So...whats for dinner?

illimae

minus, please share where the hibachi lunch was, if you don’t mind. Onion soup sounds awesome!

Tonight we’re having grilled steaks with steamed cauliflower and sautéed Brussels sprouts.

Tomorrow we’re having some friends over for fajitas, beans and DH & I are making a few dozen tamales, followed by cocktails.

bedo

Carol, your day sounds so nice, it was a pleasure reading about it. My Mom sold decoupage purses at markets and I sometimes posed as a customer and asked questions, it made people more comfortable coming up to look.

Special, I will have to try adding vegetables to the Ramen , I have some sugar snap peas coming in.

Dodgers thanks for reminding me about hibachis! I am on a budget

Dinner was airplane food. I somehow managed to fly out of Boston to Atlanta ( I live in RI) , clear out a storage unit left for 10 years, with the help of a moving company and return home. I left yesterday and came back today. I am glad to be home and to have the few things that I loved from my childhood on the way. My daughter wanted her baby clothes (we have a grandson! :O ) and childhood photo albums. It is nice to downsize and keep only what you love.

eric95us

Minus...hope the CT finds just "incidentalomas" that are nothing.

Oh, no, Sandy! That stinks.

We just got back from camping. It was nice to not have to compete for the limited number of spaces that are still open...most of the national forests are closed because of extreme fire danger.

carolehalston

Dinner at Iron Horse after golf last night was delicious. The menu is quite large with many tempting sandwich and burger selections. DH had a brisket reuben sandwich with fries. The sandwich was huge with thick cut slices of marbled rye bread and and a large helping of fries. I tasted a couple of fries and they were good but too salted for my taste. He didn't eat all the bread, saying there was simply too much bread.

I had a single meat BB'Q dinner (you could have two or three meats!) with brisket as my meat choice. My two sides were a garden salad with blue cheese dressing and cole slaw. The dinner came with a large cornbread muffin and a little paper cup of a flavored butter, cinnamon and sugar. Yuk. Plain butter would have tempted me. I'm a brisket fan and my six slices were tender and perfectly to my taste. I did not reach for the barbecue sauce. The garden salad was lovely with not a shred of iceberg lettuce! The blue cheese dressing yummy. The coleslaw was sweet. I took a few bites of it but the brisket and salad were enough food. I had two icy cold bottles of Michelob golden light. Golfing on a hot afternoon (low 80's and a bit humid) worked up a thirst despite drinking lots of water.

I'm thinking tonight will be a pasta dish. One ingredient will be the 8 oz of ground turkey in the refrigerator, thawed but not used for Thursday night's dinner. I'll turn it into Italian sausage with some fennel and other seasonings and open up a jar of Rao's tomato sauce.

Minus, I must admit that the idea of being friends with an ex is strange. My younger sister is on friendly terms with her ex but their communication is strictly about their two adult children who remain needy individuals with mental problems.

MinusTwo

Illi - it is Toro Japanese, but there are several so I included the link to the one at Westheimer & Beltway 8. If you try the one on 290, let me know what you think. The menus are different.

http://torosushihouston.com/reservations/

Eric - glad you've back safe & sound. I was worried about the fires when I looked up where your campground was located. Hope drifting smoke &/or ash wasn't a problem.

Bedo - I can't imagine you did all that in ONE day. Whew! But I know you're glad that's done.

Dinner tonight will be salmon.

eric95us

None of the fires were near where we were camping, so there was no smoke nor falling ash.

Next Saturday will be the 5th anniversary of the deaths of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew and we are going to go to the state (memorial) park established at the place they died. It's a 7 mile (round trip) hike that follows the same route they took from their parked trucks to where they died.

ChiSandy

Late lunch yesterday at Sprecher’s (attached to hotel) was excellent Scotch eggs. Rehearsal dinner was a buffet of chopped salad, cavatappi Alfredo, and Italian beef sandwiches. Lunch today was a schnitzel sandwich with red cabbage, green beans & carrots, and pickles—more than half of which is in the suite fridge right now. Wedding will be catered by Gino’s East—there will be deep-dish pizza

illimae

Today was an all day feast of homemade beans, fajitas, tamales and watermelon/vodka punch. Now I’m full and exhausted but having a great time.

ChiSandy

Wedding reception was hors d'oeuvres (caprese skewers, meatballs, cucumber canapés); dinner was a buffet of three kinds each of deep dish and thin crust pizza, plus chopped salad. Instead of wedding cake, there were cupcakes (“raspberry lemonade" and chocolate Guinness with vanilla-bean frosting) and salted caramel cookie bites. Now I see what the fuss over cupcakes is all about!

carolehalston

Those cupcakes sound yummy!

Tonight will be chicken breast fillets--one large boneless chicken breast cut into three pieces and flattened, lightly breaded and browned in butter/olive oil. Cauliflower mash and romaine salad. A WW meal! Tomorrow afternoon is my WW meeting in Bemidji. I will be happy to weigh in at the same weight as last week. My summer goal seems to be evolving into "don't gain" rather than "lose."

Yesterday I stopped in at Ace Hardware in Park Rapids. The Farmers' Market sets up in part of the Ace parking lot, so I wandered over to check out the venders. I ended up buying a pork steak, ground pork and ground lamb from a young couple. The young man had cooked a pork steak on a grill and was offering bites. It was delicious. I would have bought lamb chops but they were out of them. They sell meat from animals they raise.

ChiSandy

The cupcakes were made by a baker friend of the bride. We had planned to buy fresh strawberries along the roadside en route back to I-94 today, but all there were was “u-pick.” Nope- not with our aging knees & backs. Gonna have to find a farmers’ market this week.

Magari

Hi, all! Sending good thoughts to Minus for good news, and hoping Sandy's arm is healing well.

We went to the farmer's market last weekend and as usual I got a little carried away.... Got Manilla clams and had a friend over for spaghetti alle vongole. Fresh berries, so raspberry clafloutis for dessert that night, and drop biscuit blackberry/raspberry shortcakes a couple of nights later in the week.

Sand dabs with summer squash sauteed with onion and serrano peppers. Lamb steaks with roasted potatoes and salad. Grilled calamari with Greek salad (red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, kalamata olives and cojita instead of feta cheese.)

We're going out for pizza this evening at a place we like within walking distance. I'm planning Jacques Pepin's mother's simple cheese souffle to use up some cheese tomorrow night, with more salad. Also green Thai curry with sweet potatoes, eggplant and green beans that are all in the crisper for another night this week. Both recipes make enough for us to have at least a second meal from them, so that should take of us for a while!

eric95us

After coming back from camping, we had a list of things to fix on the tent trailer. I spent most of the day taking care of that...it's 110F/43C in the shade (except I was in the sun)....and I'm certainly sweaty.

As usual, the heat "turned off" my appetite, so I don't know if I'm even going to eat dinner.

MinusTwo

We were lucky today. It only got to 100 degrees in the shade of my back porch.

Dinner was leftover poached salmon w/dill, leftover asparagus cooked in Red Hook Lemon Pepper skillet sauce, that last of the cucumbers & onions marinated in sour cream, and a piece of sourdough bread.

I quite like these vegetable skillet sauces. I'm going to try the stir fry one next.

carolehalston

We will be eating dinner in Bemidji tonight following my WW meeting. I have been googling the list of suggestions for restaurants that I got last Monday from people at the meeting. I'm leaning toward Lake Side Tavern on Lake Bemidji but all the menus looked good. And similar! The upscale Italian restaurant in Bemidji isn't open on Monday.

bedo

Minus, I am sending good thoughts to you.

Illimae those fajitas...

I went to yoga this morning. I am the worst in the class.

Plus, our team came in 2d to last out of 40 at Trivia last week

I am eating ramen noodles with sugar snap peas. Thanks to whoever recommended them, I think. They're addictive

Tonight probably peanuts for dinner. There is a music venue near here that is a dive, (real dogs are allowed) but they have the best live music in the state. And peanuts in the shell.

MinusTwo

Bedo - I often have peanuts for dinner. Are you doing any fiddling at all?

Good news on the CT Scan report. They can see some damage from the radiation but the nodules are the same as they were 4 years ago. They're considered 'stable' and nothing to worry about. Hooray. In a couple of weeks I'll have a carotid scan, an echocardiogram and a treadmill test ordered by my new heart doc. There was no follow up after my wonderful MO retired, so the loop was never closed on the amount of possible damage from the Adriamycin or the Herceptin.

Dunch in a little while will be leftover stir fried veggies & fried rice served with leftover salmon.

MinusTwo

Does anyone have good Lentil veggie dishes? I order Green Lentils whenever I see them in restaurants, but have never cooked them at home. Bought a bag today & wondered what else to do besides just boiling.

SpecialK

minus - yay for a good scan! My DH has profuse lung nodules that provided a scare when they were incidentally discovered during a scan for abdominal pain (turned out to be diverticulosis) and his have been stable for quite some time. I am not too much help on the lentil front - but do have a recipe from my MIL that I included in the cookbook I made as a surprise for her 80th birthday - of mostly her own, but also additional, family recipes. I have never had it because DH is not a lentil fan so she never made it when we were there! In reading this recipe I am wondering if you could continue to let it simmer on the stove rather than bake it so as not to turn on the oven.

Polish Sausage and Lentils - put 1c. of rinsed lentils in a pan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cover and cook over low heat for 20 mins. Drain and reserve liquid. Heat 2 T. oil in a pan and cook 2 chopped onions with 3 minced cloves of garlic until tender. Mix in 1 med. can of chopped tomatoes and cook over moderate heat until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Slice 3 lbs. kielbasa into 1/2" thick pieces and add to the tomato mixture, add the lentils in along with 1 t. sugar. 1/2 t. pepper, a bay leaf, and salt to taste. Stir in a little of the reserved lentil liquid. Put the mixture in a casserole dish and bake for 30 mins at 350 F. Add more reserved liquid if the mixture bakes dry.

I watched this episode of Giada's show and she made this lentil salad, which looked different and good:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/italian-lentil-salad-recipe-1953215

MinusTwo

Yes, I think you could just simmer & not put in the oven. I'll probably try it w/o the sausage.

The lentil salad does sound interesting. I've seen salads with cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, carrots, red pepper & onion - but not grapes so far. As it happens, I have some grapes in the fridge.

auntienance

Sandy, ouch! Heal fast.

Minus, good news on the scan. Most of the lentill recipes I have are soup. I did have one Nigella recipe for French lentils.

We had a rather filling (and mediocre) Mexican lunch today and so far I have no interest in dinner. The first of the local sweet corn is in and I have six freshly picked ears so that may be it.

carolehalston

Yay on the scan results, Minus!

We ate at Tavern on the South Shore and had a table overlooking Lake Bemidji and looking out on the bike trail around the lake. Nice to see folks biking, walking. I had the Black and Blue burger with beer-battered fries. Huge pattie, probably 1/2 lb, with blue cheese, lettuce and tomato and also a Buffalo sauce that was spicy. The sauce and the blue cheese made a tasty combination. The fries were very good and the serving not too large. My beverage was Michelob light on tap.

DH had a patty melt with cooked onions and mac and cheese as his side. He also had about half my fries.

I cut my large burger in half, intending to eat only half and take half home. But I ended up eating the whole thing.

Bedo, peanuts in the shell are a big favorite of mine. I prefer the unsalted ones but will eat the salted, too. It's a challenge to stop eating them once I start cracking those shells. Pistachios in the shell have been one of the Happy Hour munchies this summer.

PatsyKB

MinusTwo, I haven't tried this yet but I just pinned it to my plant-based eating board on Pinterest: Vegan Enchiladas with Lentils! https://elavegan.com/vegan-enchiladas-lentils-gluten-free

MinusTwo

Patsy - that does look good. Let us know if you make it.

MinusTwo

Today I cooked some of the Anasazi beans I'd ordered from Colorado. Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning 'ancient one'. These beans were found in the cliff dwellings at the Four Corners area and Mesa Verde National Park cliff dwellings. They are grown at 7000 ft altitude on dry land soil just like the Ancestral Pueblo People grew them for 600 years before they started leaving in the late 1190's.

I cooked them with a few ham pieces, onion, celery & garlic. Skipped the S&P and just added a little from the table. They are supposedly sweeter than a pinto bean & I agree. It didn't call for soaking overnight but I did. So they cooked super fast. They were almost over-done in just over an hour. I bought a small burlap bag so I have enough for at least one more pot.

Edited to correct dates. They lived on the plains for 600 years and started creating the cliff dwellings in the late 1190's. They lived there for almost a century, but by 1300 they'd moved south into present day New Mexico & Arizona.

eric95us

I'll have to look around for the Anasazi beans and try them.

I've been "experimenting" with cooking with the white tepary beans. The white beans have a creamy taste which I like, while the brown teparies have what I would describe as an earthy (dirt) taste that I do not like.

ChiSandy

I generally use green lentils (nuked with chopped shallots, herbes de Provence, olive oil, S&P till al dente) as a bed for seared salmon.

Last night's pre-concert (Roger Daltrey and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra--basically the CSO's summer league--doing Tommy in its entirety) dinner at Ravinia's Tree Top buffet restaurant was seasonal "Southern comforts:" Mediterranean appetizer station (grilled veggies--endive, rainbow carrots, asparagus, etc., dolmades, olives, crudites, charcuterie); bistro roast chicken and buttermilk fried chicken w/honey-mustard glaze, blackened Chilean salmon; roasted red potatoes, potato salad, dirty rice, cheese grits, mac & cheese, and carved-to-order ham. Dessert station was chocolate chip & peanut butter cookies, blueberry tartlets, lemon curd squares, "blondies," and Black Forest cheesecake minis. No, I didn't try everything (not even close), but what I had was luscious.

Concert was wonderful--Daltrey, at 74, is in top form and great voice (fully recovered from the viral meningitis that nearly killed him in 2015 and with his asthma held in check)--and was able to perform mic-twirling acrobatics without hitting himself in the eye. (He must feel like a fish out of water at venues with wireless mics). The band included Simon Townshend (Pete's brother) on rhythm guitar and Pete's vocal parts, plus Daltrey's other touring band members (rather than Zak Starkey on drums & Pino Palladino on bass, who've been the Who's rhythm section for >15 years). Afterward, the encores were "Who Are You," "Baba O'Reilly"--aka "Teenage Wasteland"--(with an actual violin soloist, like on the Who's Next album, rather than Daltrey playing the solo coda on harmonica), and a brand-new solo song "Always Heading Home" (well, new to us, because he wrote it in 1992). Gordy & I were singing along to nearly everything--I stole glances at the audience, which seemed to be evenly divided between boomer/gen-X-er/older millennial Who fans and the staid Ravinia boomers attending as part of their subscriptions. (I also discovered how well I could rock out with both hands "in restraints:" I let my upper arms & shoulders do the work).

Brunch was low-carb wholegrain/hi-fiber French toast with maple syrup. (Only the real stuff--"pancake syrup" is meh, and the sugar-free version is vile). Tonight I pan-seared Verlasso salmon for Gordy & me (he didn't try the salmon last night, and Peapod delivered the filets this morning--always better fresh); nuked a brown & wild rice blend, sauteed snap peas, steamed fiddleheads (finished with flake salt and truffle oil), and stovetop-grilled spring onions.

Tomorrow is our 47th anniversary. We were waitlisted for the French wine dinner at Mon Ami Gabi tomorrow night, and this morning it came through!

In the morning I will revisit my hand ortho surgeon--he will take X-rays of my L hand & wrist to determine if the shadowy line on my scaphoid on last week's x-ray was indeed a hairline fracture (last night it sure felt like it) or (I hope) just an artifact or blood vessel; and of my R forearm & elbow to see how well the elbow fracture is healing and whether any "occult" fractures occurred along the length of the radius or ulna. I'm getting sick of this stupid sling--it's black, and I have an orange-&-white patch tabby kitty who likes to snuggle next to me. At least I can still work a lint roller even with my L hand in a rigid splint-brace. Last night on the train home, I saw a woman with a powder blue sling--I'd love to find one that light or even white. (How come it's only the white cat hairs that get shed)?

carolehalston

I played in a member-guest event with the women's golf league at Headwaters Golf Course yesterday. Tee times began at noon (temperature in the low 70's! Yay!!!). There was a meal afterwards. Chicken salad on croissant, a few chips, and a few green grapes. Dessert was ice cream with dark chocolate cookie crumbles. I ate "the whole thing" since I was hungry and drank two light beers on draft.

It was fun even though I played my high handicap game. I won a $20 gift certificate to spend in the pro shop. Last night I was bidding for golf clubs on Ebay!

Tonight's dinner may be the pork steak I bought at the Farmers' Market.

eric95us

70s???? What's that? :-) I don't think it's been in the 70s for the past month. This time of year, the daytime high temperatures are around 110F/44C and nighttime low temperatures around around 85F/30C.

This is the time of year everyone can laugh at our weather.

Dinner tonight was tacos....fill the soft shells, pull the shell so it's a half circle shape, pat it down and put it in a skillet for 3 minutes on a side.

Sharon is thrilled---her weight is down 8-1/2 pounds in a month.

Whenever Sharon gets her banjo out and starts playing it, the dogs and cat compete with each other to get as close as possible to her. Tonight is no exception to this. The cat is on her feet, one dog is on her right side and the other dog is on her left side. When she sits down without the banjo, or sits down with the banjo without playing it, or sits down with the banjo and moves her hands/fingers without plucking the strings....they don't pay much attention to her...so I'm guessing it is the music that brings them over.

MinusTwo

Please tell Sharon - amazing job!!! 8-1/2 pounds in a month. Woo Hoo!!