So Hannah has written her winner story below, but I am not going to read it until I publish it.   I want it to be all her words!

So the other night I made really good pork chops and I had two remaining pork chops I needed to cook up.  Now, mind you, they have been in brine since I made that recipe.  The result?  They were like licking a palm of salt from your hand!  I could only eat one bite, Tony ate about 1/2 of his, I think just out of pity though!

I did make some sauteed apples, which I sauteed in 1 teaspoon of butter and Splenda brown sugar.

these were good!
these were good!

Then I pan fried some frozen string beans from Trader Joe’s.  I cooked them in about an inch of water until they were almost done, drained the water and pan friend them with a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper.

these were good too!
these were good too!

And on the side twice baked potatoes – with shredded American cheese:

before going under the broiler for a few minutes
before going under the broiler for a few minutes

And all together:

so no protein again!!
so no protein again!!

Okay, I am anxious to read what Hannah wrote, and she is standing right behind me “did you publish it yet?”   I like not having to judge – it would have been too hard to decide! 

Without further adu, here’s Hannah!

At last, my love has come along…Meghann and Melissa’s exquisite sushi dish, staring me in the face as if love at first sight. I can’t help but choose their entry for this week’s BSI, it won over every imaginary guideline I had:

1) ingredient choice

2) appearance

3) level of expertise, if you will

4) mouthwateriness (just made that up, hope you like it)

Not that every entry didn’t appeal to me, (which all of you who entered–they all called to me one way or another and thank you for taking the time to enter), but the sushi plate seemed to somehow give me overactive saliva glands. Making me swallow about every 5 seconds or so, it was the most mouthwatering, attractive plate of food I saw. Not only gorgeous, but it was something a) I could picture myself making, b) something I wanted to eat, and c) I loved all of the ingredients together. I’m definitely a veggie person who believes in quality vs. quantity, and the fact that their dish was simple but professional-looking also scored them points. Overall, this is the dish I want to create right now. All I have left to say is Meghann and Melissa: KUDOS! 🙂