So...whats for dinner?

Coincidentally, Nance, I came across a cod vera cruz recipe I made a couple of months ago. We really enjoyed it, too. I should keep it on the counter so I remember to make it again.

Today, after the gym and a short clothes shopping trip, I came home and made some kale soup with beef stock ( I usually use chicken stock or broth) and lots of veggies. Using parmesan rind, some fennel in a tea ball, hot sauce, and some golden balsamic gave it the depth it needed. So we just had big bowls of soup for dinner with (tsk tsk!) crusty bread I picked up at Whole Foods yesterday. Tomorrow I am meeting a former colleague for dinner at Not Your Average Joes, right here in our town. They always have a good menu.

Special good luck to your DH.....and I hope he sticks to the shakes and mashed.....my DH was too cavalier with his food choices and landed back in the periodontist's chair for re-stitching. I was upset with him, especially because I am the smoothie queen, and can liquify just about any food.....he just needed to chew, I guess.

lacey - thanks!  I think he will be good, mainly because he will just eat what I give him!  I did not eat dinner tonight and when I asked him what he wanted he said "something I can chew" so I made stir-fry with peppers, onions, asparagus, pepper flakes, sesame oil and shrimp over Asian noodles.  He whined a little though, very out of character - I think he is nervous - I think he really wanted a steak!

Eric, that stooped over look upon immediately getting up from sitting is classic AI. It's only been two years for me and I can't remember what it was like to get up and stand up straight. It passes quickly and exercise definitely helps (and some days aleve.) I envy you Carole!

Lacey, I always think of you, the Kale Queen, when I see kale in a grocery store!  It sounds as though you have a lot of good not-run-of-the-mill restaurants in your town and vicinity. 

Eric, the behavior you describe is classic arimidex (AI) SEs that many women experience.  I have found that it either gets better with years passing or else you get used to the SEs and don't notice them as much.  After whining for 4 plus years about my weight issues on arimidex, I am slowly losing some lbs by strict adherence to WW program. 

This morning I had blood drawn for lab work.  At my PCP's office I talked to two women who raved about the Ideal Protein Diet.  They had come to the office for a weekly visit with the diet consultant.  Both women had been on WW.  One was a lifetime member.  I got the brochure purely out of interest.  It costs $150 for initial consultation and $100 a week for the food packaging and $10 for the weekly apptment.  Very pricey and then there's the challenge of keeping the weight off that every "dieter" faces.  One woman mentioned strict limits on carbs and no alcohol.  A red flag for me!  But she was very happy about losing fat and not muscle. 

Tonight's dinner will feature a stroganoff using the leftover flank steak that I froze for later use.  I saw a recipe in Cooking Light that I'll try. 

This morning I planted more herbs in my patio pots.  A lovely sage plant, a dill plant and a basil.  I spotted the first two as I was entering Walmart's yesterday and the plants were so nice that I had to buy them.  So now my patio garden is primarily an herb garden with rosemary, thyme, oregano, chives, garlic chives and the herbs mentioned.  I still need to plant a flat-leaved parsley and cilantro.  The funny thing is that I'm not that big on using fresh herbs but I love growing them and smelling their fragrance when you pick some. 

Sorry for being so wordy!

Carole - you're not wordy. Love hearing about everyone's goings on.

Also jealous about the herbs, and am afraid to get too comfortable with the beautiful weather we're having in case it's 14 tomorrow. 

Tonight we're having spinach-broccoli quiche, clementines, and something else to be determined, or the grown-ups are. The six-year-old (for just a few more days! how is that possible?!) will have separate ingredients since he prefers his foods unadulterated by other foods. LOL.

Bought artichokes on sale at Winn-Dixie so we'll have an artichoke with our beef stroganoff.

Vivian, you are right!  Pico de gallo was the name of the tomato and onion mixture.  Next time I will ask for it on the side or omitted altogether.  Your baked chickens sounds good.  I love baked chicken, especially the first meal when the chicken is hot or warm. 

Experiencing herb garden envy here too!! Our deep snow has finally all melted as of today, (mudville here)and I can see my herb pots, making me all the more envious! Temp in the 50's today but supposedly not done with the cold yet. Today was a great walking day so we did errands on foot, which DH and I love to do.

Tonight our dinner at Not Your Average Joe's was superb! My friend had sea scallops on rosemary skewers which I've had before and is quite good. I was captivated by a special of marinated lamb on a skewer over a bed of fresh baby spinach, farro, spices and golden raisins. My was that tasty! It came with a tzatziki sauce, and a ground hummus-like spread that had ground sesame in it which I avoided since I worry about the sesame/Tamoxifen malconnection. But the rest of it was all good!

The comments (and other evidence I have from friends/neighbors)about the AI joint pain has me quite worried. Not sure if I mentioned here that my MO agreed for me take a few weeks off from Tamox since I just needed a break from the new itching allergies, and feeling like I was constantly in a tired cognitive fog and not the least bit productive, which feels so  awful. She has suggested that I try an AI after my break, contending that some of her pts who get lots of SEs on Tamox have fared better on an AI. I can tell you I seriously DOUBT that will be me, especially since I already have joint pain in plenty of joints, especially hands! But as she says....what have I got to lose....I can go right back on the Tamox if necessary. So today is day five of clearing out my system, and I have to say, I feel physically great, and mentally sharper than I have been in a year (when I took a break also). If I continue to feel this way, and perhaps even better, I think it will be very hard for me to want to take anything again! I have a very low oncotype score, a 4, so may try to get my MO to talk "numbers turkey" with me to see how risky this meds avoidance would be, given the two years plus I've completed. Time will tell how I resolve this.... Meanwhile, back on topic...next week, I may walk DH back to NYAJoe's for that delish lamb special!  

Talk about apologies for long post.....sorry guys.

Bedo, did you have any of the salmon smoked? It's so good. We use a hot smoke here in WI as opposed to the cold smoke of lox. It cooks it. You can use it as is on crackers or in dips or soups. Yum. I hope you have a chance to try it. 

Eric you sound busy. Glad you could touch base. Sharon has my sympathies! I do the ape walk too. Sigh. 

Lacey enjoy your break from tamox. 

SpecialK tell your DH hello from us. Happy hamster ness and all.....

Aunts Paula and Nance. I'm with you on the herb envy. I only have a small basil plant in my house. Doesn't look very happy though. Today was beautiful! 45 degrees and sunshine! 

I went out to the Tea shop for lunch again. Tomato basil soup, half turkey with caramelized onions and swiss sandwich with the little side salad. Then tonite I went out with a friend. I had liver and onion. Haven't had that in ages. Don't like to make it at home. But the portion is huge. I have leftovers. I may just see if the cats will eat some! LOL! 

LMG, what the heck are flavorlet beans? Never heard of them.

Have to say the TE by us has a tiny lot too. Of course it is next to a parking structure for the mall but with my cane I can't walk very far at one time and usually don't go unless I can get someone to drive just in case I can't find a spot close. 

Oh and Carole you never write too much..i love reading yours and everyone's posts no matter the length. There are so many of us here its fun to see all the different areas of the country having different timing with spring! LOL 

Cooking, but not terribly exciting fare -- grilled hamsteak, grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes. Tasty, but fairly unexciting. You all are making me crave fish. Looks like we'll be going to Galveston in April, so I'll get to indulge. My niece is selling her house there so so it may be a while until I get back there :-(

That's exciting Eric!

I do enough computer stuff at work that setting up a computer at home is like the old bus man's holiday.

Sharon went to Subway. I ate a small burrito at lunch and I've been repeatedly eating it since then.  I guess I'm getting my money's worth!!!!! :-)  So I'm not eating anything tonight.  It's not the spice...I love spice.  It was kind of greasy and I think I've lost my tolerance for grease.

Whatever it is, I'll be fine by tomorrow morning...

Nance - when will you be in Galveston?  I'm going for a couple of days to celebrate the end of rads and plan to be there 4/14 & 4/15.  Maybe a cup of coffee?

Had plans for making Creamy Asparagus and Artichoke Lasagna which is in the current issue of Cooking Light.  Even ran it through my WW Recipe Builder to figure the points, then experienced an attack of laziness and walked to the freezer and took out a ribeye.  So dinner will be steak, roasted asparagus and salad.  Easy and satisfying.

Also toyed with the idea of making a batch of carrot cake cookies featured in same issue of CL.  But canned that idea, too!  I will make them eventually because I think dh will really like them.  He's a carrot cake man.  The recipe calls for baking 28 little cookies and making mini sandwiches by putting two cookies together with a cream cheese icing.  Too much temptation right now.

I'm looking at three patches of paint on the wall over the fireplace.  One will be the new color of our living room.  Maybe contemplating all the work has tired me out! 

All these things (especially that lasagna!) sound so good, but I am exceptionally lazy today! I am thinking spinach-broccoli quiche (that we ended up not eating a couple of days ago) and fruit, but honestly I may be too lazy even for that. I wish I had thawed chicken. Grilled chicken with grilled zucchini/squash/red onion and roasted asparagus sounds good (but way too much work lol).