I know that Georgia has been in drought conditions for several years and that the rain was a good thing, but we've had a lot now and we need to even back out.  Yesterday was rainy and windy and a perfect day to be in the house. This morning I dragged myself to Jazzercise at 7:15 and when I was done the sun was coming out.  It's sunny with blue skies now!  I feel pretty energized.

I am still trying to work through all of the food in my freezer before buying anything else.  Saturday I pulled out spaghetti sauce so I could have an easy meal for the day.  It seems like it's been a while since we've had spaghetti and meat sauce and it was perfect.

Sunday I pulled out salmon.  I buy bags of salmon and tuna at Costco to have in the freezer and discovered during this freezer cleaning process that I have a lot of salmon and no tuna.  We like both, but it's salmon for now. 

I looked at some cookbooks while menu planning on Friday and decided I am in the mood for pasta and anything that has piccata flavors.  Last night we had Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Lemon, Basil and Salmon and it was very tasty.  We'll be having it again with salmon from the freezer.

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Lemon, Basil, and Salmon by Giada De Laurentiis

1/2 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 (4-ounce) pieces salmon
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons capers
1 lemon, zested
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer to a large bowl. Add the garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.
2. Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Add the fish to the pan and cook until medium-rare, about 2 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the fish. Remove the salmon from the pan.
3. Add the basil, capers, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the spaghetti mixture and toss to combine. Set out 4 serving plates or shallow bowls. Place 1/2 cup spinach in each bowl. Top with 1/4 of the pasta. Top each mound of pasta with a piece of salmon. Serve immediately.

The only change I made was to toss the spinach in a large bowl with the garlic, oil, salt and pepper.  I then added the hot pasta to wilt the spinach and then tossed with the basil, capers, etc.  I place pasta in serving bowls and topped with the salmon.  

Friday night was the birthday party and I had a good time.  The girls had fun too.  I taught them to make pizza dough, sauce, cupcakes, frosting, a pink smoothie.  We even had enough pizza for mom, dad and grandma to make their own.