So...whats for dinner?

SpecialK

carole - how do you do your fried green tomatoes? DH is not a tomato person, but I love them. I had some really good ones at a restaurant in Miami, but the challenge seems to be getting the coating to stick and stay on when I fry them. Give me your secrets.

Yesterday was DD's 31st birthday - I can't believe my youngest is 31, how did that happen? We had grilled ribeyes, grilled lobster tail - gifted from DH's boss who caught (captured?) them over on the east coast of FL last week - wedge oven baked fries, and roasted broccoli. We sang, the dog barked at the candles, and we had some yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

Beaverntx

Carole, I think we all may be ho humming. With our heat and not being able to have friends in for dinner some of the spark is missing for me.

Yesterday I did make shrimp pad thai using some Healthy Noodles (brand name)--no gluten etc, including basically no taste so they are a good vehicle for spicy sauces. We also fairly often have been having a meal of the bagged chopped salads. One bag makes enough salad for a light meal with some crackers and fruit. Easy, tasty, doesn't require much thought!

Special, sounds like a good b'day dinner. Got a smile out of the dog barking at the candles! Our older DS had a b'day July 30 (57). They were able to celebrate with our other DS and his family and we shared in singing Happy Birthday over the phone. His cake was 2 layer devil's food with fudge frosting, a tradition begun by my mother when he was a pre schooler.

SpecialK

beaver - I love those bag salads, I often add a protein to them and call it dinner! The b-day dinner was somewhat impromptu, we had not planned it in advance. DD came over mid-day but then went on to visit her elderly horse and reunite with a friend that she had been a bit on the outs with, but who had been out of town all summer working at a camp in Maine. They have been friends for years but decided to be roommates when DD moved into the downtown house at the beginning of March. Not a good idea - and we forewarned her. Compounding this, friend is a Delta Airlines flight attendant, so the spring was fraught with stress, and then she took a leave of absence from May to Aug 1. The whole plan for these girls to live together successfully was hardly being at home at the same time due to travel - DD is a regional sales manager for the southeastern US, and often was out of town. Because of COVID suddenly they were together 24/7 - and it didn't work out! At all! So, I am glad they are moving past it, as they really were good friends. All that to say, she decided to come back for dinner, so suddenly I had to make some!!! DD would love the devil's food with fudge frosting, she is a chocolate girl. We had to go with what I had on hand. Because I was so frazzled I decided to microwave this cake - it was one of those mini ones in a kit. DH and I had one that was oven baked and it was actually really good and small enough that the two of us were not left with a giant cake to eat. Because I had the wedge fries and broccoli in the oven the little cake went into the microwave. Advice for all - don't do it, lol! It had the texture of angel's food cake, that kind of compresses when you bite it? DH pronounced it "prison cake" which was silly. The dog NEVER barks, even at the doorbell - except when there are candles on a cake and we sing. He is either objecting to the singing, or warning us that our food seems to be aflame. We refer to Happy Birthday as the fire song, he barks every time.

CeliaC

Special K - Nice birthday meal & cute story about the dog barking.

Just had a large lunch, as dinner will be non-existent due to tooth extraction at 3 pm. Chicken Marsala, Sauteed Broccoli, warm crusty bread with butter & 2 glasses of Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc (early anesthetic).

MinusTwo

Celia - hooray for Sauvignon Blanc for lunch. I like the Bonterra cab made with organic grapes, but I haven't tried the SB yet. Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite white wine this year.

Special - yum, yum - steak AND lobster. Congrats on having a 31 year old. My son turned 50 in May, but as we live in different states there was not celebration. In any case I'm not sure he wanted to acknowledge 50.

Beaver - I too LOVE the salad kits. Last night I had the Spinach Miso Crunch and added fresh mushrooms and hard boiled eggs. It's the only kit that I eat the entire thing in one meal. Usually a salad kit lasts me two main meals because I add whatever is hanging around in the fridge - cucumbers, avocados, tomatoes - and leftover protein - rotisserie chicken, or salmon or...

Lunch will be the final serving of deja vue pork fried rice. I won't be sorry to finish this batch. I wasn't at all excited by the rice I used this time. Seeds of Change Jasmine White. Normally I'd boil up a batch of rice, but this was a test to see how the 90 second rice worked. While the rice was good hot right out of the microwave, even then it was hard to "fluff". Once it cooled in the fridge before frying it really stuck in clumps.

I've been eating the Olathe (CO) sweet corn every day since it's only available a couple of weeks a year. Delicious. Bought a wonderful cantaloupe for $0.67 last week. Tomorrow I think I'll pull down my Spiralizer and make zucchini noodles. I like them with just butter (or in salads for that matter) but will probably pull a cup of spaghetti sauce with meat out of the freezer to add.

I know one of the reasons I'm not cooking is the heat. I've been cooking a pork tenderloin or a couple of chicken breasts once a week and adding any leftovers to salads or rice or pasta for the rest of the week. I did cut out a recipe for an "Egg Roll Bowl" with rotisserie chicken that I may try this week. And I'm considering a pasta bowl with salmon & dill.

It's just about time for the once a year Hatch Chili harvest !!! Growers are worried because it's all done by hand that the workers aren't coming in.

Carole - forgot to add how jealous I am of your temperatures. After rain all night Saturday, it was 75 degrees when I headed out to walk Sunday morning. I wondered if I needed to look for a jacket (LOL) but it quickly went back up to 96.

ChiSandy

Temps went way down yesterday--high was only 81--and today we're struggling to make 70. Nice to turn off the A/C, plus change of pace to pull out the long-sleeved tees and long jeans. (Sat. night I even needed a jean jacket). Dinner at Cellars Sat. night was supposed to be outdoors, but it started raining so with some trepidation we dined inside. No worries--there was only one other patron in the whole place and he was finishing up as we sat down. (Midway through dinner it was clear again, and the patio tables rapidly filled up). Bob was nonchalant, as he rides in hospital elevators almost every day, and because there's an entire bank of cars out of commission (and they go only to the COVID floor anyway) social distancing is impossible. All you can do is wear PPE and use knuckles or elbows to press buttons. Dinner was gorgonzola meat loaf with mashed sweet potatoes and sauteed green beans & mushrooms (Bob had his with regular mashed spuds), and last night we had the leftovers.

Went to brunch outdoors yesterday at Big Jones, a Southern (primarily Carolina low-country) restaurant in Andersonville. They had both a sidewalk cafe and a rear patio, and we chose the latter. Bob had gumbo ya-ya and crawfish etouffee, and I had a bacon-chêvre omelet with spicy collard greens (I gave Bob half the greens, as his dishes had only rice and no other veg). As it was an overstuffed three-egger, I took half home and had it for brunch today--after first "attending" my ex-boss' graveside funeral online.

Not sure about dinner tonight--if Bob comes home for dinner I'll pan-sear salmon with one veg or another; if not, I'll have a tuna salad sandwich on low-carb bread with lettuce, basil, heirloom tomato and red onion (no, not the recalled brand, acc. to Whole Foods).

MinusTwo

Forgot to mention - Monday has sort of become a prep day - boiling eggs, skinning tomatoes, boiling rice, planning for the week, etc. I thank Special every single week for sharing the egg peeling trick. How did I ever get to my 70's w/o knowing that?

DejaVu Fried Rice was served w/all the extra English peas tossed in and a fried egg on top. The wine was San Gregorio Tempranillo from Spain. It was a Total Wine special for $9.99 and very good. My last Total Wine order was amazing. First of all - their winery direct wines were on sale. Second - if you bought 6 your got 10% off. Third - the corporate office misprinted flyers so if you bought 8 you got 15% off. Woo Hoo. Ordered 8 on line. Picked up the box when ready.

Reader425

Hi all ho-hum it's been around here too but I enjoy everyone else's menus and stories!

Tonight I made my favorite beef enchilada. 5 ingredient, from Holly Clegg's Nutrition for cancer cookbook. With that as the main, I chopped a side dish of cucumber, mini-tomatos we grew, onion and a splash of vinaigrette. Odd combo but I wasn't in the mood for a green salad.

MinusTwo

Reader - can you share the enchilada recipe? Only 5 ingredients sounds easy.

Beaverntx

I made a "mistake" a few days ago and made a new recipe for Mexican rice in the Instant Pot. It made a HUGE amount, especially with only two of us here. Have been working on finding a variety of ways to use it, as well as spice it up. Tonight's turn was added seasoning to the rice, and served with Turkey cheese quesadillas and fresh tomatoes.

MinusTwo

Beaver - I've been experimenting with freezing rice. I think it's Special who said that works well. I put the rice in zip lok bags and flattened so they stack well in the freezer. I haven't pulled any out yet but I'm hopeful.

WC3

Chicken tenders with "Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ Sauce" and my mother's homemade potato salad.

carolehalston

SpecialK, I have never cooked Fried Green Tomatoes but the recipes say to follow the usual routine with flour, egg and bread crumbs. Meanwhile the green tomatoes are turning pink. The birthday dinner sounds delicious. Thanks for your tip of freezing cooked pasta. I now cook a full lb. of linguine and freeze half of it.

Last night was grilled pork steak (shared), corn cut off the cob and sauteed with butter, steamed broccoli with lemon juice and butter.

auntienance

Add bagged salads to the list of foods I’m afraid of along with romaine and now red onions. I don’t buy any precut fruits or vegetables anymore after several recalls in this area. In fact we just had a bagged salad recall (again). I have a red onion that I bought a week ago sitting in my pantry that has a sticker that says “Desert Springs” on it. I know that’s not the recalled brand but I can’t figure out if it was sold under another name. Makes me crazy that you have to be a detective to eat a damned salad.

SK - sounds like a perfect impromptu birthday bash lol! I love those two person cakes that come with their own pan (oven baked.) I always have one on hand for cake emergencies (i.e. intense chocolate cravings.)

Last night was grilled hamburgers. I discovered too late that we didn’t have buns so we improvised with pita bread. They were good!

Yesterday we got a surprise check in the mail from our homeowners insurance refund so we’re living it up tonight by ordering takeout pizza from one of our many choices. (Any excuse not to cook in this tiny kitchen)

Beautiful cool weather here with lower humidity for a few days. DH and I were noticing how pale we both are this year due to not being out in the sun as much doing yard work. Definitely need to take advantage of this weather.

I’m going to try freezing pasta if I can find room in my miniatur freezer. I can never make just enough.

auntienance

Minus - still want to try your hatch chili scones

SpecialK

auntie - yeah, eat salad because its good for you - until it isn't... salad detectives, lol! Also, I like a burger on/in a pita - especially a lamb burger! They have really good pitas at the open-air produce market I go to once a month - only place I feel ok about shopping. I have some in the freezer, so maybe I will make some pita burgers too! I have tomatoes, cucumbers, scary red onion, and feta - this could work! I made the mistake of taking my red onions out of the bag so now I don't know where they came from - I wonder if I should call my local store and ask...

beaver - two thoughts came to mind for the excess rice problem - arancini, and stuffed peppers. You could even put chorizo and pepper jack cheese in the peppers with the rice since it is Mexican and top with enchilada sauce or salsa. Look at me making stuff up, lol!

Beaverntx

Re the rice "problem": I added extra beans to the mix, made a casserole of the rice layered with chili meat sauce and topped with cheese ( that was really good, basically flavor like enchilada casserole without the tortillas!), last night's side with quesadillas and I'm thinking chicken diablo with the remaining rice. My freezer space is a bit limited just now as on my last Costco run I stocked up on frozen things. Lesson learned: pay closer attention to how much rice the recipe calls for! To top that off, it was too bland for Mexican rice anyway. Tonight I need to use up the bean sprouts I bought for the pad thai; at least that gives a start on the menu. Will hold the rice for tomorrow.

ChiSandy

Nancy, you could call your grocer's customer service desk and ask them (or have thm patch you through to the produce dep't) and ask where that "Desert Springs" onion came from. Thomson Int'l--the grower of the salmonella onions--is located in Bakersfield, CA. I called my neighborhood Whole Foods, and they said they haven't bought anything from that grower (or any in Kern County) in over a year. (You could also Google "Desert Springs red onion"). But I'm with you on the bagged salads: since I wash and spin-dry my greens anyway, it's not that big a deal to go DIY, and it's cheaper.

Last night, the aforementioned tuna sandwich, with a side of hummus, babaghannouj, and taramosalata on low-carb toast. Tonight, not sure. If Bob can get home in time, we may try Cellars' patio because it's jazz-guitarist night. I might just nuke some wings and eat whatever veggies need used. As I'm due for a new mani on Thurs., I'm not worried about getting orange cuticles.

eric95us

I'm up at the Grand Canyon. I have to get on the roof of the camper to get a cell signal. The maiden voyage of the truck & camper came off with no problems. Tomorrow, Sharon and I walk into the 'Canyon for 3-4 days of work.

Backpacking food after tonight. :-)

auntienance

Desert Springs apparently is from Gillis Farms out of New Mexico (Hatch Valley in fact) so the red onion gets a reprieve. I did talk to the produce guy yesterday and he “thought" my onion was ok. Sheesh 🙄

Picked the first small tomatoes from my potted plants. Boy were they good!

Beaverntx

The bagged salads we have been discussing are not lettuce. Most are cabbage with a variety of other vegetables such as broccoli, kale, etc. No romaine!

CeliaC

I do not care for the bagged salads as I find there is an odd taste to them. Rarely eat salads out in restaurants as well since not sure whether they come from bags. Yes, it is a bit of a pain to wash fresh lettuces, but that's the only way I can go.

MinusTwo

I don't mind washing greens - but I live alone. So I eat alone. No way could I have any variety in my salads if I had to buy Romaine, Iceberg, Red Cabbage, Red Leaf lettuce, Carrots, etc. etc. I'd be throwing away more than 1/2 of the produce I bought since one person can't eat it that fast before it spoils. Not to mention cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, etc. which I add to the kits. But unfortunately even those I can't buy every selection every time. I LOVE the kits - which yes are mostly cabbage & kale or broccoli or spinach or... Otherwise I'd have no salads. Yes, I miss red leaf lettuce and sometimes I splurge. And all of this is before we talk about buying fresh fruits - which I rotate with salads because they also go bad before I can finish them.

I'm one of the dinosaurs who actually still read a "real" newspaper every day. New term in "Pearls Before Swine" comic strip this morning. RE-VEG. It means left over repeat vegetables from the day before. I won't get into the pun.

Today's food tops weird. One hard boiled egg for breakfast. Lunch was 1/2 cup of cantaloupe and 1/2 cup leftover stuffing (dressing). Cocktail hour was one gin & tonic with 1/2 cup of Stacey's Cheese Petites. Oh my those are good. Dinner was one ear of corn and 1/2 an English Muffin with crunchy peanut butter. I opened a bottle of 2015 McLauren Vale Shiraz to go with dinner. Blood tests last week were much better, but that's probably due to the daily 3-1/2 to 4 miles walks instead of the meals.

Good luck with your trek Eric, although you likely won't see this until you're back topside. No point in even saying "stay cool".

Oh - and I'm eating the onions I have in house. I've already eaten one and am OK. They are 1015's so maybe don't qualify, but the stickers are long gone.

ChiSandy

Brunch was an olive-oil-fried egg, a strip of bacon, and a piece of low-carb toast. Dinner was a Caprese made with the first of my homegrown cherry tomatoes (had to pick them because they were starting to split) and basil, with mozzarella pearls; then haricots verts amandine with mushrooms; and a couple of falafel. (So moist they didn't need tahini sauce). Dessert was a lump of sugar-free "Diyabetik" pistachio halvah from the Middle Eastern market--more delicious than it has a right to be. (Made in Turkey).

Reader425

Minus, the enchiladas are really easy and make a lot. We froze half. From memory, it's 1 pound of ground beef, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 can enchilada sauce, and 2 cups Mexican mix cheese. Cook the beef and onion then stir in sour cream and part of the sauce after removing it from the heat.

Put two tablespoons of the mixture ( or so) in a tortilla and sprinkle with cheese. Roll it up and do that 10 times. Pour 1/4 cup of the sauce in the baking dish before placing the 10 - 12 tortillas in there. Pour the remaining sauce over the top; sprinkle the remaining cheese over it then bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Recipe said 18-20 but my DH likes crispy cheese). I'll double check this tomorrow in the book but thats the gist. We love them.

Tonight was Chinese takeout (shrimp, broccoli, walnuts) as I'm tired of cooking. 😁

This is random but hubby made breakfast this morning which was sweet. He's been trying to perfect the eggs. I told him mom's trick of sprinkling water on the eggs to 'seal' them. Success!

WC3

auntienance:

One of the markets here has a hatch chili week where they sell hatch chili items. I don't have much of a tolerance for very spicy things but they make a mild hatch chili corn bread which is pretty good, so when they offered me a sample of hatch chili chocolate cake one day, I thought "Sure. Why not?" I popped it in my mouth and for the first ten seconds it tasted like your typical chocolate cake. Then the fire hit. It was one of the more regretful moments of my life!

carolehalston

WC's post reminded me that one of our supermarkets in Park Rapids (MN) sold hatch chilis last year. I bought some and roasted them on the grill.

Last night was mashed potatoes made with butter and reduced fat cream cheese. Very good with skin on bone in chicken thighs roasted in a pan in the outdoor "grill used as oven."

I seldom buy the bagged salad.

Oh, dear. What's for dinner tonight?

SpecialK

wc3 - I had a similar experience with my introduction to jalapeños. I grew up in a family of non-spicy eaters, so had never tasted one and didn’t really know about them. I went home for the weekend with my college boyfriend to visit his parents. I was helping his mom cook and wasn’t familiar with the jalapeño handling protocol and touched my eye. Very bad idea. I involuntarily cried from one eye for the next several hours.

Dinner last night was thinly sliced sirloin, cooked in a skillet with mushrooms. I added gravy and a little sour cream. Steamed some broccoli and made some mashed potatoes with added cheddar. I packed that up and took it over to DD’s house. She is in Palm Beach so DH is staying at her house for the next several days to babysit the bird and the grandchickens. The house is only about 20 mins from his office, but our house is another half hour further. We partly got that house anticipating him staying there more since she normally travels for work, but since COVID she has not

MinusTwo

Thanks Reader. I'm assuming you use red enchilada sauce. Wonder if I could sub ground turkey for hamburger?

WC3 - Hatch chili's come in mild,medium, or hot - but they are not always marked. The first grocery store ad hit today for Hatch Chilies. I need to call Central Market and see if they are making their Hatch Chili Scones this year. That would be worth a mask & glove trip. I usually freeze some every year.

Beaverntx

Minus, I have used ground turkey in place of ground beef for years. I always add some garlic powder to the turkey to up the flavor a bit.