange peel the last time I made chocolate cake. It was easy and very fancy.

Don't be sorry Glory. I was thinking out loud and trying to work it out and was unclear. I decided to do the poaches pears and the chocolate souffle's.

I just did some shopping and my first course isn't going to happen. I couldn't find fresh figs. :(.

Called my MIL and yes, my FIL IS allergic to mango. So that's not happening either.

There I have it, cut down without having to think much.

Hmmm, need me a new first salad course...

Could you sub strawberry for the mango?

Oooh, what about pomegranate seeds in a salad, they are coming in to season now. I make a salad with heirloom lettuce (red/green leaves), candied walnuts, pomegranate seeds, carrot shreddies and a little bit of crumbled goat cheese.

No, strawberry wouldn't work. It's a diced cucumber, mango, red onion salad. Strawberries would be the wrong consistency and wouldn't hold it's shape or go well with the cucumber. No big deal.

But - I did just buy a couple of pomegranates! I figured they're so hot right now that I would do something with them.

Man, I feel kind of pathetic. I had a bowl of raisin bran for supper!

Two Things ~ :)

#1 ~ When does your cookbook come out? Please include pictures...:)

and

#2 ~ My daughter in law "wows" me just because of who she is...

she could cook hot dogs and beans...

bet it's the same for your in-laws...:hug:

Robin - sounds FANTASTIC! I definitely vote for the pears and chocolate for desert!

On the mango, can you substitute a fresh pineapple or cantaloupe?

And, I'm with the others - cookbook, dinner party, WHATEVER -
COUNT ME IN!

You are such an inspiration, your menu sounds divine!

#1 - Cookbook? Cookbook? I've got hundreds of healthy recipes, hundreds. It's something that is in the back of my mind.

#2 - We live all of 15 minutes away from the in laws and they never come over unless I invite them for a meal. It does kind of bother me that they just can't pick up the phone and ask if it would be a convenient time to pop in to stay a bit and visit with their grand children. And I feel funny just inviting them to "just pop in", stopped doing that after a few years as I saw it wasn't working, so I feel as if I have to make them a meal and a substantial one at that. I was never really a hot dogs and beans kinda gal, though I get your point. Entertaining, feeding people good food has always been one of my "things". Everyone's come to expect it from me,which again is fine, because I do enjoy it. Hard work pays off, right? In fact, when I first made the switch to the healthy lifestyle, I sat down with my family and told them that the entertaining would have to stop for a while. That I didn't want the temptation around. But after a few short months, as I developed healthy, nutritious, yet thoroughly DELICIOUS recipes, I saw that I COULD entertain, serve wonderful, fabulous meals without going off plan.

Pears and chocolate are a go! I'm scratching the other salad, the mango really, really "makes it". Oh well.

Thanks for the other kind words as well. Again - name the time folks - you're all invited. :hug:

Windchime, that cereal thing happening there for dinner, that's just a once in a while thing, right? Please say right. Please. ;)

I do wish you lived closer to ME, I would love to pop in for coffee and a chat :)

Don't even get me started. A dream come true, really. One day. It's just got to happen. :smug:

Ummmm... can I come over for dinner? :D

SUCCESS!!!!

It went really, really well.

I wound up making:

-Hot out of the oven Whole Wheat dinner rolls - which got raves
-Tomato Barley Cabbage Soup - FIL asked for seconds
-Cesar Salad
-A red Cabbage, shredded carrots, craisins, mandarin oranges, scallions salad - to which I added Pomegranate seeds. It's dressed with red wine vinegar, which I greatly reduced and used rice vinegar instead and the juice from the can of mandarin oranges. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of oil A HALF CUP OF OIL!!! What are these people thinking? Taking perfectly nutritious, low calorie, delicious food and adding - A HALF CUP OF OIL!!!! I used ZERO oil. NONE. Rant over. This was so pretty and so tasty. The seeds added a nice touch and nice crunch. Big hit.
-Roasted grape tomatoes with garlic - yum, they couldn't believe how good this was.
-Chicken on the bone with mushrooms, onions, lemon, wine, rosemary and thyme - so tender, so tasty, so well received and boneless chicken breasts with a cornflake, oats, sliced almond coating - major yummo. My MIL & FIL kept taking more and more.
-Roasted string beans with tons of onions and chopped garlic - they were devoured in seconds flat
-Acorn squash wedges with apples, maple syrup and cinnamon
-Dessert, I served on one square golden plate, a poached pear (in red wine, SF raspberry jello, cinnamon & vanilla), a mini chocolate molten souffle and a mound of whipped cream. They were swooning and mucho impressed.
-Hot tea

Oh another cute thing that I did went over well. I sliced lemon, lime and orange and froze it in a small plastic rectangular container. I then put the "big ice cube" into a glass water pitcher filled with cold water. It looks so pretty and tastes delish. No need to serve soda, not even diet.

The only thing I overindulged on was of course - the carb-y stuff. The cornflake/oats/almonds chicken. It was so crunchy - crunch gets me every time. And lot of the crumbs fell into the pan and me, being me, as I was cleaning up ate too much of it. I did not adhere to my "never eat while standing" rule.

I wonder if my FIL will still rib me about my healthy eating.. Ah, nothing to wonder about - he will. Doesn't bother me. I'm feel wonderful about what I eat and what I serve my family and guests. :)