So...whats for dinner?

auntienance

We had meatloaf last week and are in fact eating the leftovers as sandwiches - it's main purpose in my opinion.

My feelings exactly about tonight.

MinusTwo

Nance - great cartoon. One of the good things about living alone is the meal options. I had a banana for lunch. Then I had a bunch of Spanish Peanuts & a coke around 3pm. So I'm not really hungry and my meatloaf isn't going to get cooked tonight. Maybe an omelette?

Beaverntx

Just had pancakes with applesauce and fresh ground cinnamon for first meal of the day after retiring from a colonscopy. This colonoscopy was 3 years after the last one. Only the be teeny tiny polyp so back on a five year plan. 😁

eric95us

..probably nothing tonight for dinner. Sharon went to a (music) jam today about a mile from where DD lives, so they had a late lunch. I ate a microwave oven cooked potato for a very late lunch.

I ran a bit more than 5 miles today and now that the weather is civilized here, I then spent an hour or so going through some of my mom's stuff. I'm not sure what to do with her "seems to be very well kept" wedding dress. My mom was around 5 foot 10 inches tall and DD is around 5 foot 3 inches, so I don't think DD would be able to wear it if/when the time comes.

ChiSandy

Bob said he wouldn't be home in time for dinner tonight, so I took the path of least resistance and hit the hot bar at Whole Foods. Got ribs (drained off the sauce) and vegan collard greens with tomatoes. Got home 8pm. Opened the garage door...and there was Bob's car. I asked him if he'd had dinner (he almost always does at the hospital around 6 lest he get "hangry"). "Nope," came the reply, "I had a big salad for late lunch; it's okay, I'll have a liquid dinner." I told him in no uncertain terms that was NOT gonna happen. I had bought some nice rare roast beef, and we had a rye bread he hadn't touched all week. So I asked him if a roast beef & Swiss on rye would be enough, and he said yes. Didn't want any veggies. (I rinsed whatever sauce remained off the ribs, so they were still low-carb).

Lacey12

Nance, I soooooo relate to that cartoon! As a matter of fact, I think they used my exact words, mainly expressed to myself.....and this group!! But....DH has been in the hospital for the past two nights, and I have been amazingly productive, not having to plan produce the last two night’s dinners. And he is getting wonderful meals in the hospital (Win/Win) No wonder health care is so expensive! Hopefully tomorrow he will be discharged if his BP is back to normal and he is no longer dizzy when he gets out of bed to practice walking.

I have been fighting a bad upper respiratory virus (seems so early in the season!), and while I went to his private room yesterday, I had a bad cough today, so he suggested I stay home...and maybe hunt down several other appliances/gadgets he’ll need once he gets home. We have what seems like a lot of items, but then things he initially rejected happen to be the very things he is using in the hospital. There is a room at our town Community Council that contains a ton of such helpful items, so I made a third trip there today and got a walker and handy sock aid. I think he should be all set now! And I stocked the refrigerator, so hopefully we are in good shape for the return of the regular meal needer!

For the past two night’s dinners, I have singularly enjoyed leftovers of my fish with puttanesca sauce and veggies over orzo, which I first made three nights ago. I used sole instead of cod for it because the local market ran out of their freshly delivered cod.WHAT?! REALLY?! In Boston???!!! Well, sole was just not chunky enough to be interesting, so for my last night of leftovers I picked up a bit of cod, cooked with garlic and added it to the leftover dish. Yum! And in the interest of doing less prep, I didn’t even make a salad. It will be featured again tomorrow night with a chicken dish of some sort.

Growing up, my mother used to make Italian stuffed artichokes. She stuffed them with breadcrumbs/cheese/spices, and put some of it in the hallowed out middle, then added some in the folds of the leaves. Cooked in a tomato based sauce for a long time, and once tender, dipped leaves in the leftover cooking sauce. Once in a blue moon I go to the trouble of making these...but soooo good! I have a happy memory of my older son enjoying these as a three year old. I suppose I could make them for him now with almond or cashew cheese in the stuffing.

DH bought two packages of chicken breasts before he left for hospital and I need to figure out some low effort meals to make with those....maybe a crock pot recipe? Ideas welcome! TIA

M0mmyof3

Spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread

carolehalston

Lacey, I used to make stuffed artichokes back in the days when artichokes were available and affordable. I used Italian seasoned breadcrumbs with minced garlic and olive oil for the stuffing. I pulled the leaves back enough to poke in stuffing, then steamed the artichokes. Your Italian version sounds delicious. Stuffed artichokes are available here in many seafood markets in the refrigerator cases. The bread stuffing has crab meat or chopped shrimp in it. I have never bought one.

Given a voice in the dinner decision, dh voted for using the meatloaf for sandwiches and cooking chicken/sausage gumbo for dinner. He went to the nearby small grocery store and bought chicken pieces, bone in and skin on. He also volunteered to chop the onions, a chore I dislike. We had andouille smoked sausage links in the freezer. The gumbo turned out really good. The brown rice turned out too al dente for my liking, so I transferred it to a corning ware dish, added chicken broth and cooked in the microwave.

Side was a good romaine salad with the usual additions including a perfectly ripe avocado.

Dinner will probably be leftover gumbo. Maybe lunch, too!

MinusTwo

Lacey - so glad your DH is doing well. I can't remember - will this be the only side that needs surgery? Sorry you're under the weather & hope YOU heal quickly so you have energy to be the caregiver.

What about our "founder's" Mexican Chicken with the beans & salsa? I've been thinking about that this week & bought some chicken breasts for that purpose.

M0mmyof3

Made meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs. Made some homemade bread too.

MinusTwo

Based on the meatloaf discussion, I decided to research the addition of ... (...wait for it) cottage cheese. There were actually a number of recipes that touted how moist this was. They recommended oats (think instant oatmeal) instead of bread crumbs, so I added half oats & half sourdough bread crumbs to the beaten egg & onion. I never add ketchup to mine either before or after, so my recommendation is w/o 1/2 cup of ketchup mixed in - and only 1/2 cup of cottage cheese instead of a full cup for one lb of meat. It was delicious. It did call for fresh Parmesan cheese on the top for the last 15 minutes of bake time. I added that, but since it's not one of my favorite cheeses I scraped it off the leftovers & will omit the next time.

Oh Mommy - I love to hear about homemade bread. What kind did you make? I still miss Susan. Besides Eric who else routinely tackle's bread?

ChiSandy

Our neighborhood restaurants uses gorgonzola in its meatloaf. It is amazing. Too bad I can't have anything based on a "panade," which also includes meatballs!

Beaverntx

Tonight was an uninspired menu (see Nance's cartoon) of Turkey cheeseburger with shredded cheese 'cause I need to go to the store, steak fries, mixed vegetables out of the freezer and fresh tomatoes. I really do need to go the store!!

eric95us

We also had an uninspiring meal tonight...sandwich shop..... We didn't want to spend time cooking tonight because Sharon and I are helping with a 1/2 marathon, 10K, 5K and 1 mile run tomorrow. We need to leave the house around 4am.....

Bread baking has never been a problem for me....Things turned out just fine the first time I ever tried baking.

SpecialK

I baked my own bread in college, mainly because it was cheaper, but I enjoyed the process too. I later became more of a quick bread baker, but should go back to yeast bread baking - I have the time and I think it would be fun to try different recipes.

Tonight was Greek salads for DD and I. DH ate a big sandwich with roasted potato salad late this afternoon while football watching, so he skipped dinner.

Reader425

i make bread once in a blue moon Minus. My mother was a master (made amazing cheese bread and did teach me the basics and how to knead well). I still have a wonderful oatmeal bread recipe from college if you can believe it. Lived the hippie life - overalls wearing, bread making, guitar strumming kids. Carefree days at a rural college. From the backward look, bliss ❤

ChiSandy

I love bread: artisanal breads, baguetttes, homemade bread, croissants, challah, sourdough English muffins, even crumpets. But on this very low-carb, near-keto diet it's pretty much a no-no. There's a local Kosher bakery that makes a whole-multi-grain high-fiber bread that's 4 net gm. carb per full slice (cut it in half and you get a regular-size sandwich) from the round "boule" and a smaller (conventional shape) 100% whole wheat loaf that's 2 net gm. per slice. Otherwise, at a special occasion dinner with great bread service, I'll try a piece of crust--my favorite part of the bread. I have a friend who's on low-carb maintenance after weight loss and when she encounters a bread, pasta or risotto at a restaurant, asks herself if it's "carb-worthy."

Tonight I pan-seared Copper River sockeye salmon filets and sauteed julienned peppers, summer squashes, and carrots. Bob got brown & wild rice, I had cauliflower fried "rice" I made with ginger & garlic oil, deconstructed snap peas and sliced scallions. Finished it with a dash each of five-spice powder, coconut aminos, and toasted sesame oil.

eric95us

Mickey was a microbiology major in college and the sourdough starter intrigued her. She did a lot of class work with the starter and we would bake with the results. It was a lot of fun.

That was..nearly 40 years ago.....

Lacey12

Eric....yes, you are one of our comfortable, competent bread bakers. I think your patience is really helpful in that effort. I don’t have enough patience to be a serious bread baker, but have a recipe for “faux french bread” that does not take as long with a need for multiple rising, (just one) and bakes up nicely. That will be it for me in terms of anything but “quick breads”.

Minus, thank you for saving me for making an easy dinner with all the chicken I have waiting to be cooked! Of course Laurie’s salsa chicken fits the bill! And if any of our new table members need the recipe, look up the first page or so of this thread, where Laurie posted it for all to see!

DH’s new hip is “installed” and he’s doing pretty well. He stayed at the hospital for an extra day until his low blood pressure rose to acceptable levels, for which I am thankful since I would not want him passing out at home. He came home this afternoon, and things have been busy. Sort of “man cold” mode on steroids, with the addition of long appliances gracing every part of the two rooms DH is inhabiting so far. It will be great if I manage not to break a hip on all of the walking helps that extend onto every pathway I need to use to tend to him. Yet the really good part is that for all of the constant tasks needing to be done, while I fight this nasty upper respiratory infection, this hip surgery recovery does not include also constantly shoveling our entire property out from the major snow storms of 2015, which I did, solo. I was in peak shape then but now I’m thrilled that my knees even held up for the 15 trips upstairs,and down to the basement tonight. So....all goes well, and I am happy to have easy recipes for this week.

Carole, I wish we still had that wonderful stretching class!!! Since that particular trainer left our fitness center, the class has morphed into more and more rigorous sessions that I had to leave since my shoulder tear problem and lower back issues returned with a vengeance. I wish I could find a Silver Sneakers program near us.

Tonight, for dinner, I drove to our neighbors’ church bizarre, where I picked up a lamb lollipop dinner with rice, spiced green beans and salad for DH, (he needs some red meat after his surgery) and I ordered a Greek salad with grilled chicken for myself. When I opened it, the grilled chicken was absent, and I was just not energetic enough to get back in the car to sort out the mistake. Mercury is clearly retrograde. At least Mercury Retrograde did not impact DH’s surgery! So far, all is well....and anything not is time limited! 😉

It is very late, and I just realized that we get an extra hour to sleep tonight. Yay...I need it!

M0mmyof3

My bread recipe came out to two loaves of plain old white bread. Hubby went nuts over it.

carolehalston

I enjoy bread making/baking but abstain because of the evil scale. DH make me a beautiful bread board for kneading when I was in my phase of artisan bread making. Nothing smells better than bread baking in the oven. Nothing tastes better than a slice of the freshly baked bread with butter. Drool....

Lacey, glad your dh's surgery went well. Hope his recovery goes smoothly, too, and that you avoid injuring yourself as you negotiate the recovery aids.

Dinner last night was bowls of gumbo and brown rice heated in the microwave. The gumbo was better than the night before. Gumbo seems to get better and better until it's gone.

We are going to the home of a former co-worker of dh's this afternoon, in Ocean Springs, MS. He and his wife have open house every year when the Anderson Art Fair is held in Ocean Springs. Dinner will be whatever this couple has prepared, usually an array of foods. We may stop at the Beau Rivage casino on our way home.

auntienance

Back in my hippie vegetarian days I went so far as to grind my own wheat berries for bread making - a weekly event. These days my bread baking is more of a varietal nature - bagels, bialys, welsh cakes, cinnamon breads, baguettes, my beloved harvest bread (which I'll be making soon.) I frolicked with a sourdough starter for a few years but DH doesn't love sourdough and I lagged in the commitment of keeping the starter alive and baking bread every week (I couldn't stand throwing any of the starter away when feeding it.) Arthritic hands affect how much I can knead so I rely on the stand mixer which kneads like a champ.

Speaking of bread, last night was calzones from a newly opened restaurant that serves nothing but. I was underwhelmed and won't be ordering from there again. They're easy enough to make myself and far more tasty.

I'm thinking something Chinese tonight - fried rice and a beefy green pepper main because that's what I have on hand.

auntienance

Carole - say hello to the Beau for me. We're missing our annual visit.

Beaverntx

I too, love bread making but rarely do so anymore because we eat it! Am looking to see if I can find a bread recipe that has no gluten, yeast or dairy as I have house guests coming who have recently been told to abstain from all three.

Lacey, know oh so well what you and your DH are going through as a few years ago my DH had, first, back surgery (recovery PT was to walk so a walker as the first apparatus) and, second, several months later a hip replacement with the additional apparatus needed to avoid going over that dreaded 90 degree bend. Fortunately he healed well from both and was very dedicated to doing the prescribed PT.

Carole, I always think the very last bowl of chili tastes the best, too.

M0mmyof3

Tonight is a clean out the fridge night. Toasted two pieces of my homemade bread and put apple butter on it for breakfast!

ChiSandy

Not eating much today. The effects of iron supplement pills were piling up, so I had a fi-fiber dinner (following the weight clinic's advice for my plate to be 1/3 ea. protein & healthy fat and 2/3 non-starchy veggies), followed by some gentle (so I thought) "countermeasures." Results? TMI. All I had today was a poached egg on low-carb toast with black coffee and enough water to take my daily meds. I know I should be drinking water constantly to re-hydrate, but it only bloats me and then...

Think dinner (which I don't really feel like eating yet) will be either plain bone broth or maybe some "faux phô" using flavored bone broth, shirataki noodles and basil.

Beaverntx

Today's our 57th anniversary. Opened a bottle of bubbly for dinner and had chicken nuggets with hot mustard and ranch dressing dipping sauces along with carrots and sweet tomatoes and cheese. Obviously, I still need to go to the grocery store! We did have a good lunch at our favorite local Tex-Mex restaurant.

eric95us

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

ChiSandy

Mazel tov!!!

auntienance

Wow 57! Happy anniversary!