One of my girlfriends from back in college is meeting me for lunch today. I can’t wait to see Vicki again. It’s been too long!

She lives in Alabama but has to be in Nashville for a business convention this week. Today is the only day she can blow off some of the meetings during the convention to get together. So I’m heading downtown to have lunch at the Hard Rock with her. Gonna be a lot of fun downtown today!

The price of meat has gotten so high that I have decided to cut back on the size of the meat portions and the frequency of having meat for dinner. I would love to add more fish and seafood to my dinners. If you have any tips on buying and preparing fresh fish, I would love to read them.

I was excited to hear from my girlfriend in Maryland that Dicks Last Resort has opened a place in Baltimore. I am sure it is in the Inner Harbor area – that’s where all the action is in Baltimore. This is a fun place to go have some beers and hoot and holler. I can’t wait to go check out their newest location and have some fun.

Last week while grocery shopping, I picked up something new. I came across some precooked meats that you can microwave and heat up in only 5 minutes. The selection included pot roast, beeftips, and pork roast. They also had a section of mashed potatoes in little plastic tubs that heat up in 4 minutes.

I thought they might be nice to keep on hand in case I want a fast dinner, and they were reasonably priced. So I bought one of each and have kept them in the refrigerator.

Tonight I am dog-tired and hot. I decided that I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen with the oven or stove. I pulled out the microwave tubs of beef tips and potatoes, and had dinner ready in 5 minutes. They were tasty and fast – and a bargain.