Dinner...it's what's for dinner.

This is Real Simple's picture (link is with the recipe below). I didn't take pictures of my own food because who does that? Weirdos. OK, if I had remembered to, I would have.

My mom gave me the book Dinner: A Love Story and I found it charming. I devoured it in just a couple of days. Not literally of course. But it's an appropriate figure of speech if you like puns. Am I right? I actually kind of hate puns. But I use them anyway. It's genetic. (Using them, not hating them.)

Here are a couple of recipes I have tried recently that I think are great for family dinners. They are simple and inexpensive and tasty. And inexplicably they both involve sausage. I don't generally like sausage but I like it in these dishes. Actually in the beans and rice one, I don't actually eat the sausage because sausage + beans is too much protein for me personally all at once, but I like the flavor it gives the dish.

The first one, Red Beans and Rice, is from Family Fun magazine. The first time I made it with this apple-chicken sausage from Wegmans and kidney beans and it was pretty mild. The second time I made it I used andouille, a spicy pork sausage, and regular red beans. It was still yummy but pretty spicy. Here is my version with just a few small adjustments from the original. We had it with oven-roasted asparagus and naan or rolls on the side. Also, I froze about half of it in Ziploc bags to eat another night.

Red Beans and Rice (from Family Fun)

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 t minced garlic
• 1 16-oz can reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
• bay leaf
• 1 t dried thyme leaves
• 4-6 drops Tabasco
• 3 cans small red beans or kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 pound reduced-fat smoked sausage, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• 6 c hot cooked brown rice

• In a large pot (I used a 6-qt frying pan), warm the oil over med-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute until very soft (8+ mins); add garlic and saute 1 minute.
• Stir in the broth, bay leaf, thyme, hot sauce, and beans and bring to a boil. Partially mash the bean mixture with a potato masher.
• Stir in the sausage, then cover the pot and reduce heat to med-low.
• Simmer covered for 10 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf and serve over rice.

Note: I can only eat so much sausage so I just had a few bites of that and focused on the beans, which I loved. But the boys liked the sausage a lot, especially Lars. Theo doesn't love beans or rice but he gamely ate the whole thing. Ida liked the rice.

Second note: Matt hasn't tried this yet. I think he refuses to on principle because the first time I made it I asked him to try it about 10 times and it probably got annoying.

Recipe number two...I was excited to try this because I loooooove grilled peaches. I thought it would be a good Sunday dinner because it looked easy and fast and we usually get home from church at about 4:30. It was easy and fast and we were eating by 5.

Chicken Sausage and Peach Skewers with Green Beans (from Real Simple)

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed (we used fresh but frozen could work in a pinch)
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard (we used "spicy brown mustard" which is what I had in the fridge)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil 
• kosher salt and black pepper 
• 4 fully cooked chicken sausage links, cut into 1-inch pieces (I used pre-cooked garlic chicken sausage from Wegmans)
• 2 peaches or plums, pitted and cut into wedges
• 8 ounces baguette or French bread, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups) 

• Soak 8 small wooden skewers in water for at least 10 minutes. Heat grill to medium-high. 
• Steam the green beans in a steamer basket in a large saucepan until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. 
• In a medium bowl, mix together the mustard, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Add the green beans and toss to combine. 
• In a large bowl, toss the sausage, peaches, and baguette with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; thread onto the skewers. (note, I actually forgot this step until after I had skewered everything, so I just brushed on oil and ground the pepper over everything)
• Grill the skewers, turning occasionally, until the sausages are heated through and the bread is toasted, 5 to 6 minutes. Serve with the green beans.

Note: We discovered we were out of charcoal so we baked the skewers on a broiler pan in the oven instead. We started it at 400 and I turned it up to 500 after a few minutes.

Second note: I LOVED this dish and so did Theo. He and I each had second helpings of everything. I was surprised at how much I liked the mustardy beans. Ida was "meh" although she ate all the bread since she could eat croutons all day and that's basically what grilled bread is. Lars loved the peaches (of course) and eventually the sausage. Matt said he "didn't dislike" it. Too bad because I thought we had struck a winner. Three out of five isn't bad though!