So...whats for dinner?

Beaverntx

Eric, thanks for the recipe. Our forecast is for a very cold (ok, that's relative to our usual temperatures) weekend and the soup sounds likes great idea!

Special, yum, yum. And the table looks as good as the snacks probably tasted! I'm with Illimae, some of each, please!

Dinner tonight was second serving of a vegetable and chicken stir fry with orange ginger sauce. If I get to the store, tomorrow night will be chicken fajitas. Forgot to get sour cream last week!

eric95us

Beave, I'm familiar with "relative cold". :-) I'm in a suburb of Phoenix, AZ. :-)

Lacey12

Nance, so happy to see that your new neighborhood birds found you!

Special, beautiful Bucs’ spread!

My arm muscles hadn’t returned to normal yet, so I was not into cooking for us on Sunday, so heated up some frozen apps from Trader’s.

Last night I tried a new recipe for chicken piccata, using an almond flour and parm dredge. It was a tasty change. Sides were my typical salad and some “little ear” pasta to which I added sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, evoo, parm, parsley and garlic. Plenty of leftovers....yay

MinusTwo

Oh my - Eric and Beaver - 'relative cold'. It's the wide sweeps that get me. 70's most of this week and possible 23 this weekend in my NW suburbs. TWENTY THREE!!!

As always, we all want to be invited to Special's house. I'll wait for the gracious summer 'spreads' by the pool!!! Well, post Covid of course.

Lacey - sorry to hear your arm is still bothering you. How's the back? Are you still doing regular PT?

SpecialK

auntie - here is the dog, unscared in this photo! This is last year on his birthday!

minus - now is the time for poolside snacks! During the summer both the snacks and ourselves will melt!

auntienance

Awwww, sweetie!

SpecialK

He is a cutie! He is a little old man - will be 14 next month, but has the sweetest disposition, loves everyone, and wants nothing more than to cuddle.

auntienance

Last night was cannelloni with raos and a Parmesan white sauce, garlic bread and a small boring salad. Tonight will be chicken sausages with cabbage and potatoes and a side of peas. Dessert will be paczki - blueberry for dh, Bavarian filled for me. I nearly forgot it was time for them. Probably would have been better if I had lol.

SpecialK

auntie - did you make a standard bechamel and then add parm? I sometimes like that rather than red sauce for some things. I realized the other day that I have not made a dish I used to make often with leftover ham - crepes filled with ricotta, ham & peas, and I usually top with marinara and shredded mozzarella before baking in individual gratin dishes - 2-3 crepes in each kind of like enchiladas. Parmesan bechamel would be good on that!

auntienance

Special - that is exactly what I did. We really like the combo.

MinusTwo

Oh boy - both of your recipes sound delicious. I usually choose "other than red" if it works with the recipe.

My dinner was going to be: a) leftover pizza on naan; or b) leftover brown rice stir fried w/veggies. Then I remembered I had half a bag of Dole Sunflower Crunch salad that HAD to be used or tossed. I added a whole avocado, thawed a bag of cocktail shrimp and dressed with Ranch instead of the enclosed package. Not bad.

Beaverntx

Chicken fajitas tonight with planned overs. DH and I have appointments for tomorrow afternoon for Moderna #1 so I'm stocking up on easy meals, just in case. Took the antihistamine out of my pillcase for tomorrow and low dose aspirin out of DH's; thanks for the heads up, Sandy.

SpecialK

beaver - here is an FYI - my son, the 32 YO paramedic, had the Moderna vaccine as a first responder. First injection, no problem, Second one knocked him flat for 24 hours. DH just had Pfizer #2 last Friday, only a sore arm. Could also be that son has a robust immune system that mounted a strong defense, and DH not so much... thought I should let you know so you can plan accordingly.

Beaverntx

Thank you, Special. I don't expect to have as much reaction from the first as from the second but want to be prepared, just in case. Also, our weather is yucky, grey and wet, and won't help how we feel! 😕 Sunny days are so much more encouraging.

jhl

I received my second dose of Moderna & have a bit of a sore arm and aching neck - like I slept wrong. Tonight is a ham steak with fried potatoes and green beans with mushrooms. The rain started this afternoon & it is just lovely. I see it as one more day we don't need to run the sprinklers.

Stay safe everyone,

Jane

auntienance

American Chop Suey for dinner. I think we should have invited more people

MinusTwo

Looks delicious Nance. Anything WARM!!

I try to do lots of prep on Thursdays since trash PU is Friday. Normally I wouldn't put any waste in the trash except the night before because It's so darn hot here, everything smells awful in 24 hours. So I freeze lots of things like meat trimmings & banana skins until Thursday. Then Thursday I prep things like boil & peel eggs for the fridge. Or cook & de-bone chicken for this weeks meals & the freezer.

I've had some red potatoes that really needed to be used. Was planning on Hasselback, but since I had lots of celery & green onions, I decided on potato salad. Who says we can't have that in the winter? I marinated the boiled potato chunks & onions in tarragon vinegar before assembling, And I use mayo & sour cream with no mustard. What a nice winter treat.

Reader425

Nance that looks delish!

Tonight was garlic parmesan baked chicken, scalloped potatoes and salad we needed to finish up.

SpecialK

auntie - I never knew what American Chop Suey was, but now that I have seen your beautiful photo I realize it is the same/similar as my MIL's recipe that she called Mulligan Goulash. That was her go to for her five children when she and my FIL were going out for the evening, and I have made it many times also! All this time I had no idea, so thanks!

minus - I think there is a winter potato salad waiver - potato salad is so good we can have it year-round! My favorite potato salad is red potatoes with a lot of dill and green onion in a dressing of half mayo, half sour cream, with salt and lots of pepper. My other fave is baked potato salad, same dressing but I use leftover baked skin-on russets and add bacon. If I have to make the baked version in a hurry I microwave the potatoes and can put it together pretty quick - I cut the potatoes right after cooking and just let them air cool for a few minutes and then assemble - start to finish is about 15-20 mins. I like to dress both variations while the potatoes are a little warm so they absorb the flavors.

Dinner last night was roast beef and provolone flat bread sammies and tomato basil soup. DD's car is in the shop with a fairly catastrophic engine issue, so she is driving her dad's car for the next few days as the extended warranty folks and dealership work out what to do. We ate late because he stopped to drop off his car at her house and I picked him up. DH is driving his little convertible to work today - but is off Monday so prob will only need to take it today - hoping the fix of DD's car is done by Tuesday. He was at work late because he got a call that there was extra vaccine available for today and he had to line up folks from his list of eligible peeps - which took about two extra hours from the 5pm call that there were slots. Long day for him.

auntienance

Special - I think that dish is known by many names lol. And it certainly is good for a crowd. It actually calls for elbow mac but I didn’t have any, which was unusual. I almost always have that on hand.

I don’t know what’s for dinner but you all are making me hungry for potato salad! Maybe a grilled bunless burger. I don’t know if I can brave the 9 degree high temperature to use the grill so it may need to be griddled.

SpecialK

auntie - when I made that recipe I usually used regular elbows but then discovered I liked it better with large elbows, which I never really knew existed. When we cleaned out MIL/FIL's house I found a box in the pantry - it was a revelation and have been purchasing them ever since. I would imagine, any short hearty pasta would work though as you used - I usually have a variety in the pantry - I'm a pasta girl. Except for not knowing about large elbows, lol!

MinusTwo

Winter potato salad? Maybe that would be the warm German potato salad that my Grandpa liked? I actually had potato salad for breakfast.

Beaverntx

In my family the dish was known as "goololli", I know not why. Actually made some last week. It's easy, warm, and filling. Great cold weather food.

auntienance

Special - lol I’m a pasta collector too - the smallest being acini de pepe to the largest giant shells. The cutest by far that I have are the tiny little farfalline.

Minus German potato salad would definitely qualify as a winter one. Love it too and would definitely eat it for breakfast because - bacon.

SpecialK

How funny that the same dish has so many names! Regardless of the name, it is yummy!

auntie - have you ever made or heard of a salad called Frog-Eye that is made with acini de pepe? When we were stationed at Griffiss AFB in upstate NY, where summer lasts about 5 minutes, the squadron hosted a "luau" and that salad was a staple. I am not sure if I ever tasted it, but I remember it and the recipe is in the squadron cookbook - it seems to be a light custard-like situation, with the acini de pepe added, that then sets up and chills overnight, with tropical fruit folded in right before serving.

We went to my cousin's wedding in Austria in July 2013, so not long after I finished treatment, and DD had a German potato salad that she loved. We have tried in vain to find a similar one - she said it was pretty vinegar-y, so maybe marinating the cooked potatoes in vinegar before adding the other ingredients is the answer!

M0mmyof3

Special- out here in New England its called American Chop Suey but my family back in Wisconsin call it Hot Dish.

SpecialK

mommy - this is so interesting! Same basic recipe with a million different names depending on where people are!

MinusTwo

I can hardly wait for Carole & Moon & Puffin to weigh in aboot "hot dish". (funny spelling error that considering the territory of the discussion - it's close enough to Canada that I think I'll let it ride)

Beaverntx

At school the dish was called Johnny marzetti.

M0mmyof3

thinking omelettes tonight