So...whats for dinner?

Egads007

LOL@ ChiSandy’s George Washington comment!!! Your mother must be related to my mother! Although I’m Canadian, so my mom made queen Elizabeth scream in terror

eric95us

Steelhead trout tonight using a mustard, lemon juice and dill sauce.

Sharon is busy helping her mom do some phone-email troubleshooting...I think they need to find the "any key". :-)

illimae

Tonight is Balsamic Pork Chops with roasted Red Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts.

ChiSandy

Linguine cacio e pepe. (Dang, I miss Rome)!

carolehalston

Last night's dinner was grilled loin lamb chops, the last package of lamb chops in the freezer. They were very good. Sides were boiled small red potatoes and a salad. My salad was compari tomatoes, avocado and blue cheese with scant dressing of white balsamic and EVOO. A tiny bit of butter, s&p on my two small potatoes.

Tonight will be chicken, either chicken breast or thighs. Depends on what I pull out of the freezer. I have fresh yellow squash for a veggie side.

Illimae, you do very nice food photography.

illimae

Carole, thanks, meals are a visual delight for me in addition to their nutritional value. I love it when I’ve made something that really looks good enough to eat. I enjoy everyone else’s pics too and often think “oh, I want that!”

Tonight will be Hard Shelled Tacos, nothing special but still yummy, I doubt I’ll post a pic, we’ve all seen tacos.

DodgersGirl

illimae, I 2nd Carole’s comment about the food photos. Last pic started Brussels sprouts cravings. Think I will have to make some roasted sprouts! So yummy

ChiSandy

Bob came home early, so I will be making a grass-fed ribeye (not sure if on the stove or in the grill, but either way in cast iron), grilled knob onions, sauteed haricots verts and maybe rainbow carrots.

carolehalston

Sandy, you're making me want rainbow carrots! They sound so pretty. Where do you buy them?

Three boneless skinless chicken thighs are marinating in some fake buttermilk made with the buttermilk powder and water. I'll bread them in seasoned breadcrumbs and air fry them. Side will be steamed yellow squash. Also a romaine salad with really pretty romaine from a huge pack of hearts from Sam's Club. Grown in CA, according to the package.

I like Brussel sprouts but dh doesn't. I still cook them occasionally.

What a beautiful spring we're having here in south Louisiana. Most years we jump straight into summer heat but this year is different.

eric95us

There isn't enough of the trout left for a 2nd meal, so I'm looking to see what I can do without going to the store. The bright sun still causes my one eye to water A LOT and me to sneeze.

It's rapidly getting better though and compared to BC, the eye is a mere annoyance....

I agree with the others Illimae.... The phood photos are very good. :-)

Egads007

LOL@ phood. Reminds me of:

eric95us

I've seen that cartoon before. I love it....except here it would be the cat hiding behind the washer. :-) The yellow lab is "very food motivated".

I have enough stuff to do "vege burgers". DD convinced Sharon to cut out most red meat, dairy and similar stuff. 'm going along with it in the hopes it will lower my slightly high cholesterol levels (210 total) Sharon has lost about 5 pounds in 9 weeks and I've lost 10 pounds....which can't hurt either of us. :-)

SpecialK

Made the naughty meatloaf last night with garlic and sour cream mashed red potatoes and steamed green beans for DD and DH. Tonight was a meatloaf sammy for DH with some sweet chili Beanitos chips. For some reason I have not been hungry at dinner time for the last couple of nights

CeliaC

Hello, all. On the lettuces - also grew up with iceberg, but never touched it once moved out on my own. So many others to choose from - butter, boston, mesclun mix are my faves, now and fave dressing is a simple home-made vinaigrette. Dinner was a hearty soup of organic goodies thrown together to use up items on hand in pantry & freezer - Pacific brand butternut squash soup, chopped frozen spinach, sauteed baby bella shrooms, cannelini beans, spices and then some chopped, cooked organic apple & chicken breakfast sausage. Very filling. Lovely spring day today! Happy weekend to all.

ChiSandy

Whole Foods has the organic rainbow carrots--both in bunches and as bagged "baby" carrots. I used the latter. Tossed them in salt, pepper, nutmeg, sweet curry powder and roasted them at 350F for 10 min. Then added a tsp. each of butter and honey, tossed them again, and nuked 30 seconds. It was raining, so had to do the steak indoors and skip the knob onions. Instead of haricots verts, I had some baby spinach I needed to use up--which I sauteed with olive oil, minced garlic and the juice of a wedge of Meyer lemon. The steak was wonderful--deglazed the pan with a little Cabernet Sauvignon (the one we drank with dinner), followed by sliced mushrooms, minced parsley, and another tsp. of butter.

I just got Bon Appetit's (or was it Food & Wine's--I get both) "Summer like an Italian" issue. It had a recipe for ramps--and they don't grow wild here--so I'm keeping an eagle eye out for them at WF and Mariano's.

Egads007

I’m rubbing my hands together at the thought of fiddleheads....almost here....woot

CeliaC

Egads - Tried fiddleheads (lightly battered & fried) at a restaurant in Cleveland area last June & they were wonderful. Never seen them anywhere else.

Egads007

Celia - keep your eye on the greens section of the grocery store (or try Wholefoods). Sometimes I've seen them in the freezer section but haven't used them yet. If you do get your hands on them try preparing the Canadian way (we wouldn't dream of battering them-ever! Lol. Would ruin the earthiness). Rinse like crazy or you'll have a mouthful of grit, par steam or boil, sauté in butter, light kosher salt (or regular) and fresh cracked pepper, until tender and sprinkle very lightly with balsamic. The butter makes it luxurious and earthy while the vinegar lifts the whole taste....as well as increasing adsorption of the iron.

I just drooled on my iPhone.

Edited to say: great on homemade onion pizza too!

MinusTwo

Special - Dare I ask...what makes a meatloaf naughty?

Met my SIL for lunch at a family owned cafeteria that's been in business since 1941. I had passable grilled scallops served over rice. Since it was a cafeteria (and that means comfort food or childhood food or whatever) my sides were mac & cheese and carrot & raisin salad. She had a wonderful grilled salmon. The portions are gigantic.

Supper was two glasses of the delicious "1000 Stories" California Zinfandel. It's aged in bourbon barrels. That was paired with a bowl of Cheez-It crackers, a handful of 49 flavor's mini jelly beans, a handful of dry roasted peanuts and a hard boiled egg.

Eric - so glad to hear your eye is improving. Interesting about the diet changes. Are you still eating chicken & fish?

Egads007

MinusTwo - thank you for mentioning the carrot and raisin salad... my mother used to make it all the time! Guess what’s going on my table tomorrow night! Love it!!

carolehalston

Eric, I don't recall your ever mentioning red meat often on your menu. Mainly an occasional pot roast. As long as you enjoy your meals and lose unneeded lbs, the change is a winner. You mentioned that your dd was leaning toward a vegetarian diet.

The air fried chicken thighs were easy and good. They were wet with the buttermilk marinade so I didn't need to dip them in egg, just lightly breaded them with seasoned panko crumbs. They cooked ten minutes on each side and came out crispy and brown. Thighs have enough fat that I didn't spritz them with oil. We have one left over. I had packaged three in case dh wanted more than one, but he didn't.

The steamed yellow squash were just ok. Not as good as the "fresh off the bush" squash available when the local farmers are selling their veggies at the produce market. We omitted the salad.

Tonight will be wild-caught catfish fillets.

SpecialK

minus - pretty standard meatloaf recipe, 1/2 c milk and 3 eggs mixed with a cup of Italian breadcrumbs. Add 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, a dash of nutmeg and cloves, 1/2 t thyme, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 c chopped gr onion and I add a combo of three ground meats - veal, pork and beef, but have also used all beef or just beef and pork. I use a package of each type of meat so this is a big meatloaf! Depending on where I have lived I sometimes also see “meatloaf mix" in the meat section and have used that - it is a combo already packaged. Mix well and shape into a football-ish loaf on a foil covered pan with a rim. Here comes the naughty part. Completely cover in slices of thick cut bacon with generous overlap to account for shrinkage while cooking. I bake for an hour at 350 F, then spread a mixture of 1/2 c chili sauce (or ketchup), 1/4 c brown sugar, 1 t dry yellow mustard over the whole thing and bake at least another 15 mins, sometimes a bit longer - and this will hold on warm. The bacon keeps the meatloaf moist and provides a crispy salty touch, and the sauce at the end gives it a sweet and tomato-ey quality. It is great in sandwiches too.

MinusTwo

Thanks Special - I can understand the naughty now.

illimae

Tonight was one of my favorite meals, fish tacos from Berryhill Tamales. I prefer Baja style to TexMex and I was at the mall anyway, couldn’t pass it without indulging. I limit my Berryhill to a couple time a year to keep it special.

eric95us

I did eat a moderate amount of red meat. We haven't given up on it completely, but probably have cut back in it to about 1/4 of what we used to eat. Our fish consumption has probably doubled and the chicken consumption has gone up a little bit.

The Arimadex seems to have made weight loss a lot more difficult for Sharon, so any weight loss is exciting for her. And, I've not really missed the "old foods". .

The other thing that I've been experimenting with is spices to make things taste more exciting. So far my favorite is dried lemon zest and pepper (hot, medium and not hot).

carolehalston

Dried lemon zest. Hm. Do you zest a lemon and let the zest dry out? I like lemony flavor and will be using fresh zest and juice tonight. The leftover pork tenderloin will figure into a piccata-like skillet dish. Chicken broth will be the liquid thickened with a little zanthan gum (totally forgotten until recently). I will slice and warm the tenderloin in the hot sauce and served with egg noodles. Side will be a romaine salad with additions.

DH went to the supermarket this morning, came home and was missing a package of sandwich deli meat. He was very disgusted, went back and, sure enough, the forgotten package had been taken to the deli for safe keeping. Not sure who was at fault.

SpecialK, once you gave the recipe, I remembered your "naughty" meatloaf.

Egads007

Carole - zest the lemons and bake in a 200F oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until dried out...usually 1 to 2 hours...your house will smell heavenly. Store in a glass container

Edited to say: you could also peel the lemons with a veg peeler and bake longer to dry. Grind to bits or powder. Store the same way

PatsyKB

Tonight, a favorite of ours: Vegetable-Black-Bean Burritos plus a mixed green salad, mine with extra kale and arugula. (Husband is not just a good sport about eating according to my primarily-plant-based regimen, required for last year's prediabetes/high LDL diagnosis, he really enjoys most of it - this dish in particular.) Happy to share recipes always.

eric95us

I have TWO Penzeys near me (!!!) so I can buy dried zest locally.

During the summer, I will zest a bunch of lemons and dry it outside. I put the zest on paper, put a colander over it and put a clean rock atop the colander. When it's 115F/45C in the shade and there is a slight breeze...it doesn't take long for it to dry. :-)

I've never thought about the smells nice in the house part. I'll have to try that before it gets so hot that I move exclusively to the outside oven

ChiSandy

Salmon didn't defrost, so I went foraging again. Had a cauliflower-crust mini-pizza. I was about to give up on them, but this time I figured I would bake it on a round perforated pizza tray (came with the toaster oven) which I sprayed liberally with Pam baking spray, until the cheese was not just melted but toasted. That way, it didn't stick to the pan and I could hold it upside down to eat (the crust was barely crisp, but the interior cauliflower was still mushy). I know there are cauliflower-crust pizzas with rice or tapioca flour or cornstarch so that they're gluten-free, but they're carby, which was why I bought the all-cauliflower minis at the health food store back when I was on a no-starch diet. I don't have celiac, so I don't go gluten-free. I find gluten-free versions of stuff usually made with wheat flour to have "something missing." It's like the no-sugar-added cherry pie I bought last week--I can't get past the aftertaste of the Splenda in the filling. Same reason I don't like no-sugar-added frozen yogurt or sugar-free syrups (I can taste the "back-bite" in even Hershey's Lite). I keep sugar-free flavored syrups on hand for those who want flavored lattes, but I prefer my coffee drinks to taste like coffee. And I really ought to jettison the bottles of sugar-free pancake syrup and faux-honey. A little of the real stuff (especially raw honey and the syrup from a friend's maple grove) goes a long way.

I followed up with a ready-to-mix fully-cooked basil-lime pesto quinoa salad I found a while ago at WF. Pretty good, though it was 480 cal. But added to the 50 in the mini-pizza, that was reasonable for dinner.