So...whats for dinner?

Beaverntx

LOL, hadn't planned on a colorful meal but the description did come out that way didn't it!

Last night was less colorful, a big salad with spicy chicken and shredded cheese. We ate late because we waited until dinner time (store less crowded then) to go to Home Depot for water softener salt and ate after we got back.

ChiSandy

Dinner was Greek-style steamed rockfish: nuked in parchment, with tricolor peppers, tomato, spring onion and fresh herbs (basil, thyme, oregano & tarragon). Seasoned with sea salt, pepper, olive oil & lemon juice.

carolehalston

Dinner last night was vegetarian eggplant lasagna and romaine salad with delicious additions like a perfectly ripe avocado. Thank you, Lacey, for inspiring me to slice the eggplants lengthwise. They were very nice young eggplants with no visible seeds.

A rib roast is thawing on the counter for tonight's dinner. It is much too large for two people but I bought it on impulse because of the bargain price.

ChiSandy

Bob was working quite late last night, so I had an early snack of tuna salad & mixed nuts. We went out at 10pm to Fireside Inn, which used to be open pre-pandemic (and continued to deliver) until 3am. Last call for food is now 11:15 and for alcohol, midnight. We sat in the heated, tented, vented patio and were the only party there. The dining room (complete with fireplace) and bar (ultra-noisy, with hip-hop& EDM on the jukebox) were each half-full. They had a huge Mother's Day "bruncheon" rush, and so were out of steaks (even the little ones for sandwiches) and prime rib. Bob had shrimp bisque, the Cajun meatloaf (less spicy than he remembered) and broccoli. I had a "naked" half-slab of baby-back ribs: they have a smoker now, so they no longer cook them "Chicago-style" (parboiled, then baked in BBQ sauce, which I detest because they fall off the bone--which I may appreciate if ever I lose my teeth). I like my ribs to "fight back." Broccoli for me too.

Bob's working late again tonight, and it's not gonna rain, so I will grill myself a bison ribeye and make a sauteed mushroom garnish. Veg. will be last night's leftover broccoli (I might experiment with faux-Hollandaise) and wild ramps I bought on Sat. (Ramps are like a broad-leafed cross between garlic & onion). I dice the bulbs and saute them in olive oil, then tear the leaves and toss them in, seasoned with salt & lemon juice.

We have a restaurant crisis here, even though capacity limits have been eased quite a bit: many laid-off workers aren't coming back. It's partly due to reluctance to take a job that might get pulled back out from under them again should we get a COVID surge again in autumn. But mostly it's because they've found other jobs that are less physically-demanding and pay better. The "tipped-minimum" wage (as little as $6.10 /hr. plus tips, which management must supplement to bring the wage to the local $13.50 city minimum but many don't--and some pocket the tips that people charge rather than leave in cash or Venmo) which is the norm around here often comes out to less than unemployment compensation. Restaurants need to step up and raise the tipped minimum to the actual minimum (with tips being the icing on the cake, so to speak), and diners need to suck it up and pay higher menu prices--or stop being cheapskates when they tip. The upscale Lettuce Entertain You chain started imposing a 5% COVID fee in January. I find that eminently fair. If it means fewer people can afford to dine out, so be it--there will be plenty of diners willing to pick up the slack (many places are either turning people away if they're at the legally allowed capacity limit, and some ignore the limit). Our neighborhood restaurant Cellars can't add more hours yet to the Thurs-Sun they're already open, because they can't find enough staff.

During the pandemic, most people found that cooking wasn't as hard as they thought. I notice most here in this thread find dining out to be the exception and haven't even done so outdoors even after it was permitted. (At least I got that impression from the criticism I've received here for going to restaurants).

carolehalston

Last night was thin-sliced chicken breast fillets breaded with seasoned panko and "fried" in the air fryer. I was careful not to overcook them and they were good. The recommendation is to pre-heat the fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Side was warmed up vegetarian eggplant lasagna, delicious once again.

Tonight we'll warm up thick slices of the leftover beef rib roast. DH suggested cutting away the bones and using them to make "jus" for the purpose of warming. Any expertise on this subject? The roast was tender and had wonderful flavor when we enjoyed it on Sunday night.

We're having tropical rainy weather even as I read about the severe drought in the west.

auntienance

Carole, I think the pressure cooker would do a wonderful job of making a sort of jus with your roasted bones. It would be more of a rich stock but I imagine it would be good.

Last night was a Spanish tortilla with the additions of ham and peas. Side was a green salad with vinaigrette. This is one of my favorite meals. Tonight is breaded chicken breasts. I might try them in the oven air fryer. (We’re on the same wavelength again Carole.). The side will be a cheesy brown rice and broccoli casserole.

SpecialK

Not much cooking has been happening at my house due to DH's tooth issues, he is still basically eating soft-ish food. I did cook for Mother's Day though, DD and beau came over after she got off work. I made spaghetti with meat sauce, an antipasto salad, garlic toast, and an apple crumble pie from a Sally's Baking Addiction recipe. I had a random frozen solo pie crust so needed a one crust recipe. It was pretty good but there is an abundance of the crunchy topping which makes it a bit challenging to slice without crushing the pie itself. I have a sharp serrated slicer though which got the job done. DH ate pasta and had some pie, but declined the salad and garlic bread - too had to manage chewing. My local Publix had a bogo deal on both chicken thighs and boneless/skinless breasts so spent part of yesterday dividing the packages and wrapping smaller portions in freezer paper.

carole - my go-to for leftover roast beef is a dish my mom always made with either beef or lamb roast leftovers. A layer of thinly sliced meat, a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, a layer of thinly sliced onions, and a layer of gravy, then repeat. It is baked in the oven long enough to cook the potatoes and onions - usually about 45 mins or more. I have sometimes used gravy from a mix or jar if there is not enough leftover - or mixed with leftover to stretch it. Always yummy. I've never made a jus, I defer to those with pressure cooking expertise!

chisandy - we are experiencing the same situation here with servers not returning to work the jobs now available because they can make more on unemployment or in other jobs. The way some restaurant owners pay does create a problem - when I was a server in an upscale restaurant when my kids were in school (I often worked the jam-packed lunch hours because I could be home when the kids left for school and be back when they got home) I made $2.13 per hour, but made a killing in tips because of the level of service expected by management, the dynamite food, and the busy nature of this restaurant. However, we had to "tip out" both the food runners and the hosts. So, the restaurant got away with paying us nothing and not paying the runners or hosts much either and relying on tips to support the non-cooking staff. I agree that tips should be the icing rather than the backbone of pay for servers and other staff. It is not fair.

illimae

“Resting” seems to be eating fast food with burgers and fried chicken as weekend dinners, tonight will be a big salad. My morning kicked off with a delicious breakfast though.

eric95us

I didn't eat dinner last night. Sharon ate some leftovers. I wasn't hungry.

I spent all of yesterday afternoon working in the sun to build shelves to fit into a storage unit. I figured out how to build six heavy duty shelves for around $150....even with the highly inflated cost of lumber and plywood.

Today I emptied the storage unit, placed the shelves and reloaded the storage unit. I reclaimed about 2/3 of the space in the storage unit. The "reclaimed" space will be used to hold DD's apartment furniture (her lease ends May 19) until the end of the month...when she moves to Michigan.

Sharon had an appointment for the dentist to check on how the tooth extraction site is healing. It's almost fully healed.

Tonight we may go out to eat....although Sharon's banjo teacher gave us about 5-6 pounds of frozen trout and that doesn't take long to thaw out and cook....as they say, "We'll see." :-)

MinusTwo

Meal of the day was cold boiled shrimp from Costco. I meant to make shrimp scampi but I had a zoom class from 6-8pm and the contractors were still here at 7pm. My dessert was 10 wheat thins just now while checking my emails & BCO.

This "construction diet" (I think that was Carole's term) is certainly interesting. Mornings I jump up before 7am and head for Home Depot or Lowes or C&D Hardware (etc) so I can be back before they get here. I don't feel comfortable cooking while they're working. That means something like cheerios & bananas - but mostly I've just been skipping breakfast & lunch. Once they leave, I'm certainly too tired to bother cooking - and often too tired to eat. And honestly I'm not hungry anyway. I'm down to my lowest weight ever - when I got married right out of college. (yup - over 50 years ago) That is really too low for my advanced age - but who can tell since I'm wearing grubby loose jeans & baggy T-shirts every day. I LOVE no makeup and ignoring my hair. Anyway, it looks like another two weeks of "catch as catch can..."

auntienance

Minus, I hope you never have to do another thing to your house.

Mae- please comefix me breakfast.

MinusTwo

That's the plan Nance. I hope to have the house ready to complete aging in place until I'm carried out the door feet first.

Cheerios with a banana for brunch.

illimae

Tonight is a pan seared chicken breast in a garlic mushroom cream sauce with spinach and carrot ribbons.

MinusTwo

Oh Mae - please can I come to your house??

Contractors left at 6:30pm. Too tired to eat, let alone cook. Dinner was two shot glasses of Amarula. (oh blessed nectar of the gods). I might have some cubes of Gouda cheese later - or some almonds - or not.

carolehalston

Last night used up some items in the house freezer: three small Italian sausages, a bag of cooked linguine. I made the tomato sauce with a large can of whole tomatoes, ground up in the food processor, tomato paste and seasoning. As always with pasta, fresh grated cheese, in this instance, pecorino romano. Result was good with leftovers for another meal. Our portions were guided by WW moderation. Side was a wonderful tossed salad with delicious ingredients. We commented that we only have salads this good at home.

Trying to think of a main dish using the leftover beef roast for tonight.

Beautiful plate of food, Illimae. The ribbons of carrot are so colorful.

eric95us

Yesterday DD and her boyfriend came by for dinner and then we went over to her grandma's (my MIL). Because they didn't get off work until 5pm and then with the drive across town, they didn't get over here until 6:30pm. Dinner was a simple affair....vege burgers and french fries...so we could get over to MIL's house before it got too late.

illimae

Tonight was about clearing the fridge. Leftover grilled pork rib, leftover beans and a quick fresh slaw. I’ll be planning this weekend for the coming week to avoid lazy eating, which usually leads to little or no veggies.

MinusTwo

Carole - if you're not adverse to pasta, how about a beef stroganoff with mushrooms (canned if necessary) and sour cream.

carolehalston

DH suggested roast beef sandwiches for dinner last night, using the two buns in the freezer. I agreed. Then our plans changed and we met my sister and her dh and her granddaughter, who lives with them, at Pontchartrain Poboy for an early dinner. PP has expanded their popular restaurant by taking over an adjacent space in the strip shopping building. The tables are now spaced apart where once they were jammed together to seat as many people as possible. It's a major improvement.

DH had a fried shrimp platter with potato salad as his side. I had a large Caesar salad topped with fried shrimp. We enjoyed the visit as much as the food.

Tonight we'll have the roast beef sandwiches.

elenas401

Hi illimae: Your food looks delicious. I noticed on your profile that you're ER+PR- HER-. I've been stage four since Januray of 2017 and started out ER+PR+ now I've gone to ER+PR- and I was discouraged to learn that that is a bad change. What has been your experience? I still have my primary tumor and it seems to be progressing even after radiation this winter. My onc is talking about putting me on Halaven. I'm so discouraged, seeing my latest pathology report from last week, with a high Ki67 rate as well. I have a consult set up for the University of Minnesota to see what they say. anything encouraging you can offer about ER+PR-. Wish something new was coming down the pipeline.

illimae

Elenas, thanks for the compliment on dinners, I enjoy making them visually appealing as much as eating.

As to cancer subtype, my experience being PR- hasn’t had much of an impact because I am HER2+ (not negative) and this has been the primary driver, fortunately I’ve responding well to Herceptin.

carolehalston

Last night's hot roast beef on bun was delicious, so was the tossed salad. We got three meals out of the rib roast.

Tonight we're meeting another couple at an Italian restaurant. From the website it looks casual. The picture didn't show tablecloths. Apparently I said to this couple that we should go out for dinner before we departed. I don't remember saying that but I assume I did.

These meals out mean I won't win the challenge to use up the frozen food on hand.

auntienance

I would have used the leftover beef in the salad. We love steak salad. But like Minus, we often make stroganoff with leftover roast.

Tonight is bunless burgers with oven steak fries and a small salad.

Speaking of rib roasts, DBIL and DSIL are coming next week. I'm looking forward to getting the half rib roast from Christmas (uncooked)out of my freezer and onto the table.

MinusTwo

Oh Nance - can I be a ghost at your table for the prime rib?

Starting to pull things out of closets today & boxing in anticipation of carpet in 10 days. At least I have time to look at what I'm boxing now. I committed heresy today and threw away a book..... My Webster's Collegiate dictionary that never left my side since 1962, bit the dust. We played scrabble with it. We looked up words we didn't know. We pulled it out at the dinner table. I've never thrown away a book in my life, but honesty google does a great job with spelling & definitions (not to mention pronunciation) and this venerable tome was literally falling apart. Rest in peace.

illimae

Tonight was soft tacos. Tomorrow will be spinach lasagna, which I’m going to try to make extra pretty with veggies looking like flowers. I saw a great pic on Instagram, gonna see if I can do it too. You all know I’ll post a photo.

SpecialK

We ate late tonight, I had some cooked chicken breasts so gently reheated them in chicken broth, then used the broth to make a gravy with some mix, sour cream and sautéed mushrooms. Served with little red potatoes boiled and tossed with butter and parsley, and some zucchini and yellow squash.

minus - I bet it was hard to part with your Webster’s - I still have mine too!

Illimae - your lasagna sounds intriguing - will wait for the photo.

carolehalston

The Italian restaurant with a hard-to-remember name, Cucina something, was located in the space once occupied by New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood. We didn't realize the change had occurred two years ago. We so seldom go to Mandeville these days because of all the traffic.

DH had shrimp and grits which he greatly enjoyed. Another ingredient was andouille sausage and the sauce looked like remoulade. I had an individual pizza called Mediterranean. Hummus, sun dried tomato, eggplant, feta cheese. It was tasty on what seemed to be sourdough crust. One improvement would have been a dribble of olive oil but I didn't ask for it.

illimae

Well, I can’t find the post that inspired me and mine is not nearly as pretty but it still looks good enough to eat.

MinusTwo

Oh yum Mae. Hope you have a good trip to the mountains with no trailer problems. And you are able to accomplish what you're planning. It's going to rain here all week, so a good time to be gone.

I cooked!!! The contractor took today off. It feels like Christmas when I was a kid. I slept until 7:30. Actually made it to the grocery store. Did two loads of wash. Read the entire Sunday paper & dozed this afternoon. Dinner was fried rice with organic brown rice & quinoa, onions, water chestnuts, mushrooms, garlic, leftover rotisserie chicken bits, soy, fresh spinach. What a lovely treat.

And an additional treat from the store. I bought two small slices of strawberry swirl NY cheesecake. One piece I ate as soon as I got home around 11a. Great breakfast. The second I ate after dinner tonight.

illimae

Minus, sounds like you had a great day, yay!

It would be a great time to be out of town but unfortunately we’ve already run into problems. The trailer rental place rented the one DH called about but failed to tell him until he arrived yesterday to pick it up. Hopefully they’ll have one tomorrow but that puts us loading in the rain, which sucks. It’ll get done eventually.