So...whats for dinner?

illimae

Good autocorrect catch Eric, I need to work on that, lol.

Tonight was a veggie (spinach, Brussels sprouts, red onion, squash) pizza on whole grain naan. DH really liked it, I thought it was just ok. I’ll make it again with some tweaks.

Beaverntx

Dinner tonight-- still working on leftovers. DH had dinner out, I finished up my salmon with brown rice and vegs from last night and DGD had her choice...

auntienance

Tonight was a new dish for me, Vietnamese shaking beef served with brown rice instead of salad. Good but not spicy enough for my taste. I'll add some heat next time I make it.

Tomorrow I think I'll make Navajo tacos.

illimae

Auntienance, I LOVE shaking beef!!!

Minus, have you been back to Hughie’s?

MinusTwo

Illimae - yes I went once again with my ex-DH & ordered shaking beef again. I plan to go back more. Tomorrow going out with a neighbor who wants to try Union Kitchen.

Tonight was a pork loin roast. I never got any sides made so I just ate 4 slices of meat in a hurry. The phone kept ringing off the wall at the same time I was trying to prepare an agenda for tonight's Civic Club meeting - along with a calendar for the entire year and the financial recap of 2018 and prep the 2019 budget. And then the darn meeting lasted past 9:30pm. Whew. I'm having a 10pm gin & tonic.

Eric - you should definitely brag on your DD. Amazing accomplishments.

WC3

Trader Joe's Chicken Cheese Tamales...I'm still too tired to cook.

SpecialK

eric - didn't your DD just leave for college about 5 mins ago? She's doing a great job and youand Sharon have to be very proud!

Dinner last night was artisanal garlic sausage sliced and cooked along with caramelized onion, glazed with Stubbs BBQ sauce - because it has a low sugar content, then served over brown rice with steamed broccoli seasoned with lemon olive oil and lemon pepper and little bit of grated romano cheese.

Dinner tonight will be kale salad with chicken, blackberries, strawberries, avocado, and almonds - dressed in a strawberry vinaigrette. Might also have some soup - not sure yet.

illimae

DH made red beans and rice. It was good but unfortunately, a bit too spicy for me (my ears are sweating). He’s gonna be eating a lot of leftovers.

Lacey12

Minus, I'm guessing a lot of folks sub spinach for kale In soups. I have to say, tho, (pushy kale lady here!) I bet the kale would be way less objectionable in soup due to the softening factor....especially after it's been in the fridge a couple of days. Soup with beans rather than any kind of pasta keeps so much better for "jump ups" dinners. Love that expression for leftovers.

Eric, how proud you and Sharon must be of DD! Will she be eager to graduate that early, and leave the "college campus experience", or will she continue graduate studies there? She sounds like a very self-directed gal. Congratulations!

Special, I hope your skin has gotten back to normal. I always hated that when I had a serious hives reaction on my face, it took days for the swelling to go down. Since my experiences with psoriasis (my Tamoxifen days), I have only used Cetaphil products.

I am a total slug today after having three busy days (for me!). Monday after catching up on post holiday correspondence, we worked out at the gym, ran home to eat, then went to this very unusual program at WGBH...a review of the history (60s/70s) of experimental productions for public TV. The videos were frenzied film overlays and looked like watching them on drugs might have been the mode then! Very artsy...."The medium is the medium", rather than "the message". It was interesting to hear directly from the artistic producers of these "experiments". They are obviously all our age or older, with many stories about the process. I also enjoyed seeing how some of the new, young wannabe producers there interfaced in such respectful ways with these creative “relics” of the business.

Then bright and early on Tuesday, we headed to HBS to a discussion about the collaboration between Edwin Land and Ansel Adams, as AA tried to help Polaroid perfect the instant camera image quality...apparently one of his many gigs to put food on his family's table, back in the day. It was really interesting, especially to learn how they (one an artist/musician, another a businessman) were both engineers at heart, quite driven to accomplish this goal. In fact, Land's singular focus resulted in an inability to move Poloroid products forward into the digital era leading to the company's demise.

It was also interesting to hear all these HBS retired alums approach the topic from each of their own experiences in the business world. We then had lunch at the school. WOW! I am awestruck at the food choices at educational institutions these days. I actually can't really eat a big lunch at noon, so had yogurt while enjoying watching DH and our tablemates eat really interesting salads, sandwiches, and delicious looking entrees. Then we went to the MFA to see an Ansel Adams exhibit. I thought of how much you must enjoy his work, Minus and Eric. The stunning photos of Yosemite, (and some of NM and AZ) and the vignettes of how he hiked with his equipment to "extreme" areas to get the views he wanted. We returned home tired and hungry and I was glad we had leftover kale soup to fill us up. I made grilled cheese/tomato/oregano sandwiches to go with the soup.

Yesterday, After teaching my social skills class, I raced home so we could drive into Boston for an early Cs' game. I discovered last time at The Harp that I could get perfectly steamed broccoli, instead of the usual sauteed veggies, to go with my baked salmon, so that's what I had. DH enjoyed a hamburger and we shared a delicious clam chowder. Happy news here is that the Cs played their best game of the season, and might just finally be getting things together as a team. They have so much talent that it's been a problem of too much of a good thing with only so many playing minutes to dole out. "Sacrifice for the team" might be taking hold. The last Celtics team who won a championship adopted the African "Ubuntu" philosophy...”I am what I am because of what we are.” These guys might be moving more in that direction.

I have no idea what I'll make for dinner tonight....a stop at Trader's for one of their prepared meals might be in order, after shoppingfor some less wintery clothes for our trip west.

Tomorrow, I'll be cookie baking for a reception after our friend's memorial service on Saturday. Making Italian Sprinkle Cookies since they are colorful and tasty....either lemon or anise flavor.

KatyK

Haven’t been on for a while - SpecialK, hope you are all better! I wanted to ask if others have some skin problems from meds. I’m not sure if this is due to Ibrance or letrozole but my eyelids are red and sometimes dry and flaky. Doc told me to try Vaseline but I think it made things worse! I also get the occasional hive. On our way to the gym yesterday and got one on my face. They do go away after an hour or two. I use very few cosmetic products and for many years have used very gentle organic products. Any suggestions for eyelids?

And diner last night was yummy leftovers! I was so happy that dinner was already made! My DH and I had made what I call Mexican lasagna - layer tortillas with enchilada sauce, cheese and filling. We used chicken with green chilies. And a side of coleslaw with lime dressing. Makes enough for a couple nights, or more depending on how hungry you are! I’m making a roast with a medley of roasted root veggies. Grandkids are spending the night and they will like that.

auntienance

Hi Katy, my derm prescribed Elidel cream for my eyelids. It's horribly expensive but it does work quickly and I usually only have to use it for a couple of days during flareups. Also, try using fragrance free products.

MinusTwo

Katy - that reminds me. It's time to make our founder laurie's Mexican Chicken again.

Lacey12

Minus, I was thinking I might make Laurie’s salsa chicken next week when our newly widowed friend comes over for dinner.

The eyelid issues certainly can be problematic. When my allergies are in full swing during ragweed season, my itchy eyes are unbearable. My ophthalmologist prescribed tobradex (sp?), which calms them down quickly. It is also expensive, a steroid, and takes care of flare ups after two days of using! She has me using it for a couple of months right now as part of a treatment plan for dry eye which has developed since my cataract surgery a year ago. I’ll be eager to stop using it, (since it’s a steroid) but am also eager to “cure” this dry eye if possible.

Katy, I found that all sorts of skin issues surfaced for me on cancer meds. Always envied the friends who sailed thru taking them with no accompanying issues. I bet there are folks who can address your meds side effect questions on threads about those oral meds.

Last night DH must have been really hungry since he offered to go to the food store to pick up a rotisserie chicken, rather than have the omelet I was deciding to make. So we had that, brussells sprouts, romaine salad and a sweet potato for him. Tonight we’ll have that again, but with butternut squash and salad.

I bakedthe Italian cookies last night and now have to ice and “sprinkle” them. I made some with almond flavoring, and most with anise. They hardly spread on the cookie sheets so they look like tiny balls this time. They come out differently every time I make them....shape variation based on butter or vegetable shortening content, I guess. I am so not a baker!

SpecialK

katyk - yes, better, thanks! I now look like I had a derm chemical peel - which I sorta did... I am sporting a somewhat sunburned look but the lizard skin and swelling has gone away. I am very sensitive to medications also, particularly topicals and topical antibiotics. For all of my surgeries I couldn't even be rinsed with the bacitracin irrigant in the operating room - I am a problem patient, lol! I wonder if you could get a sample of Elidel - my son has used it for eczema and he also gets it on the eyelids, usually in the colder months. I did get a prescription topical steroid from the urgent care with this reaction but they specified to keep it away from my eyes. I have not had too many issues with Femara and skin, but I did with chemo - rashes and swelling, I was a mess.

Dinner tonight I think will be a salad with shrimp, an Asian dressing, mandarin oranges, scallions, and slivered almonds. I am in clean out mode since we are a week away from leaving on vacation - yay!

auntienance

Picked up a very tasty gyro kit at Costco yesterday so that was last night's dinner (and today's lunch.) The beginnings of an 8-10" snowfall has begun so we're hunkering down with spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread tonight.

Just chased another sharp shinned hawk out of the backyard looking for an afternoon songbird snack. Ugh.

KatyK

Special K, glad you are doing better and your salad sounds great! Salads are one of my favorite meals. And thanks to all for suggestions with the dry eyelids, they are better for today. Auntienance, we have many hawks around our house - great for getting voles but sadly they sometimes chase the quail and other birds right into our windows🙁.

I wanted to share a nice Indian meal that my DH and I tried today after our Nordic ski. It’s already made and the brand is India’s Nature. It is organic and gluten free for those who need that. I had planned on making a chickpea/lentil dish I had seen in my Bon Appetit magazine but I saw these at the store and decided to make life a bit easier. So one was Chana Masala (seasoned chickpeas) and the other was Dal Makhani (buttery black lentils) and I put them together. Made a very nice easy lunch after skiing with some naan bread. I’d buy them again. Dinner tonight - the pot roast looks good and I’ll start on the roasted root veggies soon. Have a good weekend to all

illimae

Tonight was seared chicken breast, zucchini “veggetti” and/or bow ties with alfredo and broccoli.

auntienance

Fifteen inches of snow on the ground and hamster snow still falling. Ugh. You all know how much I hate this. I dug the turkey carcass out of the freezer and am in the process of turning it into turkey and noodles. Egad I hate winter.

MinusTwo

Hamster snow? As in the size of hamsters? UGH!!! Not to make anyone feel bad, but after rain last night - today was 67 degrees with blue sky & light breezes. I watered all the outside potted & hanging plants. Opened the doors & windows and scrubbed my tubs & sinks & toilets.

Dinner was left over pork roast with the 2nd kind of Kroger Private Selection petite potatoes. This batch was Smoked Gouda, Onion & Thyme. As good at the Hatch Chili & Ranch selection. Dessert will be Girl Scout Lemonade cookies from last year from the freezer - since I just ordered more to be delivered next month.

SpecialK

auntie - sorry about the hamster sized snow! It was beautiful here today - ashamed to say - it was 75 F and partly sunny and low humidity - the kind of day that makes up for the middle of summer here.

Had a doctor appt today - my vascular surgeon had one Saturday a month open for appts. I am working on the final step (hopefully) in making sure the vein situation in both legs is optimal, and this means a quick lower right leg venous ablation when I get back from Hawaii. Went for thin crust pizza with DH, who had his six month follow-up appt right after mine.

Dinner tonight is potstickers and fried rice - not exciting, but using up stuff from the fridge before we leave

ChiSandy

Had to use Tobradex for 3 days before and 3 weeks after each cataract surgery. Definitely not cheap, but it worked. (Also Durezol and ketorolac). During allergy season, I use an eyedrop called Pazeo. It's a prescription and horribly expensive, but I don't use it all year round and I do hoard samples I get from the ophthalmologist. It's essentially the same drug as OTC Zatidor, but I only have to use one drop per day in each eye. The OTC stuff lasts only 12 hrs. and I have to use 2 drops each time.

Spent the week making creative use of leftovers, between meals out. Tuesday Bob got done early at Union Health, so I took a rideshare down to Taylor St. (one of Chicago's two "Little Italy"s, this one near the UIC campus & medical district) and met him for dinner at Tuscany. Appetizer was grilled octopus & arugula--they have the best octopus in the city. Then we split an order of spaghetti frutta di mare, and our entree was chicken Vesuvio (apparently invented in Chicago). It wasn't as good as I've had elsewhere--the chicken was overcooked and there were no peas, just potato wedges. We took home leftovers. Dessert was those Bindi sorbets inside hollowed-out fruit. Bob had lemon and I had coconut.

Wed. I had my leftover fish & chips and slaw from Sun. night. (The air-fry function on the Breville oven does a great job of crisping everything back up). Thursday night I took the leftover Vesuvio, shredded whatever chicken breast was still in there, and added peas, mushrooms and chicken Italian sausage.Turned out pretty well. Last night we were going to dinner at Eataly (we had a gift card) & a movie, but what we wanted to see wasn't playing anywhere near there. We took Lyfts down & back so we didn't have to pay through the nose to park. We ate at the sit-down table-service Osteria rather than the counter-service bars (raw seafood, fried street foods, pizza, pasta, panini, wine & cheese) scattered throughout the place. We shared everything: first, chicken liver paté with pickled red onion, cucumber & radish; then housemade spaghetti "alla chitarra" served cacio e pepe (perfectly al dente); finally branzino with roast fingerling potatoes, preserved lemon and arugula. I was sort of taken aback that the waitress plopped it down and walked away--other tables had their waiter filet it for them. I was able to filet it fairly evenly without destroying it. We didn't get dessert, because Bob wanted gelato downstairs. I bought a couple of cannoli (choc.chip, pistachio) to go. I had a couple of spoonfuls of gelato (coffee and chocolate) and left the rest for Bob. I also picked up some more mushrooms, broccolini, grape tomatoes and fregola Sarda pasta (sort of like Israeli couscous, but toasted).

For dinner tonight, I pan-seared a bone-in Duroc pork chop (big enough for two), sauteed broccolini, roasted purple cauliflower, and made the fregola with mushrooms. Turned out really well, and we were pretty hungry--poor Happy had only the nearly-denuded bone to beg. Tomorrow, we'll be trudging through the snow to brunch.

auntienance

I normally use zaditor but the allergist just prescribed Pataday for my teary eyes. I think it's once a day too. Hope it helps.

It's been snowing for almost 48 hours now. DH will measure it again this morning - l'm sure it's close to 16" or better. I can't stand looking at the stuff.

I have no idea what's for dinner. I have the makings for unstuffed peppers. We'll see.

MinusTwo

Oh my goodness Nance - 16 inches!!! Hope you don't have to get out. Stay safe.

eric95us

I have zero inches of snow...but you are encouraged to laugh at us when we get the "it's not yet noon and it's already 110F" temperatures.

Sharon has decided to try running again. Before she was running on the treadmill and she was getting sore knees. A few days ago we went out on the trail together and I noticed that her stride was too long. She fixed that and she says her knees are feeling fine. So far, since she's retired (has time to exercise), she's lost a bit more than 25 pounds and she's hoping the running will continue the weight loss.

Tonight will likely be the chicken-Jasmine Rice dish for dinner.

The optician called to tell me my new eyeglasses are ready, so...off I go....

Beaverntx

Nance, you know your snowfall is bad when it makes the national news! Saw broadcasts re St. Louis weather more than once over the last two days.

I do not miss the snow. Spent most of my first 45 years in areas where it snows every winter so I did learn to drive in snow. Love looking at all outdoors covered in pristine white but am quite satisfied to do that in pictures rather than out my window. That said we did have an actual snowfall with the snow staying on the ground for about 24 hours in December 2017. That was unusual enough that folks still talk about and have pictures on their phones--recently found myself in just such a discussion with a teller at the bank, of all places.

Stay warm and safe, especially if you are dealing with snow!

As for dinner, the plan for tonight is chicken breasts seasoned with salsa and cooked in the Instant Pot. Haven't decided on the veggies yet but likely will include a green salad.

ChiSandy

Wow, Nance--news reports say that this is the biggest snowstorm St. Louis has had in decades. (My recording engineer lives on his farm outside rural Sparta, IL--about an hour SE of you--and I shudder to think how much he's gonna have to plow to get around, since neither of his cars are AWD). About half of what we got has evaporated, and they're forecasting near 40 here for the next couple of days.

Stayed up and slept in too late to walk to brunch. Bob walked there, and called to tell me they were out of quiche, so I threw together a single Benedict (jumbo egg, nuked Bearnaise, grape tomatoes, basil and one slice of coppa ham--thinner than Canadian bacon--on half a whole wheat sourdough English muffin). He had a massive bagel & lox with all the trimmings. Might take the path of least resistance tonight and head down the alley to Wing Stop--jonesing for Korean-BBQ-style. No kimchi to go with, so will just make a salad instead. Or steam some asparagus & wrap them in Serrano ham or speck, to supplement the celery sticks.

Gotta hit the hay early tonight because I have a 9am PT appt. up in Evanston tomorrow. (The therapist is so heavily booked I have to take what I can get).

SpecialK

Dinner tonight for DH was from the freezer - some Alfredo pasta with chicken, broccoli, pesto, with carrots as a side. I just had some carrots - not hungry - went to brunch earlier and had a egg white scramble with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and parm, over roasted potToes

auntienance

In 1982 we had 20+ inches of snow that shut down the city and county. The problem with this one is that it lasted so long. It's finally stopped and our final tally is 16". West of us got more than that. Unfortunately we have more coming toward the end of the week and I don't see this vanishing any time soon. My neighbors dad came over with his snow plow last night and plowed the street and our driveway so at least we can get out if need be.

Settled on the unstuffed peppers mostly due to a lack of enthusiasm for coming up with something different.

ChiSandy

An egg-white and sun-dried tomato scramble is one of Cellars' brunch staples--they call it "The Fitness Trainer," and serve it with cucumber salad (or pan-fried smashed potatoes for the non-carb-conscious). Would have asked Bob to bring one home, except I had an open packet of Bearnaise I needed to use, as well as a half English muffin, some of the grape tomatoes on the verge of rotting, an open package of coppa, and plenty of eggs. And I had my brunch piping hot--the freezing temps and the 1/4-mi+ walk home would have made the Fitness Trainer somewhat cold.

Heard an ungodly motor roar about 2am, but realized it was a snowblower--our landscaper was out clearing our walk, porch, deck & steps. Bless him! (He must have been working all afternoon, evening and night).

MinusTwo

Eric - great news that Sharon's knee problems have been fixed with a change of stride. And wow - 25 lbs is a wonderful accomplishment.

I too lived in the snow country in 'past lives' so I can drive in any kind of weather conditions. But I would not move back to snow country for any amount of money.

Dinner was the last of the pork loin sliced very thin and piled on a hot French Roll. Served with coleslaw and (because there's leftover in the fridge) some cranberry sauce on the side. I have been routinely eating my big meal between noon and 4pm. Then I might have a 1/2 cup of cashew nuts and an apple in the evening. I feel much healthier not going to bed on a full stomach so I'll try to continue that plan.