So...whats for dinner?

Being sick sucks, I hope you manage to avoid it.

I recently bought concert tickets and got a promotional $35 off a Home Chef order (or some similar ingredients delivery service). Two meals for two people for $14 after the discount, good deal but not a full price. Tonight was seared chicken with a balsamic glaze, roasted green beans a a tomatoes pizzaiola. I added the baked zucchini bites as an extra side. It was pretty good, I may do something similar on my own, just tweaked a bit.

Oh Carole, good luck with the effexor. It was such a nightmare for me. Take your time with it. Do yourself a favor and ask your doc to prescribe the smaller dose tablets that you can break in half. I wish you the best.

I made ricotta, sauce and noodles yesterday and put them into a lasagna for tonight.I'll make a garlicky slaw to go with it.

Carole, they don't call it "side-Effexor" for nothing. Ask if there's another SSRI, SNRI or SDRI you can try that's more "transparent." I checked, and none in that class are contraindicated for those on AIs. (Bupropion, aka Wellbutrin, has worked well for me since 1999. Before that, Redux was great...but got yanked off the market).

And it's tree pollen season even this far north. This is the first week since last fall I've had to use my Ventolin almost every day. Trying to "ease the sneeze to ease the wheeze" (as my first allergist's NP used to say) is easier said than done--especially when also trying to keep cold or flu from taking hold makes nasal steroid sprays inadvisable.

Bob's working really late again tonight, especially since he slept in and then went to vote before going to work. Gonna order out tonight for whatever I feel like eating. (Gordy too). Or maybe walk over to Patio Beef tonight (a local Greek hot-dog & gyro palace) and see if they have Athenian chicken, or fried fresh smelts (tis the season). We're 4 blocks from the lake, and it's a local tradition for people in our neighborhood to head out in the wee hours with nets, buckets, thermoses of coffee and (technically illegal on Park Dist. property like city beaches) six-packs of beer to catch the smelt before dawn. (The beer & coffee are obviously not smelt bait). I love fresh fried smelt--just rinse, pat dry, dredge in seasoned flour (s&p, a little paprika & crushed herbes de Provence) and shallow-skillet fry in olive oil. Because you eat the whole thing (gutted at the fishmarket--I don't do the catch-em-on-the-beach thing), they're loaded with calcium from the bones. I could try grilling them, but I haven't done my spring gas grill-cleaning yet. (Not just grates, but cleaning spiderwebs out of the venturis, etc.). It's snowed just enough this year that I don't think the grill will start right up after only a grate-scouring.

We “Golden Girls" are nostalgic for the time when we had to take only one medication per day.

DownNotOut, that salad sounds delicious. I remember the day I started taking the little white pill, Arimidex. I had read the entire discussion forum on the subject and was prepared for all sorts of SEs. The first day I took the pill in the morning and felt like a 90-year-old that day. I took the 2nd pill at night and continued for 5 years.

I blamed weight gain, higher bp, higher cholesterol on the little white pill. When I discontinued the pill after 5 years, actually 4 3/4 years, the weight gain and other so-called SEs stayed with me. I think aging and discontinuing HRT played a big role in the health changes. Lack of estrogen does not make a happy female body.

With all that said, good luck with taking Tamoxifen. Hope it does its job without destroying your quality of life.

Last night's dinner was a pork steak, breaded with panko and cooked very brown in the air fryer. Sides of butternut squash with small addition of butter and brown sugar and a delicious romaine salad.

Dessert was dark chocolate Easter candy made by a candy company in this area. Always dread/anticipate Easter season because this candy is available everywhere in milk and dark chocolate.

DNO, I agree, your salad sounds delicious! Best of luck with your meds! The good thing about AI meds, acc to my MO, is that you can shift to another one if you find side effects too bothersome. Tho I bet you know all that from an AI relevant thread.

Illimae, I'm curious if you found the prep for that meal (looked delish) you posted long and involved? I ask because I found that there were so many little steps to each Purple Carrot meal I made while staying at my son's home, I was going nuts! I have obviously streamlined my cooking style in my old age! And if I do make something that has lots of steps, I like to at least have leftovers, but of course, Purple Carrot has a meal for two measured out!

Speaking of Purple Carrot, one meal I did like was chickpea flour crusted eggplant rounds topped with a spead of hummus on warmed pita. So last night I made that eggplant and we had it on Naan with spread of spinach/artichoke hummus, topped with red leaf lettuce, red onion and a red pepper sauce. It was tasty, although I don't often cook things in a generous amount of oil. We also finished the leftover French onion soup I made on Sunday.

Minus, I should mention that on Monday I resisted paying $14 lb for cod, so made my puttanesca fish sauce meal with shrimp, over orzo. It was fine, but I love that meal with nice fresh cod.

Tonight we will probably have an assortment of leftovers unless I decide to head to the store in the snow.

Carole, sending you calming wishes as you wean off Effexor. Canada not sounding like a bad option these days......

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Shrimp puttanesca over orzo. Mixed green salad. Mixed olives, parmesan (Batali would not approve, but he has lost his say!)

Eggplant dinner described earlier

Made the Orange Chicken meal we got last weekend from Omaha Steaks. Added some fresh asparagus in it when it was cooking

Lacey12, yes the prep was a bit involved and took about 45 minutes of constant attention (chopping, searing, etc). Both meals tasted good but isn’t a good value for the cost. In this case, the value was primarily in inspiration, as I will make some similar but easier versions.

I also noticed an email that my next box had been delivered. I didn’t realize that the promo offer was actually a recurring thing, so I’ve cancelled future deliveries but now have two more meals to make.

The zucchini noodles sound like a much healthier option than the pasta, Minus. I will have to drag out my spiralizer and try that.

Illimae, I agree that the value of those meals is inspiration, and I was really put off by feeling like I was playing “gourmet house chef” with small amounts of many ingredients requiring lots of prep work. I got the feeling that the objective was to make the “cook” feel like a “chef”....which on a nightly basis is not mine! But I did like the general idea of some of the meals, especially b/c they were vegan and I don’t so often make such meals....just can’t ditch the dairy, and am allergic to cashews which is a staple for many vegans. My DDIL raves about the Purple Carrot meals, I think, because it helps her save time from food shopping, and she loves preparing meals exactly with explicit directions (her surgeon mind) and she doesn’t mind doing clean up! None of those match my preferences. ;

Have been out of town but following along - didn't have anything to post about but did have one fantastic meal - huge shrimp cocktail and a filet, watching the sunset - yay!

Tonight was pasta salad and roast beef sandwiches, and a salted caramel brownie with Moose Tracks ice cream for DH. Will be back in the swing of cooking starting tomorrow!

Carole - I really do have yellow sticky notes on the cupboard to remind me what I thought about cooking. But then I have yellow sticky notes everywhere. This was my first week for the reminder meal notes but it really helped getting things out of the freezer.

Two stoves? Eric, you & Sharon can also start keeping kosher (just kidding).

You're not the only one who keeps losing posts. I see others mention their frustration on a lot of BCO threads. And it gets even quirkier when using a mobile device rather than a computer. There is something definitely "off" about the software that powers this site.

Sandy, you have easy access to an amazing array of restaurant food. The falafel tray sounds good. I may try making them some time in the future.

Eric, what a clever fellow you are and so like my dh! He has picked up any number of items left out for the garbage man, brought them home and repaired them. The latest was a gas powered blower that seemed new and was easily repaired. We put items on the curb, too. The funniest situation was the time we put my manual Nordic Track out beside the street with the manual (I always keep manuals). The doorbell rang later and a tiny lady was there, asking whether the treadmill was free. Just about that time, a large, muscular African American man was loading up the treadmill into his pickup truck. The lady was outraged as though the man had stolen what was rightfully hers. Later I learned that the tiny lady was my hair stylist's mother! What a small world.

Last night was leftovers, lima beans and brown rice, chicken drumstick for each of us, and a romaine salad.

Tonight is dinner out at the nicer restaurant at our club where I will "spend" my free birthday dinner. The chef is new, replacing a very good former chef. Tomorrow is Louisiana Derby Day at the race track in New Orleans. We will probably indulge in the corned beef sandwiches that are famous race track fare. We are invited to join a small group for dinner afterwards at nearby Cafe Degas but will decide then whether to accept or head on back across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.

Today is a beautiful day and I will venture out into all that pollen to play golf with my Friday women's group.

MOmmyof2, Amen! I have no inspiration for dinner tonight either! No budget for taking the family of 7 out for dinner. Did pizza last weekend. Already made a meat/veg, a soup, a salad, a pasta, and omelets this week and my kids will kill me if I serve chicken again. Would do a quiche if it weren't so similar to an omelet. Hey! I'll get some fresh ground beef on the way home from work and we'll have hamburgers and baked beans and roasted seasoned potatoes and I'll be a hero to my son. Yes, that's the winning ticket for tonight

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of great food and fellowship.

Had a couple of thin steaks that were large enough for me to cut into two portions each. Cooked those up and made onion gravy from scratch to put over the top of them. Opened a can of peas and a pasta side dish to go with it