Polenta makes a nice change of pace for dinner

Polenta topped with tomato sauce and rimmed with fresh, green vegetables.

Polenta topped with your favourite tomato-based spaghetti sauce and then rimmed with fresh vegetables, like broccoli, green beans and asparagus as shown, makes a wonderful change of pace dinner. The instructions for making polenta can change from package to package. Some polenta is instant, cooks in two minutes, and other polenta can take up to half an hour of simmering and constant stirring.

What ever you decide, the result is delicious and in expensive. We pair our meals with an inexpensive red, box wine. If it were bottled, it wouldn't cost even $6. This is truly a dinner for the retiree on a tight budget.

We needed to save a little money on dinner. Why? Because later, we're opening a nice bottle of Antichi Poderi Jerzu Chuèrra Riserva Cannonau di Sardegna to enjoy with slices of toasted baguette topped with grated Parmesan cheese and diced olive spread. The smooth, full-bodied ruby-red wine is based on the Grenache grape which has gained fame for being the grape used in making Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The Sardinian wine may not be famous like its French cousin but it is easier to find on sale.

Ah, we will all sleep well tonight. And who said retirement isn't fun? (Now, to go and decant the wine. I understand it is best if it is allowed to breathe for a couple of hours before serving. Hey, I'm just following orders.)