So...whats for dinner?

MinusTwo

Dinner last night was Kroger Private Selection Petite Potatoes with Hatch Chile Ranch dressing. Served with Nolan Ryan prime beef patty sauteed in butter and two glasses of Mina Mesa Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles.

Tonight might be salad. But it's cold so it might be macaroni & butter. I just can't get excited about cooking - or eating for that matter.

Interesting Eric that the running seems to divert your hunger. Oh am I jealous of the sourdough.

Reader425

That sourdough does sound delicious Eric. Great accompaniment to any meal.

Tonight we has Sausage Tortellini with Rao's three cheese sauce and a mixed green salad. Today was busy so I told the hubby he'd have the promised beef burgundy or stew on Wednesday.

Macaroni and butter sounds delicious to me if I were not trying to up my protein intake!

Beaverntx

Eric, yummy for the sourdough!

Tonight was our standard homemade pizza for the two of us. DS1 and his family are off for a couple of days visiting DS2's family.

Magari

I used the Instant Pot to make turkey stock over the weekend, and used that to make Rick Bayless' Sopa Azteca, a light, brothy version of tortilla soup. We had that for dinner last night and there's enough to have it another night this week.

Tonight will be leftover turkey and stuffing, with shredded brussels sprouts on the side.

auntienance

We've been turkeying a lot here too. Sunday night was omelets but last night was Saturday's leftover turkey chopped up and mixed in with the gravy, served over the leftover mashed potatoes and dressing. Leftover green bean casserole and cranberry chutney added color. Tonight, the turkey breast carcass is going into turkey and noodles. The whole bird carcass is in the freezer. There is enough leftover turkey for tonight and a package frozen for a future pot pie. The rest went home with the kids. Eric, where do you find those little turkeys?!? I got a 12½ pound one and that was a miracle.

Tomorrow I'm venturing out to finish Christmas shopping. I've managed to do a lot of it locally and a fair amount online. Just need a few small things which shouldn't be a problem. It's supposed to be a beautiful day tomorrow in the 50s so I'll take advantage of it. The hardest thing will be not spending on myself. I'm not in a holiday frame of mind but I'm in a redecorating frame of mind so as my DH says, I'm "on the hunt." (My best shopping bud's DH refers to our outings as a "safari" lol.)

eric95us

It (the tiny turkey) was "just there". It looked like the turkey selection was fully picked over and all that was left was the 9-1/2 pound turkey and ones in the 23-25 pound range.

I, too, made turkey stock (broth?) and put it in the refrigerator so I can skim the fat off...except the fat layer was nearly non-existent. So, the next step is the canning phase. Tomorrow, when I get the Christmas stuff out of storage, the pressure canner will be coming out as well.

I keep forgetting to get a picture of the dogs sitting by the oven door when I'm baking sourdough. When Jessiecat was alive, he would also join them by the oven. I never could decide if they were guarding the bread or hoping they could open the oven door and run off with the bread.

I use the Bluebird brand flour (the favorite flour among the Navajo Fry-Bread makers), which comes in 5 pound and 20 pound cloth sacks. I've been getting it in the 5 pound sacks, as that amount fits easily into a repurposed 1 gallon glass pickle jar. I'm using 4 pounds of flour per week and the 20 pound bag is only twice as much money as the 5 pound bag. So, yet another errand on my list is to find a container that will hold a bit more than 20 pounds of flour.

HappyHammer

Eric- your bread sounds so good! Glad the running is allowing you to eat it.

It is chilly and windy here. Made a big pot of chicken noodle soup on Monday and have been having it for lunch so far this week.

Roasted chicken thighs with carrots, potatoes, onions, turnips and parsnips last night. We had that and a tossed salad for supper. Made enough to have again tomorrow night. Tonight will be lasagna from Olive Garden that my sister brought by with more of the tossed salad.

MinusTwo

Dinner was Rao's sauce with sour cream added and Flame Broiled Meatballs from Trader Joe's. Last time I opened a bottle of Raos I split in thirds and froze two portions. Just the right amount for a meal and the rest of the bottle doesn't get moldy sitting in the back of the fridge until I'm in the mood for pasta sauce again. The meatballs come in a package of 12, so that's four meals of 4 for me.

My BFF raved about the Jennie-O Frozen Turkey Breast that her Thanksgiving hostess cooked. It goes directly from freezer to oven and cooks in less than 3 hours. Plenty of pan juices to make your own gravy so they didn't use the enclosed packet. Seems like an ingenious way to get turkey for sandwiches or salads or soups if you live alone. And/or had an alternative meal like I did.

carolehalston

We arrived home yesterday afternoon. Everything was ok. We unpacked and were settled in our chairs, enjoying HOME, by cocktail time. Dinner was a take out pizza with thin crust. I overruled dh's plan for Subway.

Tonight will be a home-cooked meal, possibly pork tenderloin with baked sweet potatoes. It is so good to be back home.

DH made a bunch of Christmas ornaments so I guess we will put up a Christmas tree. Not a big venture since we have a skinny tree in the attic.

I saw on the news that people do not wish to keep about 50 per cent of Christmas presents. Really makes you want to get out there and buy Christmas presents, said my Scrooge inner person.

MinusTwo

Carole - I know you're glad to be home. It would be fun to see some of your DH's ornaments if you could post a picture. I agree about only 50% of Christmas gifts being keepers. I'm moving more & more towards gift cards or a food gift for the whole family - with one little token thing for small kiddos to open.

Edited to add, my Mother would be horrified. She spent so much time & effort with her selections we were obligated to "love everything". She thought gift cards or (heaven forbid) money was crass. I remember being newly married and scratching for money for groceries and getting all these over the top gifts when $50 would have been very welcome. (she wrapped each sock of a pair in a separate package so there would be more to open). WTH - even $25 at the time would have bought most of a week's groceries.

auntienance

Welcome home Carole. I'm empathizing with your inner scrooge. Since I've spent the last year getting rid of things, DH and I have reached the point of having absolutely nothing on our Christmas list. We, as have our close friends and family, decided gifts from now on are to be consumable. (I'm a big fan of Amazon gift cards because I read a lot of books.) All that being said, I did finish the Christmas shopping yesterday, thankfully.

Tonight will be beef stew along with the last of the thanksgiving dinner rolls. I may start some Christmas baking today - breads for the freezer.

HappyHammer

No place like home, Carole.

We, too, have spent a lot of time purging and paring down...we tend to do gifts of time or consumables as well.

Supper tonight will be a chicken and root veg stew over rice with a salad. We will see who is home to eat it....last night, none of my curent crew was here to eat until around 10 and I was already in bed.

I have discovered the "Express Lane- grocery pick up"- at our local grocery store, Harris Teeter. Since I cannot get out in crowds this is such a wonderful thing! Usually, the cost for them to do the shopping and bring the bags to the car is $4.95 but this month, on Thursdays, it is $2. Worth every penny so that my DH or DS1 don't have to shop on top of work and everything else. If you haven't tried it- and could benefit- or know someone who could- I highly rec it. (seems most chains do this) Plus, keeps impulse buying in check if you have an issue with that.

Magari

Minus - my spatchcocked 14lb turkey cooked in about 80 minutes, with juicy white meat and delicious crispy skin. Used the backbone to make gravy while it cooked. I no longer cook poultry any other way.

We had the rest of the tortilla soup for dinner last night, with a bit of yogurt stirred in. Not sure about tonight's meal.

MinusTwo

Eric - can't remember what storage size you wanted for flour, but I got a King Arthur catalog and it had this 25 lb bucket. https://shop.kingarthurflour.com/items/flour-bucke...

Not sure why I got this catalog but it has such delicious sounding mixes, not to mention spices & flour. Another thought would be the large hard plastic lard buckets which bakeries used to sell.

carolehalston

The sweet potatoes were slightly shriveled but they turned out to be good when baked, wrapped in foil. The pork tenderloin was a tad overcooked but still moist and delicious. There is enough left over for a sandwich.

Not sure about the dinner menu for tonight but maybe a casserole with cabbage, carrots and potato and a meat. The last one was very good.

HappyHammer

Minus- that flour bucket looks great an they say it isn't difficult to open. Maybe that will work for Eric....I am lucky to have a 1 lb bag of flour in the pantry when flour is needed in a recipe.

Supper tonight is "taco chili" nachos with all of the trimmings. It is cold and cloudy and this just seemed a good choice for supper- with leftovers for the weekend. Put 2 quarts in the freezer. Yay, me!!

Beaverntx

Minus, I can vouch for the King Arthur goods, including mixes. Have used them for many years with success--both regular and gluten free (family sensitivities).

Dinner tonight looks like burgers with cheese and fresh tomato, some kind of potatoes and a salad. It is just the two of us tonight.

auntienance

I own several dough buckets (love them) and while I love KAF products, the buckets and storage containers can be found much cheaper on Amazon or restaurant supply stores.

My neighbor just gave birth to her 4th child yesterday and is home from the hospital today, so I fixed and delivered dinner to them - chicken enchiladas, tomalito and Spanish rice, along with carrot cupcakes for dessert. We will have the same for ourselves.

eric95us

Thanks for the flour storage possibilities. I have two stores I'm going to check tomorrow and if they don't have something suitable, I'll get one from KAF.

A couple of weeks ago, I ground up a head of cabbage and started the fermentation process to make sauerkraut. I tasted it today and decided it was sour (very, very tart) enough, so I put it into a mason jar and put it in the refrigerator.

Supposedly refrigerated sauerkraut will last several months, so we should be able to eat it all before it goes "bad".

carolehalston

The cabbage, carrot and potato casserole with Italian sausage was quite good. Side was a tossed salad.

Nance, you're a kind neighbor.

carolehalston

Last night's dinner was a "country" dinner. We had fresh shelled red beans and mustard greens, both seasoned with pickled pork. The beans were spooned over jasmine brown rice that cooked perfectly. Such a meal called for corn bread. I sprinkled Louisiana hot sauce on my bowl of beans and rice and pepper vinegar on my greens. Butter on the cornbread.

This afternoon we are going to an annual Christmas concert and afterwards to dinner at Sal & Judy's restaurant in the small town of Lacombe. I am looking forward to both.

MinusTwo

Hooray - I finished wrapping & packaging almost everything last night. I know it sounds early to many of you, but I have never lived in the same town or state with any relatives so most things have to be shipped. My plan is to be at UPS when they open tomorrow before I head for my 2nd cataract surgery.

Since I have post-op Tuesday morning & can't drive before then, I will be spending the night in a medical center hotel with a shuttle bus. This has worked well before. I check in early Monday am, park my car, leave my bag & walk or take the bus to the hospital. My ex-DH will pick me up after surgery (since they won't let you leave alone, even in a taxi), take me to eat & drop me back at the hotel.

Carole - I'm with you. Dragging out a ton of decorations this year is more than I can imagine. I've set out a delicate 5" carved wooden tree and a Christmas candle. If there's free time after writing cards & letters, I'd rather bake anyway.

I too am going to a choral concert this afternoon with a friend. Then to a restaurant new to our area - Common Bond Cafe. The menu on line is eclectic but I know I'll have to try the pastries.

eric95us

We're just getting our tree put up and since it has been raining, I haven't started on the Christmas lights around the house. Fortunately I can do that in about an hour. I put up cup hooks on the fascia of the house and I can use a long pole with a hook to hang and remove the lights...so I can do this without having to use the ladder.

As they say, in your pocket for your cataract surgery, Minus.

Lupper was a thickened with corn starch carrot, (ground) cashew and ginger soup, with sourdough bread. DD was here and is still kind of "fried" from working 3/4 time all through final exams, so I made her a 5 pound batch of garlic mashed potatoes. For the "make it creamy" stuff, I used a cup of full fat coconut milk, a cup of regular almond milk and 9 cloves of garlic...simmered while the potatoes were being boiled.

Auntie, the meal you made was, I'm sure, much appreciated. I remember how busy we were the first night DD was home from the hospital birthing center.

carolehalston

Dinner at Sal & Judy's was very good but, as always, the portions served were ridiculously large. I ordered an eggplant special that featured fried eggplant slices covered with a tomato basil sauce and lump crab meat. The serving covered a dinner plate. The side was a small platter of pasta, enough for two to three people. I chose the olive oil and garlic sauce instead of the tomato sauce. The take home food will be plenty enough for tomorrow night's dinner for the two of us. I may sautee some colored pepper slices to add to the pasta.

DH ordered the oyster and spaghetti entree and he ate most of his. We both had the oyster and artichoke soup. The meals came with a green salad with Sal's delicious creamy caesar dressing. Simple and so tasty.

Minus, best of luck with the final eye surgery. I'm always impressed with your friendship with your ex.

MinusTwo

Thanks everyone for the good wishes.

As for ex-DH, we were married 20 years and always great at working together - in the office and out. Mostly better friends than lovers. Anyway, we both decided to keep it that way going forward for our son if nothing else. It's been hard for his "now" wife to grasp - especially since her old HS friends told her it was a no-no & a horrible mistake to allow him to ever see me. Although now they have been married 25 years & she actually told me last year that she's glad I am his friend.

Dinner was a french dip at a new restaurant. In addition to excellent beef on a great sourdough roll, it had sauteed mushrooms, grilled onions & melted Gruyere cheese. Maybe not traditional but delicious. They bake on site and oh my, the pastries. I brought home a Black Forest Cheesecake since they said that was the "lightest" desert. My friend got some chocolate, raspberry concoction. Or maybe she got the dark chocolate, turtle cake.

auntienance

Best of luck with your surgery Minus, it's good to have that second one done I know.

My neighbors were most appreciative of the meal. It was a hectic day for them and it was good not to have to worry about that.

Tonight was mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes and green beans.

We did our minimal Christmas decorating today - about an hour start to finish. About the same amount of time to take down. So much less stressful.

eric95us

Minus, check in when you can.

I still remember, as if it were today, the day we came home with DD. Hectic, pretty well describes it.

Sharon and I had our physicals. Unless the blood work uncovers something unexpected, we're both in good shape for the shape we're in. :-)

carolehalston

Eric, it seems that you and Sharon are enjoying life after retirement. Good for you! It's nice that you both are relatively young.

Our Leftovers Dinner tonight was delicious. DH sautéed strips of yellow bell pepper and added the spaghetti flavored with olive oil and garlic from Sal & Judy's. I thawed and heated crab cakes from the freezer and also microwaved the eggplant with lump crab I brought home from last night's restaurant dinner. I mixed up a quick remoulade sauce to go with the crab cakes.

The preparation took no more than 30 minutes and we both enjoyed the meal.

Beaverntx

Chili tonight, will probably be better tomorrow as the cold front is due to move in over night tonight and it always improves with reheating.

SpecialK

minus - hope you are doing well - this is the second eye?

Spent last week in Savannah and had a couple of special meals - we did bagels and coffee at the Airbnb, but had a nice dinner at the Olde Pink House, appetizer of artichoke and goat cheese fritters in a red pepper sauce, their signature BLT salad - with candied bacon and fried green tomatoes with buttermilk dressing, and my friend had fried chicken and mac n cheese, while I chose a sweet potato and Vidalia onion ravioli in a creamy mushroom and pecan sauce. We also had lunch at Starland Café and shared pimento cheese with ciabatta toasts, and each had a half size "Kitchen Sink" salad which had lettuces, artichoke hearts, asparagus, tomatoes, red grapes, red onion, golden raisins, dates, crispy fried rice noodles, and a buttermilk dressing. Delish, but they didn't give it that name for nothing. We also had Cheerwine - we have both enjoyed a series of books by Susan Boyer, set in the low country of SC, featuring a female private investigator who drinks Cheerwine, so since we were nearby we had some! I liked it - kind of similar to Dr. Pepper.

Yesterday's main meal was at the Bucs/Colts game - I was good and had a salad. Tonight DH had a tuna sammy, DD and I had bowl dinners - chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, artichoke hearts, beets, kalamata olives, red pepper, feta, red onion, and Greek dressing.