Taken on the beach in Maine last weekend

This past week has been cold, windy, and more cold. So to stay warm, and to keep from getting severe cabin fever, I've been cooking and baking my heart out. Monday, I made this Artichoke Spread, which came out delicious (and not nearly as unhealthy as you would think). It's one of Kenzie and my favorites to order out, but it made a good stay-in treat.

Of course, I found it on my favorite recipe site, sparkrecipes.com.

Artichoke Spread

Ingredients

1 tbsp butter 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 3 cloves garlic, minced 4 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach 1 14oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped 1 8oz pkg reduced fat cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup fat free mayonnaise dressing or salad dressing 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese (8oz) 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (2oz) 2 dashes bottled hot pepper sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium saucepan melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 minutes. Add spinach, cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until onion is tender and spinach is cooked, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

2. Stir in chopped artichoke hearts, cream cheese, mayo, cheddar cheese, parmesan and hot pepper sauce. Transfer artichoke mixture to an ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole. Bake for 40 minutes.

For some extra crunch you can add 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans and bake for 10 more minutes.

Number of Servings: 64

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user DEADEENA.

Thursday, Kenz and I made rice and beans and quesadillas, which didn't turn out so beautifully. So we tried again Friday with the new quesadilla maker Jay brought up, and the results were much nicer to look at.

We threw in some rice, cheese, chicken, salsa, onions and peppers. Yum!

Kudos to Jay!...Pretty cool, huh?

Lastly, I went on a late-night baking binge yesterday. I remembered I wanted to make a Valentine's Day cake, so I whipped this up. It's just Pillsbury mix and pink frosting, but the results are always yummy.