So...whats for dinner?

Tonight I cooked a pork butt in the pressure cooker with some mixed peppers, onions and a chili verde sauce. We had the shredded pork in tortillas with some mango salsa and fresh corn with peppers and green onions on the side. DH and I agreed that we would only have desserts on the weekend so I made a 6 inch Chicago style cheesecake that I'll top with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Pretty satisfying. It's the most cooking I've done for days.

I took some pictures of the new garden beds that I'll try to post. It's actually been warm and sunny here for two whole days which I hope will spur some growth. With so much rain, things have been somewhat stagnant.

Carole, I hope your potatoes were good. I'll feel bad if they weren't lol!

prepared a spinach dish (saag) from our garden this afternoon

Well, you certainly made up for not cooking for a bit, Nance! A lovely meal to show for pressing the "restart" button! I, however, have not found the button yet! My very perceptive DH noticed that....and I was busy decoying by keeping busy deadheading my container flowering plants and pulling up some of the invasive vines that are taking over our property as he watched the horse race.

So when I came inside, DH (remembering his mouthwatering pizza leftover from last night) suggested that we order pizza from Hearth Pizzeria. They have a new menu of interesting selections. Why of course I said yes! So we had a small wheat crust pizza with chicken and pesto sauce, and a small white crust roasted vegetable pizza. Pretty good, but not even closely up to Mario's standards. I made a romaine garden salad with my standard oil and balsamic dressing which was exactly what I love these days.

Earlier today we walked up town and perused the booths at our town fair. Amazingly, DH, who is recently working on re-losing the weight he gained during the hip recovery never even asked to get lunch! So he really was hungry for that pizza tonight. I simply must bring him to Babbo if just to experience that unbelievable dessert....more probably after a great pizza! On Friday evening we are meeting DS2 and DGF at LaMorra for dinner to celebrate my birthday. They have wonderful food there, despite my disappointment this year at their "Big Night". I must get back into cooking before that next meal out or I will feel unworthy!!

Sula, hope you are able to enjoy some of your wonderful sounding meals, in spite of your treatments.

Our plans are to have early dinner out somewhere after attending a music concert at 3 pm.  My friend Linda is a member of the Performing Arts group presenting the concert.  We're going out with her and her dh, who will be departing tomorrow to go to their 2nd home on Lake Norman in NC for 2 months.  They have two daughters, each with two children, so they split their time between NC and LA.

Lacey, pizza is one of those foods that appeals in all seasons!  I have dough for a crust in the freezer and will probably use it for dinner tomorrow night.  I miss making pizza when we're in MN during the summer.  If we buy a larger grill, I could make pizza there. 

Also going to be making a granita, like this watermelon one I already made, this time..pineapple . It's vegan and sugarless as the fruit is sweet enough

Burgers, mac n' cheese and corn on the cob

Grrrr entire post erased but

Yummy Lobsta roll with French fries and coleslaw for lunch! Real lobster made in the restaurant, and my friend, Trish is doing so well with her knee replacement went the "healthy" route with lobster salad on greens with iced tea by the sea.

Best to all.

I love summer.

Sula, thanks for the pictures.  Are the recipes on your blog? 

All the meals sounds very good.  I had two crispy, delicious soft-shelled crabs for dinner last night.  Side was a house salad with blue cheese dressing and green beans. 

The scales are up this morning telling me I need to go the "healthy" route this week. 

leftover pork chops and whatever I want to throw together to go with it

Confession time:

!)Carole, my weight went up 9 lbs in a couple of weeks--I'd like to blame the beans and braised lamb in wine sauce (don't look at the calories on that recipe)., but the 2 chocolate donuts every morning probably added to it too.

2) I have never tried or tasted Cream of wheat or any cooked cereal besides oatmeal.

3. I have never used a pressure cooker.

4) I had food moths once---I had come home from the Caribbean and brought home "spice baskets".  Was told by the exterminator that this was the culprit, and also told not to keep tea and grain products very long--to only buy what I need as the"larvae" for the moths are frequently present in these products----UGHHHH 

I've had very good luck with the Safer sticky traps in the pantry. I haven't had a weevil or moth infestation since I've started using them. Red, it also helps to freeze those things to kill the little buggers before they hatch.

Haha Lacey, maybe I'd like kale smoothies better if they were disguised as gelato! Lacey, we wouldn't think of running you off, then we'd never hear about all of the delicious food you manage to find! As I said before, your carryout is far superior to my fix at home. Besides, the thread is "So . . .what's for dinner?" not "So. .. what are you fixing for dinner?"

Minus - love the deli menu! I'd hate to show you what passes for a bagel around here. I came across a recipe for homemade pastrami that I think I'm going to try. Susan, have you done this? Anybody?

Carole, Crab. Envy.

Sula, all your food looks good. Count me in on the cream of wheat lovers. Wish I had thought about it during chemo. Haven't had it since I was a kid.

I finally got the garden pics uploaded.

Things are growing, albeit slowly. So far, the critters are mostly eating flowers and not vegetable plants, although something did eat the two green tomatoes. Sigh. And Baby Bunny has been coming onto the front porch to eat my DH's "yard" shoes. Since when do rabbits like leather?

Nance - beautiful garden. Funny about the bunny eating leather. Maybe he's licking the salt from the perspiration? I used to make corned beef when I lived in a colder climate but never pastrami.

Special - I also added protein powder that MD Anderson recommends to the Cream of Wheat. That and watermelon are about the only things I ate for 6 months.

I think I tasted cream of wheat at some point but didn't like it.  No texture and bland taste.  Stated by someone who loves grits! 

I don't have a pressure cooker, either, but I owned one years ago when dh and I lived on a sailboat.  I cooked cheap things like tongue and tough cuts of beef.  Since Nance and Susan are both using pressure cookers, it wouldn't surprise me if I bought one! 

Nance, your garden is beautiful.  You and your dh did a great job creating it.

I am sporting a round Band-Aid on either cheek after a visit to the dermatologist today.  Two biopsies. 

SpecialK,  fingers crossed that healing occurs for you.  Very sorry about your friend.  I'm sorry but I don't believe everything happens for a good reason.  Some crappy things happen to great people. 

Minus, I'm so glad you're enjoying food after all those months of nausea and inability to enjoy flavors. 

Oooo Nance, garden porn. Sorry if I've offended anyone. Love the lavender. Mine is just beginning to be satisfying. Picked some kale today and catnip. The cat gateway drug. I took a video of my kitty acting insane but sorry I can't post it.

Minus. So sorry you don't have affordable lobster. We are buying them ourselves this weekend to make more lobster salad. Some places in Maine you see people selling them on the side of the road like corn and just buy and eat in car.

Cream of wheat. I never understood that. When I lived in Atlanta I thought grits were cream of wheat, but they are not, but maybe those on chemo would like them too?

Bedo, offend? In what way? Pshaw!!!! You are you, and this is the perfect place to be just that!

Cream of Wheat is totally different than grits. I can not stand grits. Yet, I love polenta. I love Cream of Wheat and Oatmeal. I love Wheatina which is a hot cereal that seems to be missing these days. Well, I haven't found a box of Wheatina in over 20 years at least. The Neighborhood cooks their Cream of Wheat with some kind of crack. They claim there is no cream or milk, but I am not sure I believe them. I am pretty sure there is sugar and cinnamon. If you could order just a bowl of the Cream of Wheat, I might stop in during my morning walk.

Pressure cookers. For me, this is the best way to prepare beans. I also use it to make Dal Makhani, an Indian black lentil dish which needs a long time to cook. The Indian women at my local market swear that this is the only way to make the dish. I have made it the old fashioned way, but it isn't any better, so pressure cooker it is! I really should try some other items in the beast. Suggestions?

*susan*