So...whats for dinner?

ChiSandy

One last lunch today before leaving town: Mulate’s, across from the convention center. Tried to go earlier in the trip, but the convening cardiologists were lined up out the door and around the block, eager to chow down on everything they tell their patients not to eat. Last ACC session was yesterday afternoon, so we breezed right in. Most restaurants have S&P on the table, but here’s how you know, Toto, you’re not in Kansas anymore:

We shared everything and were still stuffed. Started with Zydeco gumbo (chicken, duck, andouille and shrimp):

That’s Bob modeling it. (Didn’t spill any on his shirt, a minor miracle—down here, we seemed to have worn as much of our food as we ate). Next came “smoked oysters:” wood-grilled, removed from the shell, and napped in garlic sauce:

The bread looks “meh,” but as Carole will attest, there is no French bread like New Orleans French bread—not even the baguettes from the stands along Rue Cler on Paris’ Left Bank. Sitting in front of Bob is the oyster po’boy we shared—with fries & slaw. Barely made a dent in the fries.

No dessert—until now at the airport where we split an order of three small, hot and messy beignets and black coffee. We board in about an hour

illimae

Back from a long weekend at the cabin and dinner was a mix of things that were easy or needed to be cooked. Pan seared chicken, cannellini bans, steamed spinach and sautéed red/green cabbage with onions.

SpecialK

Chilly? Chili! It was rainy and gloomy, so I made some chili for dinner. To make it keto for DD I removed a portion for her before I added chili beans and red beans.

chisandy - enjoying your NOLA food porn!

ChiSandy

Got home late tonight, and fed the kitties first. Lunch was huge, so dinner was an egg roll & three veggie pot stickers (from the freezer). Back to reality!

Tomorrow I had planned to go to Cellars to drop off Bob's March Madness brackets (for the restaurant's pool) and have a light dinner...but Bob reminded me that there is a hospital dinner tomorrow night at the Beverly Country Club. Oh, boy--dressing up for an hour's drive in rush hour down the Dan Ryan (world's worst-designed freeway) and through a scary inner-city South Side neighborhood to listen to boring speeches, watch a slide show and eat gray steak. The hospital is Little Company of Mary, and the nuns who run it believe in long cocktail hours with no hors d'oeuvres. But if I wait till dinnertime to arrive, the parking lot will be full. I guess it's my penance for all the Cajun-Creole food and drinks I had all weekend.

And speaking of driving, my Outback has been recalled over those Takata airbag inflators (Bob's Fusion had the recall repair done two weeks ago). How come when I was at Evanston Subaru for a new battery and asked about recalls, nobody said squat about it?

carolehalston

Last night was thin chicken breast fillets, steamed asparagus and romaine salad. The asparagus had me getting up during the night to go to the bathroom.

Tonight will be crab cakes and cauliflower, maybe mash, and romaine salad.

DH is sitting in his chair ready to go to the gym so I'd better get a move on!

Beaverntx

ChiSandy, re airbag recalls from what I have been hearing apparently the recalls are being issued well before the dealers have the replacement parts available so your dealer may have not said anything because they could not do anything!

Dinner last night was salmon, potato crisps, and roasted squash. Meant to add fresh tomatoes but we were almost finished eating before I remembered--doggone brain fog!

eric95us

I'm pressure cooking some pinto beans for use in bean tacos. I have a bit of BBQ sauce that should be used in the next few days, so that will go in with the beans.....cabbage, onions some lime juice and a jar of pineapple salsa will round out the ingredients for the tacos.

Beaverntx

Eric, gunmen

We are having homemade pizzas, margarita and pepperoni veggie.

carolehalston

The pizza looks good! Eric, interesting combo of ingredients for your tacos.

Our crab cakes last night were delicious. DH made a remoulade sauce with mayo, ketchup, sweet relish and hot sauce. The cauliflower was good, too. I did a lazy sauce with part of a can of broccoli cheese soup and small amount of milk.

eric95us

Wow. It's been quiet here. The tacos came out well, although it's still a "work in progress".

4 cups of cooked pinto beans, a cup of catsup (ketchup), a couple of tablespoons of spicy mustard, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder, a tablespoon of maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon of hot pepper....all warmed up in a skillet.

The salsa was 2 cups of pineapple, a quarter cup each of chopped onion and chopped cilantro, a bit of lime juice and 2 chopped radishes and another pinch of salt.

The shell, some BBQ beans, some salsa, some shredded cabbage and a bit of cheese was how it was all put together.

A local TV news station spent a couple of minutes of air time with a reporter going around a parking lot before a spring training baseball game and talking with folks cooking stuff. The BBQ beans, except for the pepper, came from that "show". The pineapple salsa was from some notes I had in my little red notebook.

MinusTwo

Eric - interesting addition of Maple Syrup. I've added that to (boston) baked beans but never thought about it with tacos - SW food.

Dinner was something I've been wanting to try from Costco - refrigerated Harry's Beef Stroganoff with Noodles. It's cryo packed and requires only 6 minutes in the microwave or 25 minutes in the oven. Harry's (since 1977) says "we're passionate about creating restaurant-quality meals that you can cook in just minutes in the comfort of your own kitchen..." I figured I'd have to cook my own noodles to go with, but those were included. Actually it was delicious - "tender beef steak strips, mushrooms, noodles & onions in a rich creamy sauce". (sour cream, sherry, burgundy, butter, molasses, Worcestershire sauce...) So except for the fact that the packages are big and I ate way too much, I'll buy it again sometime. Doesn't look like you can freeze it.

ChiSandy

A chicken egg roll and vegan jap chae were my dinner. Bob is working so late all week (to make up for the 5 days he took off to go to NOLA) that I'll be cooking only for myself. Guess that T-bone will stay in the freezer till I get back from Israel. So it looks like salmon tomorrow night, and Cellars' $6 cheeseburger night (Bob wants me to go ride herd on his picks in the March Madness brackets pool) Monday. I do need to get more iron into my diet--been eating mostly chicken, fish & vegetarian lately (plus rabbit & pork in New Orleans, of course), and my Hgb is back down below 12 (after 3 wks off iron pills). My MO wants me to cut back on calcium as my levels are at the high end of normal; but she also wants me to try near-keto once I return (Israeli food is carbs, carbs and more carbs). She referred me to a bariatrician for nonsurgical weight mgmt.

auntienance

Last night was reverse seared thick pork chops with apple cider pan sauce. Fried apples, baby peas and boxed stuffing were sides. Earlier in the day I made an apple slab pie, so it was an apple-y day!

Food has been uncomplicated as we are furiously trying to get the house in market shape. Sooo much to go through! We are almost finished with repairs (newly leaky window and some concrete repair left). De cluttering, boxing and storing what we plan to keep then final cleaning. Hopefully we can be done by May. I'm petty sure we're gong to rent a dumpster in a few weeks. It will make things so much easier. I'm so tired of looking and making decisions about things, I'm ready to pitch most everything lol! (If only I could convince DH.)

The weather has been pretty cool here and not much sign of spring, but we spent the morning cleaning out, repairing and putting up blue bird boxes. They had a hard winter and were looking raggedy. Now if the bluebirds can get to them before the sparrows . . .

Warmer temps predicted this week, hopefully will encourage some green. Nothing but brown so far, although the grass is starting to look greener and I noticed some weeds in my hosta bed. Naturally.

Pot roast and vegetables in the pressure cooker tonight. Easy peasy, if unremarkable.

illimae

All day crawfish feast today 😃

ChiSandy

Oooh, Ilona--I love crawfish!

Made this for brunch today:

Eggs Benedict: perfectly poached eggs, prosciutto instead of Canadian bacon, Bay's whole grain English muffin and Christian Poitier hollandaise with a sprinkle of cayenne.

Lacey12

Wow Illimae, bountiful crawfish! Fun!

Nance, your dinners might be uncomplicated, but sound nicely substantial for the rigors you and DH are undertaking! In your spirit, I tossed several empty Amazon boxes into the recycle bin this weekend! And started to open a couple of boxes from my last office that are piled high in the garage. The first one contains many favorite children’s books,.... which will not be leaving this house. So, no space gain there.....:§

We went to two open houses this weekend to actually see what was being offered for less than a mil here. DS2 and wife are looking in this area. Yikes! Just some serious fixer-uppers, but with good locations. Those tours are what actually spurred me to start a very mini de-clutter! Staying in a house for decades definitely makes the prospect of leaving it a challenge, on many levels. So your work is impressive, Nance! I have heard that during that process, many people get to the point of just pitching randomly! A dumpster will definitely speed up your process.

Last night I made my favorite cod dish....in Rao’s puttanesca sauce along with sauteed onions and mushooms, over orzo with a side garden salad. I’ll enjoy some of the cod leftovers tonight since DH will consider dinner to be the heavy apps he will have at a conference he’s attending.

ChiSandy

Last night was simple pan-seared wild sockeye and steamed asparagus with the hollandaise left over from brunch. This morning, I had an egg and a DIY “sausage sandwich:" leftover turkey-veggie hash between halves of a slice of sourdough toast. Burger tonight—will opt for a veg instead of their insanely good fries.

The bariatrician's nurse messaged me back: the earliest available appt. is June 10! So not going to continue my culinary debauchery after I return from Israel, as the body doesn't recognize pre-diet no-nos as “one last fling." Gonna ease back into low-carb, or maybe do WW till June. The doc offers three diet plans, based on lifestyle, goals and any medical conditions.

carolehalston

Dinner last night was red beans and rice with cornbread and romaine salad. I cooked the beans with ham. The rice was brown rice. The corn bread was the recipe on the bag of yellow cornmeal. It was a delicious heavy meal.

Stepping on the scales this morning was definitely unpleasant. My weight is at an all time high. I will be exercising all these pounds at the gym this morning.

Nance, your meals always sound good. Good luck with selling your house. It would be great if you could transition to two smaller homes, one for winter and one for summer.

MinusTwo

Nance - where are you planning on moving?

Carole: I love the 'two' home idea - but at this point in my life they would have to come w/o two yards to care for. Your summer arrangements always sound great.

I have a meeting at 6pm so will be eating mid afternoon. Since it's almost that now, I'd best get figuring out what the meal will be.

auntienance

Minus, the plan is to buy something smaller about 50 miles south of here in the county just west of St. Louis county - sort of the suburb of the suburb if you will. Between city and country living. The plan is to be snowbirds and winter somewhere warmer. Might not even be the same place every year.. The big thing is to have less maintenance and definitely less winter. That's the plan anyway.

Mini meatloaves tonight and mashed potatoes with corn or green beans.

carolehalston

DH had a woodworkers guild meeting last night. He warmed up a bowl of red beans and rice for his dinner. I had forgotten about his meeting and started making a turkey meat loaf when I got home at 4 pm. It's made and ready to be cooked for tonight's dinner.

My dinner was crackers and cheese. Perfectly satisfying. Reminds me of the years when dh was away from home half of the time, working an offshore schedule.

MinusTwo

Carole - hooray for tonight's dinner all ready to pop in the oven.

I'm taking my ex DH for a belated B-day lunch today. He wants a steak so we'll meet at Perry's. My downfall will be the delicious bread. Hmmm or maybe the fried asparagus. We've been divorced for 25 years now, but we never saw any point in being enemies. We usually talk every couple of weeks & have lunch every couple of month. Sometimes his wife comes; sometimes not. I think all three of us prefer not.

Magari

Tonight we're having homemade chili con carne that I pulled from the freezer. I'll make corn bread to go with it.

This past weekend I had a friend over for New Orleans style red beans and rice. (Beans had been cooked in Instant Pot for the chili and divided).

I also used the IP to make chile verde. Stews and soups are appealing with the ceaseless rain we're having. Also good to send to work with my husband, who is currently at a location where there a few options nearby.

Someone up thread was talking about gas prices at $2.49/gallon? Here it's at least $3.49. I wish we were like Europe where public transport is cheap and functional, but gas prices are high and people drive tiny cars. Not happening any time soon, I know....

Beaverntx

Tonight's dinner was shrimp paella, easy and colorful! Also, enough for another dinner.

eric95us

We had leftovers--the BBQ bean tacos and chicken enchiladas--out on the back porch.

ChiSandy

Tonight was lobster-shrimp ravioli (a freebie from Peapod that I had to use up pronto). I made the sherry-cream sauce recipe on the back of the package (sweated a chopped shallot in butter, added sherry and cooked off the alcohol, then the cream, tomato paste & seasonings. I added a twist—soaked a saffron thread in hot water and whisked it into the sauce. Forgot to add truffle oil, but it wasn't in the recipe anyway. No pic, alas—running around like a headless chicken packing and arranging for my trip (I leave for Amsterdam Friday a.m., and return from Jerusalem & Tel Aviv Monday evening 4/8). Packing the meds is always the biggest PITA, and this was no exception, especially trying to figure out how to bring my CBD edibles which I need for sleep. (Several people—including the doc who certified my MMJ application—suggest just bringing it along with “normal” gummies & chocolates for snacking. Not gonna try bringing any THC, however). Amazingly, you can buy pot in Amsterdam but you can't buy CBD; and in Israel—where the endocannabinoid system was discovered and now exports CBD to your local stores (yup, Walgreen's & CVS are rolling out CBD topicals in the pain relief aisle)—you need a doctor's prescription, as it's considered medical marijuana!

carolehalston

We had the turkey meatloaf last night. The side was really good. Yellow squash steamed in a skillet until fork tender. Then I emptied the remaining water, added butter and lightly browned on high heat. Sweet and tasty. May become a popular preparation.

Tonight will be recycled turkey meatloaf. I will warm the slices with some tomato sauce spread on top and a sprinkling of cheese, either Asiago or Romano. The side may be cabbage. DH recently commented that he likes cabbage and we seldom eat it.

I played golf yesterday for the first time since February when I played once. The day was perfect, low humidity, high in the low 70's. Despite regular trips to the gym I woke up with a creaky body this morning. I'm hopeful that the frequent rain will become less frequent so that I can play regularly again. Any kind of physical activity is good.

SpecialK

Hi all! Have been reading along but not posting - no meals worth discussing since return from Pittsburgh. DD has been in NOLA for work meetings but she will be home tonight. Plan on making sliced Aidell's chicken sausage, sautéed with asparagus, celery, green pepper, on top of cauliflower fried rice so we can eat together - that way she can get back on the keto wagon and we can all eat the same thing. She has been well behaved but was just eating salad for the most part while she was gone - not enough protein or fat. I am about to go into the kitchen and make a bunch of little fritattas in a silicone muffin pan - egg, ham, spinach, and cheese. Will bake them and then she can just pull a couple out for breakfast and I can send them with DH for breakfast at work tomorrow. Two birds with one stone (frittata, lol!)

carole - you might consider cabbage rolls if you don't already make them. They are old school, but I love them. You could basically take your meatloaf recipe and roll it into blanched cabbage leaves. I pour a tomato based sauce over the top, cover the pan, and bake them.

MinusTwo

Carole - I like the squash idea. Yellow squash just isn't exciting, even with onion &/or garlic added. I'm going to try your saute.

auntienance

Great idea on the cabbage rolls SK. I have leftover meatloaf too which I might use in an unstuffed version.

We love yellow squash. I often make it as a sort of souffle or sauteed with onions, garlic, green pepper and a tomato. DH would eat it that way every night if I fixed it.

Long day at retina doc followed buy shopping. I have a follow too with the cataract doc for eval. Cataracts have progressed but because of the macular degeneration, they want to be conservative. In the meantime, my eyes are dilated making shopping quite the challenge. We picked yup a Deweys pizza (capicolla and green peppers, half red sauce and half garlic sauce) so no cooking since my eyes will be dilated until well past 8 pm. They used to give me something to undilate my eyes, but for some reason have discontinued that practice.

I hope this post is intelligible. I have no idea