Had lunch with a dear friend today....fabulous food, laughs, and pure joy!

A friend of mine asked me to lunch today, we went to one of her favorite spots: La Briola in Lombard.  I had never been. Let me tell you I was like a kid in a candy shop, everything on the menu looked great.  Since she asked me there, I let her pick everything we would eat, it was all delicious, but sad to say, ate some "bad" carbs today.  Will have to work out twice tomorrow to make up for it...Look out Zumba, here I come.

Tonight's recipe was inspired by the old italian families.  This was a staple dinner in most italian households, I have made it a bit healthier with a few subsitutions. Mangia!

Italian Turkey Sausage and Peppers:

Ingredients

• 6 (4 ounce) links sweet or hot Italian turkey sausage
• 2 tablespoons I can't believe it's butter light
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup white wine

1. Place the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown on all sides. Remove from skillet, and slice.
2. Melt butter subsititue in the skillet. Stir in the yellow onion,  and garlic, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Season with basil, and oregano. Stir in white wine. Continue to cook and stir until peppers and onions are tender.
3. Return sausage slices to skillet with the vegetables. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until sausage is heated through.
4. If you would like to you can put all ingredients in the crock pot and simmer on low for 8 hrs.  When I do this, I like to add 3 potatoes diced up.

Nutritional value:
Calories: 259
Fat: 12.1 g
Fiber:4
Carbohydrates: 15
Protein: 18.9