So...whats for dinner?

ChiSandy

Couple of days ago I used Amazon Fresh to order from Whole Foods around the block because it was snowy & icy outside. They had medium peeled & deveined thawed white shrimp on sale for $10/lb, so I bought some. I made a stir-fry with half of them, plus bok choy, snow peas, orange & poblano peppers, shiitakes, a bit of carrot, and homegrown (in a water glass!) scallions over a frozen cauliflower rice blend. Last night I was lazy and wanted to watch both Jeopardy and the debate, so I ordered out from a new place--fried Brussels sprouts with bacon and remoulade, and Buffalo wings with ranch. Surprised and disappointed to discover the wings not only didn't come with celery sticks but also appeared to have been floured before being fried. (Delicious, but I'm paying for those carbs today. Will have to skin the leftovers and re-toss them in wing sauce). This afternoon for brunch I made two eggs shakshuka (with olives & feta). Tonight, will use up the rest of the shrimp in a keto-Mediterranean recipe using basil, tomatoes, garlic, oregano and feta. I know that Italians find the combo of fish & cheese to be anathema, but I've had shrimp with garlic, broccoli & parmesan over linguine and it was delicious. As a side, I will probably blanch and then sauté broccolini with lemon, garlic & red pepper flakes. Dessert will either be a square of sugar-free dark chocolate or berries...or even no dessert. Likely a decaf unsweetened almond milk cappuccino, though. (I need to be more disciplined about brushing & flossing my teeth and putting my retainer right back in afterward--my ortho said I could wear it only at night, but I'm finding it feels quite tight puttting it back in after it's been out for as few as 3 hrs).

Tomorrow Bob is at Union Health near Greektown all day, so I'll probably Uber it down there (if it's not too icky out I might try the CTA trains and walk from the Pink Line station) and we'll go to dinner at Santorini for Greek salad, baby octopus, dandelion greens, and whole grilled snapper. That was my plan last time I went there, but I was seduced by the roast leg of lamb that was the special of the day. The bummer about being near-keto at Greek restaurants is not being able to have the taramosalata (often made with a "panade" of soaked bread), crusty bread, and yogurt with wildflower honey & walnuts for dessert. (The yogurt & walnuts are allowed, but I find it too sour w/o the honey). I also like moussaka, pastitsio, roast potatoes, avgolemono soup with rice, baklava and sweet Greek coffee--but I don't miss them.

eric95us

We went hiking today, but got a late start as one of Sharon's high school classmates called to say hello...so we didn't leave the house until just before 11am and we didn't get hiking until 11:30am.

We got home around 6pm, so dinner was one of those "jump ups". Sharon had spaghetti and I had a vege burger.

The hike is in the White Tank Mtn Regional Park and is 8.6 mile walk on the Mesquite, Ford Canyon and Willow Canyon trails. There is quite a bit of climbing and descending, and the map suggests the reasoning behind the trails' nickname of "the lollipop". Our hike route is highlighted in red.

MinusTwo

wow Eric - hell of a hike. I know you run regularly. Hope Sharon's legs won't be too sore.

eric95us

She's fine. Since Sunday she's walked, hiked or run 30 miles. She's happy about it as she's finally "climbed off" of her weight loss plateau.

Wings without celery sticks & ranch dressing? Breaded wings? Eeewww. Out here, that's like "there" having the hot dog cart guy putting catsup on your hot dog without you asking for it. :-)

ChiSandy

Ketchup on hot dogs? That's a capital offense in both NYC and Chicago!

carolehalston

Last night was flattened chicken breast fillets spread with Dijon mustard and with grated Romano pressed onto both sides. Cooked on medium in skillet until brown and crusty. That’s the goal, anyway.

Side was frozen succotash cooked on stove. I can hear the yucks!

Off to the gym again today. Too wet for golf. Yesterday I went to a Pilates class. I was able to perform some of the movements but not the more advanced ones.

The hike sounds great, Eric. I used to love hikes with some elevation but dh is not up to hiking any more at 80. He has circulation issues with his legs. You and Sharon are living a good retirement. I’m happy for you

MinusTwo

Carole: Succotash was my Father's favorite. Old memories!!

Taking my nephew to lunch today after silver sneakers. It's a old time Italian place, but I'm thinking I'll be good an have a big salad.

auntienance

It's a capital offense in my house too. In fact, ketchup has very limited use imho - the occasional French fry or onion ring, meatloaf sandwiches and thousand island dressing (and not even much there.) In places most people use ketchup I favor chili sauce. DH disagrees and will use ketchup in a variety of places. But not on hot dogs anymore lol!

All this talk of meatloaf must mean it's meatloaf night.

Eric, I'm in awe of you and Sharon.

auntienance

Carole - we love succotash. I have an awesome recipe that I make at thanksgiving but we like it all.

Beaverntx

Speaking of meatloaf, I just made one in the Instant Pot and we loved it. First time using a pressure cooker for meatloaf. Used a new to me recipe that called for barbeque sauce. The honey pecan sauce I used likely was part of the attraction!

It is back to just the two of us and it did not take very long to adjust to, and enjoy, having a quieter house. Now to catch up on things that were allowed to slide for the two months we had people in and out all the time...

ChiSandy

Bob worked all day at his Union Health office near both Greektown and Little Italy (he eats really well for lunch those days), and was done by 4:30. His car's tire pressure sensors lit up Wed. night despite having recently replaced two tires, so the plan was for him to take the CTA Red and then Pink Line to the office while we would take care of his tires and then I'd drive down to meet him for an early dinner. Turns out the impending flats were due to neither bent rims nor faulty sensors but very cold weather (he admits he doesn't use the tire gauge I bought him), so all they needed was air. He slept through two alarms so had to take a taxi instead.

He had his heart set on our sharing Santorini's whole grilled fish, filleted tableside--last time I got seduced by the roast baby lamb that was the Thursday special, and he barely made it through the fish himself, especially since I gave him all my roast potatoes. So we had the snapper this time--they'd run out of black sea bass--which was what we wanted anyway. It was terrific--napped with lemon-garlic-oregano olive oil. We started by splitting grilled eggplant and a Greek salad topped with octopus; with the fish we had a side of garlic-lemon sauteed dandelion greens. (No saganaki because it has to be floured before frying; no taramosalata because they do make it with a "panade" of white bread). We killed off the fish, but brought home leftover salad & greens. Finished the meal with Greek coffee but made w/o sugar--was able to taste the cardamom much more clearly, and it was truly yummy. (I never sweeten my coffee, not even espresso, anyway).

Got to talking with our waiter--I noticed his braces and showed him my retainer--and found out we're neighbors, living just four blocks apart! He goes to St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox church (which lets my temple use its parking lot for overflow) and we've both attended its annual Greek food fest (though this year only Bob went--too carby for me).

Gonna snow, and snow hard, tonight, so we won't go out. Besides last night's leftover veggies, I have some leftover fried (no starch) Brussels sprouts with bacon and remoulade, Buffalo wings (floured, alas--will freeze them), and 8 shrimp I boiled with Old Bay to make a cocktail. Bob wants steak tonight (it's been a fish-and-chicken week for us) so I'm defrosting a bone-in grass-fed ribeye which I will sous-vide and then sear. No starch necessary--though Santorini sent us home with more crusty bread last night, so I'll have Bob go nuts on that (with olive oil) if he wants.

For brunch today I made a 2-egg pepper & mushroom omelet with cheddar & Swiss. Had the tiny "heels" of a loaf of low-carb (4 gm. net per full-size slice) whole multigrain bread with French salt butter, followed with an unsweetened vanilla almond milk cappuccino.

auntienance

Meatloaf sandwiches for lunch today, yum.

The only thing I hate more than snow is ice - which is what we're getting right now, until 9 tonight then turning to all rain (hopefully.) Ugh.

Sheet pan fajitas tonight with flank steak. The only side will probably be refried black beans.

ChiSandy

Snow began an hour ago--1/2" thus far, 3" by the time it turns overnight to "wintry mix" and eventually rain before the polar vortex moves in during the day tomorrow and turns us into Chiberia. Hopefully, the rain will wash away the snow and be off the ground before the mercury plummets--at least here on the N. Side. The south 'burbs are expected to bear the brunt of the ice.

MinusTwo

Giant salad for dinner. The base was a bag of Dole Sunflower Crunch salad mix. If you haven't tried the Dole chopped kit salads, most are quite good. I like this one and the Pomegranate and the Asian. They're usually on sale every other week - like $2.59. For a single person, this is a great way to have two salads a week with a multitude of ingredients without buying all of them separately and ending up throwing most away. This one is cabbage, green leaf lettuce, kale, sunflower seeds, bacon crumbles, red cabbage, green onions and shredded carrots. I added 1/2 a bag of fresh spinach, thin cucumber slices and tangelo pieces. The included dressing is a delicious sweet onion/citrus.

Beaverntx

Nothing fancy tonight. DH finished left over fettuccine and I had fresh cooked gluten free rotini with jarred garden combo pasta sauce to which I added Italian seasoned cooked ground turkey. It's been foggy, drizzly and sometimes rainy all week so comfort food was called for!

Minus, your salad sounds yummy. Need to put salad on the menu tomorrow.

Sandy, hope you can stay in and stay warm! IMHO, snow is best enjoyed when you are inside and looking out.

Nance, we had the last of the meatloaf for lunch today with the last of a vegetable soup with gnocchi for lunch today. Have some pumpkin I need to turn into soup tomorrow.

ChiSandy

Snow just ended--we got about 2". After struggling to drive through the mess on the S. Side and the Dan Ryan Expwy, Bob was relieved to find Lake Shore Drive had been salted and plowed. Not so the streets up here, though. Our snow guy will be by in the morning to clear away whatever slush will be left after the rains that will be starting about 2 am, and then spread de-icer ahead of the temperature crash.

Sous-vided a ribeye tonight, then cast-iron seared it. Made mushroom sauce with the juices, merlot, butter, parsley & shiitakes. Added fresh lettuces to the leftover Greek salad; dressed the shrimp with remoulade as an appetizer. The dandelion greens were a bit bland, so I added a pressed garlic clove, lemon and salt--which made them quite tasty.

carolehalston

Ah, the joy of having internet restored! Ours was off for three days during which we had three techs visit and many conversations with customer support. No NYT or WAPO. Not to mention night time tv with Prime. Fortunately, my newish expensive IPhone allowed me to check e-mail, Facebook and BC.org. Plus play bridge and Wordscape.

Minus will approve my dinner last night. Peanuts with chardonnay. Then an orange. DH and I met former neighbors at a near by Saltgrass steak house for lunch. I had fried shrimp with green beans that were much praised by the waitress and one of the neighbors. They turned out to be blanched green beans heavily sprinkled with a salty seasoning. The butterflied and lightly breaded shrimp were good, not overcooked, with a good ketchup based sauce. The best part of the meal was a wedge salad that was served to Arleen and rejected by her because she had forgotten to specify ranch dressing instead of blue cheese. DH and I shared the salad. It was quite good.

The restaurant wasn't crowded. It's either not as popular as the Cracker Barrel and Texas Roadhouse down the street or it's new enough not to have caught on as a place for lunch. The room was pleasant and we had a perfect opportunity to visit with our former neighbors who don't live that far away. We used to have dinner with them every two or three months but now we prefer the lunch option. We always have split the bill and he's a heavy drinker. Yesterday none of us had alcoholic beverages so the meal and visit were more affordable. Arleen is my "new" house cleaner.

No plan yet for dinner tonight. We have one more warm muggy day and then a cold front is supposed to cool things off. Off to the gym for some exercise. I've been going every day since it's too wet for golf.

auntienance

Carole, I'm getting ready to make the switch from android to iphone. Hope it's not too painful. We're fans of Saltgrass. Some of the best prime rib I've had has been there. Glad to see it's expanding its territory.

No snow for us but about .2 of an inch of ice. The rain and warmer temp overnight melted some but not all and now temps are dropping again. The bbq grill is totally encased. We're getting the polar blast too with single digits on the way (not to mention 30 mph winds gusts.) I won't be venturing out any time soon.

I have some leeks languishing in the fridge so I believe I'll make potato leek soup for dinner.

carolehalston

Nance, glad to hear about good prime rib at Saltgrass. DH ordered steak tips yesterday and liked his choice a lot.

MinusTwo

Nance I too was interested in the recommendation for prime rib at Saltgrass & there's one fairly close by. That's something I love but don't cook because there's only me. If my son & DIL are in town, she's a vegetarian and he prefers a steak when not eating veggie with her.

Carole - funny about the peanuts and chardonnay. I actually had Spanish peanuts and Cabernet last night. But then I ate 7 cookies - which went well with the 2nd glass of cab.

auntienance

Full disclosure, I've only eaten at the one in Galveston (I think. Maybe in Missouri city too. There are so many in the parts of Texas that I frequent). It's a favorite of my family members so every Texas visit involves at least one trip to Salt Grass.

MinusTwo

Our family favorite was Steak & Ale. Most of my neighbors agree. We have ever found a reasonably priced, consistently good, regular 'go to' location since they closed. And oh - the salad bar!!!

CeliaC

Had to battle horrendous rain this morning to travel from N. Ky to Cincinnati Cancer Support Community for a cooking class, Cooking for Wellness: Anti-inflammatory Food, conducted by a wonderful personal chef. On the menu: Pan Roasted Ginger Salmon (smeared in ginger/garlic paste before cooking) served atop Shiitake Swiss Chard (cooked in olive oil, coconut aminos with onions, shrooms), Curried Sweet Potato-Mango Soup, Cucumber Quinoa Salad (included crumbled feta, diced red onion & a yummy vinaigrette) and for dessert, Chocolate-Cherry Almond Clusters. OMG! Not sure what to have for dinner after all that goodness. This chef always amazes!

MinusTwo

Celia - do you get copies of recipes? If so and you want to share, I'd like to see the Shiitake Swiss Chard.

CeliaC

MinusTwo:

We do get copies of all recipes, as well as helpful hints. Here is the recipe, along with the chef's "ad lib" comments. Ingredients: 1 swiss chard bunch, stems & leaves chopped small (chef used red chard, attractive combo of green leaves & red stalks); 2 TBSP olive oil; 2 TBSP coconut aminos (made from coconut blossom nectar & frequently used in plant based cooking, in lieu of soy, due to soy being on inflammatory list & also its high salt content, brand used was Braggs - advised us to look in the condiments/salad dressings at store); 1/4 chopped white onion; and 1 lb shiitake mushrooms. Cooking: Add olive oil & coconut aminos to a non-stick skillet. Heat to medium high, and when mixture begins to shimmer, add onions, mushrooms & Swiss Chard & saute until onion has softened. There were a lot of attendees who had never tried swiss chard & most thought it was really good. Happy cooking!

carolehalston

Tonight is eggplant casserole/hot dish I cooked yesterday after a trip to the nearby produce stand where I bought two eggplants, okra, sweet potatoes and a cucumber. The cheese in the dish is mozzarella and romano and the sauce is Rao's. We will also have a romaine salad with cucumber, grape tomatoes, avocado and blue cheese.

Our muggy weather has been blown away by a north wind that made a light jacket comfortable today when I ventured out on errands. Tonight our little fireplace is adding warmth and cheer to the living room.

MinusTwo

Carole - one of the things about where we both live is the the treat of lighting a fireplace two or 3 times a year without having to run the air conditioning to enjoy it.

carolehalston

Minus, one of the best changes we made years ago was to convert our wood-burning fireplace to gas logs. It was easy since we had the gas starter in the fireplace. We shopped until we found a log configuration we liked and we installed a shiny stainless steel liner that reflects the flames. I have never missed the mess of burning wood logs. Or the bugs that take a free ride inside.

Last night's dinner was delicious. We ate the whole meatless meatloaf layered dish. The salad was minus avocado since the avocado wasn't good when I opened it.

Too early for a menu for tonight.

MinusTwo

I found a 'new' recipe for a Mushroom/Shallot Sauce & made that for dinner. In addition to 8 oz sliced mushrooms, chicken stock, and white wine (& of course onions & garlic), it called for balsamic vinegar - which I switched to tarragon vinegar. I poured the cooked sauce over leftover pork loin 'chunks' with a base of mashed potatoes. The sauce was delicious but the meal would have been better if either: 1) the base had been noodles instead of potatoes; or 2) maybe if the meat had been steak instead of pork (as the recipe called for).

I seldom eat mashed potatoes, but a friend who is a connoisseur told me to try Bob Evans mashed potatoes. These were in fact very good mashed potatoes, but my Mom usually made baked Russets, boiled new potatoes or scalloped potatoes. Somehow mashed potatoes seem much "heavier" and more filling.

Edited to say I just realized I seldom eat potatoes at all. I usually choose some kind of pasta or rice or something like lentils or quinoa. Wonder if that's because my Dad was a 'meat & potatoes every night' kind of guy?

Moonflwr912

Hello everyone! Wow everyone is so busy! Same here. LOL.

We had our progressice dinner, 21 people. I made a seafood lasagne and a sausage regular one. Went tbrough 1 and ac1/2 seafood one, and a whole pan of regular. So I had a whole pan left over. I had to cut it up and freeze it, pawned 2/3 off on my daughter, and gave her half the seafood one someone mentioned that seafood and cheese dont go well together, but it was delicoous! And a neighbor just called for the recipe, shes making reg, mexican, and the seafood one for a family gathering. So win! I do have to say we were tired after. LOL heres a pic of 2 of our tables. Each set for 8. One more table turned the other way set for 6 more. Had to get more chairs from the neighbors. LOL and we used plastic dishes and cutlery. BTW, it went through the dishwasher just fine. Lost only 2 plates to cracks, so was worth trying to use again, had to try to reuse, just made me feel better.

Hope every obe made it through that storm, we finally got some real snow here. Not since October did we get this much.

Much love to all.