So...whats for dinner?

SpecialK

eric - I have asked for a mixer and a dustbuster as gifts before, but never a toilet! Something about that just doesn't scream Happy Birthday! Lol! Sharon is a good sport though - and hope you're both feeling better soon.

Lacey12

Wow Eric, you and Sharon have a lot going on even without a cracked throne! You are wise to get the moving tasks done while still “young” and energetic! I hope you find good options for your new digs. Housing here is so tight and expensive that we may be staying put until we can no longer scale our staircases!

Next week, local DS and family will be staying here for several days while their new floors are sanded, etc. The anticipation of their “moving in” is prompting me to pack up my “sewing room” so the space can be returned to its proper role of dining room. It’s been a great sewing space. I just heard all the messaging about mask use reduction, which fits my plan nicely since I set up this expanded sewing space when starting to make masks!

DH bought chorizo sausage recently, then used something else in his latest paella. Since the chorizo had been saying “hello” to me every time I opened the refrigerator, I searched for recipes in which I could use it and some hake fillets that were on sale this week. It involved orzo instead of rice and we really enjoyed it. And a perfect dish for using one of my cast iron skillets. Pic below. We had it with a big red leaf lettuce salad and green beans.

.

Next week I’ll need to get creative about meals for a sudden family of five with “highly selective” food preferences.
Special, I chuckled at your memory about DS’s coconut reaction.

Minus, still thinking of you with your house rehab rigors! May it move along quickly!

CeliaC

SpecialK - Unfortunately, with a steady downpour of rain and only 50 on Saturday, had to change lunch to an indoor spot. Would have preferred to be outdoors, but not in nasty weather. I had a pizza (very thin crust, just the way I like it) with roasted garlic oil as the "base", prosciutto, mushrooms, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella & drizzled with a balsamic reduction. Tasty & had plenty to take home. First indoor dining experience since March 2019. Glad to be fully vaccinated as there were more people there than expected.

Oh, Eric, what a bummer about the toilet! Glad you are handy enough to handle the installation of a new one.

Hope just about everyone who has wanted to be vaccinated has been able to do so. One step closer to some form of normalization.

eric95us

Special, you are right about Sharon being a good sport. She was laughing that at least I didn't buy it for her birthday and then wait until Mother's Day to install it.

Dinner tonight was bean and fake cheese enchiladas with air fried turnips for the "main" side dish.

carolehalston

Our governor has knuckled under to the pressure to lift the mask mandate. He shifted the responsibility to businesses to require or not require. Maybe the grumblers will be happy. I will continue to wear a mask to the supermarket and to stores on the rare shopping trip. I wonder if the YMCA will take down its mask sign. The rule was kind of silly since exercisers can take off their masks. Some of the employees at the entrance desk wear their masks below the nose.

I put the thawed thin sliced chicken breasts in the refrigerator last night and supplemented the leftover London Broil and mushrooms dish from Monday night with steamed carrots and large cubed potatoes. Also warmed up the leftover brown rice. A good dinner for DH to eat as he attended a Zoom woodworkers' meeting. The dish was actually a version of beef stew. Edible but not memorable.

auntienance

Eric, best of luck with your moving plans. Lacey is right - do it before you have to lol.

Last night was Swedish meatballs with a Dijon cream sauce, buttered noodles and steamed asparagus with lemon butter. This was inspired by a trip to IKEA yesterday in search of some dining room chairs. We found some, dragged them home along with some lingonberry jam, chocolate and a package of their frozen meatballs, which I had never had. They weren’t bad - better than expected. I don’t make them often because I think they’re a PITA , so it was a nice easy meal. The chairs are nice too and weren’t too frustrating to put together. DH had never been to IKEA and found it fascinating lol. I did warn him ahead of time.

Today I am potting the extensive flower garden in my garage. It’s pouring down rain the entire day but I’ll work in the garage. I’m anxious to get something growing and am already missing my garden. Lifestyle adjustments. We actually ate lunch indoors at McAlisters Monday (masks, reduced capacity, tables way far apart. We were the only ones on our side of the room divided by a partition.). A little anxiety there but overall enjoyable to do something that felt normal.

Tonight is pork tenderloin fixed some way or another, tiny potatoes and peas and a fruit salad.

illimae

Spine MRI came back clear, which is great. Thanks everyone for the well wishes, I appreciate it.

Dinner tonight is sautéed garlicky shrimp, cheese tortellini in a parmesan cream sauce and steamed spinach.

SpecialK

illimae - yay for your news! Dinner looks good! Love shrimp with garlic. Had some at Giovanni’s food truck on Oahu - covered with butter up to our elbows by the time we were done - fun, but only once, lol! Next time, a year later, I opted for the peeled ones which were way less messy and just as delicious!

DH had cabbage salad with cranberries, pepitas, chicken and poppyseed dressing (his uneaten lunch) and so far I’ve had nothing.

MinusTwo

Mae - HOORAY that the MRI was clear. Hope you're celebrating.

auntienance

Great news Mae

eric95us

Happy news Illimae!!!!!!!!!!!!!

M0mmyof3

Making tacos for dinner tonight.

carolehalston

Such great news, Illimae! Your meal looks delicious and celebratory.

Great minds, Nance. I will probably be digging a pork tenderloin out of the freezer. And maybe I will finally make the broccoli salad I've been thinking of making. I printed out a WW recipe for Citrus Broccoli and Cauliflower salad that looks pretty good. Calls for lemon and orange zest, lemon and orange juice and a small amount of light mayo. I will undoubtedly have to increase the mayo. Mayo and coffee would be on my list of most necessary foods/drink. Instead of raw broccoli and cauliflower, I will probably go the blanch route since I don't like either one raw.

Last night was the thin chicken breast slices, not of equal thinness. I cooked them in a skillet. Spread with Dijon and pressed with grated romano to create a crusty surface. Side was perfectly cooked steamed asparagus with butter lemon sauce (again, great minds, Nance!) Another side was romaine salad.

SpecialK

carole - omg, I am so with you on the mayo and coffee in my backpack as I go to the deserted island... I panic when I don't have backups of both in the pantry, lol! I make a broccoli salad often, mayo combined with a splash of apple cider vinegar and some sugar, but you could use stevia or monk fruit, or even honey as the sweetener. I use about half what the recipe calls for and it is still fine. Broccoli florets, cooked and crumbled bacon, slivered almonds, dried cranberries, red onion - which I assume you would omit, correct? Am I remembering that right? This salad is better when it has had a bit of time in the fridge but make sure your blanched broccoli has air dried before you add the dressing.

Not sure about dinner tonight - DH has his oral surgery this afternoon and I gave him the last of the beef stew for lunch because I wanted him to have something hearty if he is not eating tonight. I got up at the crack of dawn ('o dark thirty - eric, I'm lookin' at you) and went to have my MOHS procedure. Took only one pass because it is on top of the existing wide excision, no need to be delicate other than to avoid a crater at the top end. The good news was no waiting in line to have my temp taken or to socially distance in the elevator (only two people are allowed on each elevator) because it was STILL DARK outside, lol! The interesting news was that, as I suspected, this was not residual cancer from the wide excision, but rather a new un-diagnosed one on the skin that was pulled over to close the incision. Good on the pathologist that found it because it was nowhere near the cancer that was being removed. Totally reinforces my refusal to have a lat flap when my recon woes began - both surgeons said it may be my only option - they would just have pulled a bunch of skin cancer around to cover the implant and they would never be able to do these removals over it. Dodged that bullet. I have an appt. this afternoon to schedule surgery to replace both implants, right has a rupture found on routine MRI in Dec., and both are textured so while under for the main event I am replacing the left one also with a smooth before Medicare starts in Oct. Fun times!

eric95us

O'dark thirty? Me? When I can get away with it, O'dark-thirty is 7:30am. :-) I'm glad to hear that your MOHS turned out well and am hoping that your DH's oral surgery discomfort quickly eases.

For me, all I'd want in my "deserted desert island" backpack would be coffee. My personal theme song should be "I'll take you home again, Caffeine". :-)

I've been doing cement work outside (taking a quick break) and Sharon said she'd work on dinner tonight.

M0mmyof3

Eric, my personal slogan is “Warning: Coffee first!”

illimae

Beans and Cornbread!

eric95us

That looks good, Illimae! I love cornbread.

carolehalston

SpecialK, I did not air dry the blanched broccoli and cauliflower. I will remember to do that next time. The salad came out ok but with no wow factor. The recipe was similar to yours with crumbled bacon, 3 slices, yellow raisins 1/3 cup. I added a little extra Light Hellman's. It was a pretty salad and there are leftovers. The orange and lemon zest and fresh juice from both lemon and orange are for flavor but also to cut down on the mayo and reduce WW points.

There was no pork tenderloin in the freezer but I found the remaining pork shoulder chop/steak. I cooked, actually overcooked, it in the air fryer. As always one of my slices was the portion with the bone. I am the bone gnawer.

I have done a good job this year of using up meats in the freezer. At this point I will be shopping for the next few days. In the past when we headed north towing the 5th wheel, I loaded the freezer contents in the house into the camper freezer but now the 5th wheel lives in MN.

Tonight's dinner will be a hamburger. The side may be salad instead of oven fries.

carolehalston

People are eating and not telling!

I cooked the burgers in the air fryer last night and regretted using that cooking method. The cast iron griddle on the stovetop does a better job. But I enjoyed my burger on a store bakery bun and also enjoyed the leftover broccoli and cauliflower salad, which was delicious after sitting in the refrigerator and soaking up the flavors.

jhl

Hi Carole,

I hope everyone is outside enjoying the springtime.

Last night we had salmon BBQ'd on a salt block with asparagus and cheddar biscuits. Not sure what tonight will be.

SpecialK

Not much cooking going on at my house as DH’s oral surgery became an extraction and bone graft. I am eating odds and ends, as I am a grazer at heart.

ChiSandy

Our springtime is very "bipolar" temp-wise. On Tues. we went from the 40s to the 80s to the 40s all within 12 hrs.

Nothing very interesting most of the week for dinner, with two exceptions. Mon., leftovers. Tues. night, at a steakhouse, on the (thankfully, heated) patio with friends, Kumamoto oysters (first raw oysters I'd had in over a year); bone-in ribeye, creamed Swiss chard with onions; braised wild mushrooms. Wed., leftovers from the night before. Thurs., an Italian wine dinner at Cellars: an antipasto ("Cibo di Strada") of fried olives, Fontina, porchetta, prosciutto, and sopressata salami; then a grilled octopus & chickpea salad; lamb lasagna made with crepes instead of pasta; mushroom ravioli with chunks of Tuscan long-braised beef, portabellas & baby spinach; and for dessert, a "Napoleon" of pizzelle wafers with limoncello custard and fresh berries. Last night: the beef/ravioli leftovers, augmented with asparagus I charred on the grill.

eric95us

Grrr.....lost a post. Again, I think it's a "hit the magic spot on the laptop to highlight the entire post and then when I type a letter, it replaces the entire post". It's not the site as I don't have this problem when I'm using my desktop computer.

I'm feeling normal again and am *thrilled*. For the past couple of weeks, I've been "dragging" a bit--feeling tired, achy, headache, etc. I've been getting stuff done, but it's been a 10 minutes work, 30 minutes rest cycle.

It turns out Sharon wasn't feeling all that great either and she's getting going full speed again. I don't know if it was residual effects from the Covid19 vaccine or allergies, or something else....no matter what, it seems to be gone....

Last night we had dinner with DD, her boyfriend and boyfriend's parents. They all are good people.

DD is moving to Michigan with him (he will be one of the tech folks "behind the scenes" at a TV station). At the end of the month, DD, her boyfriend and boyfriend's dad will be driving her car and his truck from Arizona to Michigan. Sharon and I will follow along a few days later towing a small trailer with our truck.

I'm laughing at my first reaction to DD driving across the country, which was ....worry...with, "I hope it goes OK" thoughts. My laughing to myself started when I remembered Mickey and I going on a "show each other off to the family" cross country trip. She and I drove my VW bug, tent camped every night we weren't at a relative's house (motels were too expensive) and we made it...and we thought nothing of it. We were the same age as DD and her boyfriend, and we didn't have an "oldster" along with us. So, I guess I shouldn't worry (too much) :-)

Special, hopefully DH's "pain in the mouth" quickly goes away.

Needing a heated patio Chi? Wow. Not here. At 10pm last night, as we left from the dinner, which we ate outside as well, it was 89F degrees. The humidity here is probably under 10% right now, so it was comfortable..even when it's 100F/38C.

We're going to have to start using up our freezer/refrigerator/pantry foods so we can fit the "leftovers" into the camper, so Carol's "work" will become familiar here.

jhl, What's your biscuit recipe..if you don't mind? I made cheddar biscuits using the recipe at https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/260622/red-lobster-cheddar-biscuits/ This recipe makes, to me, biscuits that are too salty and "not enough cheddar". Both are easy to fix, but...the more recipes, the better! :-)

MinusTwo

Anybody have a good "recipe" for cleaning laminate countertops?

Work proceeding. Hall bath 90% finished and now has the only toilet in the house. Primary bath demolished back to the studs & floor out - so of course toilet gone. I'm getting better about living with boxes & changing furniture patters every night. Day off tomorrow so I can go buy the next batch of stuff needed to continue. Then Monday I hit the decks running to strip all the linens off the bed & move my nightgown to the guest bedroom so they can start to take down my bedroom ceiling. Oh - & find places to stash more furniture so they can do that job.

auntienance

Oh Minus, I feel for you. Such a job especially for one person. And it’s as much work to put the stuff back after they’re done. My sympathies.

Went to the farmers market today - somewhat of a misnomer since it’s mostly crafters and food trucks until the growing season gets going. I was hoping for some spinach and spring onions but if there were any they sold out early. But it was a lovely day to be out although I won’t go back until there’s produce to be had.

Tonight was barbecued St. Louis style ribs, baked beans and coleslaw. Most interesting meal of the week.

M0mmyof3

Going to try to make chicken and dumplings for the first time ever

SpecialK

minus - I’m tired just reading your post. For the laminate countertops you can use a baking soda and water paste, rub it in, then remove with a wet cloth. HGTV also says you can use a bit of dish soap and water for the scrubbing part. Then a couple of rinsing wipes. If you want it shiny again you can use car wax after that. Rub it on, let it sit for 10 mins, then polish it off with a soft clean towel, just like for a car. For shine you can also use a vinegar solution - 2c water to 1T vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray on, let sit a couple of mins, wipe with a clean towel. I’m not crazy about using vinegar but only because of the way it smells - since chemo it makes me cough. I do have a homemade window cleaner with alcohol and vinegar but it also calls for a couple drops of peppermint oil, which disguises the scent for me.

Dinner has not been happening lately but I may make spaghetti with meat sauce tonight. Depends on if DD and her BF come over after moving his stuff into her house, since DH is still on cold soft food for another day. Mixed feelings on the BF moving in - she’s a grown woman so can make her own decisions about this but they haven’t been seeing each other very long, so... upside is he will pay rent. So I’m his landlord and his GF’s mom, lol

M0mmyof3

The chicken and dumplings were spectacular!

auntienance

Congratulations mommy, it took me many tries to get them like my grandmother’s.

Tonight is order out night which has not yet been decided.