So...whats for dinner?

cero

Tonight was:

- Vegetable cream (zucchini, squash, chard, tomato, turnips green, garlic, onion) and

- Shiitake mushrooms with cayenne and turnips green

auntienance

Today I fixed a pork butt in the oven with a Frontera sauce - garlicky chipotle lime. We'll have it tonight shredded as soft tacos with refried black beans and a cabbage slaw dressed with chipotle mayo.

We didn't get to the gyros last night so at least tomorrow nights dinner is figured out.

WC3

MinusTwo:

Salad and cookies sound fine to me!

MinusTwo

I took some queso from Costco to a friends for happy hour & our Christmas gift exchange this afternoon. Her DH wants his dinner before 4:30 now, so drinks had to be at 3pm. I recommend this delicious queso highly - both on tortilla chips as we enjoyed today, and I will be putting it on veggies & potatoes and.... It's called Queso Mama - White cheddar with diced green chiles. They have options on the back for what to add to make it hotter & hottest.

Heard from Lacey. They have been busy as bees with the holidays, & kids & grandkids and... So nice to hear from longtime BCO friends. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to post.

auntienance

Agree Minus, glad people have checked in for the holidays.

I need to look for that queso next trip.

MinusTwo

Here's the link. Apparently there are other combinations in some places.

https://quesomama.com/

carolehalston

Dinner was chicken enchiladas. Filling was rotisserie chicken, diced mild chilis, black beans, grated Mexican cheese, and enchilada sauce. The bought corn tortillas didn’t hold together for a nice appearance on the plate, but the taste of the concoction was good. In the pursuit of portion control, I ate only two.

Side was tossed salad with cucumber, tomato, avocado. Oil and vinegar dressing.

It was a rainy day. I got out the big stock pot and simmered the chicken bones and the Christmas turkey carcass from the freezer. Tomorrow I will deal with the contents of the pot which will become soup, sooner or later.

The queso sounds really good. I like smoked oysters on crackers.

CeliaC

Carole - Your tossed salad is one of my mainstays, to which I also add baby bella mushrooms, & when I wish, whatever protein is on hand. DH always preps chopped english cucumber & tomato, so it is an easy salad starter.

We had ham on NY Day, so trying to use up leftovers. Yesterday, used chopped ham, baby peas, sauteed baby bellas, cauliflower gnocchi & some black truffle alfredo (both from Trader Joe's) for dinner.

eric95us

Tonight Sharon made a mushroom stroganoff. She "Facetimed" DD, who suggested a couple of additions that were very worthwhile.

The Dutch Oven got to, again, show off its capabilities.

It's almost orange juice season and my tree has the usual 600-700 pounds (270-320Kg) of oranges on it. I ordered a heavy duty commercial juicer that is claimed to be designed for continuous use. It has a 2 year warranty...and I'll certainly be testing out the "continuous use" claim. :-)

Reader425

Eric your memory made me laugh. I had wanted pea soup for a while. That sure got rid of the craving!

Tonight was a favorite Polish dish of Bob's family. Boil pierogies ( I used saurkraut and mushroom and a plain cheese type). Dump into a baking dish and pour onions sauted in some butter over them and bake. We had it with applesauce.

Time to start switching off holiday fare to more protein and produce. But they were good. 🍎🥟🥟🥟

ChiSandy

Happy New Year, all--sorry for being tardy, but life got in the way.

NYE we hosted 5 friends at Cellars (was gonna be 7, but my housekeeper's husband had a rough go at his dialysis session so they stayed home). Our son's GF came, and he surprised us by Ubering it up from his office in the Loop (boss let him off early) to join us at Cellars, so he got to help us kill off the bubbly & Cabernet (his office catered dinner). We started with cornmeal-crusted fried Oysters Rockefeller over Pernod-infused creamed spinach; I had rack of lamb in Zinfandel sauce with broccoli and potato-gratin galette. Nobody had room for dessert. One of our guests brought assorted baklava from Middle Eastern Bakery in Andersonville, so we nibbled on those at home while we rang in 2020 with bubbly. Two of our friends phoned in around 11:30 from Charleston, SC, to where they'd retired. We miscalculated and turned on CNN--but instead of Anderson Cooper & Andy Cohen, they were doing the Central time zone version from Nashville, with Keith Urban, as a neon music note instead of a ball dropped--we should've stuck with our local ABC outlet, whose anchorman & meteorologist performed an elaborate dance routine on the roof of Navy Pier.

New Year's Day Bob worked all day, so we went to our friends' party about a mile south of us. (I met her at a winemaker dinner at Cellars, and her husband is a recently-retired ENT surgeon at Advocate Christ and a colleague of Bob). Their house is a brick mansion, and the party was catered. I kept to my keto diet, with ham, salami, hummus, guacamole, crudites and cheeses. When we got home (very early, as Bob had to be at work at 7am yesterday), we cracked open a bottle of Mumm Napa bubbly and enjoyed 3 caviars: the sevruga "shot" I bought at Heathrow, and both golden whitefish and salmon roes. I served them on rosemary whole wheat crackers with creme frâiche and snipped chives.

Yesterday I spent the day shoe-and-clothes-shopping (dropped anotther size), and then had my leftover lamb.

Tonight Bob got home early and got his bonus, so we celebrated at Oceanique in Evanston. We had the tasting menu: lobster salad, seared scallops with kimchi, butternut squash ravioli, seared whitefish in a port reduction, berry-grapefruit sorbet palate-cleanser, and loin of veal with seared foie gras. Dessert (we split both) was dark chocolate gelato on tricolor chocolate cake and green tea gelato on a fruit tart.

Tomorrrow I will enjoy my leftover veal with a fried egg; doing sous-vide sockeye salmon with blistered shishito peppers & sauteed snap peas for dinner.

MinusTwo

Cleaning cupboards and packing boxes to donate to the Battered Women's resale store. I had already decided to get rid of all the silver plate bowls & trays & pitchers - but I really needed to polish stuff first since none had been used in 25-30 years. Oh my what a chore. Even though everything was wrapped in plastic, some of it was just black. And amazing stuff. My Mother used to pick up flatware serving pieces at rummage sales if they were interesting or useful (like gravy ladles). I found 5 unique meat forks - all but one are silver plate and reasonably worn. One says "Kiwanis" - but no other personalization. Maybe my grandpa? But maybe a bargain buy?

So dinner was a package of frozen Yakisoba noodles eaten surrounded by stuff. But now three cupboards mostly empty and stuff in boxes to donate on my way to the Med Center Friday. Woo hoo.

carolehalston

Meatloaf is great for sandwiches! We always like leftovers.

Dinner last night was linguini with home-made red sauce out of the freezer. Side was a chopped salad with iceberg lettuce and our usual additions.

MinusTwo

I agree - I love meatloaf sandwiches even better they the original meatloaf dinner.

My supper was boiled new potatoes tossed in butter & garlic salt, spaghetti squash, and a Royal Rivera pear. It's not what I'd planned but things have to be eaten before they go bad. Anyway, it was delicious if eclectic.

Reader425

Meatloaf yum! I need to make some.

Tonight was pork barbecue from a favorite place in the Shenandoah valley, from the freezer, homemade "boating slaw" ("will keep in a cooler for a 9 day sail" according to the recipe - kind of a summer slaw, vinegar-based) and Persian cucumber mint yogurt and lavash (from dinner out last night).

carolehalston

I thawed ground pork and turkey yesterday with the thought of making stuffed colored bell peppers but I lost incentive during the day. Dinner was warmed up chicken enchiladas and a large chopped lettuce salad that was a replica of the one we had the night before.

Today I'll make the stuffed peppers and put the surplus in the freezer for future quick meals.

Beaverntx

Need to go to the grocery but am thinking dinner will be layered enchilada casserole to use leftover rotisserie chicken with green salad. Once the chicken is shredded a fairly quick meal to make!

cero

Tonight:

Turnip greens with two boiled eggs. An apple. Unsweetened coconutmilk yogurt.

carolehalston

Cero, do you slice the boiled eggs on top of the greens? Sounds like a good combination.

I made a huge mess in the kitchen today. First I made stuffing for the colored bell peppers, sliced lengthwise. Along with the ground pork and turkey, I used up leftover cooked brown rice. Another ingredient was diced compari tomatoes, skins removed. Also shredded cheese.

We will have two of the pepper halves for dinner. Veggie will be cauliflower either mash or steamed. Possibly a salad.

Another messy job was dealing with the boiled turkey carcass. I ended up with a large bowl of turkey broth after discarding the meat, bones and veggies.

Something wonderful happened today. A friend/former neighbor visited and mentioned that she had taken on a few housecleaning jobs. I seized on this information and begged her to add my house to her schedule. She cleaned for me some years ago when she had a business. She agreed

auntienance

Congratulations Carole - good cleaners are hard to find.

I find my large dough bucket indispensable for dealing with batches of stock and bones and such. The colander fits perfectly on top and I can easily strain and dispense with the residue afterwards.

Peppers and brown rice combo for us too tonight in the form of unstuffed peppers.

M0mmyof3

Told my hubby since it was going to be cold tomorrow night I was thinking we could have a soup, sandwich and salad night.

MinusTwo

I made runs to Costco, Kroger & WalMart today for misc things that had been on my list since before Christmas to make 3 new recipes I clipped. No way I was going to the stores during the rush weeks. You'd think finally having the ingredients I would be cooking a big dinner. Wrong. Too tired to stand up & chop. I had easy & delicious French Toast made from some of the sourdough bread from San Francisco. I'll likely have a pear later.

auntienance

Yum Minus, French toast sounds awesome!

ChiSandy

Sat. night I sous-vided the sockeye fillets with butter & tarragon. They were done just as Bob got home--but Fri. night's dinner did not agree with him (either it was too rich or too much wine) and he had no appetite for anything but water. So I refrigerated the fillets (still in the bag) and had a little chicken soup instead. Yesterday for brunch I tried to sous-vide poach eggs in the shell, per ATK's recipe--and once again, a disaster. The whites were runny--but partly still stuck to the inside of the shell. Will have to kick it old school from now on--though even with nonstick pans the eggs tend to fall to the bottom and stick unless the yolks harden.

Last night I reheated the fish, and crisped up the skin on the stovetop--served with blistered shishito peppers and cauliflower "rice" medley. Tonight I made a "Hangtown fry" (a container of oysters needed to be cooked before expiry date) acc. to Mark Bittman's recipe, with bacon, shiitakes, parsley, a drizzle of black truffle oil (at the end) and two jumbo soft-scrambled eggs. I prefer the eggs a bit firmer for this dish--they got a tad "weepy," but everything was still delicious.

I ordered a bag sealer and bags, because I can't quite get all the air out of a Ziploc no matter how hard I try.

M0mmyof3

Sandy I have a vacuum sealer for food. I love mine!

carolehalston

Vacuum sealers are a great idea but I don't have room to store one.

The stuffed peppers last night were tasty. The side of cauliflower mash was silky and delicious. I use the food processor.

auntienance

I bought a vacuum sealer when I got the sous vide. I love it. I especially like the heavy zipper bags that you can suck the air out of with an attachment that came with mine (Food Saver), they are useful for cooking things with liquid, like potatoes for mashed. It's been worth the real estate it occupies.

A trip to the city today. No idea about dinner.

auntienance

I still have the occasional problem of floating bags. I haven't found a satisfactory solution for weighing them down. I've used binder clips with a spoon and an adjustable mini locking pliers, but they both tend to rust. Any suggestions?

MinusTwo

Dinner was a variation on one of the recipes I clipped over the holidays. I made some changes. I couldn't find red or swiss chard at my grocery store except some extremely looking anemic, overpriced organic specimens so I used spinach. Also cooked with out the pancetta since i rarely eat cured meats. And I added leftover cubed petite potatoes. Easy one dish meal but could have used more "zing". It likely would have been better with pancetta or bacon or maybe a can of chopped green chilies.

Skillet Greens with Runny Eggs, Peas & Pancetta

Cook pancetta to crisp & remove to paper towel. Add 2 TBL EVO and cook ramp or scallion whites and chard stems 7 min. Add garlic, S&P & red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 more minutes until fragrant. Add chard leaves and chicken or veg broth & cook on med low until greens are soft & silky (20 minutes). Add peas the last 5 minutes. Crack eggs into the greens, season then cover pan completely & cook until eggs are cooked to taste. Sprinkle with pancetta and serve w/toast. (NY Times)

Eric - I forget - are you doing vegan or do you eat eggs & cheese?

Lacey12

Well, sorry for the long hiatus. Lots going on and I am glad that things have slowed down a bit here. But I'm lucky my busy holidays didn't include house and car shopping! Special, you are an energizer bunny...and loved the pic of your Christmas brunch. Good luck with the house purchase, and .... enjoy Hawaii....well earned!

I just re read the last few pages that were posted here starting just before Christmas.

Bedo, so good to “hear" from you and see your sweet grandchild!

We thought our holidays would be quiet since we were not going to be seeing our docvegan family, and DS2 and tiny crew were headed South to visit DDIL2’s family, after celebrating an early Christmas here. The good news is that we were too busy to feel any emptiness in our minimally decorated living room.

Carole, your DH's tree ornaments are lovely! What a talented woodworker he is. I'm so glad you shared those pix! I'm also glad for you that you “scored" a great price on the Rao's sauces. I'm still puzzled as to how they are so frequently on sale here, now, when they were always firmly hovering around the ten dollar mark over a year ago. Maybe the competition of so many new brands. Yay for your signing up with the house cleaner!

Chi, I am also impressed with your weight loss success, and I share Carole's doubt about owning enough motivation to get seriously back on the diet regimen and exercise routine as I had been five years ago when I lost 30 lbs. My eating style is not unhealthy at all except for my sweet tooth urges swaying me to enjoy chocolate in the evening...a definite no no!

I was really busy in the kitchen for Christmas Day prep. We were scheduled to have dinner with the friends we always see on that day. The hostess often has salmon for the main course, and I usually bring a big salad and a side and pizzelles for one of the desserts. Others fill in with additional sides, apps, etc. Well, last year, DH wanted to make his paella dish, so he did, and for this year we were thinking we'd do something a little different and have beef braciole over couscous. we rarely eat beef, and braciole is one of my old faves. Well, somehow, I was the "braciole maker", sauce maker, and huge salad maker. I tried to make most of it the day before...for convenience, and because the braciole tastes better after relaxing in the sauce for a day! I was happy to make the braciole tho I had not for many years, and I had not ever made it with guest restrictions of no pork or no cheese. I also had not expected to have a visit from DGD before her family flew off to see her other grands. 🥴 But I did, and after much effort, and two different ingrediented batches, it got done. Next time I make braciole, it will probably be with chicken breasts, and will not be for ten people with several diet restrictions! I was tired after that.

Moving on to NYE, we'd planned to have a nice dinner at a local Farm to Table type restaurant in our town, but the day before, we got our second Shingrix vaccine, (the first shot was a breeze) and both of us reacted with a "faux flu" for several days. So, DH cancelled the reservation (even though I thought I could try to “tough out" a dinner . Instead, DH picked up some salmon, green beans, and butternut squash (which he helped me peel and cut up to make a mash). I had lots of veggies, so made my typical garden salad.and we called it New Year's Eve with a nice white wine. By midnight, neither of us felt like imbibing in champagne, so it remains in the refridge for another occasion.

This week, I've been making cod mains, and chicken stir fry mains, and yesterday cooked up a big batch of turkey chili, which I decided had a bitter taste, and wonder if my chili seasoning was too old. Not a bad idea to refresh my spices in the new year!

Minus, I am impressed with your “clearing out" effort. I keep thinking about doing it. 🥴 It's actually fun to unearth pieces of history in the process, but then, for me, that really also slows down the process. I should probably hire an organizer person to do it by my side! It would be sad for my kids to be stuck with everything in this house. I've thought more about this issue (and needed task!) having seen what happens when one of us is out of commission. Fortunately, DH is doing well, abandoned his cane for walking, and will find out later this week if his blood count shows that he is finished with the anemia.

I enjoyed reading about the doggie house protection efforts on NYE, and it reminded me of our last little schnauzer, who was less protective, and more terrified, hovering next to the bathtub upstairs, from the first loud bang. Even her trusty “thunder cape" didn't help her feel brave.

So, I wish a belated Happy, Healthy 2020 to all at our kitchen table! Sorry for the long catch up!

Here's a pic of our NYE at home dinner, and one of DGD who DS2 dropped off for an hour just as I was in the midst of making braciole on Christmas Eve Day. I tried to keep her amused (next to the table where I was working) with the Celtics taggie I made for her, but she really wanted to be down on the floor trying to crawl. 😉 So the braciole assembling waited!