So...whats for dinner?

SpecialK

mommy - Moe’s has such funny names for their menu items - I usually get the Close Talker salad and my DD gets the Homewrecker burrito.

auntienance

Grilling half a chicken rubbed with olive oil, garlic, oregano and lemon. We'll have egg noodles with butter and a little parm and broccoli pieces with the bird.

Went to the orchard Friday and made an apple pie yesterday. Wasn't the best I've made (crust got too warm while I was rolling it and I was in too much of a hurry to re- chill.) DH thought it was great. He's my pie guy. I hooked him by making him an apple pie for his birthday 38 years ago lol

M0mmyof3

Hubby and I love their Earmuffs bowls. We always end up so full from it we can’t even think of eating anything else for a few hours.

KatyK

Enjoyed our week in the camping van. Saw spectacular landscapes, foliage and wildlife. And was so nice to have meals prepared and just heat up. Made the evening so relaxing to have dinner ready. One night we enjoyed eggplant parmigiana with salad and a nice bottle of Italian red wine. Ambiance was wonderful at a picnic table with little pumpkin lights!

MinusTwo

Katy - how neat. Where did you go camping? Sorry if you already said & I forgot.

M0mmyof3

Stuffed chicken breasts and salad

ChiSandy

Katy, I think I had that same eggplant parm (Michelina's?) last night, over a half-portion of whole wheat spaghetti (Bionature) to sop up the extra sauce.

Today, after hand therapy, I visited H-Mart, a huge Asian (primarily Korean) supermarket and bought ready-to-eat shrimp chips (inexplicably sweetened, unlike the fry-them-yourself savory ones I occasionally make--comfort food from the Cantonese-American restaurants of my Brooklyn childhood); instant bean sprout and miso soups; and shrimp tempura and a small "darne" (a fish steak from which the bones were removed) of Chilean sea bass which was on sale. Think I'll have the tempura & fish with some stir-fried peppers & snow peas for dinner.

carolehalston

Nance, I hope you heard my "hello" as we passed through your town yesterday. We stayed overnight in Hayti at our favorite Drury Inn and arrived home this afternoon.

Dinner was grilled cheese sandwiches. It's nice to be home.

auntienance

Carole, welcome home! I'm sorry you didn't stop. I know how it is when you're traveling through with your destination in mind though.

SpecialK

carole - dang, auntie would have given you some pie if you stopped!

auntienance

Ha ha, Special, my thoughts exactly!

M0mmyof3

Have my women's club meeting tonight. We have a dinner we do once a year where everyone brings something. I am bringing stuffed mushrooms.

ChiSandy

Had the tempura last night--used the "airfry" setting on my toaster oven, and though the outside was crisp & delicious the batter was way too thick. Also a bowl of instant miso soup, which was so comforting during the strong thunderstorm. This a.m. was a low-carb BLT, using guac instead of mayo and half of one of my homegrown tomatoes. The ones ripening on my sill are smaller than the two beefsteak ones I ate last week; there are only two conventional ones still on the vine (small and green, camouflaged by wine-bottle netting against squirrel invasion). Last one of those I picked today is still mostly yellow, but will ripen quickly indoors.

What I'm having right now--tricky getting the milk texture and pouring "wiggle" just right:

MinusTwo

Well - tonight is TX National Night Celebration. Texas decided to buck the rest of the nation, which very sensibly celebrates in August. Something about being too hot for the police. I think maybe Arizona also celebrates in October. But we always had a huge turn out in August on the REAL NNO day - with the pool open, games like horse shoes, live music, a bounce house, a catered BBQ some years and even a dunking booth one year. NO ONE wants to come out on a school night after they get home from work - and I don't blame them. This is especially true of neighbors with kids in school - the very people we need to meet & make welcome. They race home from work & pick up kiddos at day care, then fix dinner, they have band practice or T-ball or tae kwondo, or teacher's meetings at the school, then homework & and getting everyone into bed for school & work again in the morning.

So tonight we've asked everyone to bring finger food snacks only and we will provide cold water. It's pouring rain at 4pm - but maybe it will stop by 7pm??? We don't have a building but we do have a covered pavilion. And we do have donated items from local merchants for 10 drawings. We only have 187 homes in our subdivision. Attendance has gone from 150 families in August down to 15-25 now that we hold it at night in October. Can you tell we miss the standard plan?

I ate my normal dunch. The last of the salmon wrapped in a flour tortilla.

M0mmyof3

The stuffed mushrooms I made for the dinner for my women's club meeting tonight was a hit. Have only about a dozen left!

illimae

Tonight was grilled steak with red potatoes and broccoli. No pic, it was 1/2 gone before I thought about it.

SpecialK

chisandy - as a former barista I say kudos on your latte art!

Tonight was roasted sweet potato wedges with spicy dipping sauce and chicken burgers with chipotle Gouda and bacon topping on kaiser rolls.

minus - bummer on the date change for your function - no way it should be on a school night! That is just silly.

ChiSandy

Dinner tonight was seared Thai ginger-marinated sea bass, stir-fried snap peas with sesame seeds, and jasmine rice.

MinusTwo

Illimae - hope your MRI test results are good news. Thinking of you.

MinusTwo

I really want pasta, but I'm being a good girl & eating a big salad for dunch. Stuff that was in the fridge - romaine, radicchio, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes with small thin pieces of Jarlsberg cheese for protein. But I really want pasta..... Maybe I'll take a nap instead.

Now that our subdivision pool is closed, I'm really missing water aerobics 3x a week. The "winter" pounds are already slowly moving in. Hopefully I can make myself start walking again if it ever cools off. But like Carole's climate, it could be November before it's below mid 80s with 100% humidity. It's either walking or quit eating entirely since I have no plans to quit my glass of wine w/dinner. Calories from wine & no food? There's an idea.

Speaking of wine, I'm having a Kirkland Rioja Reserve wine today. It's from Tempranillo grapes aged 36 months in oak barrels & bottled in Spain. Mostly boring.

Lacey12

Minus, I feel your wght mgmt pain! And yes, alcohol calories easily find spots to park on our hips! I found this summer at the lake that I gained weight due to the heat and humidity (extreme for us northerners) that was too miserable for walking and outdoor (or indoor since we have no air conditioning) exercise, but really conducive to sitting on the beach where everyone eats and drinks. Oy! My usual summer weight management is helped along with lots of long brisk walks...but not this past one. Since being home, I’ve decided to really limit any liquid calories which seems to be helping...but not as much fun for sure.

I hope that your night celebration was decently attended, Minus. It is tough once school starts for the young families. Last night we went to a pre-season Celtics game and while it started at 8PM, I was amazed at how many young kids were there...many until the bitter end.

Before the game we ate at a restaurant in a suites area we usually don’t have access to, and where they have some more interesting menu selections than the usual arena food. I ordered a dish that sounded delicious. It was. Sea scallops over pumpkin risotto with a variety of spices and garnishes atop (sorry I can’t recall and didn’t even know what some of them were, but will post pic in case you can recognize what they are;). I was delighted with the taste, but underwhelmed by just 2 scallops being on top of the loads of risotto.

Tonight I look forward to having whatever I want in whatever form I want since DH is going to a conference dinner. I might just cook up my kale with onions mushrooms and garlic and call it a day....or maybe eat Oatmeal!

Tomorrow evening we are going to a Celtics “event” where we will eat whatever items they offer...probably nothing very healthful. Then off to the lake on Friday for the long weekend where we will enjoy the annual beach lobsterfest. I feel so fortunate that the men in our association continue to run this event. All I have to do is bring dessert. To keep it easy, I’ll make a big batch of super chocolatey brownies.

Mommy, I would love to know what you stuff your mushrooms with.

And Carole, I hope your trip home and re-integration was easy. It must be nice to see your family and friends at home after several months away.

KatyK

Lacey12- I think the dinner looks quite tasty!

Tonight we are having leftover chicken enchiladas ( I put other stuff in too like, spinach, olives, tomatoes, cheese, etc). And I am so happy I don’t have to cook! Did a big mtn. bike ride today and now I’m feeling it! Will be veryhappy to just heat up. Also have some apple crisp, picked apples a while ago, and vanilla ice cream! I’m happy!

carolehalston

Chicken enchiladas! Sounds so good!

Tonight's dinner will be a pork steak, baked sweet potatoes and a romaine salad. The pork steak traveled home with us.

It has been much too long since I enjoyed lobster. Very envious of the beach lobster fest.

auntienance

Reverse seared bone in pork chops with cider pan sauce and sliced apples. Side was some oven fried thinly sliced potatoes.

Ah, lobster - I've missed you so . . .

illimae

Lasey, that looks wonderful.

Busy day today and I area lot to celebrate a great brain MRI (one tiny spot left, nothing new). Lunch was a Spinach/Artichoke quesadilla with black beans and rice from El Tiempo Cantina. Dinner was blackened red Snapper, a squash/zucchini/leek medley and brown rice. I also had two glasses of red wine and a cupcake, I regret nothing, lol

auntienance

Yay illimae! Great news!

PatsyKB

I haven’t been checking in on all of you enough lately...and I see I’ve missed a lot of deliciousness!

Tonight the husband had an incredible red chile pork tamale (from a farmers market vendor who makes the best tamales!). I’m a whole food plant based girl so I had leftovers (which I’d frozen): Black Bean Plantain Enchilada Bake from Minimalist Baker, my favorite food website. We had a lot of this and that in the vegetable bin so I made a purple cabbage slaw to go with the above. Yum! The photo is from the website.

https://minimalistbaker.com/black-bean-plantain-enchilada-bake/?omhide=true&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NEW%21+Black+Bean+Plantain+Enchilada+Bake%21

ChiSandy

Congrats, Ilona! Lacey, Patsy--lovely food porn!

Hot, hot, HOT today. 90 by midafternoon, still 80 now (midnight). Storms coming in starting in about an hour, cold front behind--high tomorrow of 52. 60s Fri., and 70s for the weekend, with intermittent showers & storms. Natch, I have an outdoor gig to play Sunday.

Feeling sorta crummy right now--had my flu shot late this afternoon (wanted my arm to be ok by Sunday and the flu immunity to kick in while we'll be in the Berkshires in a couple of weeks). Went to the walk-in ortho clinic for my back strain--and from the look of the X-rays it's a wonder it hasn't happened more often than it has since Aug. Scoliosis (they have to do epidurals with a fluoroscope to get the needle into the right space), an old coccyx fracture (fell on an icy parking lot reloading my car after a gig in 2006--I literally busted my butt for my art), and facet joints that are badly spurred and losing cartilage. The ortho was also able to palpate a bunch of excruciating trigger points where the muscles attach. 6 weeks of 2x/wk P.T.; if no improvement after 6-8 wks, then we'll talk bone scan. But the ortho is pretty sure the reason my back muscles keep pulling more frequently is simply that my spine is getting older and my supporting structures are weak. But I've been released from hand therapy, and my hand surgeon is delighted with the progress of my L hand & wrist.

Was running late this a.m. so skipped breakfast. For lunch, the hospital cafeteria had a "Farmer's Fridge" vending machine--I had veggie cauliflower "fried rice." Since it was so warm out tonight (and I was able to light the gas grill), I heated a cast iron skillet in the grill and made a seared grass-fed ribeye. (Ate half; the other half will be steak & eggs for breakfast). Salad of homegrown tomatoes & basil, corn-bean salad, roasted Brussels sprouts on the side.

carolehalston

Happy news, Illimae! You deserved a food celebration.

Tonight will be pasta with Rao sauce and ground turkey Italian sausage (ground turkey with added seasonings). And a romaine salad. I am so happy to have my salad spinner. I brought home a bag of tomatoes from the bushes at the resort and some are ripening. I also have a nice avocado and a bought cucumber. I will miss the delicious cucumbers from the vine in Mary's garden plot. That vine has probably succumbed to frost by now.

auntienance

Beef tips and noodles with baby peas tonight. Also applesauce. I made enough applesauce today to feed the world.

Tomorrow is DH's birthday. He had requested a beef tenderloin filet which I ordered from the local butcher and a twice baked potato. (He's so easy lol.) I baked a three layer dark chocolate cake today which I'll frost tomorrow with a mascarpone frosting. A raspberry filling goes between the layers. This is the cake I usually bake for Christmas eve dinner. It's good enough to eat twice a year lol.