So...whats for dinner?

deborye

Oh crap, all squashed up.  Makes my look thin, LOL

deborye

deborye

Dinner out with a few friends from class of 69.

debbie6122

Lacey- I loved zucchini sticks and make them often, cant wait for your cauliflower recipe, i make it roasted, and also make mashed pot out of them which i love.

Bedo- Oh my gosh, i dont know where i got that from, i went back and looked at your post and didnt see anything that resembles that at all, i must be losing it LOL!  I remember thinking, wow she moves fast she was just dating not long ago a couple of guys and was going to ask you about it but didnt want to sound nosey LOL!!!

Joyce- Happy Anniversary! 

Laurie- LOL! too funny, maybe if you put a little "Hiney" in your tea you will feel better LOL!

I have been eating carbs all day after doing so good on my diet, toast, eggs, hashbrowns, sausage for breakfast, then half turkey sandwhich, hour later half steak sanwhich then grahman cracker cookies with Nutella, "So whats for dinner"? LOL!

debbie6122

Deb- Love the pics of you and your friends!

SeasideMemories

Laurie...



You DO seem to have the best typos and the 'hiney' one was no exception!! It made me literally laugh out loud.....



So happy to hear that your blood work came back good but, so sorry that you had to go through all that worry!

Lacey12

Laurie, your typos are hilarious...but then on second thought are we getting some insight as to your boys' sudden food fussiness? Young boys love to use bathroom talk....but not really added to their meals! LOL! Meanwhile, more seriously, I"m so happy for you about your normal bloodwork report. Whew! And Yay! Hope you can enjoy a carefree evening with your friends.

Thanks everyone for your "rest and drink" advice. I am awash with liquids, and am hoping that if I do it again tomorrow I will chase this darn virus away. I think I caught it from baby grandson, and afterall, his little germs couldn't be that strong, eh? 

Despite my cotton-headed feeling I decided to write down what I did for the Moroccan chicken I threw together this week(not really from one specific recipe), since once I return to work I never will get to it.. It's pretty lengthy, so scroll on by if you're not into heavy spices. Hope I didn't forget anything....
 

Pat's Unauthentic Moroccan chicken stew
 

- 1 1/2 lbs of boneless ch. breasts (thighs would
probably be fine too) lightly dusted with flour, and I cut the breasts into
halves...about 2 1/2 inches each for ease in pan...smaller chunks would even be
faster to cook. 

- Enough olive oil to saute onions (2 T): additional oil
to brown the chicken (2T or so...) 

- 1 large or two med onions chopped 

- 4-5 minced cloves garlic 

- 1 tablespoon minced ginger root (I use the already minced ginger in a jar.. easier)

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp ground cumin 

- 1 tsp oregano 

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

- 2 teaspoons coriander 

- 1/2 tsp tumeric 

- 1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)

pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 can chicken broth (I also added two packets of trader
   joe's chicken broth enhancer with a cup of water)

2 cups halved baby carrots

1  15 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice 

 A generous amount of fresh chopped cilantro  

"Loose" directions: 

Saute  onions  for about 5 minutes in 2T oil in a deep pan
over medium heat adding garlic after a few minutes. Add all the other spices
and keep cooking for about 2 more minutes. Remove spices from pan and scrape it
a bit. Set aside the spice mixture. Add new oil to scraped pan (or you could
use a new deep pan if you feel industrious about clean up) then add the coated
chicken and brown over medium heat on all sides. 

Add the carrots and broth and tomatoes and return the
spices to the pan with chicken, etc.  

Turn up heat to med high and bring to a boil then reduce
to med low heat. At this point I'd check to see if the flavor of the broth is
strong enough for you...and if not, add the broth enhancer. Add lemon juice
and simmer for 25 -30 minutes or until the chicken and carrots are cooked. I even cook it longer over very low heat so that the chicken is "stew tender".

Towards end of cooking add 1 T chopped cilantro and stir in.  

Garnish with more chopped cilantro  when serving (if you like it....otherwise I
suppose parsley would also be fine instead of any cilantro) I served it over
couscous, but any grain would be fine. 

 I hope that recipe
is clear. It is really just an amalgam of spices with meat,  broth, tomatoes and any veggie
you choose. I happened to have baby carrots in the refridge. You could also add chickpeas if you like the texture of them since lot's of Moroccan dishes tend to have these.
 

And as you can tell, I will not be writing any cookbook
instructions in the near future.

Off to watch "Moneyball"...DH's idea...and I hear it is good.

 

 

 

LuvRVing

Laurie - so happy that the levels came back normal, yippee!!!

Saw Wanderlust tonight...a bit raunchy but a good Saturday night comedy.  I think I'll download Moneyball to watch on the plane next week when we fly to Florida.

 Tomorrow the guys in the family are going to see the Globetrotters.  The gals are going to have lunch at the American Girl restaurant.  I'm sure it will be cute, if not a culinary adventure

Deb - looks like a happy group of gals for dinner!  I need to connect with some of my 1968 classmates and not wait for the next reunion.

SeasideMemories

Deborye,



Great picture!! And, I must add, the class of 69 girls don't look a day over fabulous!!



Lacey,



Some of the best recipes I've come up with are a mish-mash of the best aspects of several recipes! The Moroccan Chicken sounds really good!



Hope you feel better and that you enjoy the movie....

bedo

Well, I just erased that huge print.  Anyway,  Can I come too to Pickity?  I can drive my old junker up there from Providence.  I work Mon-Fri. but am off Sat and Sun ?  I would love to meet all of you!

Sally

No Idea what I hit to do that.  lol,  I'm afraid to try to *fix* it because I'm afraid I will mess it up more!   But I hope you enjoy the easy reading!  I will look into it tomorrow!

LuvRVing

Of course, Bedo!!!  All are welcome, and we will do it on a weekend because several of you work or need your DH to be available to watch the kiddies.

I've had that font change happen to me, too - very frustrating!

apple

Welcome Amy,,,, I haven't been keeping up lately because i've been buying a used Seiko watch to go with me on my vacay to Sam Diego with the kids coming up.

I first met my husband in 84... we had our 2nd date in 93.. Anyway, i always appreciated how much he ate, and he me, because i was a chef.

Anyhoo,  the first time i went to his parents' for dinner, 'mom' made tacos.  Back then I was cheffing 8 - 9 hours a day.  I'd cycle for 15 or 25 miles daily before work, practice for 3 hours and maybe ride again.  The bottom line is that i ate like a HORSE.  At dinner that night i had 7 huge tacos... his mom was looking at me like i was a freak.. they were so good.  like tostadas more with home fried shells.. I still make them today.  yum 

I love Lent because on Fridays my husband goes and 'works' the shrimp dinners and the kids go help too.  i don't have to cook - unless i want tuna salad.  I find son #1 likes tuna too.  I'll have to buy that huge gallon at Sam's.

apple

deborye.. you all have some red hair going on up there.. beautiful.. i just love red hair.

Kay_G

Hi everyone! It's been a little bit since I've been on, but all caught up now.



So interesting to hear the lent talk. We used to spend the summers down the shore where my uncle was seriously one of the best fishermen you'll ever find. If he went out on a boat and no one else caught a fish, he would at least get one. My brother was pretty good too, so lots of fresh fish in the summer, but we wouldn't have had that in the spring. I think we had Mac and cheese every Friday. Mom would make it with elbow macaroni, tomato sauce and velveeta. Always good. And I think until I was five or six, it was every Friday because back then I think that was the rule. When I got a little older, it started being pizza Fridays which kind of defeated the purpose since that was my favorite meal of the week. LOL



Funny remembering the summers down the shore. We lived right in the city, not down town, but the city, no green any where. My GF bought a tiny piece of land about ten miles from the beach, only about half a mile from the bay. He and my uncles built a house there. It was pretty primitive, no phone, no hot water (there was a tank of water on the roof that was heated by the sun, when that ran out, it was gone. If it wasn't a sunny day, there was no hot water at all that day.). There were three tiny bedrooms and a tiny parlor and the biggest room was the kitchen. My mother, aunt, sister, GF and I were there all summer. My older bro and sis and cousins and father and uncle woul come down on the weekends because they were working in the city. Sometimes another aunt or uncle and their family would come. I never knew where they were going to put me to sleep, but have wonderful memories of it all and wouldn't change it for anything. I think my kids are missing out because they have too much.



Any way, sorry for all that. I gave up the Internet for lent, so will only be around on Sunday's. The idea is to be more productive and family oriented with the extra time. We'll see how that goes. It was wonderful to get all the updates. Bedo, I so sympathies with you. I am back to work and feeling so stressed. I really don't know what to do. But I do have a DH with a good job, so I can really feel for you being your only support. I hope it gets better for you. Laurie, my ear and jaw are hurting too. I don't think it's an ear infection though since I don't have any fevers. Maybe allergies. I'll have to start taking Claritin. Hope you and the boys are feeling better.



Happy anniversary Joyce and Deb! I hope you celebrated and enjoyed it.



Carrie and Hauntie, hope you guys (and your mom and dad) are doing well. Hope to get updated today.



Great to hear all the exciting dinner options. I think I will try that jambalaya today with the quinoa I haven't used yet and omit the sausage for more chicken and shrimp. Would that mess it up too much, or do you think it would still be good? I have used a lot of my mozzarella. Made some pizzas, chicken parm, grilled cheeses. Fed a lot of it to my DD's friends when they were over. So far, no one is complaining. I think I might try eggplant parm this week some time too.



Have a great week everyone! Will check back in later tonight.

carberry

Kay  love the shore story. What memories.  I agree our children had too much and didnt really know how to go outside and find something to do out of nothing more than a stick or a can to kick (the game kick the can)  I tried to instill that in my children and make them play outside.  We own a feed and farm store and my son once brought home corn kernels and planted them in the middle of our driveway....yup we had corn growing and had to drive around them.

I so would love to travel to see you guys, hmmm, having surgery on March 19, but maybe some day.

Friend hosted a fondue party last evening, beer cheese fondue, she had to borrow my fondue pot, not used in about 15 years.....blast from the past!

LuvRVing

Kay - good to hear from you.  You can leave out the sausage in jambalaya, no problem.  I think anything goes with that dish!

Carrie - you are not so far away, DH and I love road trips.  Who knows??? 

Momine

Speaking of lenten foods, I just made the Greek cauliflower in tomato sauce again today. Last time, it seemed a little light as a main course, so this time, I added some cubes of sweet potato as well. Butternut squash ought to work too. It was good and hearty enough to count as a real meal.

Kay_G

Thanks Michelle! Jambalaya sounds good.



Carrie, what sx are you having? Hope it goes well.

carolehalston

What a busy forum!  I've been reading for at least 30 min. to catch up!  I'm envious of anyone who can satisfy a mussels addiction.  I first sampled them in 2007 when we visited Prince Edward Island.  A mussel "farmer" was in an rv site near ours and brought a big bowl over for us to enjoy.  I see mussels in little net bags in the supermarket seafood dept., but I wonder how old they are, etc.  Plus they're very pricey.  I always think it's better to stick to local seafood, and we have a lot.  Shrimp, oysters, blue crabs, crawfish, varieties of fish.  But no mussels.

Apple, my mother made tuna salad with the same recipe except no raw onions because of me.  Like Michelle, I have never liked raw onions so the tuna salad, potato salad, etc. in our family were onion free.  I still put boiled eggs in tuna salad and lots of mayo.  Funny thing--I really like the tuna at Subway and it has nothing in it but tuna and mayo. 

I wish someone who likes canned salmon lived close to me because I bought a whole case last summer in Alaska and have used only a can or two.  I bought it at the processing plant and it is supposed to be really good.  DH does not like salmon.  I even have a cookbook with lots of Alaskan recipes for using canned salmon. 

Last night's dinner was leftover Shepherd's Pie made with ground turkey from Fresh Market.  I love that recipe which is very simple and the usual ingredients.  Celery, carrots, onion, chicken broth, flour, fresh rosemary, dried thyme, and mashed potatoes with a little Smart Balance and lite sour cream.  It's a WW recipe. 

I printed out a couple of recipes from Mary Ann Esposito's tv segment yesterday on PBS.  One is a chicken dish.  Pieces of chicken marinated in fresh lemon juice and fresh herbs and then baked.  Very simple and looks good.  I love a lemony flavor.  The other recipe is a side dish for large portobello caps stuffed with spinach and topped with cheese, also baked.  I plan to try these recipes soon.

Friday I had my 3rd attempt at baking artesian bread.  Fortunately my baking stone isn't large enough for me to bake both the loaves I'd formed.  The recipe was Pane Bigio (Bread with a Starter).  For some reason I set the oven at 550 instead of 450.  When I first put the oval loaf on the stone, it soon puffed up very nicely.  I went off to take a shower and eventually heard the smoke detectors beeping.  My beautiful loaf was black!  I adjusted the temp. and the 2nd loaf came out brown and crusty.  I'm really enjoying eating bread that I know has no additives.  We cut up the black loaf and put it out for the birds.

DH and I are playing in a couples golf event today.  It's overcast and the high is supposed to be in the 60's. 

Happy Sunday to all.

bedo

Apple  that made me laugh about the 7 tacos!  I would have wondered about you too!  Actually I would have wondered if you were expecting.   So a trip to Sam Diego?  He sounds handsome!  These typos crack me up.  Only kidding Apple!  I would never survive if I had to be a typist!  I've always wanted to go to San Diego.  I've heard that the weather is perfect!

Sounds like you had fun Joyce!

Kay, I loved your story about your summers as a child. It got me thinking about Gramma's house in Michigan, and picking gooseberries for pie and playing "ghost" at night with the local kids, my Grampa's fiddle and his wihttling the most amazing things out of wood.  Thanks for bringing up these  memories and we will miss you for Lent

Carrie, I remember our Mother yeling "Go play outside!!" just to get us out of her hair.  And we did.  We built whole villages in the woods and huts out of branches and pine needles.  We were instructed to sing "There are children in the woods!  There are children in the woods!"  during hunting season. Sometimes I wonder about that.. did we really drive her crazy??

Oooooh, Momine!  Can you publish that recipe?  That sounds like something I would really go for!

Hi seaside Hi lacey Hi everybody else who I left out because I aam 1/2 way through my coffee and it's 10:34 am!

Deb loved your picture.  I still say that you look like the troublemaker of the group.  A mother can spot these things.

Laurie hope you're feeling better!

Debbie, lol Im not "fast" anymore.  I've slowed down in my dotage. 

I'm trying to eat lots of fruit this week and drink water, not juice, as it has so many calories.

Chowed down a whole bunch of asparagus for dinner last night with soy sauce. That was it for dinner.

Momine

Bedo, here you go:



Chop a large onion, several cloves garlic, stalk celery, 2 large carrots. Saute this in olive oil till onion is translucent. Then add 3 large tomatoes, chopped, or a can of tomatoes with their juice. Put in salt and pepper, a bay leaf, some parsley and a little oregano and let simmer 5 minutes or so. Add 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks and a head of cauliflower cut into large florets. Put a lid on and simmer until veggies are tender. Turn it a few times as it is cooking.



The sweet potato is not part of the traditional recipe, but it works. Butternut squash would probably work too. Our fast starts tomorrow and lasts 40 days. In the Greek church you eat no eggs, no dairy and no meat for the whole 40 days. If you are very strict, no fish either, only shell fish. For this reason, the Greek kitchen has quite a few veggie dishes in the repetoire.

Lacey12

Wow...What a delightfully busy thread this is today! You're providing me a great escape from prepping for the return to work! . I love everyone's blasts from the past re: not only food but childhood memories of play and vacation spots (guess those are all intertwined).

Kay, I too grew up spending lots of time at (I'm assuming you mean)the Jersey shore...so many fun memories, crabbing on the bay in a rowboat, after which my mother would make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce for the neighborhood and we'd have crabs and spaghetti....messy but delish! I somehow recall that we never cooked the crabs indoors due to my Dad's seafood allergy....must have farmed that job out to a neighbor's kitchen. Later loved being at the shore with my teenage friends...we thought we were wild, but by today's standards, not at all!!! Haven't been back to the shore since moving North...or at least since DS1 was a year old and we rented a house there for a month. Coincidentally, that son lives in Jersey now, so maybe he'll make some fun new shore memories with his family. Tho we hope they keep coming to boat with us in NH.



Bedo, isn't it something to think back to the days when kids could run out the door and return by lunch or dinner time and no one worried. We filled our days with so much fun with very little organization required. I was thinking of that last week when DS1 drove us past my early childhood home..... my first look in 50 some years. Funny how the "forest" behind the house was/is just a border of trees that felt so huge to us then.



Pickety Place looks delightful! Thanks for posting the pic, Deb. How have I missed this little treasure?!

I love their inventive menus, and the atmosphere looks so beautiful. Would love to have the chance to meet all of you there. In the spirit of the thread, I already checked out the luncheon menus for March and April!



By the way, no credit due here for any cauliflower recipes (would love that Greek one from you, Momine) or zucchini sticks....but they sound particularly tasty paired with hiney/mayo sauce. Actually I can't legitimately joke about anyone else's typos since I type with two fingers and then the machine turns it into what it feels makes sense, forcing me review to edit again or else my communications are pretty bizarre (or maybe just more bizarre!).



Carrie, I hope your surgery goes well.



Have a nice day everyone...the blue sky is soo strikingly beautiful here today.

Lacey12

Oh, thanks for that recipe, Momine. The Greek fasting diet certainly appears to be a healthy one!



I've been avoiding red meat of late, and had a yen for it last night (and my RO seemed to be less concerned about diet than I've been) so we had grilled sirloin flanked by brussels sprouts and kale salad (my rationalization was that these super foods would counteract any bad effects of the beef:).

Momine

Lacey, yes, somebody actually did a study on Greeks, which showed that those who follow the traditional fasting schedule were healthier than those who didn't. If you are very observant, you fast about 180 days a year. We usually just keep the 40-day lenten fast though.

deborye

Made American Chop Suey last night, it should be even  better tonight.

Thanks for the compliments, we all just turned 60. Is that considered over the hill like the balloons say at iParty?  Once I am off this damn Arimidex, hopefully the bone, muscle and joint pain will go away. 

Laurie08

Wow everyone has been so busy!  I love all the memories you  have shared and agree- kids today have too much.  It was better when things were simpler, a couple of tv channels, not that my parents let us watch it anyway.  We were always outside. 

Kay- I am impressed that you are giving up Internet for lent- and sad we will only get to hear from you on Sundays.  My SIL husband gives up alcohol every year for lent, he calls it his holy detox, lol!  It makes Easter Sunday lots of fun as he happily falls off the wagon and indulges!  I hope your ear and jaw are better. 

I am feeling better today, down to just a cold I think.  My ear and jaw are finally not bothering me, now my biggest complaint is the sneezing and watery eye.  I ran to the store earlier and felt like I was a million years old as I walked with a tissue in my hand, alternating from the dripping nose to the dripping eye.  Half way through I thought about how gross that was- ohwell....

We had a fun sleepover and the kids are exhausted from playing too much and not sleeping enough, but they had fun and can go to bed early tonight.  I have a pot roast in the crock pot going with all the veggies so I don't have to cook later.

I tried a new crock pot recipe, not very fancy, easy and pretty good.  You brown a pound of hamburger add a 24 oz can of sauce when done- add seasonings you like etc.  cover the bottom of the crock pot with some sauce layer over it FROZEN ravioli, more sauce, more ravioli, more sauce and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6.  The only thing I would change is to add more sauce after the layering of the  meat sauce.  But it was like lasagna.  It would even work with out the burger and just layer the sauce and raviolis. 

I looked at Pickety Places menu too- mmmmm potato leek soup is on for March!  Are we going to try for March or April?  Both menus looked good!

Lacey- where do you live?  Are you able to join us as well?  Bedo- I am glad you will join us too!!!

Kaara

Decided to try my hand at making soup in my new Vita Mix blender and how easy that is.  My first try was butternut squash soup.  I roasted the already cut up squash from Costco, sauteed onions and celery, added 2 cups of chicken broth, then the squash.  Once it is heated through put it into the blender and blend on high until smooth.  Add extra broth to desired consistency.  Add nutmeg and/or cinnamon to taste.  Yummy, and we had leftovers for lunch the next day.  There's also carrot orange ginger soup, and carrot tortilla soup, same basic ingredients except use carrots, and when you blend, you add the orange/ginger, and for the tortilla, you add the chili spices, garlic, some green chili peppers and anything else you want to throw in.  It can be served with black beans and corn added after blending for some texture.  It was really good.  The squash and carrot/orange soups can be served cold as well as hot.  I've tried them both ways. 

debbie6122

Busy, Busy thread today! I thought i would pop in real fast to see how you are all doing, dont have time to read all the posts right now, but will later. I made some homemade pizza dough, made some smaller rounds small enough to fit in my cast iron grill pan about (4) sauted veggies and when ready to eat i will top the pizzas with veggies and cheese and pop in the oven to melt.

Watching all the beautiful dressed women on the red carpet. Is everyone watching tonight?

Kaara

debbie6122:  Thanks for the reminder...otherwise we'd be watching golf:(

bedo

Momine, thank you!  I will definately try that this week or next.  I am currently making more lentil soup with baby spinach in the crockpot because it was so good last week. Is it hard to keep your fast?  Do you also avoid things made with eggs and milk like bread?

Lacey, I kind of "invited myself" but I hope we can all meet, it would be so great.

Kaara, I love butternup squah soup.  I make it with a tiny bit of apple juice and mushrooms.

Laurie, glad you're feeling better.

Good idea Debbie!

Early to bed tonight.  I have to travel for work tomorrow.

Went to Savers today with a friend.  Found 3 tops for $16.90 total!  Then on to Christmas Tree shop for rain boots and Target for a hairdryerl  Score!!

PPS, these dry eyes from antihormonals are driving me buggy.  My opthalmologist told me to lubricating drops 4 times a day and hydrating ointment at night.  What a pain, but I'm glad there's kind of a solution, but not totally, they still are bugging me, feel like there's sand in them sometimes.