So...whats for dinner?

carolehalston

Nance, how funny that you don't watch the game but have game snacks!

I'm feeling more "normal" this morning though still coughing a lot. DH is feel less "normal" since he's days behind me in the sickie cycle.

Yesterday afternoon dh made cheese toast sandwiches for us about 4 pm. That was dinner.

MinusTwo

I don't watch football either, but I did make Hidden Valley Ranch Dip. I was a good girl and ate it with mini carrots & radishes & cucumbers. My favorite match up is with the totally unhealthy Ruffles w/Ridges.

Magari

Yesterday I made soup using the copious amounts of sauce I had left from the lamb shanks I'd made a week or so ago. Added cooked barley and diced carrots and thinned it a bit; it was delicious, and essentially free!

I have additional cooked barley, as well as some leftover baby bok choy with garlic that I'd cooked to go with black cod a few nights ago. So thawed a boneless chicken breast and will do something with that to go with those side dishes.

Bought a whole organic chicken, some ground turkey and a lamb leg steak on my grocery run this morning, so those will be worked into meals for the rest of the week,

SpecialK

Just lost a post...

It said we watched the game and had the snacks - and we had those meatballs with grape jam and chili sauce - wanted to note that for minus, lol! I have lots left despite hungry half-time folks, but have plenty for lunch for DH this week.

carole - hope you’re feeling better ASAP! I had a similar sounding thing before Thanksgiving and was surprised at how long it took to feel better. Hope both of you are on the mend quickly

eric95us

I didn't watch the game. I'd rather watch other sports instead.

I worked the two Superbowl games that were held in Phoenix and had I been "crazy about football" it would have been very frustrating...being there and too busy working to watch.

Carole and Mommyof2, yes, get better quickly. And hopefully the husbands get over it as well or avoid it altogether...no man colds allowed. :-).

Arista, my mom was getting meals on wheels in Phoenix. Here it was as you suspect it would be there...OK, but nothing great.

Dinner tonight was spaghetti and home made sauce.

WC3

I have a very tentative plan to make chicken stew without a crock pot.

So far I have the chicken, gravey, potatoes, tomatoes, and green beans. I might put barley or rice in it. Maybe parsnips.

Suggestions?

MinusTwo

Spent the day cleaning out food cupboards. It's been awhile, but I don't really believe that the "best use by" date is critical. In most cases I only worry if the can has bulged but I do pay more attention to acid foods. I 'lost' my pantry when we remodeled the kitchen in 1986 and food is all in various cupboards, so it's not as easy to keep track.

IT sure is interesting how "go to" regular foods change over time. I had spices from 1996 that I tossed. Used to eat canned peaches & cottage cheese a lot but had forgotten about that. Beenie Weenies was my favorite for a long time, but the two cans have 2018 dates. Up in the top row of cupboards (where most people have furr downs and I have to use a step stool) I found a box pf a dozen Carnation Instant Breakfast from my chemo days dated 2015. And some club crackers that got shoved to the back while I blissfully went on buying more. Found some rice mixes that need to be eaten soon. What is everyone's thought about packages of jello past their 'use by' date? Really sad to throw stuff away. And apparently I'd purchased two bags of Godiva dark chocolates from Costco when they were on sale. Well I don't think they go bad...

Then I moved on to the freezer in the garage. I REALLY miss my previous small upright freezer, but when it died after 40+ years, I had to find something that fit in the space that had been blocked in by a 'real' stairway to the attic. What with the thicker insulation on new freezers, the same exterior size is considerably smaller inside. No door storage for example. Sadly I had to toss a package of shrimp that was badly freezer burned. And found enough packages of chicken breasts that I'll be eating those for MANY meals to come. At least I do wrap meat individually before putting in Ziploc bags so they'll be OK.

But tonight will be salad. I have an avocado that won't wait until tomorrow.

WC3

MinusTwo:

I have a similar problem here. I put things away and forget about them. I've started putting reminders in my phone so I can use things or donate them before they expire.

I'm not sure if chocolate goes bad as in will make you sick if you eat it. It does undergo texture changes. I found a giant Hershey's Kiss from 15 years ago in a box recently. Hershey's isn't worth the risk to me but Godiva might be!

MinusTwo

WC3 - I think that's the key to all the dates which very few seem to understand. And the dates are not standardized.

The 'best used by' means that is the peak of flavor. After that it may loose some of it's 'best' taste or eventually change texture (like your Hersheys), but there's likely no danger in eating it. What's REALLY sad is food kitchens & charities will no longer take any food past the "best used by" date. We have people starving and because of this misperception all that food is thrown in the landfill.

As for things like milk, it has a "sell by" date and is often good for a week or more after that. You can certainly smell when it's turning sour. Sell by dates are NOT use by dates, but unfortunately too many people (my son included) will not touch the product after the stamped date.

WC3

MinusTwo:

I find that meat and dairy typically go bad before the dates so those ones have to pass the smell test.

eric95us

I recently used some 12/2001 Jello and it was just fine.

I don't know how it happens, but no matter how many times I go through it, the freezer here always seems to have stuff from the Jurassic era. :-)

M0mmyof3

Cold is almost gone.

Tonight I think I am going to take one of the ropes of kielbasa and a box of scalloped potatoes and cook them for dinne

Yogatyme

I’m afraid these new antidepressants are going to have weight gain as SE.

carolehalston

The cookies look good enough to combat depression.

Last night I mustered the initiative to cook a meatloaf for dinner. The side was a boxed mac and cheese by Cracker Barrel. The meatloaf tasted like meatloaf and the mac and cheese was--Surprise!--salty. The anti-biotic is causing me some upset stomach and my dinner felt like a lump for a while.

A box of boxes of the mac and cheese was a recent impulse buy at Sam's Club. Seemed like a good spur of the moment option for a side. Next time I definitely won't salt the cooking water for the pasta.

WC3

I did end up making the chicken stew. I put yukon potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions and green beans, salt, poultry seasoning, flour, and of course chicken in it. It was a bit gamey, I think because I used chicken stock instead of broth, and a bit too sweet but not bad for my first try. Next time I'll do half broth and half stock, and leave the sweet potatoes out.

M0mmyof3

Made my scalloped potatoes from scratch and cut up a rope of kielbasa and mixed it in.

WC3

yogatyme:

Those cookies look good!

Yogatyme

WC3, they really are.......that’s the good news and the bad news!

MinusTwo

Oh now I feel the need to make cookies. But since it's after 5pm, I'll be a good girl & eat a darn salad.

auntienance

Wowza on the cookies! I made antidepressants today too (another snow storm today, ugh) - gooey butter cake.

Chicken and sausage gumbo with brown rice and a baguette for dinner. And gooey butter cake.

MinusTwo

I'm eating antidepressant Dot's Pretzels prior to my salad meal. Carole - you'll be interested to know that they are now at my local Kroger store. They are addictive and it's an indulgence, but not as bad as a bag of Cheetos. Anyway, I am pretending they are a reasonable appetizer with my gin & tonic.

SpecialK

I was at Nordstrom Rack yesterday and saw Dot’s Pretzels in the impulse buy area near the registers! My DH is a pretzel fanatic so I’m going to have to get him some, but did resist - bought a dress instead. Even though I have nowhere to wear it, lol!

Tonight was broiled boneless pork chops, mashed potatoes (made from the innards of my potato skins from the Super Bowl), and buttered corn. I just ate the tiny bit of raspberry gelato leftover from the weekend while watching the Barefoot Contessa make a slow roasted beef tenderloin

ChiSandy

That impulse buy area at Nordstrom Rack is eeeevil. Fortunately, my diet has drawn an immutable line in the sand that keeps me away from almost everything edible there.

Boxed Jell-O (and Knox gelatine envelopes), as well as jarred gefilte fish, don't have shelf lives--they have half-lives.

Had to fast yesterday for blood tests (most were good-to-greatt except for total cholesterol & LDL), so my usual brunch was "dunch:" a panino on low-carb bread with peppers, red onion, mushrooms, provolone, and one thin slice each of bresaola (air-dried beef), porchettta and pancetta. Late dinner was 3 Buffalo wings and a rice-free California roll (wrapped in lettuce & rice paper, discarded the rice paper which is like rubber bands anyway) I picked up at Whole Foods. Brunch today was low-carb avocado toast made with 1/2 an avocado instead of prefab guac, purple tomato, shallot, cilantro and an olive-oil-fried egg.

Too slippery (snow over ice) to walk or drive to dinner--we'd planned to go out so I didn't prepare anything. So ordered out from a new French restaurant in the 'hood--awaiting soupe a l'oignon with a Gruyere crouton for Bob (gonna steal a few oz. of the broth & onions), mussels mariniere in white wine & garlic (he gets that crouton too), and duck breast & confit of leg with polenta & red cabbage. Bob gets the polenta, and I will supplement the cabbage with tossed salad and the other half of the tomato with whatever fresh basil hasn't gone to mush.

EDIT: they subbed out frites for the polenta, and Bob's a happy camper.

Speaking of fresh basil, I'm at wit's end trying to keep it from turning to black slime after a day or two. I've tried EVERY suggestion: refrigerate/don't refrigerate; wrap it in paper towels; snip the ends of the stems and place them in water like cut flowers; keep it in its clamshell package with the lid open or closed; put it in a takeout container, lid on or off; use a special "herb keeper" thingy with water & partitions; and any or all of the above. No luck. Lately, every grower already cuts the stems short (they're probably grabbing leaves off the plants) so there's no way to put them in water without the leaves falling in and rotting. In spring & summer, the grocers sell basil plants indoors & out--as do farmers' markets; but even the greenhouses in town (Meyer's, Gotham Greens) sell only the leaves out of season. It's just too expensive to buy only what you'll use for 1-2 days--you have to buy the whole package and end up throwing most of it away. I tend to have to shop almost every other day now, and even that's both too often and not often enough.

auntienance

Sandy, have you tried keeping a whole plant?

eric95us

Wow. I guess we were all making anti-depressants. Sharon found some almond flour at the store, bought it and then looked around to see what could be done with it.....almond cookies.....

Yoga, I'm glad to notice that I'm not the only one who is barefoot while in the kitchen. I'd guess that 99% of the time I'm in the kitchen, I'm without shoes.

But, in a bit, I'm going to go put on shoes and go out to get the (tiny) garden ready. I've got 4 tomato plants, 2 egg plants and 4 serrano pepper plants ready to go. It was in the mid 70F degree range and then it got "cold" again...below freezing...so I'll need to cover the plants up until the last bit of freezing weather passes. I'll probably go back for some more plants in a few days.

I have a separate herb garden, basil, rosemary, mint and some sort of garlic chives. They are all in pots so they won't end up taking over the world. I think the rosemary and mint could push kudzu out of the way. :-)

,I have to agree with Sandy about the Jello having half lives. If I thought I'd live a few thousand years, I'd experiment to see which lasts longer; fruit cake or Jello packets.

auntienance

Eric, you're breaking my heart - I'm looking at 6 inches of new snow on the ground 😢

I'm nearly always barefoot except on the coldest of days when I wear socks in the house. Consequently my feet are more reminiscent of "hooves" than human feet. (I tip the pedicurist well) My kitchen floor is tile and more than once I've been stranded in a sea of broken glass until DH rescues me with some shoes.

Tonight is a reverse seared bone in rib eye. Or maybe I'll sous vide it. I solved the floating bag problem by acquiring a stainless steel napkin holder. Works like a charm. A baked sweet potato for me and a russet for DH will be the only sides unless I conjure up enthusiasm for a salad.

Yogatyme

It's shrimp and grits w a side of collards for us tonight. (More antidepressants :-) ) I'm a midwestern gal who has been in the south for 38 yrs and I have certainly attained a taste for many southern foods.

Yes, bare feet most of the time at home!

eric95us

I decided to come inside for awhile....a hummingbird kept attacking me by ramming the back of my head...

The first time it kind of startled me.

M0mmyof3

It’s a kamikaze hummingbird! Lol

MinusTwo

Weird Eric. Sounds like you had honey on your hair.

Dinner was a large salad - Dole Pomegranate with the addition of an avocado,1/2 an English Cucumber. sunflower seeds and homemade ranch dressing. Unfortunately I wasn't completely virtuous. I saw the following on the bakery overstock tray at WalMart discounted for $1.79 to use today. These garlic three cheese knots were quite good. Bake in the same bag for 5 minutes. Shake & turn over, bake for another 5 minutes. Open carefully. My neighbor who lost his wife two years ago is beyond excited and thinks he can add this to his 99.9% microwave cooking routine instead of buying breadsticks.