So...whats for dinner?

SpecialK

Tonight we are doing cheeseburgers on the grill, with sweet potato fries and sriracha dipping sauce - yay! Wish everyone in the cold could come to FL and share one!

april485

Jealous that you are grilling and we are making soups in crock pots to stay warm...LOL Enjoy your cheeseburgers! I can close my eyes and taste them. It was warm for a few days anyway...sigh.

Valstim52

Tonight is oven roasted crispy rosemary chicken thighs, steamed veggies and my cabbage tossed salad. I made homemade oatmeal cookies last night. I have an aero herb garden. So it keeps me in fresh herbs. Lots of basil and rosemary. I use my food processor to shred cabbage, carrots and red onions. A touch of cilantro, lemon juice and olive oil to finish it off.

April485 we are between grilling out and crock pot soups. A week ago it was 10 degrees. Yesterday 74. Gotta love NC.

SpecialK

val - haha! I was thinking the same thing - NC gets some variable weather! FL less so, but we did get below 40 recently. I have lived all over the country, with more than a few winters in snowy climates, so it makes me laugh when I see folks here in FL break out the leather jackets and boots when it drops below 70. I am so glad to see you on this thread!

april - I miss the change of seasons - I would love to be baking and making soup at least part of the year!

carolehalston

I would like the cold snaps to last long enough to consume a pot of soup or cold weather comfort food like chili. Today is shorts weather and we're having 70's highs all next week.

Took two great nieces to see Sing today and wasn't impressed. I can enjoy a well-done children's movie. We had lunch at Taco Bell, my first time to try their food. I had nachos. The portion was small and the ingredients the usual. The restaurant was understaffed and we had a longer wait than you expect at a fast food place.

A small package of pork country ribs has been thawing. There is leftover eggplant casserole for a side. I'll probably steam some peeled and diced turnips.

I haven't cooked mustard greens yet this "winter." I'll have to look for some nice fresh ones. And buy pickled pork to use for seasoning.

ChiSandy

Path of least resistance—nuked a Lean Cuisine spaghetti with meat sauce. Ugh. Sauce tasty but pasta mushy, awful, untwirlable. Bad jr. high cafeteria flashbacks. Needed a popcorn chaser. This morning, wanted to make bacon & egg (fried another double-yolker, third day in a row). Only low-carb bread left in the house (and safe to eat) was a couple of slices in the freezer. Bacon had been thawed out from the freezer, and did not nuke up very well w/o its special microwave pan (which is in the dishwasher after having had the plaster dust washed off it)—under a paper towel on a paper plate, 1 minute nearly incinerated it. So I put the egg on a slice of toast, topped it with the last of the prosciutto, nuked a hollandaise packet, and had a Benedict & coffee.

Helped me feel a bit better, but lungs still phlegmy with post-nasal drip. Also scared that the dust has permeated my skin: hands feel chalky; when I wash them (whether or not with soap or drying them), they feel really sticky & tacky before they dry chalky again. First real shower since Mon. last night was unnerving: lathered up with my favorite shower gel, but I smelled more of the plaster dust (& the scent of paint chips) in the suds than the gel's normal citrus verbena. No matter how long I rinsed, it felt like I had a film of soap on my skin (like showering out in the boonies with very hard water). Applied my moisturizer, but instead of feeling silky, it went on sort of glue-y and didn't seem to sink in fully: when I awoke my arms still smelled like CeraVe (not unpleasant, but they usually don’t smell at all the next morning). I fear I might have to go to some sort of detoxing schvitz (hope it doesn’t cause an LE flare) to get everything out of my pores again. Might consult an environmental medicine specialist on Wed. (Mon. being a legal holiday and Tues. being recon-inspection-and-estimate day).

MinusTwo

Val - the cabbage salad sounds good. I don't care for cilantro, but I can adjust the ingredients.

April - LOVE the herb,cheese bread recipe. Thanks for posting. With my LE & neuropathy, I'm always excited to see bread recipes that don't require kneading. Bread is my biggest weakness.

Our weather is more like Specials. I don't really miss the snow season at all, except when the daffodils poke their heads up in the spring.

Sandy - I like the popcorn chaser. Hope your house issues move swiftly towards a solution.

I made a 1/3 order of the Hawaiian Bread Sliders w/ham & turkey & cheese and set it to marinating in the fridge, but somehow it's after 9pm and I'm no longer in that mood. That dish will be perfectly happy in the fridge overnight. I'm thinking about a package of frozen Aginomoto Vegetable Yakisoba, but since I'm not very hungry, it may be just popcorn tonight.

auntienance

Well the bulk of the ice storm missed us and thankfully, we're left with only some light freezing rain and glazing only on flat surfaces -- the trees made it mostly unscathed. We haven't had sun in several days and aren't expected to get any until Wednesday. That's too long -- I need some sun badly!

Got a wild hare (hair?) and decided to make fried chicken for dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and braised greens. Is that comfort food or what?

HappyHammer

Wow, Nancy, indeed THAT menu is comfort food!  Can you believe I have never fried chicken?  What is your recipe? 

april485

Making roast beef (sirloin tip roast) mashed potatoes, gravy and haricot vert (green beans) with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese and a salad with balsamic dressing. One of those Sunday dinner "Mom" meals that makes me nostalgic for my family.

MinusTwo

Both of those meals make me nostalgic for the family dinners of my youth. On Sunday's my Mother always invited anyone who was away from home or who had no other family, or college dorm students to eat with us. And my Dad wanted meat & potatoes & veg & homemade rolls, so that's what we ate.

eric95us

Nance, I thought getting a wild hare would result in hasenpfeffer. :-)

MinusTwo

that's what I was expecting too - LOL

eric95us

I'm going to save that bread you posted, April. Thank you.

And, like Val, I'm going to do some chicken tonight. I got (yet another) recipe book, "Fresh Happy Tasty" and will try out one of chicken recipes from that. The book was on the bargain table at the bookstore for $3.99 and I couldn't resist. :-) I'm making the poached chicken atop some crushed potatoes. It doesn't look too difficult and, better yet, looks like it would "tolerate" a lot of modifications

Chi, for Lean Cuisine, I haven't figured out how the "cuisine" word applies. I think of it just like some of the kids' breakfast cereal advertisements where they show a table place setting with bowl of cereal, a glass of milk and some fruit, all while exclaiming, "Part of a nutritious breakfast"......when they really should be saying, "Alongside a nutritious breakfast".

HappyHammer

So, tonight made a meal of boneless, (6) skinless chicken thighs, (1 can in water) artichoke hearts, (2 large handfuls) fresh spinach, (1/4) red onion, (2 peeled and cubed) Yukon gold potatoes and (3 T) capers with juice of 1 lemon....it was delish along with fresh fruit.  Yum!

Browned the thighs, then lightly sauteed the potatoes, spinach and onions...added artichokes, salt, pepper and garlic powder along with the juice of one lemon...put all in a casserole dish and cooked at 425 for about 35 or 40 minutes.

Lacey12

Well, I just picked up where I left off on the thread, which was where I last posted....however, my last post was nowhere to be found. Another one eaten by the internet goblins! So it looks like I have been more absent than in reality.

ChiSandy, I really do hope that you can get some reassurance about your safety from your restoration experts. Your situation is scary, annoying, and a lot of work. More hugs...a previous one of mine is floating around cyberspace!

This weekend DH decided he just had to make paella, and that he did. It was a four day process. We had some good friends over to enjoy it last night. They brought some nice spanish wines. I made my faux french bread, a giant multi greens salad, put together a cheese and hummus plate for apps, and bought gelato for dessert to go with my pizzelles....the last of many dozen. The paella was really good, as was the dessert! Tonight DH could hardly wait to attack those leftovers! He has not made this in about four years. But I think he will be doing this more often, trying to perfect his recipe. And maybe he can get it down to two days!

So....early last week my PC doc prescribed me an inhaler in an effort to deal with this persistent coughing. It did not seem to help so much and the warning sheet suggested it could cause thrush, which made me turn off to it altogether.

She also recommended I get a chest xray. I finally did on Friday, after a busy week, and she called me about an hour later to say that there is a suspicious area...my term....in my left upper lung area. Of course without a definitive dx, I worry about bc cells nestling there. So in the end, I need a CT scan this week, and she will then refer me to a pulmonologist. Was not really looking to add to my doc list. Oh well. Please send positive energy this way that it is just a persistent pneumonia which can get medicated out of my system.

Here's hoping that this will post, somI do,not,appear to be totally AWOL!

Crazy vicissitudes in weather patterns. I do hope all of,you in the ice storms areas are safe and keeping warm.

Yes, soup is the order of the day around here, tho last week we made it into the 50s. I mad a big batch of Amelia's chicken pastina soup, which we will have a lot this week. Tomorrow is Celtics' game, so we may well eat out before game.

Oh, here is a bit of food porn interest to this boring post....DH and his pride and joy! LOL

Lacey12

Well, I just picked up where I left off on the thread, which was where I last posted....however, my last post was nowhere to be found. Another one eaten by the internet goblins! So it looks like I have been more absent than in reality.

ChiSandy, I really do hope that you can get some reassurance about your safety from your restoration experts. Your situation is scary, annoying, and a lot of work. More hugs...a previous one of mine is floating around cyberspace!

This weekend DH decided he just had to make paella, and that he did. It was a four day process. We had some good friends over to enjoy it last night. They brought some nice spanish wines. I made my faux french bread, a giant multi greens salad, put together a cheese and hummus plate for apps, and bought gelato for dessert to go with my pizzelles....the last of many dozen. The paella was really good, as was the dessert! Tonight DH could hardly wait to attack those leftovers! He has not made this in about four years. But I think he will be doing this more often, trying to perfect his recipe. And maybe he can get it down to two days!

So....early last week my PC doc prescribed me an inhaler in an effort to deal with this persistent coughing. It did not seem to help so much and the warning sheet suggested it could cause thrush, which made me turn off to it altogether.

She also recommended I get a chest xray. I finally did on Friday, after a busy week, and she called me about an hour later to say that there is a suspicious area...my term....in my left upper lung area. Of course without a definitive dx, I worry about bc cells nestling there. So in the end, I need a CT scan this week, and she will then refer me to a pulmonologist. Was not really looking to add to my doc list. Oh well. Please send positive energy this way that it is just a persistent pneumonia which can get medicated out of my system.

Here's hoping that this will post, somI do,not,appear to be totally AWOL!

Crazy vicissitudes in weather patterns. I do hope all of,you in the ice storms areas are safe and keeping warm.

Yes, soup is the order of the day around here, tho last week we made it into the 50s. I mad a big batch of Amelia's chicken pastina soup, which we will have a lot this week. Tomorrow is Celtics' game, so we may well eat out before game.

Oh, here is a bit of food porn interest to this boring post....DH and his pride and joy! LOL

auntienance

Lacey, most definitely sending lots of positive thoughts your way. This is surely a leftover from your respiratory illness. One of our friends who had the virus is now fighting pneumonia. This crap is awful. Hoping yours can be resolved with some good meds.

Beautiful dish Bob!

MinusTwo

Oh Lacey - the food porn is great, along with the chef. I sure hope the CT shows residual pneumonia. Wouldn't that sound funny in the "real" world, to wish someone has pneumonia!!! Only folks on this thread would understand. Sending energy, keeping fingers crossed. Please update us.

Hammer - your chicken dish does sound delish - and not too difficult.

Eric - I poach chicken a lot in the microwave with wine or water or other liquids. I like the idea of putting it on top of mashed potatoes.

ChiSandy

Hugs right back atcha, Lacey. Hoping it’s “only” pneumonia. Wise to d.c. that steroid inhaler, but a bronchodilator rescue inhaler (e.g., Ventolin) might not be a bad idea if you’re wheezing (and it wouldn’t cause thrush because it’s not an immunosuppressant).

Went to Cellars last night for the first time since New Year’s Eve (when Bob left the dinner midway through, feeling rotten with what turned out to have been pneumonia). We had excellent gumbo and fish & chips with slaw. (Sometimes a gal just has to give in to a deep-fry craving). I subbed out green beans for the fries, and left half the fish over to take home for Gordy, who was busy writing for his shows. Today I had one double-yolk fried egg and half a croissant for breakfast. Later this afternoon I went to Metropolis Coffee after returning from the funeral & burial of the “Rebbetzin Emeritus” (wife of the older of our two Rabbis Emeritus—she was 102, and died on her birthday; her husband is 101). I was bummed out about not being able to find a parking space in the temple lot for the shiva minyan (had to pay to park at the highrise next door for the funeral), so I had a cappuccino and a slice of chocolate cream pie (please don’t judge). It certainly filled me up—might just nuke some wings, or palak paneer & lentils over basmati rice, for a late dinner. (I have a mani-pedi coming up Wed. so I don’t mind getting my nails stained orange from the wings).

I did have to pick up a few things at Whole Foods last night after dinner, because there’s dust in the cupboards and on some of the packages, bottles & cans, especially the open ones. So I will have to trash everything that’s not sealed and can’t be thoroughly washed off. Had to get some coffee filters too because those packages were also open. I have some packages of food out on the table, countertops and butcher block island, which have all been cleaned. Buying only the bare minimum because I don’t have a timetable yet about when reconstruction will begin, what expenses insurance will cover (biting the bullet and filing a claim), or how long it will take. Our vet says it’ll be okay to keep the cats upstairs in our closed bedroom; if it’s only for a few days we’ll go to a nearby hotel (and Uber it back here to our cars rather than pay for valet parking). If it’s for a week or more, Bob has decided we should take another vacation and let our housekeeper check in on the cats (as long as all their food, water and litterboxes are upstairs they’ll be fine—our bedroom’s in the front of the house, whereas the kitchen is downstairs and in the back). If Gordy insists on staying here (in his upstairs bedroom & attic instead of the den off the kitchen), we’re fine with his eating all his meals out. He can even sleep in our room, with the big-screen TV, better TiVO, and Blu-Ray, and play with the cats. We will insist, though, on more than one HEPA filter—two downstairs and one upstairs.

Good thing tomorrow is a holiday: we’re in for an early-morning ice storm. Bob can sleep in, and our housekeeper’s off. Nobody’s going anywhere (driving or walking) till the ice melts, probably by noon. (It’ll turn to rain about 9 am). Our garbage disposal seems to be broken, but I’ll deal with it later—I grew up without one (they were illegal in NYC and Seattle), in fact never even having one till we bought this house in 1987. I’m okay with scraping plates into the garbage can before rinsing, like I’ve done for over half my life. Heck, we didn’t even have a dishwasher till 1987 either!

ChiSandy

So you’re not gonna believe this. The aforementioned garbage disposal was, even though empty, rattling loudly--sounding like a machine gun going off. Turned it off, ran water through several times—still making that awful din. Turned it off, shined a flashlight in, and saw nothing out of the ordinary (I am paranoid about utensils in that half of my twin sink). Felt around, nothing out of the ordinary. (I am one stupid but lucky lady—didn’t know I should’ve unplugged it, not just turned it off. I know now, and still have all my fingers).

So I went online, and a poster on one forum suggested that something might be stuck anyway—so on a hunch she poured in a cupful of ice cubes and let ‘er rip, and suddenly the noise was gone. I tried it, and whaddaya know…it’s purring like a kitten now!

carolehalston

Beautiful paella. Compliments to your Dh, Lacey.

We had meatloaf and cauliflower mash last night. Dh had a yen for meatloaf, a big one with leftovers for sandwiches. He also suggested the cauliflower.

Today is Monday, traditionally beans day here. He's cooking red beans with a ham bone.

I used to cook fried chicken but haven't for many years. Yesterday I watched an infomercial selling an air fryer appliance. One of the foods was fried chicken. The fryer was a large bulky shape. One of my brothers has a similar appliance and likes using it for French fries. He also bought a pressure cooker he likes because it can be programmed to cook a specific food with buttons.

Another shorts day here. Sun is shining

april485

Mmmmm, paella! When I divorced my first husband, one thing I did not grab when I moved out was my paella pan and I regret it every summer when I try to make paella on the grill. That one worked great. I am still perfecting my recipe and change it frequently.

What kind of rice does he use Lacey? So many different thoughts on which rice to use...

HappyHammer

Lacey- so , though most would hate this...wishing an easy time of pneumonia on you    and, that is "all" it is. PLEASE keep us posted....sending many healing mercies your way and HUGS!

Wow, Bob has made a masterpiece!

Valstim52

Lacey love the food porn. The paella looks wondertful. I too wonder about the rice. What a life us BC women lead, hoping for pneumonia. Sending gentle hugs your way.

The meatloaf sound delightful. Last night was roasted pork loin, brussel sprouts and green beans. I mixed pineapples and pears with balsamic vinegar for a sauce. I roasted them the last 10 minutes on the baking pan.

MinusTwo

Val - that pear & pineapple sauce for pork loin sounds delightful. Did you use crushed pineapple & put it through a food processor or use pineapple rings & pear slices?

Valstim52

MinusTwo I used pineapple slices and pear halves. With a little juice from both just slightly mashed with a fork. Drizzled with the vinegar for some savory flavor and put on top of loin last 10-15 minutes of cooking. when slicing, I mixed it with any juices. Turned out tasty.

ChiSandy

Will pan-sear salmon (WF had a special on sockeye filets, but since they were previously frozen I must cook mine rather than re-freeze it). Will accompany it with whatever is nukable in the crisper. (Or if there are any frozen veggies on hand).

ChiSandy

So that’s what I did. Pan-seared the chinook salmon with a little salt, pepper, ginger & ponzu—used an old Circulon grill pan I dug up. Sauteed mini bell-peppers with a little olive oil & sea salt, as well as broccolini with lemon, roasted garlic and orange sea salt. (Would've added red pepper flakes, but the $%^&* plaster-demolition-dust got inside my spice cabinet as well. Will wait till all the project is completed before cleaning out the cabinets and separating that which can be safely washed off and used from that "what's gotta go."

Lacey12

First of all, many thanks for your kind support and "pneumonia wishes". I appreciate that so much! Tried to move my Friday CT scan to an earluer day but no cancellations yet. Will keep calling...

DH was thrilled at your food porn accolades. He actually has not stopped obsessing on how he might make the same dish in a different manner next time. And April, his plan for this summer is to make it on the grill! So I''m glad to learn that it works well doing that. Please share any related tips if you recall any. In terms of rice choice, he used a short- grain rice that came in a gift with a paella pan (the one that is about to be relegated to the lake house for grilling paella). There was no clear name of rice type on the rice sack other than Valencia, but we figure it was a bomba? Is arborio another short-grain rice choice?

Went to Celtics tonight and given the holiday, and the fact that the Bruins played earlier in the day, the area around the spirts venue was mobbed, so every restaurant (or I should say, sports bar) was overcrowded. We finally found one...more divey...that actually had some free tables, so, desperate, we went in. I tend to be an OCD skeeve, so I was really nervous about eating food there....but hunger won out, and I had a turkey club, which had a lot of finger imprints on the toasted bread, but I overlooked that and thoroughly enjoyed the huge mound of perfectly done long thin french fries. OMG! I do not think I even had a ff last year so boy, did I love that indulgence! And so far late tonight, neither of us has food poisoning. I've decided that going to Celtics games has contributed to our weight gain since we eat out at not terribly healthful spots and then often get popcorn at game. Oh well.....I do have to get a better grip on my weight.

On a sad note... today I had a call from a neighbor who is also a social work colleague, asking for suggestions about our church for a memorial venue for her husband, WHO JUST SUDDENLY DIED! I picked myself up from the floor at that. This is the second friend/ colleague of mine (from a former small clinical skupervision group we were in for years) whose husband died suddenly in the past five months. Both men were my age, and in generally good health. This friend/colleague used to attend our church when our kids were growing up, but has not gone in several years, so wondered if this might be an option since her DH did not also attend. He was just a good human being. Believe me, at Unitarian churches most needs will be met. So, as it turns out, while we were on the phone, her youngest son had found his way into the church by a propped door, and found our young minister who is a wonderfully intelligent and compassionate gal. He told her about his father's death and his mother's need. Our minister is going to meet with them tomorrow morning to begin the process of setting up a memorial service for him. I spoke with our minister briefly later today to say how happy I was that she was able to respond to this family so immediiately, and she said it was "divine providence" that the son found her, because she was not working today, but stopped in her office to have a quick meeting with our caring crew, thus was there to be found. I'm relieved for my friend, and happy that her husband who I have also known for decades and who was a very wonderful clinical psychologist, will have a fitting memorial service for all who will grieve his loss. This last third of life is really challenging with so many losses.

Tomorrow night we'll probably have baked chicken breast, brussels sprouts and salad. Maybe I'll make some more faux french bread.

Wednesday, back downtown for divey food before another game.