So...whats for dinner?

I'll let you know about my ridiculous mac and cheese caper later tomorrow....if I see the little kids it is for, spitting it out, I'll know! If it is decent I'll ship the rest to the little boys next door....I could not in good conscience each that much fat while on my effort to lose more weight! But it may be tempting....:)

Meanwhile, cherry handpies!!???!! Be still my taste buds!!! I adore any kind of cherry pie, with or without eagle spottings. Yum! Love the pix.  I am getting a kick out of your baking spree, Nance, so I hope you don't have to check in.....;)

Yes Eric, be happy you don't have to pay the xy gene rate! I still laugh about the first (and only, tg!) fender bender DS2 had. He was driving to meet up with us at the Cape shortly after getting his license, and when he arrived told us he had just bumped the car of the woman who was stopping in front of him. As it turns out, she never felt the need to exchange papers since there wasn't much evidence of the hit....and she was driving a rental car, so didn't care. Swell...great role modeling for my son! It's always good to get that first bump out of the way. . DS1 is a very fast and precise driver, who to our knowledge never had a crash, tho he can be hair raising to ride with. Now that he zooms around in a Tesla, I am more nervous than when he was young and driving our old cars. We may get to see that this weekend since he is coming up for a Celtics game....I won't be asking to ride in that bat mobile!

I know what you mean Eric. I was thinking about her today when I came across a recipe calling for pomegranate molasses.

Debbie, so good to hear from you!! Love your long, textured note. I admire your stamina, given those significant breathing problems, to work hard in your lung rehab program. I also appreciate your remembering to post to us at all give what you have on your physical and emotional plates! You are a strong lady! ((((HUGS!))))

So our afternoon with the little "Once" performer and her younger sibs was so much fun! I went all out making the equivalent of a "Sunday dinner at Nana's" for them even tho it was Tuesday (they have been living in hotels since September!). They are a healthy eating crew (even the three year old), so I made baked salmon, winter squash, steamed broccoli, baby spinach salad with cranberries and walnuts, whole grain bread, and of course the much obsessed over, mac and cheese. I used the recipe Laurie posted, (thank you!:) which was easy to make, and the kids LOVED it! The eight year old girl (the performer) kept giving me compliments on it, and they all went for seconds and thirds.  Clearly this is a kid friendly mac and cheese! And DH ate lots of it too. I made two kinds of oatmeal cookies for dessert and it was a riot watching all of the kids negotiate with their mother for extra cookies.

After our big lunch/dinner, I offered the kids a few indoor activity choices, given that it was pouring rain out.They were dying to use my new old maid cards, and we played for as long as their sibling competitiveness could stand it! So funny....

Then they wanted to make puppets with fabric and materials I had left over from school activities I used to run. They were a riot....so creative, crafty and self-directed. Impressive! I didn't need to do a thing (except make sure my good sewing scissors didn't end up bathed in tacky glue;), and they had a ball. Before we knew it, it was time for DH to get them back into town so the performer could be ready for her 7:30 show. It was really weird to hear an eight year old lament, "Oh, I wish I didn't have to go to work tonight!" Definitely, an unusual life (tho filled with amazing experiences in so many cities) she and her sibs lead. Her six year old brother is already in an upcoming movie, and lord knows what the three year old girl will be doing given her current experiences. Fortunately they are really nice kids....and wow, how adaptable!

So off they went, and I was exhausted!!  Even skipped my daily exercise regimen. Carole, I have a new appreciation for your efforts with your Sunday  suppers at your mom's.

Tonight DH has a business dinner meeting, so I think I will make myself something like a crabmeat salad. Stopped at TJ's to get shrimp and they were all out, (!?) so bought a can of crab claw meat. I can use the rest to make a crab quiche (have whole milk leftover from yesterday), or a crab and pasta dish.

I think I'll get off here and get dinner together!

Wish I could be more helpful about the easy mac and cheese measurements....I pretty much winged it. I think you can get away with that. Laurie wuld know best.....

Eric the guard dog is what popped in my head! LOL.  

Debbie so good to hear from you. I can't imagine not being yo breathe that must be so hard for you. I am glad you are in rehab for that. 

Lacey, it sounds like you had a lot of fun with your visitors! What a wonderful experience for all. 

Laurie for winging it those recipes sound yummy! 

Much love to all. 

Debbie Good to hear from you...keep the faith and stay strong. Sounds like the therapy is a good thing? Sometimes just being with others that are having the same difficulties is a comfort and encouragement.

Lacey Glad the mac n cheese was a huge success. Sounds like a great day all around.  Keep your eye on those future "movie stars" !  What fun! I can still remember our Sunday dinners at Nana's house. She made the best chocolate frosting for her cakes, it was just like eating fudge on top of the cake.

Did a quick pasta with chicken, cherry tomatoes and spinach in a garlic wine sauce. Made a big pan and husband took the remainder for his lunch today. Tonight meatloaf, cause I got the meat out of freezer for burgers and found out I didn't have any ketchup...wth?  who runs out of ketchup? I swear there is a fridge thief in my house....I swear that I remember buying things and then cant find them. Wouldn't be my old Tamoxifen brain, would it?

Wow, Laurie, tuna noodle casserole....70's throw back, and one of those things that you can just eat and eat! I made them all the time when we were first married (such fancy cuisine!), and have not had or made it since the early eighties. Somehow, I just recall tuna, noodles, (tho farfalle are interesting), mushroom soup, sautéed onions (?), garlic powder, and lord knows what else.....Maybe some pimento? Sounds so boring, but tastes so good...probably all that soup salt!  Sounds like we have similar "wing it" cooking styles, Laurie. And thanks for your kind compliment.....:)

Today I briefly saw The Chew and Mario Batali made fresh farfalle pasta which he cooked up with prosciutto, chopped arugula, lots of cheese (of course") and I forget what else ....but I'm sure the recipe can be found on thechew.com. It looked wonderful! I thought it was something you'd enjoy creating, Nance!

Speaking of The Chew, yesterday I was watching it for my 30-40 minute treadmill work at the gym and on the second half of the show (when I was done with my exercise effort) they were having a contest between two woman cooks. Well, I just could not get off the machine for another half hour until I saw who won! My trainer commented on how long I was on, and we both had a good laugh about why. Fortunately, she is also a foodie!

So while DH wants to clear out that freezer, I made my way to the store yesterday and picked up some turkey breast cutlets, so I think I will sauté them tonight with baby bella mushrooms, onions and what ever else might keep them interesting....off to the internet for some ideas. Not sure why I need all these cookbooks anymore!

Lol Laurie! The best tuna casserole I've had is a weight watchers frozen entree. Don't know what they put in the sauce but it's far superior  to any I've managed to make for the dish.

Lacey, I wish I'd seen that show. My only attempt at farfalle was pitiful. They tasted good but looked quite sad.

Luv, haven't tried that one.  Wonder if they're both made by Stauffers.

Ok I'm a foodie. Crock-pot junky. Just made tater-tot, bacon,cheesy,chicken. Scored well with little ones. 

Lacey- Sounds like your lunch/dinner went really well and the kids and you had a good time. What fun with the puppets! What talented kids!

Eric and Minus- I think that your right, the one time shouldn't be a problem, Thanks!

thanks specialK!

Laurie- I had to laugh when I saw you were making tuna casserole, I had a feeling you were not going to like it, yuk it right ha!

Nance, Hope tomorrow brings lots of sunshine instead of snow!

Carrie- I will eat hamburgers with out ketchup but wouldn't make the meatloaf with out it. I was out of ketchup too and didn't know it, I think ketchup if one of those condiments you kind of forget about.

Monica- Hi!! Last I was here a while back you were having surgery done, I am glad to see you are back and doing well.

I made a tasty chicken and rice tonight, didn't have a lot of stuff on hand so improvised and it came out good. sauted 6 boneless, skinless chx breast, cut them up in bite size peices, set aside. cooked uncle bens rice put a little butter in the rice fluffed with fork and put rice and Chx in a large saute pan, added a little chx stock and butter when the dish was hot I added 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and mixed until melted, took about 10 minutes but it all came together and melted nicely. S&P garlic and onion powder. If I had the ingredients I would of added mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup with a slpash of milk. But didn't miss it at all. Edited to add,,also put steamed broccoli in with the rice.

Saw this recipe below on racheal ray show, a little girl made it on her show and got first prize it was cooked in a crock pot but you could do this on top of the stove too if you wanted to and it would be ready a lot faster.

• 6 to 8 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut up into 4 to 6 pieces
• 
  1 can cream of chicken soup
• 
  1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 
  1/2 cup green chilies
• 
  1 teaspoon salt
• 
  1 teaspoon pepper
• 
  1 teaspoon butter
• 
  1 teaspoon “secret seasoning” (celery salt)
• 
  1 bag Uncle Ben’s Creamy Four Cheese Rice

PREPARATION

Place all of the ingredients in a crockpot or slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Debbie:  Thanks for the recipe.

Missing Susan and hope she is OK.

Welcome Fuji.

Carrie, that dish sounds great, especially with the artichoke hearts. Dh would disagree however. My response to that is usually "pick them out."