So...whats for dinner?

carolehalston

Very mundane cooking here. Had a failure Saturday night when I attempted a version of Spanish rice, using the rice combo I had on hand (white, brown, red, black rice. I substituted canned tomatoes for most of the water and added some chili powder. Not great. I cooked boneless chicken thighs with tomatoes spooned on top, used the grill as an oven. The thighs were tender and tasted pretty good. It's hard to ruin chicken thighs, which is one reason I like cooking them. The fat keeps them juicy.

Last night's dinner was with the couples golf group at LaPasta in Dorset. I had the Sicilian spaghetti with a red sauce (too thick) that included olives, mushrooms and capers and hunks of Italian sausage. The sauce was spicy and I enjoyed the dish. Brought half of it home. DH had his usual linguine and Italian sausage and sautéed green pepper and onion. He ate all of his. We both really like the Italian sausage at LaPasta. Wish the owner would offer it for sale in the adjacent small Country Grocery.

Tonight I will try to make the left over Spanish rice more palatable. The rice needs to plump up.

It's Monday so I willl feed quarters into the washer and dryer in our nice little laundry room. It's a short walk back and forth but I get some exercise in the process. DH has a job planned for repairing a leak in the camper roof that he recently discovered so he will be climbing up and down a ladder, not his favorite thing to do at age 80. The forecast has rain for tonight and he wants to finish the job before the rain starts.

Happy Monday after the 4th! I love it when holidays are over and the people go home to their jobs and lives and our little resort/campground becomes peaceful and quiet. My philosophy is that the purpose of holidays is to enhance the enjoyment of everyday life.

eric95us

We are camping at around 8,500 feet elevation and overlooking Ephriam, Utah. We made our "wilderness experience" complete and ate at a Mexican food restaurant. :-)

carolehalston

Dinner last night was not as originally planned. I made a large tossed salad and used the house oven down in the garage/recreation building to cook a frozen pizza from Jake's Pizza in Turtle River, north of Bemidji. We bought two of their frozen pizza's when we ate there a week ago.

The crust was burned around the edges so 15 minutes at 500 degrees isn't the perfect formula. Nevertheless all the pizza was eaten.

MinusTwo

Oh my Eric, you are miles from anywhere. If you keep going North, Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border is a lovely place. Magari - good luck with your surgery. Will you be at UCSF? Carole - I agree that's it's nice when the quiet returns. I've been making it a habit to travel when children are back in school for exactly that reason. Oh my - your DH on a ladder at 80? I'm leery of climbing up to clean out my own gutters with my neuropathy and 'dead' feet. Illi - loved your pictures of tubing on the Frio.

This thread has been fairly quiet. It's definitely too hot to cook and almost too hot to eat. Bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco that I planned for dinner, but yesterday never stopped. I was able to drop the food at home before going to chair yoga but then barely had time to de-bone before I had to leave again for water aerobics. So supper at 8:30pm was Triscuits with smoked salmon dip, lime jello/avocado/cashew salad and 1/2 a bag of cheetos. Picked up some cold boiled shrimp that I'll eat this afternoon. That will be good with my left-over three bean salad and key lime pie from last weekend. And no need to turn the stove on.

As for the non-food update, I had a hearing aid exam at Costo yesterday that was every bit as comprehensive as the two I've had at the medical center - and FREE. (Thank you chemo for the damage.) I was pleasantly surprised that my hearing has improved some in the last two years. While there are definitely things I miss (like some words in plays or some female words in houses with a very high great room ceiling & minimal furniture), she recommended I wait and test again in a year. This suits me since it's only once or twice a month that I'm with someone and have to ask them to repeat things. Most concert & playhouses have headphones you can get at the front desk for free that amplify or are connected directly to the actor's mics. And she said to sit with my back to the wall at busy restaurants so the sound won't reverberate.

Lacey - thinking about you. Hope the CA memorial for your brother was OK.

SpecialK

Can't remember if I posted about this salad the first time I made it - DD had it in Arizona when she was there for work just before she was to return home, and raved about it. Found a copycat recipe online, and have now made it twice for her and DH - including last night, but have not eaten it myself. They both have commented on how unusual it is, but also how good. It is lined up like a Cobb salad on the plate and you can leave it that way - or mix it. Both DD and DH mixed. It is a line of flaked smoked salmon, a line of cooked and cooled Israeli couscous, a line of gently chopped arugula, a line of dried sweet corn, a line of "trail mix" consisting of roasted and salted pepitas, asiago cheese, and currants or raisins, then a line of balsamic/olive oil marinated Roma tomatoes. The salad is dressed with a creamy buttermilk and basil dressing. I am not a smoked salmon person, so that is why I didn't have any, but when I made it the first time I made more for DH and used chicken breast since I had no more salmon. He said it was good, but liked the salmon version better.

I am thinking tonight may be curried rice, chicken and artichoke salad - minus, I agree on the too hot to cook or eat theory. Here also compounded by too wet, which is not a good combo with high temps. Bleh...

magari - also wishing you the best for surgery!

lacey - sending you strength to get through your sadness, I know it is hard to lose a sibling.

chisandy - also thinking of you and the loss of your cousin.

ChiSandy

Thanks, Special. Flying out there tomorrow to attend the evening shiva minyan (it's late enough in the shiva week that they'll need all the warm bodies they can get), then flying home at noon Thurs. (or whenever my flight takes off).

Sunday night's 90th birthday party was wonderful. The honoree was in great spirits and fine form. It was kind of a reunion of all of us who'd worked with him as well. I was able to stick to my diet: lox appetizer, green salad, and grilled Scottish salmon with asparagus Hollandaise. Berries instead of birthday cake. And last night's dinner was my leftovers. Tonight is the leftover grilled porterhouse with some kale salad.

carolehalston

SpecialK, your salad sounds really good and appealing to the eye.

We had another mundane and tasty meal last night. Baked sweet potatoes cooked in the outdoor grill/oven. A pork steak I bought from a pork farmer at the farmers market. The pork was really delicious.

eric95us

We are in Huntsville, Utah.

MinusTwo

Eric - gorgeous picture of the mountains & reservoir/lake when I google. I'm so enjoying following your trip vicariously.

Dinner is sort of a 'jump up' variation of Laurie's Mexican Casserole. Had leftover rotissarie chicken bits, 1/2 a jar of Mrs. Renfro's Jalapeno salsa, a can of pinto beans & bunch of Campari tomatoes. It's heating now, then I'll add cheese.

SUPer52

Hello everyone,

I am new to this site, and this topic jumped out at me because I love to cook and try new recipes. I struggle with the post BC diagnosis sacrifices of not eating what I am not supposed to be eating or not drinking what I am not supposed to be drinking because I enjoy and appreciate good food paired with the right wine or beer. I have not turned into a strict teetotaler or vegetarian by any means, but since my diagnosis, I definitely have given up my nightly glass of wine followed by an extra "splash" and I strictly limit my consumption of certain foods. :-(

I've always eaten a rather healthy diet, but now I make an effort to stay away from the "bad" stuff more (although I do still indulge when a special occasion calls for it) and I try to fill my plate with mostly plant-based foods.

I've enjoyed browsing through some of the recipes already posted here, so I will add one I made a few nights ago. This is adapted from a recipe from Gourmet magazine from quite some time ago. My husband and I enjoy it, so I've made it many times over the years. It's a good one on a summer night!

Grilled pork chops (or chicken) with pineapple salsa

Make a salsa out of about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of finely chopped red onion, about 1/2 of a pineapple diced small ( about 1/4 inch chunks), 1 or 2 seeded jalapeno peppers (or pepper of your choice), 1 T of fresh lime juice, salt to taste (up to 1/2 tsp). Set aside. I also add some chopped cilantro if I have some.

Make a mixture of 1 T of olive oil, 2 to 2 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp of salt. Stir it all together into a paste and rub it all over pork chops or chicken. (Fish may work too, but I do not like fish, so I can't say.) I always made it with pork in the past, but pork is one of the foods I am now limiting, so I used organic skinless, boneless thin-sliced chicken breasts instead. It is better with the pork chops, but it was good with the chicken also. (I'd use pork chops if I made this for company.)

Grill the meat and serve with the pineapple salsa.

I usually serve this with the meat and salsa over a mound of brown rice with roasted or grilled asparagus on the side.

Dinner tonight will be takeout from Chipotle since I did not go grocery shopping this afternoon as planned. I will order either a veggie burrito bowl or a salad and top it with black beans, extra fajita veggies, extra fresh tomato salsa, tomatillo green chili salsa, extra romaine lettuce, avocado, and brown rice. I tell myself that as far as convenience food goes, it's one of the healthier options, although it is on the salty side. So.....home cooked recipe out of Gourmet magazine Tuesday; fast food tonight. It's all about finding balance, right? lol!

auntienance

Welcome Super, I love pineapple and pork - the salsa sounds delicious.

The for sale sign is up and a showing is scheduled for Sunday. Yike! It's for real!

Tonight is smoked sausage, saurkraut, mashed potatoes and cornbread. Not fancy but satisfying - especially the cornbread lol

eric95us

Hi Super.

We are at. 41.2507638 -111.7902862. I think if you enter that into Google, it will bring up a map showing the place.

Tonight's meal is a simple "beans and rice" with lots of peppers and a salad. It's a minimal dirty dishes meal! :-)

MinusTwo

super - welcome. Thanks for the pork recipe. Actually I didn't totally give up anything in the way of food or drink. I just work for more moderation in the quantities and adding more fiber & veggies.

Nance - whoo boy. Scary for sure. Hope you get positive responses.

ChiSandy

Back from my quick overnight jaunt to NY for my cousin's shiva. Had my breakfast yesterday in the Dellta lounge at O'Hare (the only stuff I could eat on my near-keto diet was kale, cottage cheese with sunflower seeds, and half a hard-boiled egg. Didn't eat at my cousin's house because there were platters and platters of cookies and pastry & candy (and it turns out the fruit bowl I sent on ahead was all the sweet kinds I can't have). So when I got back to the hotel there was a 24/7 Greek diner across the street; had a small salad and "scrod a la Grecque:" broiled scrod cod with a lemon-butter caper sauce with grape tomatoes & olives, and instead of potatoes I had broccoli. The hotel (Hampton Inn) had the usual breakfast buffet (had a mini Western omelet and a sausage patty). When I got to JFK and the Delta lounge, I allowed myself a cappuccino (the milk in it was my daily carb). I had to turn down a free Bellini, as peaches are a no-no. (But the champagne is ok). Had a little more cottage cheese. And when I got home, dinner was the last of my leftover porterhouse, kale salad, and a small heirloom tomato with basil. (The basil is homegrown--and my first homegrown tomato of the season will be ripe enough in a day or two).

carolehalston

Big moment, Nance. I know you have enjoyed your home and property.

Today is our 50th anniversary! No big party for us. Not our style and I still don't feel like my grieving period for my mother is over. We are playing couples golf today and going to dinner with the group afterwards. So I made reservations for early dinner yesterday at Boulders Restaurant in Walker, the most "upscale" restaurant in this county. It's about a 50 minute drive.

Our arrival scene will amuse you. We parked a few minutes before 5 pm. There were already older folks waiting for the door to be unlocked. Cars were pulling into the parking lot, all occupants over 60 and well-dressed. From 5 to 5:30 Boulders offers a special menu and half-priced cocktails to the over 60 crowd. All the entrees are from the main menu but the big meat items are missing. Each entrée comes with soup or salad, daily veggie, and choice of potato or rice pilaf.

I had the crab crusted grouper in a lemony sauce and black rice pilaf. My salad was a wedge salad with blue cheese dressing and toasted pecans and tomato. My cocktail was Gray Goose on the rocks martini. Our shared dessert was carrot cake, which was beautifully plated. I enjoyed my meal but will go for the potato side next time. The pilaf was just ok. I should have known that since I ordered the pilaf when we went to Boulders last summer.

Dh had the jambalaya penne pasta. It came with sausage, shrimp and chicken and a spicy "Cajun" sauce. The sausage was very much to his liking, the chicken good but the shrimp (not surprisingly) didn't have much flavor. He enjoyed the dish. His salad was also the wedge. HIs cocktail was Beefeater over ice martini. Carrot cake is a big favorite of his.

All this good food, excellent service, and the bill was $61! Even with the tip, more than reasonable.

We will go back before the summer is over. The main dining room is a very lovely room with large windows overlooking the outdoors and there are dining porches on two sides of the building. The bar was busy turning out cocktails in stemmed glasses. The bar menu has a whole page of martinis.

auntienance

Carole, congratulations to you and Monty, 50 years is a BIG deal!

Tomorrow we are celebrating 50 years for my DSIL and DBIL. Their daughters have planned a surprise reception in the city followed by a Cardinals game. Looking forward to the reception, the game not so much. It will be 90+ degrees facing the sun for at least an hour in seats that seem to have been reduced to the size of airline seats and not as comfortable. (DH and I usually only attend ballgames during the week and in one of the several all inclusive areas that include food, air conditioning and private bathrooms.) But we committed to participating early on in the planning, so participate we will. We will spend the night in the city then DH's sister will host a brunch Sunday morning. It will prove to be an expensive weekend with weekend rates for hotel, parking and game tickets. Thankfully they've insisted on no gifts although we could have given a rather nice one with what we've spent lol.

So, we're eating out tonight at a new sports bar in town, for which I have no great expectations, but a friend told me the catfish is good, so no cooking for me until Monday.

eric95us

Congratulations on 50.

We are in Arco, Idaho...after stopping at EBR-1, the first nuclear reactor. Sharon, being a nuclear engineer, was like a kid in a candy store at Disneyland. :-). I, too, found it very interesting.

SpecialK

carole - yay! Happy 50th!

ChiSandy

Carole, happy golden anniversary! When you feel like your mourning period is over (dunno if your faith tradition prescribes an actual length), you and Monty owe yourselves something spectacular!

Bob stayed over at the hotel near his hospital last night (brutal long work day, and early echo/EKG reading morning today), so it was just the kitties & me. Haven’t had much luck grilling fish, so I pan-seared a Chilean sea bass filet I defrosted and paired it with an insalata Caprese (red & yellow heirloom tomatoes, basil EVOO, grapefruit-infused white balsamic and burrata over arugula). The fish-stink lingered into the night but it was worth it

eric95us

We're stopped for the day at a place a few miles north of Salmon, Idaho.

Yesterday Sharon was like a kid in a candy store at the nuclear reactor site, EBR-1, and I enjoyed it too.

We probably won't eat dinner as we ate a huge lunch.

MinusTwo

Are you seeing much snow Eric? Nance - good luck tomorrow. Carole - congrats on 50. Hope your family in LA is OK.

Went to a fun wine tasting last night - Vive la France. We tasted 9 wines from around the country with histories of each region & those wines and interesting facts for each location. Accompanied by a lovely chacuterie platters. I liked some things I was prepared to pass and was disappointed in the Pouilly Fuisse, which I usually like. As a bonus we got to taste the French whiskey that is the only one allowed in the Elysee Palace - Bellevoye.

We had a water aerobics make up class this morning. Mid day meal was a large salad with everything in the fridge and the left-over bacon from my breakfast out at a country kitchen yesterday. Tonight will probably be just popcorn.

carolehalston

Yesterday we set up a booth at the farmers market, our third Saturday to do so. After two hours we had sold a small bowl. Most of the shoppers looked like local folks rather than vacationers and they made a beeline to the vendors selling produce, which is just beginning to be harvested in gardens. Still no tomatoes, but some cucumbers, beets, cabbages and huge zucchini. What do people do with those monstrous zucchini? Zucchini bread?

Finally a woman came along and fell so in love with dh's bowls that she had problems making her selections. She bought two bowls and a bud vase and made our day worthwhile. She and her dh or significant other were on a motorcycle and had to figure out how to stow her purchases. I donated a soft shopping bag from our truck.

Dinner last night was hamburger patties and potato salad.

Kareen1

That sounds nice. Sometimes I’m just craving a really big 🥗 salad, but I can’t eat too green a day or two after chemo. I get so I’ll sometime, tonight I made pork shoulder roast, rice and po

eric95us

...at Glacier National Park for the next few days....

MinusTwo

Oh Eric, it's on my bucket list to get there while there are still glaciers. I'm jealous.

carolehalston

We visited Glacier National Park some years ago. What a beautiful part of the country.

Last night I panfried two small walleye fillets in olive oil and butter. They were delicious. Sides were left over potato salad and a romaine salad with cucumber, grape tomatoes, and Kalamata olives.

Any action on the house, Nance?

auntienance

Carole, a 26 year old couple looked at the house yesterday and were unimpressed. They thought it was too expensive and didn't find the updates to be to "their taste" (whatever that means.) I don't know any 26 year olds to know what their tastes are.

The weekend anniversary party/family reunion was big fun. Good food with people I don't see often enough. The ballgame was as brutal as I expected it to be. I got so hot I ended up watching the first three innings on a tv in the concession area until the sun went down. But the Cards won and there were fireworks, so it was good.

I haven't had to cook since last Thursday so now I have to get back into that frame of mind and it's not coming easily.

Lacey12

Thank you your kind condolences and support regarding my brother's death.

It's been a few weeks since returning from CA and his mem service. DH and I are still decompressing from it...and enjoyed the fresh air and surf of Provincetown this past week to try to clear our minds.The trip to LA itself was not pleasant given the vacay season and full, expensive, flights, requiring us to be sandwiched in middle seats for the six hour flights, but that paled in comparison to the distress we experienced once there.

The partial saga...

Despite my many efforts to support my sister's ability to make the trip,(a 17 hour trip from her VT home) she ultimately declined, and I totally understood why, so refused to pressure her further. But then, I paid the price once there since that did not sit well with SIL who continually, publicly, insulted me and my family about my sister's decision not to attend. There was no stopping her. This went on for the three days we were there, and yet, during the actual service, there was no mention of my brother's family of origin at all, except for his love of my mother's cooking! And we were never asked to be with her in the “receiving line" after the service. I honestly was so numb through that event that I didn't even have an emotional reaction. But my typically low key DH was horrified that SIL arranged the service so that DB's family of origin was essentially obliterated. I mentally reframed it as the memorial service for the years he was with her....the last third of his life. And the way she thinks, he didn't exist before that. Another way they were “born again", perhaps? So why we even needed to be there was curious.

We were further distressed to learn that his brain was never donated for dementia research, and to get a definitive DX of his medical condition. Am guessing that since it was not relevant to his stepdaughter, our family's medical history info is not of a concern to SIL. She had told me of her plan to donate his brain, but I also knew that she really liked the doc that changed his diagnosis, so might not have wanted to risk learning the actual autopsy findings. Really too bad for my family and children. His cremated remains were also not buried according to her spoken plan, in a nearby VETs cemetery. He'd told our family he wanted to be buried in Arlington Nat'l, and we recently learned that that plan was not going to be honored. I do understand that it would be far for her. But beyond that, his ashes were not buried at all, rather are, by her choice, sitting on her mantel. During the ceremony, DB's ashes were in an urn that was in the shape of a candle with flag decor, sitting on the table with his pictures and awards. We only learned what it was much later. Not sure who else knew what that big “flag candle" was! Nothing had been spoken about it.

So, bottom line is that everything she had shared with me over the past six months was either inaccurate or discarded as an undesirable choice. The entire experience was just so surreal. So there was a shock at every turn, except for the insults to our family which became appallingly commonplace.

We were eager to get home and try to regain a sense of normalcy.

I did accomplish one hoped for mission while at the service. I wanted to meet the people DB worked with at the large LA hospital where he was director of security for 17 years (his post FBI retirement job) before being stricken with the brain disease. Mission accomplished! I sought them out at the memorial luncheon, and was so glad I had a chance to thank his very respected boss for noticing and confronting DB and DIL about his sudden marked decline in cognitive functioning, (upon his return to work after knee surgery). She also arranged for his neuro evaluation. I had some wonderful conversations with this lovely, caring boss, and some of colleagues. He always spoke so highly of them, and obviously the feeling was mutual. Since that was the last interaction that I had there, I left with a sense of peace. So enough of all that....

We returned home to the joy of babysitting our new little grand. She is darling, and pretty quiet, in my opinion, but every first baby knocks their parents' socks off, and that seems to be the case, so we want to support them as much as we can. I remember those demanding days well, and we had no family nearby, so we want to help out as much as they'd like us to.

Wow! Nance, you and DH are mightily task-oriented and how wonderful that the work on the house is complete and it is on the market. Am guessing that you being in St.L for the weekend made open house easier for the brokers...and you! Sadly, several of our friends have also had the experience of dealing with entitled millennials who left them feeling that their house was "unworthy" due to the buying couples' tastes (read...unrealistic expectations). Fortunately, there are many more buyers out there, so the right ones will come along. I think of your leaving to be bittersweet given how much you have enjoyed your home and surrounding nature sanctuary. Best of luck! And never be concerned about the ones who don't appreciate it.

And Happy Anniversary, Carole! 50 years of marriage is quite an accomplishment! We're a few years behind you.... I can certainly understand how hard it is for you to feel celebratory this soon after your mother's passing. You were such a devoted daughter to her. You will celebrate in time... I loved reading about selling DH's bowls in the farmer's market. Years ago, I used to sell my pottery on the Boston Common, and loved sharing pieces I made with others who appreciated them. Hopefully, you can do it again when more tourists/visitors are there to appreciate (and buy!) his work.

Our trip to P-town this year was quite different from years past. We usually spend hours walking/strolling into and through town, and do beach combing by day. But DH seriously needs a new hip and is unable to walk far at all. So my fewer day walks were solo, and our dinners out did not include any post-dinner exercise! I felt the lbs piling on!

I'll post a few pix of our meals in another post since I've taken up so much space already.

But here's two of our little cutie....we so appreciated her joy upon returning home!

auntienance

Oh Lacey, I'm so sorry about your brother's memorial, how painful for your family. I admire your ability to rise above and am glad you got to meet and have a meaningful exchange with his co workers. But what a darling grand you have to bring you joy!

As I said before, I blame HGTV for this set of unrealistic house hunting youngsters/millennials.

Decided on grilled pork tenderloin, sauteed squash (from my SIL's garden) and peppers, local corn on the cob for dinner. I was afraid there wouldn't be corn this year due to the flooding and wet conditions here, but it's just come in. Don't know how long it will last so we're enjoying it as often as possible.

ChiSandy

Lacey, so sorry about not just losing your brother but the selfishness of his wife--so often people who have adopted a drastically different spiritual or lifestyle path isolate themselves, willingly or unknowingly, from those who love them. How you were treated was inexcusable. But your grandkid is adorable!

Last night, Bob came home early enough for me to grill in daylight, the weather held, and the pork chops defrosted. So I grilled them--using Penzey's Galena Street chicken & rib rub plus a little chipotle powder on both, and Whole Foods' Maple Bourbon sauce on his. Sauteed broccolini in EVOO, sliced garlic, salt & lemon juice. For his starch (which I eschew), I got Bob some pan-fried potato wedges with Parm. from WF's hot bar.

Tonight will be one or two tandoori chicken thighs I got at the hot bar, plus some of the Indian stewed okra from the freezer and maybe 1/2 c. of nuked palak paneer (Indian pureed spinach & greens with cheese cubes).

Tomorrow I have an early (ugh) dental appt. downtown to switch out my temp. acrylic lower molar crown for the permanent porcelain one; and to have one of my upper front teeth gently "ground" so it more closely matches its neighbor in length. My orthodontist is fully onboard--in fact, he suggested I have it done before I see him next week for my next set of scans for either some "refinement" Invisalign trays or (fingers crossed) my retainer.