So...whats for dinner?

Nance, this is just such a blah time, period! I hope your blahs pass. everytime I see hot cross buns I think so fondly of your wonderful baking style. I think ironically, the only thing that has kept me from having a more serious blah case (and believe me, I'm close!!)has been the physical exertion of all the damn shoveling. Today I started the morning with an hour of the toughest job yet....clearing our driveway of the heavy wet slop that arrived overnite along with the cement-like mounds from the overnight town plows. It was so hard...glad I had my next door neighbor out doing his drive to complain with! (Sorry to end sentence with preposition!;)

All that was so DH could get to car safely as we ventured into Boston for his post op appt. I won't carry on about that, but suffice it to say that we were both appalled at the inefficiency and incompetence we encountered over a three + hour period. The appt was to get his staples removed....and they tried to discharge him after not even looking at the incision. After three reminders to the PA, he got someone to do it. DH has run health care systems and he was wild! After this whole experience, I am really glad that we get our care from our local community hospital!

When we arrived home, I had difficulty backing into the driveway ( another accommodation to DH to avoid ice), and learned when I got out of car that it was due to new mounds made by the town sidewalk plow. So I picked up my trusty shovels and labored for another hour so they didn't freeze tonight. I am so done!! But probably not....more snow tomorrow. Arnicare cream is my muscles' friend!

Red, I really feel for you with your slow healing process, but I'm glad that our Bedo lent some good perspective on probable outcome.

Love your meals, Carole!

Susan, I think trips are hard for the conscientious planner....YOU! Everyone else will just enjoy your hard work! They are fortunate. I also feel for you and DH as you both encounter his losses. I love that he makes the manly meal! I enjoyed your trip down memory lane with the Texas hotel gig and brunch.

Yesterday some local friends came to visit bringing lunch from Sweet Basil. I had Greek salad with shrimp. DH had a duck meatball sub, which he raved about. It was so uplifting to see these friends....nourishing mind and body. I have been quite isolated in this caretaker role during our terrible weather. These friends are also the folks who put me on to the trash pick up service, which is such a change for us! We now have these huge containers which we will dutifully put on the curb Friday AM. Feels weird...but a good decision.

Monica, best of luck with your upcoming surgery! Can you get your hands on an apron with a large "kangaroo" pocket for your DDIL. She will love using it! DH is still totally enamored of his tulip one! Thanks again, Special!

Hi to everyone I didn't cite...taking my weary bod to bed. Kindergarteners tomorrow...good thing I have an easy lesson planned.

Oh,....dinner.... tonight I made myself poached eggs served on a tasty kale/onion/garlic/mushroom/red pepper saute. I hadbought DH a lobster mac and cheese (no way could my rising weight tolerate that) at our local food store. We both had cuke salad with tarragon.

Laurie, great to "hear" your voice again. So glad that those boys don't let you get bored. ;-)

Our take out Chinese meal turned into the loaves and fishes, giving us a total of 6 large meals! Clearly the chef on Tuesday nights is very generous with his portion sizes. Isn't that the sign of a good restaurant? Three meals a piece and we were not bored of the food. My special Europe bag arrived today. I like to travel with my passport, cash, credit cards and any public transport tickets in a small cross-body bag that is easy for me to slip into, but hard for anyone else. What a #fail this bag is. No zipped spot that fits the passport and no clasp at all, just a simply magnet. Back it goes.

Tonight, I will warm up some magic-freezer turkey stew and Mr. 02143 has requested biscuits again. Who am I to deny my Southern boy biscuits? I think I will also make a big pile of peas for me. I like peas with stew. When the biscuits are done, the kid's duck ragu will head into the already warmed oven for its final push to completeness.

*susan*

p.s. two "warmer" days later and our snow piles are now completely ice.

Laurie so happy to hear from you. How can you make all those yummy meals with the kids running around. I am not worthy.

soo... speaking of lazy, I am tired from work and having to shovel and clean off car and work and drive 3 hours round trip for work- this will end soon, and I want to make my favorite mash tonight.... carrots, turnips and parsnips and then mash them together with a tiny bit of butter and salt and pepper. Do I REALLY have to peel the turnips or can they be treated like potatoes and boiled first and the skins slipped off afterwards to join the other vegetables. I only make this 2-3 times a year and have never tried to do it without all the peeling.

Thanks!

I made the eggplant parmesan today without the parmesan.  I used mozzarella and pecarino romano and a home-made tomato sauce that is pretty good, if I do say so.  The dish was vegetarian and tasty. We had a very large tossed salad with blue cheese and avocado in addition to tomato, cucumber and colored bell pepper.  The usual vinaigrette with white balsamic and EVOO. 

There's a Costco in Baton Rouge but I have not been to it.  BR is an hour and a half drive.  I like what I've heard about the way the company treats its employees.  Eventually there will probably be one closer.  Maybe even a Trader Joe's.  Our once-rural northshore of Lake Pontchartrain gets more city like every year.  I've heard a Whole Foods will be opening in nearby Mandeville, not too far from the Fresh Market. 

Today was a wretched day as far as the weather was concerned.  Gray and blustery and cold.  I did not venture out except to go out on the patio and pick some herbs to make a bundle to drop into the tomato sauce.  Which reminds me that I'd better go out and cover the pots with some tablecloths.  It's supposed to drop down to freezing during the night.  What a winter.  A/C one day and heat the next. 

It will be spring before we know it.  Won't it?????

Susan - yes we'll get spring sooner but really - 29 degrees tonight? Yesterday it went from 83 to 43 in a matter of 3 hours. OK - not really whining. You guys have suffered an unbelievable winter. I have a couple of small cross body bags I love from Tignaello (Macys). I have several friends who travel a lot & swear by Baggallini cross body bags.

Laurie - Great to see you. We all understand the rigors of raising a young family and know you can't possibility check in regularly, but it's so good to hear what's happening with your lovely family. And what you're cooking. Thanks for posting.

Lacey - your schedule makes me exhausted. Hope DH is more mobile every day.

Bedo - I always peel the turnips & the carrots. I learned to make grated turnips & carrots from a friend's mother from England. One of my favorites.

Carole - I love your "usual" with the shrimp.

Nance - I'm with you - tired of doc appts. But if the blood work shows anemia, better to check it out.

Tonight's dinner was salad - bag of lettuce w/veggies & added tomatoes. And the main course was roasted fresh Brussels sprouts with club crackers. I did manage to remove a bunch of old food from the freezer in the garage since tomorrow's garbage day. I hated to throw away all these wonderful things, but they've been in there too long - since the chemo in 2013 when I didn't eat anything for 18 months. So goodbye hand processed peaches, rib eyes, and yes even raw shrimp frozen in salt water, etc. Sigh. Now I just have to find a day that's warm enough to defrost the old freezer before the ice seals the door shut.

I'm a baggalini fan too. The have lots of different styles. I'm a cross body (hand)bag person in general. Less shoulder strain.

planned grocery shopping this a.m. with friend, but last night decided I needed to call Ortho first thing.  Too much pain last two days for me to wait until April 2. Inthought I might have hurt wrist cutting some raw chicken.  So I confessed to the tech, and they did X-rays, everything was fine, but Dr. said a cast would keep me from "temptations" like cooking......

So after my appointment, my friend and I went to the store and I bought hot dogs and hamburger and Tv Dinners and lettuces and fruit..... Am spending Sat night with my Dad (actually all day and come home Sun) and I am cooking a pot roast with veggies for him.    

Carole, I now spritz a dishcloth with water, heat the toaster oven, turn it off, and put the pita into the towel and into the warmed oven. Works like a charm! Now that I have discovered this method, I can buy the wonderful Lebanese and Armenian flatbreads to freeze at home.

We are having a warming trend here. All the way up to 19º, so Mr. 02143 is out grilling a whole chicken. I think he may be regretting the offer since it isn't going so very well. I have made some roasted potatoes and onions, cole slaw, and stuffed mushrooms.

Red, your doctor is determined huh? But take care of yourself when you cook for your father. Please don't do more for him than your doctor has said you can do for you.

Nancy, the salmon and bialys sound wonderful. Paint swatches are complicated. My husband is much better at this than I am. I generally take the easy way out and find a chair or pillow that will live in the room and "pull out a color." And I have been known to use the same color from house to house. But this house? Different colors everywhere, which means you have to make sure that they are complimentary. At this point, we only have a tiny under-the-stairs room left to paint.

*susan*

Did you have the paint folks scan the bit of the fabric you want to mimic and see what that fancy machine says the formula should be? *susan*

I've been so busy that I've barely had time to read here......This morning I got up at about 4:30am and started doing some house cleanup before I left for work and then as soon as I got home, I went back to cleaning before we pack for tomorrow...we're out of here around 4:30am to head to school to drive 60+ 8th graders about 150 miles on an overnight field trip.

We're staying there weekend, so I figured it would be good to have the house sort of clean so that when I'm in Tucson next weekend, the house won't look like an outhouse in distress.

Sharon's shingles rash is gone, but she says it still stings where at the now invisible rash sites.

Amazingly enough, when we painted the interior of the house, we painted one wall of the master bedroom the light lavender that is next to the flower petals and the "other" (non-master) bathroom a few shades darker of the lavender. DD is the one who picked out the colors and I must say they look good.

19F degrees and BBQ??? Wow. I wouldn't do that! I don't even like to think of 19 degrees unless it's "the C style degrees". :-) Even Minus' 29 degrees isn't much better. I can deal with cold..but would rather not......I keep dreaming of moving to Alaska (Nome or North Pole/Fairbanks)..and then I remember it's cold up there in the winter.

Carole, I heard that too about the spending more money at restaurants than "eating in". I didn't get the whole story about whether people are eating at restaurants more or if the restaurant prices went up enough to cause the shift.....and if this includes the workday fast food junk as well.

Red....Be careful. But, I guess I should be quiet as I'd be doing (and have done) the same thing as you. :-)

Glad to see you post again Laurie.

Oh..and 3 other things....We just celebrated our 26 wedding anniversary, March 7 2012 was Sharon's mastectomy date and DD received a 97% on the "robot baby" for her early childhood development class.

I'd better get packing so I can get to sleep... I'm bringing the computer so hopefully I'll have some spare time tomorrow after we drop everyone off and "go hide".

Catching up and popping in..... Nance, I ve seen some rooms painted in the color you describe, and they have been lovely, which surprised me since I would not have thought to select a lavender shade myself. Lighting and room decor can make such a beautiful atmosphere. Our hardware store matches shades with the help of some computer thingy (says the hardware luddite), so it is easy to get colors right.

Real progress in this rehab house....DH is now on one crutch, finished his VNA PT sessions, and starts outpatient PT later in the week. I selfishly had him book sessions at the closest possible facility, which fortunately has a good rep. He feels so much better with one arm free....but still loves using that kangaroo style apron!! . I feel an immense amount of freedom!!

Eric, congrats on your anniversary, Sharon's milestone, and DD's prowess at "baby" parenting. Would love to see any research on how those programs impact adolescents' choices.

Nice to hear that you are back in more civilized temps, Joyce! I'm glad that retirement is on the horizon for you.

Went to my trainer yesterday, now that DH can be more independent and safe. Paying attention to all the aches and joint pains I have developed over this month with the repetitive movement of shoveling, ice chopping.....amazingly, not my shoulders, which have been great....and a little slip on the ice while trying to get a 60 lb. bag of sand over the ice and into the garage last week. Old knee issue acting up along with hip and ankle fussiness. We revisited some exercises that will hopefully get me back to my "normal".

We also spent a lot of time talking about a change in our trainer's career. She is taking a new position to develop a fitness and nutrition program for a local company. She'll still be at our center for a while until it is full time. She is both excited and torn about moving on, as the hospital center was so good to her throughout her bc treatment. DH and I will remain connected to her after she eventually terminates from the center, maybe even home training sessions. We'll see. I am just so happy for her to be moving on with her career...I feel like I'm watching a lovely daughter grow and move on. As you can tell, we are very fond of her.

Susan, love that DH is grilling! I bet DH will be back out there shortly. I made lamburgers in a pan last night since grill man is not back yet! Oh, and we added avocado to them on the bun along with our typical Greek flavorings. Very nice!

I hope everyone who is fighting colds and post op conditions is healing well. Monica, you need to get back to that baby! . Red, please be cautious so that hand can heal as fast as possible.

Have a good day everyone!

Hopefully we have had out last bout of winter weather. Areas of DFW had 7" of snow that was out by the airport but the airport only had 3" I think. We had at least 4 and maybe closer to 5" here after serious freezing rain and ridiculous sleet. All around here seems to have survived. DH took 2 vacation days last week and was off one scheduled day so that worked out perfectly. Goats have been none to happy but the sun came out Thursday I think lost track of days. Much nicer yest and today very nice and warmer than predicted. I think we had 5 separate events over the course of a week and a half. Winter all at once yuck!

I only got out the one day last week to go to Ft. Worth. Everything I had on my calendar was cancelled. Next week looks eventful with 2 trips to town - accompanying DH to one of his so we can shop afterwards. I need to grocery shop again but will prob. wait until after church tomorrow, might be a mistake because rain is moving in. A couple of days of sun on this stuff and it will def. look like spring has sprung. Grocery has BOGO on again but my little freezer I don't think will hold much more.

I've not made much. We had hot links a couple of days; I had a big package and thought at least I could grill or roast them over fireplace if elec. went out. Made casserole with chuck tender steak, rice - turned out suspiciously close to some Rice-A-Roni's I've had but DH liked it. I think I'm making ratatouille over polenta tonight. I have 2 smallish eggplants was going to bake with an Italian sauce stuff but I found this last night. Might put the dribbles of sauce leftover from a Stouffers meatloaf. This is the recipe. Alas no goat cheese but do have plain greek yogurt, greek cream cheese, cottage cheese and shaved Parm. Like I've said b4 DH would not know the difference. Well he might - he really doesn't like goat cheese. I think I can make it work. I think carrots and celery will have to sub for 2 more zucchini.

http://honestcooking.com/ratatouille-goat-cheese-p...

Yesterday was our 39th anniversary. We are not celebrators by any stretch of the imagination. DH worked some in the yard and watched TV or videos. We need to seriously start saving some money. Once again the "new car" talk has come up. I think by the end of the year we will have to do it. Maybe for our 40th we'll do something celebratory. I'll have to go back and find the Yahoo article from yesterday. About little relatively inexpensive boutique hotels - closest to me I think was Albuquerque. But you all certainly have me in the redecorating mood instead. First would be the "shovel out" mood which I need to start back on.

Special - none of that sounds nice well all except the "no mets" part. Sounds like you're in for the long haul on your pain management. Since all bones are connected - that old ditty Dem Bones - might all go back to your degenerated discs throwing off your general alignment. Here's hoping PT plan gets in action soon. Enjoy surprise visit from DS.

Lacey - wow DH down to one crutch. That sounds like a great improvement. Bound to make maneuvering easier and yay on to outpt PT. Don't blame you for making PT arrangements closer to home. If he needs to go after he starts driving again he might very well appreciate that.

Well congrats to the anniversary folks -- DH and I celebrated our 35th on March 1st. Let's all celebrate!

SK - let's celebrate the no mets thing with you too. I'm betting the pt will help. Healing wishes for you. Don't know how you did "a bunch of MRIs". I barely tolerated one and it was on my knee. I'm not claustrophobic, it's the blasted noise and having to lay so still for so long.

Eric - DD did a great job on the baby test. Wonder how we all would score these days? Bet I wouldn't get a 97 lol!

Lacey - that is great about DH's progress. I hope resuming your exercise program helps address some your knee and ankle stuff. 60 pounds is too much dead weight to struggle with especially on ice!

Carole -- I like making flat breads too. I like eating them better. I noticed that Costco is now carrying La Brea bakery breads, including naan. I didn't get any because I still have some in the freezer but I would like to try them. Susan's reheating idea is great. I'll be sure to try that method next time.

Red - easy does it there - you don't want to make anything worse. But like Eric says, I did the same thing when I had the carpal tunnel surgery.

I think we've decided on the paint color. I have to laugh as I'm reminded of a scene in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House where Myrna Loy goes to great lengths to describe the exact colors she wants the painters to use and their take on the whole thing. If you've never seen it, it will give you a chuckle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZwOGVWqHAw

auntie - yes, it was some quality time in the MRI machine, lol!  They warned me too, as they had to carve out a long block of time - one of the reasons it took so long to get the appointment.  I closed my eyes before I went in, listened to Steely Dan on the headphones, and went to my happy place on the beach in Bermuda with an umbrella in my drink.  They burrito-ed me for the hip ones - took over an hour.  The lumbar was shorter, but I was less confined by straps.  I thought I had handled it all fine, but did have claustrophobic dreams for the two nights following.