So...whats for dinner?

ChiSandy

Tonight was a Piemonte-themed winemaker dinner at Cellars (the winemaker was young and definitely eye candy). First course was caponata bruschetta, melanzane involtine (ricotta-stuffed eggplant rolls), salumi (prosciutto, salami, provolone) and footlong thin breadsticks. I didn't eat the toast or the breadsticks. Second course was definitely keto-friendly: vitelllo tonnato (thin veal slices with tuna-olive oil puree), deviled egg, and caperberry. Next came braised beef ravioll in long-cooked tomato sauce with sauteed spinach & roast carrot & cipolline onion (I ate two ravioli and packed the other two). Main entree was balsamic-glazed duck leg over polenta with green beans (I managed to avoid most of the polenta). Dessert was my Waterloo, however: a "bunet," or chocolate caramel custard terrine with amaretto cookie crumb crust and a mini-amaretto cookie. (I ate the cookie and 2/3 of the bunet). It was partly that I was in carb-danger-land, but more that I was full. I could barely handle more than an ounce of each wine (of which there were five).

carolehalston

Last night's dinner was half a rack of baby back ribs. They were very good but I probably should have cooked the whole rack. Side was baked sweet potatoes with butter.

Tonight we're taking our neighbor, John, out to dinner at Hill Top Restaurant where I will probably have the prime rib.

carolehalston

The dinner at Hill Top with John was enjoyable. The popular restaurant was not busy now that the population has decreased in the lake area (summer people having departed). All three of us had the prime rib, medium rare and it was tender and tasty.

Not sure about dinner tonight. So far the scene outside is dreary although the temperature didn't sink as low during the night as forecast, thanks to cloudiness. We may venture to the casino over near Walker. If we eat lunch out, dinner will be light.

MinusTwo

Dinner last night was popcorn - drenched in melted butter. I usually have that a couple of times a week but I need to start cutting out nuts & seeds & etc before colonoscopy prep so I'll miss it for the next week. Meals will be cleaning out the fridge over the weekend leading up to broth & jello & white cranberry juice by Monday night.

In the mean time, a friend just called to ask if I wanted a bowl of clam chowder for lunch. YUM. One of our old time restaurants - open since 1953 - is closing in December and they only serve this on Fridays.

Magari

Our seafood CSA delivered black cod yesterday, so I broiled it with a miso glaze and served with rice and a mixed green salad with sliced up pear in it.

Tonight will be the leftover chicken breast, probably with egg noodles.

MinusTwo

Magari - I so envy your seafood CSA.

Magari

I feel very fortunate to have access to our seafood CSA.

There's quite a good fish market on our side of town, but parking is challenging and my husband likes to keep our weekends as car free as possible. So we weren't getting there very often.

This was an easy way to get more fish/seafood into our diet and support local fishermen at the same time. It's forced me to get creative and find new recipes for things I hadn't cooked before. It's a good thing all around!

illimae

Oh man, tonight was a really good one. The dish was Korean Beef Bibimbap. I replaced the mushrooms with leeks and skipped the sriracha but it had lots of flavor anyway, definitely making this one again.

ChiSandy

We don't have a fish CSA per se--I subscribe to Butcher Box, which ships us grass-fed meats, pasture-raised chickens, and wild-caught Sockeye salmon. We live around the corner & across the street from Whole Foods, which has an excellent fish dept. with wild and MSC-certified responsibly-farmed seafoods. Not cheap, but I can buy only what and how much I intend to cook that night or the next.

Leftovers tonight, supplemented with a Caprese of homegrown tomato & basi dressed with real aged aceto Balsamico and Ligurian olive oil; l and roasted veggies (Brussels sprouts, red pepper, red onion, zucchini & mushrooms) from WF's salad bar. Bob had my leftover ravioli from the Cellars winemaker dinner and we split his leftover filet mignon. May have a scant cupful of berries (straw-, rasp-, and black-) with a bit of cream.

carolehalston

We had a hamburger and fries at Northern Lights Casino yesterday afternoon about 2 pm. Both tasted good. I was very hungry since breakfast was Wheaties and banana slices. Dinner was peanuts and Dot pretzels with my cocktail, a rye old-fashion with cherries and orange slice.

Last night we had a frost warning. According to Weather Bug the temperature in Park Rapids got as low as 32 degrees. This morning the sun is shining and the heat pump is running to make the camper comfortable. Our date for departure is next Wednesday, the 9th. Not sure why but that's the date DH picked.

MinusTwo

Illiemae - liked the Korean dish.

Carole - I had Dot's Pretzels with my cocktail too. It's probably OK since that was desert after my early dinner of mixed salad with avodaco & cucumber and Asian dressing. I think tomorrow I'll make a brandy cream sauce, saute some onions & mushrooms, add a rotisserie chicken breast from the freezer and serve over pasta. Or maybe serve over a baked potato since I have one of those that's approaching extinction.

carolehalston

Dinner tonight is chicken and sausage gumbo served over brown rice. I used the multi-cooker on Saute, Pressure Cooking, and Slow Cooker. I think the final product will be good since I sampled the sauce.

We've had the heat on all day today so this is good weather for gumbo.

Meanwhile, Dot pretzels with our cocktails.

carolehalston

Forgot to comment that InstaPots are on sale at Walmart for $39.

SpecialK

Tonight is herbed roast pork, au gratin potatoes, and a salad with avocado, since I have ripe ones!

I have been cooking and freezing things for DH as I will be visiting my BFF in Cali for a week, yay! I am spending my birthday with her (carole’s departur day, lol!) and we are going to see Hamilton in San Francisco and have a special dinner. Since DD will be gone for work, which makes him take on pet duty too, I want to make it easy for him. The freezer is stacked with prepped stuff - mostly protein and pasta items.

auntienance

Whole roast chicken on the grill with buttered noodles and broccoli as sides tonight. Since it's a giant chicken, I'm sure there will be plenty for leftovers or repurposed for other supper dishes.

Carole, I'll be looking for you to wave as you pass my house on your way home.

MinusTwo

I started to make this mushroom pasta dish from Bon Appetit

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/creamy-pasta-with-crispy-mushrooms?mbid=synd_yahoo_rss

but somehow ended up adding leftover rotisserie chicken & then brandy because I had no pasta water, and then serving it over 1/2 a baked potato. Used to be I would only follow a recipe exactly. I'm grateful to Lacey & Nance & Special & Carole and others on this thread for teaching me to be more adventurous and dare to make changes. When I make the dish with pasta, I will be adding green peas. And I will probably add some red pepper flakes.

eric95us

I had been adjusting recipes to suit what was available in the pantry and freezer, and then when Sharon decided to try veganism, I kind of took a step back and followed recipes very closely. Now we are both back to "a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and and lot of ....." for the vegan recipes.

My MIL and her three sisters are getting together in Ohio and she didn't feel she could get fly (and cart luggage) by herself, so Sharon and I are "escorting" her there. They're all in their late 70s and 80s, so everyone wanted to get together "before it's too late".

About three weeks after the travel plans were set, the youngest sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, so now everyone is even more determined to get to Ohio. The diagnosis is only a few days old, so she is in the anxiously waiting time.

The day we get back from Ohio, we will be loading up our backpacks into the car and going to the Grand Canyon. I've got a 3-4 day engineering project in the Grand Canyon. Since it's best to have more than one person going along, Sharon gets to go along too, so we will have a 3-4 day "walk-work" backpack across the Grand Canyon. I feel like Brer Rabbit.

ChiSandy

Too early for full dinner before temple last night, too late to cook or eat anything heavy after returning from services, so I held over the grass-fed ribeye to grill tonight, along with asparagus and half a small garnet yam.

Today & tomorrow will be the last warm (albeit sticky) days of the year; chilly rain on & off through next Sat. Hoping the electrician can get 2 dry days in a row to run the new supply line & conduit from the house to the garage. So far, it hasn't shorted out in the rain, despite the trench being open. He couldn't work today & tomorrow because it's Rosh Hashonah. Bob is ticked off, because he works on the High Holy Days; but he isn't Jewish and no Catholic holidays forbid working; and as a doctor even if he were Jewish, the "mitzvah" to protect or save a life takes precedence over all other commandments. Electricians & repairmen don't get that religious "free pass."

Beaverntx

Tonight's the first night I've done any cooking since DH and I returned from a trip last week with runny noses and a cough (pcp today ascertained it is not bronchitis, thank goodness). Fixed yet another version of my layered enchilada casserole using what was on hand-- rotisserie chicken, bell peppers, onion, refried and black beans, tex-mex enchilada sauce, corn tortillas and shredded Mexican cheese. No pics yet as it still in the oven!

illimae

Tonight was Crispy Parmesan Chicken with Couscous and roasted carrots.

Reader425

Tonight was baked Rockfish from the Chesapeake bay (lemon, tomato, onion, garlic, Italian and old bay seasonings) wrapped in a foil packet, mashed potatos and a mixed green salad. Fish was somewhat bland to my taste but my DH is low sodium so that's that. He said 'tartar sauce makes everything better.' What was fun was he caught the fish back in season. 🛥⛵🐟🦀

ChiSandy

Tonight was grilled grass-fed ribeye (ate half of it), baked sweet potato (ate half of a small one) and broccolini.

Reader425

Sandy are you doing a keto or modified keto plan? If so is there a book you would recommend to get started?

ChiSandy

It's modified keto, formulated by the bariatric program at NorthShore Skokie Hospital. Unlimited animal proteins (preferably 4-6 oz. or up to 3 eggs per meal), healthy fats (nuts, olives, avocados, olive oil), cheese, unsweetened almond milk, sauerkraut, leafy green veggies. Small amounts of butter and no-sugar bacon & charcuterie. Moderate amts (2 c. per meal) of other non-starchy green/white/yellow veg & bell pepper, and up to 1 c. tomatoes, winter squash, red bell pepper, peas or carrots (these latter veg, which Weight Watchers used to call "#4" and mandated one serving/day, are optional). Moderate amts. of hummus & babaghannouj, also optional; One "healthy carb" 3-7 days/wk (very high-fiber low carb bread, sweet potato, up to 1/2 c. quinoa, plain full-fat dairy such as milk, cream, Greek yogurt; no-flour falafel; steel-cut oats, berries, citrus and melon other than watermelon). Occasional Quest brand frozen cauliflower-crust pizza (other brands add too much starch). Moderate amts of dry wine or hard liquor. No sweeteners except stevia, xylitol, or monkfruit crystals. Unlimited black coffee & tea; 8 cups of water or seltzer per day. No grain products (except for those mentioned): no bread, rolls, cookies, cake, pastries, dry cereala, crackers (but "Flackers" 100% flax-seed crackers are ok), corn, cornstarch, flour (other than coconut or almond), rice or pasta (except for no-carb shirataki). No chips (but pork rinds are ok). No potatoes other than sweet potatoes. No ice cream or sorbet. The (very) occasional sugar-free Jello or no-sugar-added frozen coconut milk dessert is also OK. And up to a 2" square of chocolate (>72% cocoa solids) per day.

Blessedly, no peeing on a test strip to determine ketosis. Full keto (which I was also offered, the third option being a meal-replacement program) requires that, but makes you feel awful the first week.

carolehalston

Last night was leftover chicken and sausage gumbo and brown rice.

Tonight we plan to go out to dinner with neighbor John, who proposed the outing. He suggested Chicken Shack in Dorset, the only restaurant open now in that small village so popular with diners during the summer.

Reader425

sandy thank you for the info and details. I appreciate it.

Carole that gumbo sounds yummy!

MinusTwo

Oh my - all your meals sound & look wonderful. I'm on clear liquids before my colonoscopy tomorrow.

Carole - I saw on another thread you might be heading home this weekend. I'm sure you're ready. Even though it's still in the 90's here, we had a breath of wind yesterday that 'felt like' fall. I know, totally non-rational, but it got down to a LOW of 78 last night.

Illiemae - hope you'll post here too about the bus trip event for your best friend's B-day. Where are you going to eat?

auntienance

Best of luck tomorrow Minus, I don't envy your prep.

Last night was an uninspired grilled angus patty (sans bun), green beans and potatoes and cole slaw. Carole, the gumbo sounds good, so I think I may use the leftover chicken carcass to make the base for that. I have sausage and shrimp too. Today is supposed to break a heat record here, so perhaps I should wait until tomorrow when the high is supposed to be in the 60s. That puts me back to wondering, what's for dinner?

illimae

Minus, I’ll definitely post here too. We’re going to Bravery Chef Hall. I’ve never been there but it seems to be a high end foot court and there’s five restaurants in a shared dinning area, so many options 😋

M0mmyof3

Chicken, a side dish and salad