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For busy people on the go, an ideal meal tastes great, is affordable and doesn't max you out on your daily count of fat and calories. We've asked readers to tell us where they order nutritious and delicious restaurant meals locally. You may have already read some readers' suggestions in The Eagle's Alive & Well magazine, and here are more to give you ideas on where to find a meal -- dine in or carry out -- that won't leave you feeling guilty.

We included specific nutrition information when it was available.

SMART SUBSTITUTIONS

"Red Robin -- known mostly for its (not-so-healthy) hamburgers -- has the best side dish of steamed vegetables," said Wichitan Shelley Closson. "They are perfectly cooked -- very lightly sauteed and not swimming in butter. The large bowl includes big hunks of broccoli, baby carrots, red bell pepper strips and snow peas."

She said that she substitutes the veggies for fries and takes half of her burger/veggie meal home to eat later.

Whiskey lends a subtle, intriguing flavor to boneless pork chops. With very little fat and no bone, the chops can become dry. A secret to keeping the pork juicy is to brown the meat on both sides, lower the heat and let the pork cook, covered. Brown sugar and mustard add a sweet and tangy finish.

Rosemary lentils call for canned lentils, which work well here. If you can find them, try steamed lentils in a vacuum pack. These are not packed in sauce and have a firmer texture than canned.

Helpful hints

• Use any type of pork chop. Be sure a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees.

• Use any type of whiskey or substitute apple juice.

The attentive, anxious cook is the one who may have the most luck at preparing clams that are truly tender. That's because the clams should come out of the pot right after their protein has set, says cookbook author Andrew Schloss.

"With clams, you're walking a tightrope," he warned us by phone last week from his home in Elkins Park, Pa. We took that as a challenge, following his advice to monitor the cooking clams closely and remove them at intervals as they open, until they are all done.

The smaller, hard-shell clams called for in this sofrito-inspired dish can indeed reach the tender stage in 10 minutes or less; if they have turned chewy, they've moved to the middle ground that heads toward toughville. Once there, the clams' protein can be cooked into submission, but that can take at least 30 minutes more -- sending them outside Dinner in Minutes territory.

Serve with a salad and crusty bread.

Puerto Rican Clams

I almost did a double take when I saw this recipe for Shrimp and Spinach Orzo from Wanda Evans. Just a day before she sent it in, I had tested a recipe for a risotto using similar ingredients.

Since so many people find risotto daunting, I wondered if I could achieve similar tastes with a lot less effort and gladly took to the kitchen to try this. For its ease of preparation and fresh and vibrant flavors, I definitely give it thumbs up.

Evans garnishes the dish with grape tomatoes and Parmesan cheese, which make for a great presentation. She also uses frozen spinach, but I prefer fresh. If you'd rather have the convenience of frozen, thaw first, squeeze out all the excess liquid and add to shrimp after a minute or two.

For added flavor, choose olive oil for your cooking oil.

Serve with green salad and crusty bread to make it a meal.

Naam Pruitt has two cooking classes scheduled in the area before her move to St. Louis. On Saturday, she'll be at the Cook's Nook in McPherson (316-241-7180) and on May 3 she'll be at Cooking at Bonnie's Place in Wichita (316-425-5224).

The Saturday class starts at 10 a.m. and costs $30.

The May 3 class starts at 10 a.m. and costs $65.

For more information or reservations, call the stores.

Dianne Pearson of Columbia, Md., was looking for a recipe for making meat lasagna without pre-boiling the noodles. Betsy Howells of Redmond, Ore., e-mailed her recipe for no-boil lasagna that she said is her "trouble- and mess-free method for making an Italian classic."

The dish comes together quickly, thanks to the use of bottled spaghetti sauce and the fact that you don't have to boil the noodles. It can be assembled in advance and refrigerated. The key is to use plenty of sauce and to cook it slowly at a low heat to allow the noodles to soften and the flavors to blend. Mine took almost 2 hours at 300 degrees. The recipe will serve a crowd and freezes well.

No-Boil Lasagna

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

4 cups low-fat ricotta cheese

My daughter and I decided to take advantage of a recent mild afternoon to host a girls' tea party. Rather than making it a fussy, over-the-top girly affair, we relied on ingredients from the store and around the house to keep the work at a minimum and the fun (and by fun, we mean girl talk) at a maximum.

To prepare for the party and to give it a few special details, we embroidered our own napkins, made daisy wreaths to wear and whipped up some petits fours and flower-shaped cookies.

Tailor your tea party to the amount of time and effort you have to put into it. For a fun afternoon, start the party by inviting the children to help make the cookies and cakes.

We like more traditional teas -- served English-style, with warm milk -- but you could offer different flavored teas to your guests (decaf is available for most) or serve lemonade in your mismatched tea cups.

Embroidered napkins

Can an oversized book starring over-the-top, multi-tiered, massive wedding cakes daunt the mighty Martha Stewart?

OK, we know the answer to that.

If anything, the cakes have met their match. "Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes" (Potter, $60), is a serious confection, filled with good advice, several recipes and able assistance from Stewart's co-writer, wedding cake expert Wendy Kromer.

The book's price is a hefty sum, though in American Brideland -- a fantasy world where cost (seemingly) is no object -- this is a bargain compared with, say, the $8,000 dress or the $2,500 invitations.

We also wouldn't advise a bride, however skilled, to make her own wedding cake, or expect a friend to -- at least not one from this book.

Fruited Quinoa Salad is perfect for light lunches, dinners and picnics.

Combine all ingredients except the apple, cover and chill up to two days before serving. Up to four hours before serving, chop and add the apple.

It's inspired by Linda Fishman, who came up with the idea of substituting quinoa for grains in a recipe from Mollie Katzen's "Still Life With Menu."

It's a great way to serve quinoa, and a great way to try it if you've never cooked with it before.

The most common variety found in U.S. stores is a very light brown, but reddish brown and nearly black varieties can also be found. Look for quinoa in international markets, health food stores and even the health food shelves of some grocery stores. Most brands have already been rinsed to remove a soapy residue, but it doesn't hurt to rinse the seeds again before cooking.

Have you been lax about getting your flax? Flaxseeds are naturally high in omega-3, an essential fatty acid that keeps your skin, nervous system and immune system functioning properly.

Unfortunately, the positive effects of omega-3 are blunted by omega-6, a fatty acid found in highly processed foods made from soy and corn. When it comes to eating the right ratio, "a lot of Western-style diets are way out of whack," says Kelley Fitzpatrick, director of health and nutrition for the Flax Council of Canada.

Flaxseed is showing up in plenty of processed foods such as Quaker Oats cereals, Kashi pizza crusts and Naked Juice smoothies, but this Banana Flaxseed Bread is an easy way for home bakers to add the recommended 2 tablespoons a day to their diets.

Flaxseed is usually milled before being added to recipes, although the seeds are often used for whole-grain eye appeal. When properly milled, the hull is broken to expose the oil, which is then encapsulated in the seed matrix.

Helpful hints

Fresh herbs, sauteed veal and tiny creamer potatoes make a light spring dinner. Romaine and radicchio cooked with garlic until they start to wilt lend flavor, color and crunch.

Veal scallops take only a few minutes to cook. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts can be substituted, but will require more time as they are thicker.

Creamer potatoes are new potatoes that are about ¾-inch in diameter. They are only in season for a short time in the spring, and are a snap to prepare.

This meal contains 426 calories per serving, with 31 percent of calories from fat.

Parsley new potatoes

As farmers markets load up with more spring vegetables each week, it's a good time to review some basic tips for shopping success, courtesy of Ivy Manning, a freelance food writer and personal chef based in Portland, Ore.:

• Get there early for the best produce. You'll be able to choose from the freshest selection, and chances are you'll be able to chat with vendors who aren't yet swamped.

• Take a stroll through the stalls before buying. The broccoli at one producer's table may look better than another's, or browsing may help in mapping out a wallet strategy.

• Bring cash. Most vendors do a cash-only business; do them a favor and bring small bills and coins.

• Bring your own bags. It's environmentally friendly.

You don't need a whole block full of knives to cook. But it is worth the money to buy the best knives you can afford. A good knife with a high-carbon, steel-alloy blade will hold an edge better and give you years of service.

Skip knife sets, which are usually cluttered with specialty knives you don't need, and buy open-stock knives so you can choose each one carefully.

The ones you need:

• Chef's knife: Also called a French knife. The workhorse of the kitchen, with a wide, tapered blade and a sturdy handle. Ranges from 8- to 10-inch blade. Get the size that feels most comfortable in your hand. Expect to pay $75 to $150.

• Paring knife: Small knife with a 2- to 4-inch blade and a pointed tip. For peeling, coring, trimming and other small jobs. Expect to pay $15 to $45.

The food world is downsizing. That is, some TV chefs, cookbook authors, bloggers and other gourmands celebrated for their prowess at the table have decided it's time to cut back and drop a few pounds.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, members of this "Fat Pack" are realizing that all that braised pork belly and triple cream cheese might not be good for their long-term health.

It's a little disconcerting, as if Hugh Hefner had turned Playboy into Boys Life back during the swinging '60s. After all, these are the people who fueled America's culinary fantasies and turned us into a nation of foodies.

What's next, the Mario Batali Thigh Slimmer? Paula Deen's 30-Minute Dance Class?

Famous or not, many people who love cooking and good food struggle with the same problem. Many? Heck, make that most.

I generally stay away from recipes that have canned soups or other processed foods.

But this recipe for 5:30 Tetrazzini sent in by Margaret Gallagher caught my attention because of a noteworthy twist. Gallagher transforms this classic casserole for the new millennium by using whole-wheat spaghetti. It's a good reminder that even the most traditional dish can be updated with new and more healthful ingredients.

Gallagher explains: "One of my family members is on a high-fiber diet, so I'm always trying to increase the fiber in my meals. That's why I choose to use whole-wheat pasta. In this recipe, the whole-wheat's stronger flavor is offset by the other ingredients."

Over years of making tetrazzini, Gallagher pared her original recipe from about 15 ingredients to its five. She often turns to it when she has leftover holiday turkey or chicken, or more recently, some extra Easter ham. She says that version got rave reviews from her favorite gourmets: her 9-year-old son, 11-year-old daughter and her husband.

Serve with green Salad and dinner rolls to make the meal.

One of the classic bistro combinations is steak with Bearnaise sauce. But in this day of low-fat, low-calorie emphasis, how can you get some of that great Bearnaise flavor without the richness of eggs and lots of butter?

Here's one solution: Take the main flavors of onion and tarragon and mix them in a lighter topping. We've made sweet onions the star here. Vidalias are a good choice, as their peak season approaches. Simply saute them in a small amount of butter until they become golden and even sweeter, then add fresh tarragon leaves. Your steak will thank you.

This meal takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 25 to cook.

Helpful hints

• If you have time, let the onions caramelize, about 20 minutes, for deeper flavor.

Looking for new cookbooks to explore this spring? Consider these two:

'Cooking' by James Peterson (Ten Speed Press, $40)

Thirty years ago, Peterson taught himself to cook through books and working in professional kitchens. Now the author of 13 cookbooks, he has created an extraordinarily comprehensive book with 1,500 instructional photos and 600 recipes for everything from roast chicken to a classic apple pie.

The book begins with an overview of 10 basic cooking techniques that should be in every person's repertoire. The step-by-step instructions and photos for an omelet show you not only how to make the classic French type, but also rolled and fluffy omelets. The passage on boiling eggs has a fantastic chart that describes the stages of doneness for an egg boiled for different increments from two minutes through 10 minutes.

• Best for: The cook-to-be who really wants to get down to business.

This is an unbelievably easy salad to make. Its ingredients are available year-round.

You may substitute grilled chicken for the shrimp.

Caribbean Shrimp Salad

1/8teaspoon sea salt, plus more as needed

¼teaspoon ground cumin

Marlene Harp of Kenosha, Wis., was looking for a recipe for Wedding Soup. She said she had it in a restaurant and really liked it, and that she enjoys making different soups at home.

Nancy Dobbs of Fallston, Md., sent in a recipe for the soup that she said she has been using for years. It came from Dom DeLuise's book "Eat This... It'll Make You Feel Better," and she said it is her husband's favorite soup.

I made the soup with fresh spinach instead of frozen and a good quality store-bought chicken broth. The whole thing came together in fewer than 45 minutes. It was a very simple soup to make and was delicious.

Wedding Soup

1 quart chicken broth

Sometimes it seems like our taste buds hibernate during winter. We hunker down with comforting, familiar foods rather than venturing out into the big wild world of flavors. Spring sends a different signal to our senses -- time to explore bold new tastes.

These five recipes each feature ingredients you might not have used before, but don't let that throw you. They're readily available in your local supermarket, and none of the dishes takes long to prepare.

SPICE-RUBBED STEAKS WITH RAISIN-BALSAMIC REDUCTION

It's always risky doing too much with steak, but the spices in this rub complement rather than overpower the beef flavor. The original recipe for this dish called for fresh figs, which are hard to find in Wichita. Raisins or dates make a great substitute.

1 teaspoon allspice

One of New York's top chefs was in town last week to help judge a national burger recipe contest staged by Cargill. Naturally, I had to ask Marcus Samuelsson where he'd eaten in Wichita the night before.

"I'm from New York," said the co-owner of Aquavit and the youngest chef to ever receive three stars from the New York Times. "I wanted some barbecue."

And he wasn't going to look for it at his hotel or a in a chain restaurant.

Instead, Samuelsson asked around and was told about a locally owned eatery, Julius Rib Cage, 2958 S. Seneca.

"I had the ribs and brisket," he said. "It was great."

I would like to know if you recommend using fruit and vegetable washes that are sold in supermarkets. If not, is there a more effective way to clean fruits and vegetables? Can pesticides really be washed away? I would also like to know which fruits and vegetables should not be washed, and which ones should always be washed. --Mickel B.

Great questions... there are a lot of them, but they're all very good!

I am aware of the three or four commercial wash treatments that are available in stores, but I do not use them. I'm sure they are good products and I'm sure they have their supporters, but I believe a good scrub and a water wash will do the trick and there are studies that back that up. Either way, the point is that if you want to protect the people you are serving, you should wash your produce -- it's just common sense.

Although the fruits and vegetables that you bring home from the store may look clean, remember that somewhere between 4 and 20 people have handled them from the time they were harvested. I'm sure they are all very nice people, but that does not mean I want to eat out of their hands. And this doesn't even take into effect the invisible traces of pesticides that remain on the food. Even produce that is always peeled should be washed.

For example: If you cut into an unwashed melon, your knife is pulling traces of whatever is on the rind onto the fruit. There have been cases of E.coli contamination that happened this way. It's not the norm, but who wants to take the chance?

The arrival of true spring salad greens is always an exhilarating moment. After a long winter's yawn, the delicate leaves signal the start of lighter, more healthful meals.

Spring greens -- usually a combination of mizuna, tatsoi, red oakleaf, sorrel, arugula and frisee -- used to show up only at high-end restaurants but recently have become a year-round staple in supermarket produce aisles.

The Spring Greens With Fennel and Herbs is a fresh, clean-tasting combination of greens and fresh herbs. Adding fresh herbs has its perks: Tarragon contains terpene, a phytochemical that helps to stimulate cancer-protective enzymes, and parsley contains powerful antioxidants that stimulate the immune system.

Fresh green beans are low in calories, fat and sodium but high in fiber, vitamins A and C and potassium, while a blush of red radish adds eye appeal.

Fennel adds a lovely bite. Bonus: It's rich in vitamin A and contains fair amounts of potassium, phosphorous and calcium.

The banana's properties as a sweet sauce thickener and complement to the heat of a chili pepper shine in this quick Poblano-Banana Sauce.

We're suggesting it can accompany a range of ingredients (keep reading). The recipe makes more sauce than you'll need for this dish; cover and refrigerate in an airtight container for two days. Use as a dip with corn tortilla chips, or serve with lunch tacos or a salad. It's a winner.

We chose turkey breast chops as today's sauce recipient. They are basically ½-inch-thick slices of bone-in or boneless turkey breast that have been cut across the grain. But the sauce also would be good with sauteed, mild-fleshed fish and grilled items such as vegetables, pork tenderloin, chicken and marinated skirt steak.

Serve with a corn-and-black-bean salad.

Poblano-Banana Sauce

The mismatched amount of hot dogs to a package of buns often leaves you with leftovers. If you overplan a party, you'll have extra, too. Don't waste them. Readers share their tasty ways to use them up.

• Banana dogs: I use hot-dog buns to make banana dogs for my kids' lunches. Spread them with peanut butter and put in a whole banana. Hamburger buns are great for breakfast sandwiches. -- Karen, Canada

• French toast: I separate the bun in half and cut each half into thirds and make French-toast sticks. They're even better when I have leftover whole-wheat buns. My kids devour them and don't have a clue they're eating whole wheat. -- nodmicks, e-mail

• Strata: Layer the cut-up buns with either cheese and meat or veggies of your choice. Mix eggs and milk, and pour over the top and bake. -- Jen, e-mail

• Garlic bread: I toast hot-dog buns and make garlic bread. Add cheese if you want. -- Laurie, Florida

This speedy meal finds its inspiration south of the border. Both our enchiladas and esquites (fried corn) take less than 10 minutes to prepare. Each serving has 589 calories, with 25 percent of calories from fat.

Helpful hints

• Look for no-sugar-added tomato sauce.

• Refried beans are stocked in the ethnic section of the supermarket.

• Beverage pairing: How about a nice, light Corona?

As the original home of White Castle, Wichita has long staked a claim as the birthplace of the fast-food burger. Now it's making a run at capital of the upscale burger. A burger recipe contest sponsored by Cargill recently brought six chefs from around the country (out of 66 entries) to the company's test kitchen off north Broadway.

Judges awarded first prize and $10,000 to St. Paul, Minn., chef Andrew Casale for his Black and Green Burger, which had a Mediterranean flair thanks to its olives, sun-dried tomatoes and Ciabatta bun.

Second prize and $1,000 went to San Diego school cook Sarah Spero, who topped her burger with a sweet-spicy chili and queso fresco cheese. Chicago chef Dan Burrows won third place and $500 by folding his burger inside a tortilla with roasted poblano, shredded cheese and more.

A Kansan, Olathe caterer Troy Tedder, also was among the finalists with his burger topped with a smooth bourbon barbecue sauce.

The finalists' recipes will be publicized to professional chefs through trade magazines and other venues.

Every spring it happens. You think you're ready to venture into salad entrees, but Mother Nature -- at least the Midwestern Mama version -- decides otherwise.

Baby, it's (still) cold outside -- or at least a little chilly.

Because salsa and avocado evoke warm, sunshiny days, their presence in this soup makes up for the lack of swimsuit weather.

The soup is so easy that even the most reluctant cook should give it a try. Inspired by recipes from two of Rick Bayless' cookbooks --"Salsas That Cook" and "Mexican Everyday" -- its main ingredient, and the key to its success, is a jar of salsa.

And there's the catch: So much depends on the quality of the salsa, you really need to buy the good stuff.

Here's how to be a savvy shopper for budget wines:

• Consider second labels. Many wineries make more than one wine. A portfolio can include pricey reserve wines and award-winning showstoppers as well as less expensive, downright decent everyday quaffing wines.

In the $10 range, some of these extended families are more obvious than others. Beringer Vineyards, for example, produces Stone Cellars ($8) and Beringer Founders' Estate ($8.99).

• It's OK to go biggie. If you are looking for party wine, checking the unit prices will keep the budget in check. Also, many stores give case discounts.

• Go global. The Italians, French and Australians produce inexpensive wines that hover in the $5.99-$7.99 range.

Rhonda Fine, a clinical sexologist and psychiatric nurse practitioner at Miami Institute for Age Management and Intervention, shares her thoughts on five things you should know about psychological eating:

1. Too much food

People generally eat beyond what their bodies need. More than two-thirds of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The extra weight puts them at risk for heart disease, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and other conditions.

2. Two hungers

There are two types of hunger, physical and psychological. Physical hunger is the body's request for a certain amount of good, healthy food. This hunger builds gradually, and after eating it goes away. Psychological hunger is the mind saying, "I want that."

Elaine Kwedder of Shenandoah, Pa., was looking for a recipe for a homemade veggie burger. Amanda Milewski of Eldersburg, Md., sent in a recipe she cut out from a parenting magazine some years ago and makes on a regular basis.

She says that her family finds that the burgers are a more flavorful alternative to the store-bought frozen veggie burgers they have tried.

Milewski says that sometimes she preps all the ingredients earlier in the day or even the night before and stores them in zip-top bags in the fridge. That way the burgers are a snap to prepare even during a weeknight dinner rush.

When served with the accompanying yogurt sauce, these burgers are a tasty and healthful alternative to an ordinary burger.

Veggie Burgers with Yogurt Sauce

It's time to put Kansas' state slogan --"As Big As You Think" -- out to pasture for something food-related. I'm thinking: "Kansas: Meat. Wheat. Chew on that."

Or: "Kansas: Open wide."

Or, as my colleague Suzanne Perez Tobias suggests: "Kansas -- everything you need on a bun."

Go ahead, take your pick.

What got me thinking along these lines is the country's foodie revolution and the current business vogue for branding.

The Harvard Medical School and The Culinary Institute of America want you to be healthier by eating better. The institutions have joined forces and placed doctors and chefs on the same team in an attempt to fight the battle against obesity in the United States.

"If there is bad news in the diet and health arena -- alarmingly high rates of chronic diseases and related health problems and, at least in part as a result, skyrocketing, unsustainable health care costs -- there is also some good news," said David Eisenberg, director of the Osher Institute at Harvard Medical School.

"Increasingly, Americans are seeking out the big, bold, bright flavors from a wider range of cultures, from the Mediterranean to Asia and Latin America," he said.

These cultures "represent a rich, delicious source of inspiration for cooking with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, vegetable oils, and other healthful foods from plant sources -- all foods that should be more emphasized in our diets," Eisenberg said.

The conferences include a twice-yearly event called "Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives" and an annual "Worlds of Healthy Flavors" leadership retreat. The Healthy Kitchens conference teaches doctors and other health care professionals about cooking better food, during seminars and hands-on cooking instruction taught by some of the best chefs in the world.

This recipe for Easy Beef Stir-fry from Lisa Durfee of Atlanta caught my attention because of its mix of ingredients. I can honestly say I have never seen a stir-fry recipe that included a teriyaki-type sauce, fruit preserves and mustard.

When questioned about her combination, Durfee replied, "I thought the preserves would both sweeten and lightly thicken the sauce and the Dijon was added to give it a slight kick.... More mustard can be added to taste." The preserves did add an unexpected subtle fruitiness.

When it comes to stir-fries, I like to cook the vegetables first with a little water to cook more uniformly with the help of a little steam. With denser veggies, like broccoli, quick flash cooking doesn't always cook them all the way through. If using frozen vegetables, it's not always necessary.

Serve with brown rice to make the meal.

Easy Beef Stir-fry

Three Wichita food service businesses have been fined by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for allegedly violating the state's food service regulations.

KDHE issues fines when an inspector documents the same violation on consecutive visits. Fines are subject to appeal.

Here are the businesses, fines and alleged violations:

• El Centenario, 2201 W. Douglas, $500 fine for operating a food service establishment without a license. The fine was issued to Bar Ah.

The business could not be reached for comment.

Unlike crab cakes, which taste best when you limit the cracker or bread filler, these fish cakes benefit from such additions to add texture.

Start with diced onion, green pepper and celery. Then flavor the plump little cakes with other appropriate ingredients from your refrigerator and pantry.

Leftover mashed potatoes can add a creamy texture to cakes made from coarsely chopped sole fillets.

Helpful hints

• Experiment with fresh herbs to vary the flavor.

And now for something completely different: a dish inspired by Tahitians' use of coconut cream in all sorts of savory recipes.

The cream is not the canned, sweetened stuff of pina coladas, but the thick, white substance that forms at the top of good-quality brands of canned coconut milk.

In this recipe, the no-cook sauce comes together while the eggplant is grilling. And although it's called a cream, the sauce is light. The dish is surprisingly filling as a main course, but you could halve the quantity and serve it as a side dish for fish or chicken that goes on the grill as well.

Serve with steamed rice.

Grilled Eggplant in Lemon-Coconut Cream

Ly K. Eilering sent in this recipe last fall. Coincidentally, we received several similar recipes at that time, so we held on to it. With the weather suddenly turning warm, I realized I better get this hearty comfort dish to press before barbecue season hits full swing.

The combination of tomato sauce and cream, most often found in pasta vodka sauces, is a winning one. The cream mellows the tomato's acidity and adds richness. Eilering gives the dish extra homemade twists by including sausage to add heft and fresh basil to bring the sauce to life with a bit of astringency.

Eilering uses breakfast sausage roll and canned tomato sauce, but to add seasoning, I chose spicy Italian sausage and jarred pasta sauce. Pick what's most appealing to your palate.

Penne With Sausage and Tomato Cream Sauce

The recipe can easily be halved, but in our house, leftovers made great lunches. Serve this entree with green salad and Italian bread.

This Tangy Rhubarb "Barbecue" Sauce is a nice change of pace from the usual smoky and/or sweet barbecue sauces.

The rhubarb gives it thickness and a fruity flavor. The amounts below are suggestions only. Add more honey if you like it sweet, more apple cider vinegar if you like a vinegary kick. Or leave out the ketchup and double up on the mustard and vinegar for a Carolina-style sauce.

The sauce is good with grilled pork chops and chicken thighs, but it's a particularly good match with duck breasts that have been pan-fried and sliced. It may be refrigerated in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days.

Tangy Rhubarb "Barbecue" Sauce

2 to 3 teaspoons mild olive oil or vegetable oil

Cookies in the past were homemade by Mom with real butter in a KitchenAid mixer and baked until they "smell done."

Today, baking homemade cookies often means rolling dough from a package into balls, or placing pre-formed cookie shapes onto a baking sheet. If the house smells like cookies, then you've made "homemade cookies."

We can't taste much difference between from-scratch and from-dough cookies. But it could be that we can't remember how a true old-fashioned cookie tastes because it's been so long since we had one.

Melanie Barnard, author of "Ready, Set, Dough!," takes prepared doughs one step further. Instead of treating prepared doughs as a finished product, she said, she looks at them as the basic homemade product prepared without "my usual flour-flying mess and mixer/beater cleanup."

She then fast-forwards to the fun part -- turning sugar-cookie dough into biscotti, or crescent-roll dough into tiny appetizers.