So...whats for dinner?

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  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Carole, you are too funny! I well know the loss of motivation....and, after all, color choice is so taxing! Those carrot cake cookies sound delicious!

    It is already six o'clock, DH just left for a search committee candidate dinner (last one for this search!), and I am trying to get up the motivation to sauté some portabello mushrooms to have with my kale soup.

    Part of my poor motivation is that I suddenly have a knee acting up...for the first time in many months. :( Kinda scares me, especially if I am to go on an AI in a few weeks. 

    Spoke with the man who owns the villa we will be staying in, inTuscany, in September. He is a riot! I was asking him about local places where I could attend a cooking class....and he insisted that the lady across the street would "show me how to cook" , and even offered for his wife to cook for DH and me while we are there. Guess you can't get more authentic than that! ;) He also seemed to want to help us steer clear of the overpriced wine that people buy at the vineyards there......insisting that you buy good wine at the market for $2 and a ton more at the tourist spots. So maybe our "Danny" will watch out for us.....and I will come home with a few Tuscan recipes under my belt.....different than my Italian mother's. 

    Getting hungry....the portabellas are calling my name....

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Member Posts: 6,887
    edited March 2014

    Lacey, you will be living my dream!  Staying in a villa in Tuscany.  You'll have to tell us all about it.

  • gardengumby
    gardengumby Member Posts: 7,305
    edited March 2014

    yesterday we had leg of lamb (hubby cooked it on the Weber), with smashed potatoes and gravy, and asparagus.  Today will be leftover lamb and gravy with salad. I was going g to make artichoke soup, but it's getting too late in the day.

  • aunt_paula
    aunt_paula Member Posts: 271
    edited March 2014

    Okay, you all motivated me :), seeing all the things you're having--we are having the quiche, and I made a big salad. The grownups will have that, and the six-year-old will have fettuccine with peas and fruit.

  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Okay, I did it and am glad....sautéed the portabellas in olive oil with an onion, fresh garlic, a bit of tarragon and a splash of golden balsamic. I also needed to keep splashing the "rooms" with water since they do absorb all the cooking oil and I did not want to keep adding more oil. Yum!! The soup, two days old, was really very flavorful too!

    Paula, your dinner sounds great too!

    Garden, sooooo good to see your post! And lamb with asparagus.....yum! Hope things are going well with your retirement.

    Carole, pack your bags in Sept.....we have the whole villa, lots of bedrooms and baths! ;) 

  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited March 2014

    Carole, redecorating is exhausting. I just did two bathrooms and it has left me with little motivation to do the bedroom and living room. And there wasn't even any painting involved.

    Went to see my dad today and took him to lunch. Had fried shrimp, which was lightly breaded and quite good. I don't eat fried shrimp much, so it was a guilty pleasure for sure. I tried to offset the guilt with a salad.

    For dinner we had homemade pizzas on the grill. Love them that way. Also made a cucumber, onion and tomato salad.


  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited March 2014

    Lacey, I'm not familiar with "golden" balsamic. What's it like?


  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited March 2014

    I spent most of the day doing work on the car DD drives.  I got a lot done on the car, but I didn't come in until it was too late to do a "fancy dinner".  I was thinking of grilling some chicken, like aunt_paula mentioned, but DD just got some of the left over chicken-rice-pine nut 'salad' that I made earlier this week.   She has a very attentive audience (Main Coon cat, yellow lab and black border collie/lab mix) and they are doing everything in their power to earn a reward.

    Garden..you inspired me... I took some ground lamb from the freezer to thaw out and tonight I'll look through my middle eastern cookbook. to see what I can do.  Apple's description of the middle eastern recipes she cooked coincided with my finding a middle eastern cookbook at a Goodwill...which I bought.  I've made a few things from that cookbook.  The spices are so very different from what I'm used to that I can't just guess at it, but the tastes are, I think, wonderful.  

    Lacey....Tuscany...wow.. I'm jealous.  

    I love carrot cake.  DD loves it too, but it took awhile for her to decide that carrots do not ruin a cake. :-)

    It's nice to be typing on a real computer again.  :-)  

    Eric

  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Nance, Not sure where I even got it, but found it next to the white balsamic ( Trader's brand) in the back of my fridge. ;) It is a lovely tasting balsamic, golden (obviously) in color. Imported by Spectrum Naturals (NY), organic, product of Italy. It really has a nice flavor, and less intense than regular Balsamic of Modena. Wish we had techno aroma so you could smell it!

  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited March 2014

    Sorry Minus, didn't see your earlier post. Bummer! I don't think I'll be there until after the 18th, would love to meet!


  • deborye
    deborye Member Posts: 7,002
    edited March 2014

    Just got home from the hospital, I was in there 5 days.  Cellulitis of the left tata AGAIN in less that 2 years.  This time is spread to the left side of my back.  I was treated with Vancomyicin every 12 hours.  Took 3 hours for the IV antibiotic and it kept blowing my veins.  But I must say, Lowell General Hospital was fantastic, food and care was excellent.  I was so red it almost looked purple and now I am peeling.

  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Yay Eric for your new computer! And what a lovely memory of Apple's great Middle Eastern cooking prowess. Neat that you found that cookbook. Love that food...have fun!   

    Our Italy trip is a gift from DS1 and DDIL for our fortieth anniversary....last November. They are both busy surgeons with currently high income. Sadly, my inability to plan and implement anything with the cognitive fog caused by Tamox, has meant us taking forever to make plans...thus the Sept trip, which DH has been mostly responsible for arranging. 

    The Tuscan villa was offered in a charity auction in our town a couple of months ago, and we bid on it and won...thus the big villa. That's about the extent of my planning ability these days! Very impulsive purchase with other people's money! ;/ It did come with a high recommendation from our town administrator who stayed there a couple of years ago. The owner is a character of a guy, and very helpful. I hope I feel well enough to really enjoy the trip, and keep it fun for DH. Tamox has left me feeling physically and cognitively limited in recent months....so, traveling for pleasure has not been high on my list. It will probably all work out just fine. It is very generous of our son and DDIL., so I feel very appreciative of that.

  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Oh Deb, so sorry for the repeat cellulitis and long stay in the hospital....but glad that you received good care there. Hope it heals quickly. ((((((Deb))))))

  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited March 2014

    (((Deb))) 

    I'm glad you're home. 

    Eric

  • Moonflwr912
    Moonflwr912 Member Posts: 6,856
    edited March 2014

    Deb glad you're home. Cellulitis sucks!

    You all sure cook a lot! LOL.  I had the remaining stew I made last week. Dug out 2 slices of the pumpkin bread I made that were In the freezer. That was supper. DH is of course back at work. Won't see him for 2 weeks now. He looked a bit rough around the edge from the 12 hour days. He says he still has some social skills so it's not so bad but warns me that next time he'll be a bit more, um, brusk.... LOL I froze 1/2 the stew that I had made for him to take back with him. That's a couple meals he won't have to worry about. It beats the can of green beans he has eaten for dinner before. There are no late night restaurants and it takes 20 minutes to walk from one end of the plant to the cafeteria and with a half hour lunch it just doesn't work. And that's assuming that he's not in containment or protective gear. Oh well he's been through enough of them. 

    Much love. 

  • eric95us
    eric95us Member Posts: 2,845
    edited March 2014

    Moon, that post made me smile. I would hear Sharon use the same words when she would get home from Palo Verde.  The other two things I remember were 'modesty clothing' and 'anti-Cs'.  

  • Moonflwr912
    Moonflwr912 Member Posts: 6,856
    edited March 2014

    eric! Yep. I'm sure she knows! Even the shopkeepers in Two Rivers know about outages. They are very careful when they see the tired eyes.... LOL

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Member Posts: 6,887
    edited March 2014

    Deb, sorry to learn that you were in the hospital but glad that you're back home and on the mend.  The prospect of the new grandbaby must cheer you up. 

    Eric, tell us more about the dish you cook with the ground lamb.  That type of cooking is unknown to me.  The spices always sound like they belong to mince meat pie! 

    Lacey, that's awful for a med to cause that much havoc with your life.  I don't think arimidex is that bad for creating a mental fog.  I do draw a blank for the right word or name quite often but I assume that's just instances of senior moments. 

    Moon, how far is your dh from retirement?  It sounds as though his work is very taxing.

    It's Sunday morning and we're supposed to be providing beef pot roast with veggies for noon dinner at my mother's.  My sister will bring mashed potatoes and I will make a carrot and cabbage cole slaw.  DH volunteered to make the pot roast but he's still in bed.  Yesterday his face was beet red from a light treatment at the dermatologist's office. 

  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited March 2014

    Deb, glad you're doing better. I had cellulitis once and would not care to have it again. No hospital, but it took many rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it.

    For once, I have absolutely nothing planned for today. I get to read a book, watch a ballgame and be lazy. Dinner is even a lazy one, panko breaded tilapia fish sandwiches and mac and cheese, all separate components from the freezer. I will make some cole slaw to go with it. A good day!


  • debbie6122
    debbie6122 Member Posts: 5,161
    edited March 2014

    Deb-Sorry to hear you have been in the hospital again with celulitis I hear it is not fun to have. Glad your back home. Hope your doing OK.

    Tonight will be fresh cod or tuna from a friend who is out fishing as we speak he said he is fishing for cod but may end up with some tuna, I love cod but love tuna more. He is a good friend who sings here in town who is also blind, and he comes back with the biggest and most fish than any of the other guys. He is amazing. 

    Chabba looks like a lot of stuff going on over in Seattle, helicopter crashes, mudslides and flooding. Geez hope you are not any where near all that. Hope your doing Ok and feeling better.

  • debbie6122
    debbie6122 Member Posts: 5,161
    edited March 2014

    Joyce- Oh and I forgot to add, how is your mom doing? Haven't heard from you so I am worried

  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Also thinking about Joyce and her mom....((((((Joyce)))))

    Debbie, what an amazing friend you have ! Enjoy your fresh fish! :)

  • chabba
    chabba Member Posts: 5,065
    edited March 2014

    We are wet but no flooding.

    Feeling a bit depressed tonight.   I have been volunteering in the kitchen of our Senior Center for twenty years. We have three new board members who have taken over and changed the Center's mission and the way. it operates. Today my helper and I quit. 

  • carolehalston
    carolehalston Member Posts: 6,887
    edited March 2014

    Chabba, I hope those new board members beg you to come back.  You used to post about the soups and meals you cooked at the senior center.   Hope things improve in your life so that your spirits lift.  How is your dh doing?

    This morning is my ww weigh-in.  Situation looks good on my scale.  I'm getting back into clothes that I couldn't squeeze into in early Feb when we got home from NZ and AUS. 

    After the WW meeting I plan to stop off at the paint store and buy paint.  Will get started in the living room, but have a 3:30 apptment at my PCP's to discuss recent labs.

    Dinner tonight will be traditional Mon. beans and rice.  The beans will be dry limas cooked with smoked sausage made with some turkey and the rice is brown rice.  You can get red beans and rice at almost any diner and lots of restaurants in NO area. 

    Wishing everyone a good Monday.

  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited March 2014

    Carole, the lima beans and rice sound good. DH loves limas, but I don't because I think they're too bland and dusty tasting, but I've only ever fixed them with a ham hock. Maybe some spicy sausage is just what they need to increase their appeal to me. That would certainly make dh's day. Good luck with your weigh in and I hope you passed your tests!

    Chabba, I'm so sorry about your volunteer job. Carole is right, they will miss you terribly.

    Yesterday I made carole's microwave popcorn. So easy, but boy did that bowl get hot! I must confess, I did add a small amount of my homemade cultured butter on top to make the salt stick. But it was great not to add any extra oil. Delicious!

    Tonight is dinner at our friends' house. Right now, it's breakfast and off to the gym!


  • Lacey12
    Lacey12 Member Posts: 2,951
    edited March 2014

    Chabba, I am sad for you regarding this turn of events at the Senior Center. I was always so impressed when reading about the wonderful meals you made there. They were lucky to have you providing such a generous service for so many years. I hope that you can find something (maybe on a smaller scale?) that can fill that void, providing meaning for you and valuable service to others in need. Meanwhile, I hope is there something you can do that you enjoy to lift your spirits today. 

    Carole, good luck at WW! Sounds promising that you'll reach the "no fee" number. :). Speaking of fitting into clothes......I remembered this weekend that I have a trunk of my pre-marriage clothes (a bit hippie style) stored  in our basement (not really sure why...it has not  been opened in almost 40 years). If I can get past the dust mites and/or silverfish,  it would be hilarious to try them on...and trek down memory lane. ;) Then, if they are in decent shape,  I could donate them to a theater group we support in NH. 

    DS2 is stopping over for dinner tonight...Since I made some arugula pesto, I think I'll make a baked pesto chicken dish I saw on the internet.....basically like chicken parm but with pesto coating the chicken before the sauce and cheese.

  • luvmygoats
    luvmygoats Member Posts: 2,942
    edited March 2014

    Chabba - I'm sorry for the change at your Senior Center. I knew things must have changed since you did not post the fab things you made - almost like spinning gold from straw. Prayers that your DH is doing better.

    Nancy - I don't like the big fat lima beans - too dry. But I do like the Fordhook though I only find them frozen not dried.

    We are still eating on the pork roast. I made it with a McCormicks sweet tea marinade loaded on my saver card. Good. I think tonight I will thaw some ciabatta rolls and make BBQ pork out of it and oven fries from some dying potatoes.

  • Moonflwr912
    Moonflwr912 Member Posts: 6,856
    edited March 2014

    LMG, that sweet tea recipe sounds interesting. Could you post it or point me to the website?

    Nance, just check the bowl you were using for the popcorn. It was micro safe, yes? I know some of my serving dishes get mixed in my cookware cabinet and occasionally one gets used... 

    Lacey, I have one or 2 pieces of clothing from those years. LOL.  I couldn't try them on my finger! LOL

    Carole sounds like WE IS what is helping you a lot. Of course my favorite recipe was the ricotta filled choc cake from way back when. LOL

    Chabba. That just sucks. But you know after a bit you'll realize the stress wasn't good for you and you will feel better. Perhaps there is a church group that could use your help? Churches around here do all kinds of dinners, chili, lunch box salads, fish fry, chicken, ect. They always need people to help. Also at some they do the funeral luncheons. Of course that part is kind of unpredictable. 

    Much love to all, and special prayers for those who haven't checked in recently. 

  • auntienance
    auntienance Member Posts: 4,216
    edited March 2014

    Monica, I used a Pyrex bowl.

  • Moonflwr912
    Moonflwr912 Member Posts: 6,856
    edited March 2014

    Actually Pyrex is one of the bowls I had shatter on me. The older bowls were made for oven use. Not microwave. That's why I wanted to ask. If it's an older one it could be that. Just wanted to pass that along cause it's scary. And makes a BIG boom. Kinda like when I left an egg in the Easter dye pot of vegetable matter that I was reheating! LOL  :) that put a dent in my microwave wall. 

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