Sometimes, despite the desire to eat healthy and be really, really good, you just need to eat something that maybe, just maybe, isn’t that great for you. I am a firm believer in moderation; most food, eaten in moderation, is fine. Too much of anything isn’t good for you (except maybe mangos, carrots and tomatoes – I could eat those every meal, every day and be very, very happy). But this weekend I just wanted something a little less good for me, and with John here, we went for it…

Bradley’s sausage, my version of coleslaw and baked beans. Not the healthiest lunch, I admit, but sometimes you just have to indulge. The sausage was from our last trip to Tallahassee where we always stop at Bradley’s Country Store for the sausage. I am a very picky eater and don’t generally like sausage, but these are exceptional. Spiced beautifully and made so you can taste the care that goes into making them. Yes, I am waxing poetic about sausage (because they are that good). I would make special trips to Tallahassee for these, but luckily, in the cooler months, they ship!

The coleslaw isn’t a real coleslaw. It has no mayo in it because I have an aversion to the stuff. I just do not like the idea of mayo, the smell of mayo or the texture of mayo. So instead I start with shredded cabbage, add carrots, cucumbers and red onions. For the dressing, I use brown sugar, molasses, chili peppers, cilantro, garlic, ginger, lime juice and peanut oil. This is one of those dishes that is best made about an hour or two in advance to let the favors meld. So while this was not a meatless, grainless dish, it was an excellent summer lunch.

And what lunch would not be complete without some homemade cookies. Hey, if you are going to go off the ranch for a day, you might as well go all the way off.

I had to do it. Fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. I could not decide if I wanted regular chocolate chip cookies, or chocolate chocolate chip cookies. So I compromised. Instead of doing a full double chocolate cookie, I added just a quarter cup of coco powder to the butter/sugar mixture before adding the flour and other dry ingredients. The results were amazing – a little extra chocolate flavor, but not so much that all you taste is chocolate. It is just a really good chocolate chip cookie.

On a side note, we had another odd sighting when taking Jessie for her walk yesterday …

I wasn’t exactly sure what this was, but Bob said it was a vulture. It was not afraid of me or my camera in the least – but is was a little uncooperative and would not move into better light for me. 😉