So...whats for dinner?

illimae

Tonight’s dinner was a turkey on wheat with baked lays, a small salad and a fruit cup provided by my cancer center. I’m usually home by dinner but treatment was scheduled late today.

MinusTwo

Excitement ahead. Illimae and I are meeting for lunch on Wednesday. We're headed to a Vietnamese place that is supposed to be delicious. We'll report back.

So far I've had dinner with Lacey & Susan in Boston, lemonade with Eric in Phoenix, lunch with Magari in San Francisco, as well as lunch with Sandra4611 from San San Antonio and JB from Dayton. It's always so much fun to meet the real person behind the posts.

Tonight was another very large salad with hard boiled eggs for the protein, accompanied by Jarlsberg cheese slices on a piece of toasted sourdough

illimae

I don’t know about tonight yet but I’m fairly certain that both minus and I will be having leftovers tomorrow after lunch. (Shaking Beef Day!!!, for me at least 😀)

auntienance

Yay Minus, I'm hoping we too can do lunch on my next trip to Texas (with fewer family obligations.)

A tamale, a chicken burrito (courtesy of trader Joe) and pinto beans (courtesy of the instant pot) tonight.

eric95us

This morning I cooked some brown rice in my home made turkey broth (stock?) and some pinto beans in the pressure cooker. Sharon is going to make some guacamole and then "build" some burritos.

I also have been sitting in the recliner chair and looking at the pictures I copied from the old computers. Wow! These all start from when we got our first digital camera (July 1998). DD was a happy baby. The happy part hasn't changed. :-)

Lacey12

Excited for Minus and Illimae’s pending lunch together!

This afternoon DDIL2 came over to pick up the granddog now that they are back from Napa. I stressed a bit about what to offer her (our very selective eater) since it was around lunch time, but I should have known that she’d need to get back to work, and doesn’t gravitate towards food as we do! So we had a quick visit and off they went. They brought us a lovely bottle of Zinfindel and a speciality beer for DH. It is pouring rain here today, so I am not at all sad to miss having to walk the pooch!

Okay....since I’m getting tired of filling out the forms for my license renewal, I maybe I will head downstairs and rescue the untouched instant pot from it’s isolation. When I think about my resistance/avoidance to starting to use this appliance, am guessing that it could be the lingering childhood worries from my mother’s old pressure cooker, and the ominous sound of that potentially explosive thing. I think I had too many “warnings” from my mother about that potential. I do not actually recall it ever exploding!

Eric, it sounds like you are a productive retiree! Wish I could say the same...

Carole, I’m guessing that the chilly northern temps this week will buoy your efforts to move home. Have a smooth process and safe trip!

Am thawing out some chicken, so maymake a stir fry of sorts. Tho it’s a good day to turn on the oven, so maybe a chicken parm. I have wanted to use more of the wonderful canned New Jersey tomatoes I picked up at a farm there in June. They are so sweet and wonderful to use in soups, sauces and casseroles. Yum!

eric95us

When I was 7 or 8 years old, I got to see one instance where the pressure cooker's over pressure safety plug blew out. The cooker itself was just fine, but the sudden release of pressure was quite noisy and it sure did make a mess on the ceiling. I also remember mom's choice of words when she realized what happened. :-)

I have that pressure cooker.

MinusTwo

Nance - on my bucket list is the Paddle-wheel boat trip down the Mississippi - with a stop at St. Louis. Not this year but maybe next. And I have a friend I must visit around Pittsburgh before he gets any older - which I don't think is prohibitively far from you. I'm still looking toward a Florida trip to meet Special and some of the others who live there.

Dunch was a couple of pieces of left over sushi. I have a neighborhood Civic Club meeting tonight so it looks like popcorn at 9pm.

eric95us

ET's dad was moved into the hospital ICU and I'm having to stay away...strep and ICU don't mix.

SpecialK

eric - hope you feel better soon - strep is no fun. DH had strep when he was in navigation training and had a fever so high he was hallucinating - it was a bit scary. He was seeing rabbits on the highway - that were not actually there. The good news - we were en route to the ER, lol!

minus - come see me! It is either that, or we have to meet in SF and go get sourdough!

minus/illimae - picturing you two at lunch together is making me smile!

carole - travel safely on your way south!

DownNotOut

illimae & minus, it makes me happy thinking about your lunch together...looking forward to the report.

Eric, I hope you get over your strept throat very soon.

Thanks everyone for the Instant Pot discussions. I think I'll put the 8 Qt on my wish list for my next birthday/Christmas. We keep a running list on the kitchen wall so everyone can add to it as they think of things they want throughout the year. With a large family, it makes buying so easy! I head straight for it when my DH mentions ANYTHING like "I sure could use a ...." since he is impossible to buy for!

Dinner last night was an Asian rubbed (ginger, garlic, S&P) pork roast over brown rice & broccoli. Not very imaginative but doable before my DS's flag football practice. It's raining hard in central Alabama today & I'm freezing in this sudden 73 degree weather! I was wearing a skirt today but came home & put onsweatpants!

illimae

Hi all, dinner tonight will absolutely be leftovers. It was great to meet minus (Jan) while enjoying good food and conversation. Leftovers will be my remaining shaking beef with fried rice and Vietnamese spring rolls.

I don’t know where our next lunch will be yet but I bet it will be fun and delicious 🙂

MinusTwo

Yes, lunch was delicious. I could eat there every week. I had Vietnamese egg rolls instead of spring rolls, but I too had the Fried Rice Shaking Beef. And I have enough leftover for two more meals. It's 5:30 and I'm not even a little bit hungry. Funny that the restaurant was only a couple of blocks from where my ex-DH worked when we first moved to Houston in 1973 - and next to a club/bar where I occasionally played darts in my younger, wilder past.

It was fun to meet illimae. You have lovely eyes - by the way!!! We both spent parts of our lives in CA and we both miss the Pacific Ocean. And I think we both decided relationships with relatives are better when the actual people are at a further distance and visits are not long. Yes, we will surely meet/eat again.

Take a look at Peli Peli Kitchen at 9090 Katy Fwy when you're wandering around. It's the "fast casual" version of the upscale South African restaurants.

ChiSandy

10 yrs. ago I got a WMF manual pressure cooker (Alton Brown recommended it). Used it once to make chili per his recipe, which burned. From then on I just used it to boil spaghetti water. Meh. I have no occasion to use an InstantPot (I have a really nice slow cooker), but if I were going to be cooking in quantity on a regular basis I'd get the 8-qt. I was in Crate & Barrel yesterday, and even the 6-qt takes up quite a bit of countertop or cabinet real estate.

carolehalston

Last night was meat loaf and cauliflower/potato mash. I used up all the remaining ground beef in the freezer to make two meat loaves and cooked them in the grill/oven. I added chopped green onions and seasonings for flavor. The meatloaf turned out a little dry.

Tonight's dinner will be meat loaf slices doctored up with tomato sauce and maybe a sprinkling of cheese. Side may be carrots and a cucumber and tomato salad.

I have done well this summer with using up most of the contents of the freezer. And I have not over-stocked cabinets with canned goods. Pat on the back!

MinusTwo

Carole - yes congrats on not over stocking. That's a failing of mine since there are no grocery stores close by. Are you heading home this weekend? Will look forward to hearing about your trip, your home coming and how you Mother is doing.

ChiSandy

Went to Cellars last night after the AppleStore (got the Series 4 watch with cellular, fall detection and heart monitoring--ready for the EKG app coming in Dec.). Had the fish & chips again (always the best in town) with slaw. Had them pack half the portion right away, so will likely have them tonight with leftover green beans and one of my homegrown tomatoes. Bob called and is bringing home 6 more Lithuanian bacon buns. Heaven help me.

auntienance

Sandy, I have a recipe for those buns and make them from time to time. They are awesome.

Last night was a grilled ham steak, baked sweet potato and sweet and sour cabbage which I made in the pressure cooker for the first time. Next time will use more salt and shorter cook time. It was still good.

It feels like a kung pao night. Not sure if I'll make it or order it out.

ChiSandy

Had no breakfast (late for OT and the cats had to be fed), so upon my return, it was a hot-corned-beef-on-rye afternoon. (Small end of the loaf, though).

illimae

minus, thanks for the compliment, my eyes are my most mentioned feature. Hope you’re enjoying your busy week 🙂

Tonight was baked pork chops and red potatoes with Brussels sprouts. First time trying this recipe and the last, not terrible but nothing special either.

I’m looking for something savory, maybe creamy, if anyone has a pork chop dish you love, feel free to share.

eric95us

I've got more brown rice cooking in turkey broth and chickpeas going in the pressure cooker.

We keep a "stash" of this in the refrigerator as it fits in with a lot of dinners we're now making.

I got into the car yesterday and the Dave Ramsey show was on the radio. I heard his "eating only beans and rice, rice and beans" comment and laughed. I don't think he knows how to properly cook rice and beans. :-)

I haven't decided what to make for dinner. I'm still not feeling the greatest and Sharon is showing symptoms of what I have/had...so it will be simple, quick and probably not too filling.

I don't really have any pork chop recipes that I'd recommend...so I'll be looking over your shoulder. :-)

SpecialK

illimae & eric - I have made this for many years as it is pretty quick and uses stuff I mostly have in the house. You can do it with pork chops, thin breakfast chops, or pork tenderloin that is cut into medallions and pounded thin.

Pork in Tarragon Sauce

Cook the seasoned (S&P) pork on both sides in a large flat pan in a small amount of olive oil, until browned but not necessarily cooked through. Remove the pork and keep warm covered on a plate. Stir 1/3 c. each tarragon vinegar and stock (chicken or beef) into the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen brown bits and cook about 5 mins., or until reduced by half. Lower the heat and add 1 T. tarragon (I use dried), 1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard and 1/4 c. heavy cream. Simmer until reduced by half. Add another 1/4 c. heavy cream, add pork back to the pan, cook until pork is done.

Also, here is a recipe for smothered pork chops that looks good - have not tried it though.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/smothered-pork-chops-recipe-1941069

MinusTwo

Special - that's pretty close to my Brandy Cream sauce, which I use with pork medallions or sliced loin pounded thin.

The last couple of times I made pork chops, I used apple juice as the liquid & added sliced apples. Sometimes I use sage instead of tarragon. And once I used peach jam & let them simmer.

You're right - the smothered pork chops sound good. Must be lunch time.

MinusTwo

Quiet here today. It's rainy & grey in Houston and finally down below 90 degrees so I decided to turn on the oven. I just had a lovely dinner. Some wild caught Alaskan Keta salmon fillets. I had to look it up. It used to be called 'chum salmon' - a poor cousin of sockeye and coho. Now that is is "caught fresh from the ocean and processed quickly, the mild taste and flaky texture make it a great eating fish." These were flash frozen. There is apparently less oil than other salmon. I marinated the fish for a couple of hours in lemon/oil/pepper - actually the left over Red Fork Asparagus marinade that had been waiting in my fridge for a good cause, and this worked well. The main course was preceded with an appetizer tray of radishes, English cucumber slices and celery stuffed with pimento cheese. Then served with broccoli. And since I'm non-traditional, a tasty glass of Malbec.

There is left over salmon which will go nicely in a salad tomorrow. Hmmm, or maybe creamed salmon? Or maybe salmon spread? But then I'd have to find some bagels.

ChiSandy

Actually, with wild salmon, a fruity non-tannic red wine is now a recommended wine choice: pinot noir, malbec, beaujolais, gamay, grenache...

MinusTwo

Good to know Sandy. I rarely open a white wine anymore since they're likely to give me a headache.

Lacey12

Your pork dish sounds delish, Special. One of these evenings when we decide to have a “mammal” dish, that would be lovely.

Tonight DH grilled some chicken breasts that I’d marinated in a balsamic, soy, garlic and rosemary dressing, accompanied by grilled asparagus in same flavored marinade, salad and corn on cob. There really isn’t enuf leftover chicken for a main feature for tomorrow’s dinner, but I could probably combine it with veggies for a stir fry, and serve over farro. And then againthere is always tomorrow’s farmer’s market to help with the menu.

We start our Celtics’ game attendance this week, (pre-season games). so on those nights we will eat at one of the sportsbar restaurants near TD Garden....back to my pre-game salmon over veggies dish I loved last season.

ChiSandy

Tonight was fridge-foraging: borscht (from the Lithuanian deli near Bob's office), a croissant, and a salad made from our cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, ricotta salata (sort of like a firm feta) and blood orange olive oil on a bed of baby spinach. No vinegar, as the tomatoes provided both liquid & acid. The Cook's Illustrated recipe also called for corn kernels, but I have only one ear of corn in the freezer and it's cheese-covered elotes.

SpecialK

Nothing was for dinner last night. We went out for a late lunch and some shoe shopping for DH. I had a Thai bowl on Asian noodles, so yummy, but DH had a WHOLE PIZZA! Yes, you read that right, lol! Thin crust, but still pretty incredible. So... he was too full for dinner - I had a little salad later.

M0mmyof3

Hubby and I stopped and got dinner Moe's Southwestern Grill on our way home from helping my in-laws with some stuff they needed done around their house. He had their Earmuffs bowl with steak, mine was chicken and I loaded mine with veggies!