So...whats for dinner?

Lacey12

Beave, the make your own pizza party sounds like fun!. Glad you caught the auto correct....eyebrows might have been raised at chocolate spaghetti for dessert!

I have managed to avoid going to the store so far all week, (tho will be headed there today) so the past few night’s meals have been put togethers from things I found in cabinets or freezer. Last night we had a Trader Joe’s spanakopita pretty “tough”, an Alessi lentil soup to which I added some pre-cooked Italian chicken sausage (quite tasty), and a salad with whatever greens I had left in the fridge. It all worked. I’m posting a pic of a salad I made the night before with arugula, farro pilaf with onion and mushrooms, and avocado. It was unusual and tasty.

Sandy, I hope you are starting to pay attention to the Bulls now. The very young star hopefuls have suddenly started to show their talent (new coach, too?) and decimated my complicated Celtics last night. Looking like an attractive team to watch for next season and beyond.

I may get around to start a few sewing projects this week, a Red Sox taggie for a neighbor’s new grandson, and neck warmers for my grands. It’s no where near Spring here yet, despite our minimal snow cover.

MinusTwo

Lacey - looks delicious. I have an avocado in the fridge that wants eating tomorrow.

Of course the restaurant has changed. Same owners, smaller less "warm" setting and smaller menu. But they still had my favorite - special LoMain. It has shrimp, pork, chicken & beef. Really enough for two but I ate the whole thing.

Today was cod fillets dipped in lemon & butter and rolled in Panko - then baked. Served with Brussels sprouts. I did bake another 1/2 loaf of the Boudin's Sourdough bread from the freezer (my son's Christmas present), but I was too full to even slice it. Maybe dessert later tonight.

eric95us

We're home. We can get back to cooking. :-)

MinusTwo

Lacey - I thought of you during the play yesterday. Basically about how advertising rules our lives and our perception of ourselves, justaposed with the objectification of women. And what job one might have to do just to survive & pay the rent. First act was at a men's mag. A 14 year old girl (who had DDD boobs) and her 15 year old boy friend forged her documents & entered the centerfold contest. She won - with various repercussions. Are you still working with the female abduction group?

Magari

Minus - Per your request, here's a link to the black coconut rice w/shrimp recipe: https://www.bhg.com/recipe/lime-coconut-shrimp-ric...

I had leftover rice and re-made the "shrimp" and asparagus part of the recipe to go with it using chicken, about double the ginger and added some chili garlic sauce to zip it up a bit.

Tonight I'm making Asian peanut sauce noodles with shredded leftover chicken added.

illimae

Tonight is a belated birthday dinner prepared by a chef friend. It’s a NY strip, Honey glazed Asparagus, sautéed squash & zucchini with a Parmesan risotto and mini crab cakes with a mango sauce.

Lacey12

So, Eric, did Sharon get to ski? Am figuring that it must be hard for snow to survive in AZ.

Minus, this year, I decided to leave the Persons Against Trafficking Humans group, since I was finding that we weren't getting much done. It was a small group. After two plus years, I was not finding the opportunity to do the education/awareness work I felt important to offer the local students and parents, so decided to take at least a leave. I was also feeling frustrated that whatever we were doing was in no way impacting the demand for perpetuating trafficking which is the "buyers". So, for now, at least, I am not officially a part of that group. The recent Florida massage parlor sting has my attention not just because the Patriots owner was named in it, along with other billionaire businessmen, but because it seems that maybe someone is getting serious about arresting buyers as a deterrent. We'll see!

I did make it to the store late this afternoon for a major food shopping trip (waited for the rain to lighten up), and returned home to learn that DH didn't hear me ask him to defrost a veggie pasta casserole (in microwave) that we took out of the freezer earlier. So I found a still frozen dish, which I managed to defrost and heat up...but we didn't eat until 8 PM. We just had that, a salad with several different greens, tomato, and avocado, along with crusty bread. I'm trying to clear out my freezer a bit so that I have room for cookie dough.

I was disappointed that Glenn Close didn't get the award for "The Wife". She was so good in her role. We just saw "Green Book" last week, and it as so well acted and compelling that I was glad it won, despite the fact that there were other good movies nominated.

Illimae, that sounds like a delightfil meal! HB to you....or whoever celebrated.

ChiSandy

Oh, yum, Ilona!

Lacey, the (at-first-maligned) trade that sent Ben Portis away in exchange for Otto Porter seems to have completely energized the "Baby Bulls." Porter is a veritable Swiss-Army Knife of a player, and he clicked immediately (especially with Lauri Markkanen and Zach LaVine). Looks like they may even finish above .500 this year. Sorry about what they did to your Celtics...not really. (But the Blackhawks seem to be melting down of late).

Last night's parm turned out to be chicken, with spaghetti marinara (unfortunately, mushy instead of al dente--but I was starving). This morning I made cherry blintzes, eggs over easy and bacon. (Bob had two blintzes, a jumbo egg and three slices of bacon; I had one blintz, a "large" egg and one slice of bacon). Tonight we went to Cellars' Oscar party and had a great time. Buffet was nominee-themed. Among the dishes were fried chicken (Green Book); a charcuterie platter dubbed "Lady Gaga's Meat Dress" and "In Your Face" chocolate tartlets (A Star is Born); mini-moon pies (First Man); fish & chips (Mary Poppins Returns), pierogi and kolachky (Bohemian Rhapsody); BBQ ribs (BlackkKlansman); chuckwagon chili (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs); lemon-berry trifle (The Favourite); "Vibranium" Potato Salad (Black Panther); egg rolls (Crazy Rich Asians--yeah, yeah, not nominated, I know); shrimp quesadillas (Roma); and grilled quail salad (Vice). Bob came within one point of winning the Oscar contest--had he picked Olivia Colman instead of Glenn Close or Green Book over Roma, he'd have won. It'd have been his third win. Funny thing was that the last pic we watched before heading over to the party was The Favourite, and we were talking on the way over about how Olivia Colman's performance was amazing and Oscar-worthy, but that Glenn Close was "owed" an Oscar after all these years!

Weather has been insane. On the bright side, we missed getting any precipitation (the rain fell to the south, the snow to the north and the city was in between). Last night at this time it was 57F. Now it's 13, plunging to 7 (and subzero windchills) by morning--fortunately, the winds have died down a bit. During the wee hours Sunday morning a 50+mph gust trashed one of our attic windows (fortunately, covered with plastic and a curtain, which I have since duct-taped taut to the wall). We haven't lost anything off our deck (it's all bungeed to the railings) and our tree limbs have held up. Our poor magnolia tree's buds are probably thinking "WTF?"

auntienance

No spring here either - not by a long shot. The temp right now is 17°. Predictions are for well below normal temperatures for us until the middle of March. Worst. Winter. Ever. The only thing that's keeping me marginally sane is that after the middle of the month, spring is supposed to come on like gangbusters. Well see.

It's probably just as well that the weather is supposed to be crappy, March is dedicated to getting the house ready to sell. This means a major PURGE. I'm at a loss as to what to do with all of the depression glass and other vintage dishes that I have. Nobody in the family wants it, I hate to just donate it to goodwill since they break most of it for recycling. It pains me, but I'm definitely not moving it.

We've pretty much decided that we're going to try to buy a small house closer to the city and then be "snowbirds" for the winter. Hopefully next winter we'll be enjoying Carole's springtime temperatures.

Something simple for dinner, possibly toasted ravioli or leftover potato leek soup and cheddar biscuits from last night. Or both. Tomorrow we're going to the city for an overnight with some friends. This will include a trip to a civil war museum (mild yawn) and ending with a night at the casino (yay) with a nice dinner thrown in. DH and the other dh are both civil war buffs so it will please them the most.

MinusTwo

Nance - see if you can find a 'Blue Bird Circle' or Junior League resale shop. You may not get anything for the glass, but if they'll take it, they won't break it. It's my understanding that resale shops across the country have stopped accepting donations. Temporarily I hope. Apparently the Netflix special with Marie Kondo has pushed a ton of people to get rid of their "stuff". I waited too long - sigh.

Edited to add: Because you are right. Most of our kids don't want our 'stuff'. The young ones don't get excited anymore about getting the oak buffet from grandma or the mahogany table from auntie sue. It breaks my heart that all the well made, solid wood furniture is being trashed in favor of plastic from Ikea and 'rooms to go' that all match. Oh well. I know I'm a dinosaur.

Lacey12

Reading about your commitment to “purge” got me stirred up, Nance. I need to deal with same, but it feels overwhelming. And as you mention, Minus, it’s not only making peace with parting with the “stuff” (that our children don’t want) but also finding useful landing spots for it! A newer troubling bit of info I learned recently from students at Olin College is that US resale stores are inundated with so many donations that they ship tons of it to countries in Africa where the access to the garments is putting cottage industries making clothing for locals out of business. So the tenticles of our consumerism reach far beyond our homes. The college engineers were coming up with ideas for how to recycle cast off clothing without it all landing in resale stores.

Sandy, those winds have arrived here, and I worry about property damage since they are gusting at 65-70mph. Scary! I keep waiting to hear the top of our very tall chimney fall....but hope not! Lots of trees down in the area already. Mother Nature is really ticked off at us!

Tonight I might make Italian stuffed artichokes in tomato sauce like my mother used to make. Sadly I don’t have her recipe (if she even used one!), but some on the internet look close enough to try. Chicken cutlets are another option for tonight if I get lazy. And my salad fixins’ are replenished since the store visit.

auntienance

I'm a dinosaur too Minus. I have a large hutch made by my grandfather that I don't know what to do with. No one in my family wants it. If I keep it, whoever has to pack me up to send me to the nursing home will have to deal with it, so I don't know what to do.

We had those 60 mph winds too which made me very thankful that we had the two large dead oak trees at the side of our house removed the day before!

eric95us

When my mom died.....my brother and I gathered the few things we wanted. Then the test daughters, friends and neighbors came over (in that order) and gathered what they wanted.

Very little landed at the thrift stores or ended up in the landfill.

MinusTwo

Tried a new "prepackaged" shelf product from Whole Foods 365. Barley & Green Lentils in a stand up microwave bag. 90 seconds & you're done. I liked the consistency but there wasn't much flavor. Advertised as only some sea salt & EVOO - Vegan, Hi Fiber & No Sugar added. If I buy it again, I'll sprinkle w/garlic or onion or both, or stir in some Hatch Green Chili salsa. Or maybe I'll add to chicken broth for soup.

ChiSandy

Minus, sounds like cumin might be the key to adding a bit more flavor--maybe more sea salt as well.

illimae

Tonight was a spring mix salad with balsamic vinaigrette and the last piece of cake 😋

SpecialK

I split a village salad with gyro meat with DD at about 4pm after a maintenance appt at the car dealer and some time at the gym, so I wasn’t hungry at dinner time. Re-heated some leftover beef stew for DH with cornbread and honey butter. DD is doing Keto and we made some “cookie dough” for her to have for desserts. Pretty much a standard recipe, but using almond and coconut flours and replacement powdered sugar (Swerve) and low sugar dark chocolate chips, no egg. She said the texture was a little different but not bad.

I recently spent the day “antiquing” in a small nearby town with a friend - plenty of depression glass for sale, I love it, particularly the peachy rose color since it matches my wedding china. I had not seen the deep teal color before but this one shop had a few pieces. So beautiful. My kids have an appreciation for antiques, and I have some family pieces that I have asked them to keep. My son builds furniture so he likes the old stuff since it is so well made.

ChiSandy

Went to my PCP today for my annual lipid profile (cholesterol & triglycerides), overdue a1c (my mom developed T2DM at my age), and CBC/iron/ferritin to see if I can dial back on the iron pills. He wasn't happy with my weight or diet, but didn't nag me about it either. (Sorta helped that the patient he'd just seen in the next room was a cardiovascular train wreck). My heart, lungs, vocal cords, temp & BP are all dead-bang normal. (Amazing, considering that among my best friends, one has Parkinson's, another scleroderma and RA, another COPD, another NED from Stage III non-small-cell lung cancer; and several are on their second or third cardiac stents).

Anyway, I told him we're off to New Orleans in a couple of weeks for the ACC (cardiology) convention, and I'm going to Amsterdam (rijstaffel dinner) and Israel (mostly vegan, very carby) in late March-early April. So I am to eat reasonably till then, but give serious thought to near-keto when I return. (And if my glucose &/or a1c come back high enough tomorrow, start ultra-low-carb ASAP until I am in a locale where it's impractical, and resume when I get home. Maybe metformin or Jardiance as well if the numbers are high enough). He told me to stick with the Co-Q-10, krill oil and baby aspirin, as they are causing no problems and might even be helping, But he's mulling over sending Bob & me for his & hers sleep lab visits: I can no longer use the pricey Somnodent guard because my teeth have shifted since it was made (and will be getting straightened) so we might both have CPAPs or BiPAPs in our futures.

He slso wants me to resume personal fitness training, or at least hit the gym and not just walk more.

And of course, just now came the fateful knock on my door: the Girl Scout from two doors down delivering my Thin Mints order. (Don't judge...only 40 cals. each).

eric95us

My problem with Girl Scout cookies is that it's calories by the box instead of by the individual cookie. :-)

carolehalston

I tried a chicken recipe from a segment of Ellie's Real Good Food and I really like it. She used flattened chicken breasts. I had a package of thin chicken breast fillets. This is so easy and tasty. You smear Dijon mustard in a thin layer on each side. Press fresh grated Parmesan (I used romano) onto each side and grind some black pepper. Heat a non stick skillet. She sprayed with an oil spray. I brushed a small splash of grape seed oil over the surface of the skillet. Place the chicken fillets in the skillet and cook on medium. Don't touch the fillets. After several minutes, when the fillets are brown and crusty, carefully flip and cook on the other side. Serve immediately.

I was afraid the Dijon taste might be strong, but it wasn't. Our one side was a large helping of steamed broccoli and cauliflower (fresh) with a cheese sauce that was also Ellie's recipe for the method. I used one cup of 2 per cent milk, 1 heaping tablespoon of flour, and fresh grated cheddar. Add the flour to cold milk and whisk steadily as the milk heats. Cook a couple of minutes to assure no raw flour taste. Add the cheese. I also added a little salt, fresh ground pepper, and cayenne. The sauce was smooth, no graininess.

Now I'm faced with today's question!

Magari

Last night I sauteed a crumbled spicy Italian sausage in a bit of olive oil, deglazed with a splash of dry vermouth, added touch of canned tomatoe and a little half and half and sprinkled in some frozen peas. Finished some drained penne in the sauce.

It was easy and got a rave review from my husband.

We are having yet another "atmospheric river" and thus more rain over the next week or so. Seems like soup weather, so I will probably make split pea in my Instant Pot tonight.

carolehalston

DH had a Woodworkers Guild meeting last night. Our early dinner was from Subway.

More rain yesterday and last night. Golf is becoming a memory.

Dinner tonight will probably feature a rib eye. One of us needs to buy salad greens and avocados. We're out of both. Salad emergency!

SpecialK

Tonight will be beef enchiladas, salad, and zucchini - which I need to make early as I have a standing gym date with my friend and she can only go after work. The timing seems to work out well so far as long as dinner is made in advance, as I arrive home from the gym about the same time as DH arrives from work. Last night was a quick dinner since I had forgotten he had an appt with the dermatologist! Sliced sausage - Aidells chicken sausage with bacon and pineapple, which I was trying for the first time since it seems to be a new flavor - sautéed with sliced onion and then BBQ sauce added at the end, over brown rice, with yellow squash cooked with lemon olive oil and a little bit of pesto. I used the Seens of Change rice so the dinner came together in about 10 mins - yay!

illimae

Tonight was Pollo Asada and Mama Julia’s retried beans, both found in the discount section at the grocery store. I thought I’d try them out for the days I don’t feel like cooking. The chicken was only ok but it made good enough soft tacos, the beans were a score at just $0.79 for a tasty 3 cup package. Tomorrow will likely be leftovers.

MinusTwo

Today's meal was an open face grilled cheese (Havarti on a slice of San Francisco Sour Dough) and two eggs fried over easy in butter in the same pan. I'm considering popcorn but I'm still nursing a nasty cold. Can't go 20 minutes w/o coughing so sleep is at a premium.

illimae

Hope you feel better quick minus, coughing really sucks.

Beaverntx

Minus, me,too! Keep hoping to get more than one or two consecutive hours of sleep at night. Dinner was omelet with bell pepper, onion, tomato, and cheddar cheese and a bagel.

SpecialK

minus and beaver - coughing is the worst, feel better soon.

MinusTwo

Beaver - I have a friend in Arlington who said this thing is making the rounds up by you. Unfortunately I got mine out by San Antonio & imported it to Houston.

carolehalston

My heartfelt sympathy for those with colds and coughing. This was the House of Coughing through January and most of February. I finally put the nebulizer away a couple of days ago.

Last night's ribeye was delicious. Sides were small baked potato for each of us and a tossed salad.

No clue yet about tonight's dinner.

My neighbor's bridal wreath shrub out near the street is in full bloom.