So...whats for dinner?

Minus - I hope you enjoy the recipe. I plan on making it again this week per my son's request.

I have no taste buds or appetite since Saturday. That's never happened to me after surgery. Hoping it's just a lingering reaction to anesthesia Not sure what dinner tonight will entail as it's just me. Maybe just a PBJ.

Hope your new LEPT is just what you need, MinusTwo. I have LE like you. I haven’t traveled since all this started. I dread the swelling,but maybe the sleeves will help.

Dinner was ground beef and quinoa with green beans. I have a huge bag of frozen green beans that my DH bought at Costco. I’ve been slowly trying to finish them before they get too freezer burned. I tried steaming them and roasting them and didn’t think they were very good. Tonight I put them in a frying pan and boiled the water until it was mostly gone. I then added some ground cardamom (I buy the green pods to put in coffee) and then added a tablespoon of orange marmalade and a little butter. DH and I have found a new favorite. 🙂

We don’t have the lemon pepper quinoa at our Costco, but I found it online at Walmart, and can’t wait to try it. I haven’t been to Trader Joe’s in ages, but I’m going to look for the cauliflower gnocchi the next time I go.

Well, in the first part of the pandemic (March-July 2020) I lost 20 lbs. because I was doing heavy housework & laundry (climbing 3 flights between basement & bedrooms) for almost 2 months while we were locked down and I couldn't have my HK (or any visitors) at my house. Then Aug. 2020 was when I was recuperating from treatment for my ocular melanoma. I managed to maintain for awhile until my back began going out on me more frequently and I couldn't exercise--and then when Cellars went out of business this past Labor Day, I lost the one restaurant that knew my diet backwards & forwards and was able to modify its menu to completely accommodate me (plus gave me a 1/2 mi. walk in each direction). Now, between that, my back, winter setting in with a vengeance and then Bob & I getting COVID, my exercise fell by the wayside and I ate for comfort.

I can stil wear my anniversary dress to Gordy's wedding, but unless I drop at least 10 lbs., it's gonna take industrial-strength Spanx if I want to shed that duster in the New Orleans springtime heat.

Yesterday I went to Dirk's Fish market and picked up shrimp salad and shelled rock shrimp. I put the shrimp salad in endive leaves rather than on bread. Breakfast today was low-carb avocado toast and an egg; late lunch (after 30 min. on the treadmill followed by a trip to the Middle East Grocery) was a Tbsp. each of hummus, babaghanouj, cucumber-yogurt salad, and taramosalata with a grape leaf stuffed with lentils instead of rice. Dinner was 3 oz.sablefish, 6 small shrimp, snap peas, tomatoes & basil. Think I'll do shakshuka tomorrow for brunch, and maybe go to Regalia if Bob gets home early enough. (Haven't been there since the night before my birthday). Will have to exercise some discipline--including having them do cacio e pepe over cauliflower instead of spaghetti, ignore the foccaccia, and sub out vegetables in any entree that comes with potatoes or risotto. And no desserts or cordials.

I've become so hooked on avocados that yesterday I actually bought a molcajete (lava-rock mortar & pestle) that'll let me make an avocado's worth of guac at one time. I hadn't counted on it being so heavy, nor the seasoning process (submerge in water 20 min., scrub with a stiff brush, rinse & air dry, and then grind raw rice till a batch finally remains white).

Venison (Doe) tenderloin made in the sous vide. I had a slip of the knife when I butchered, but won't be noticeable once it is cooked, LOL. Reheating the last of the Indian cauliflower, peas, japanese sweet potato, tomato thingie. My new item is sauteed Nebrodini mushrooms. Smells incredible. I seasoned the venison simply (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder) so it should go with the hodge podge of stuff I'm serving.

Kettle chips organic potatoes are finally selling here, so I bought a small bag. Probably a huge mistake since they are like kryptonite for me.

Hospital food for me the past few days. I’ve been in here since Saturday after going to the ER with chest pains (what I thought was heartburn.). Turned out not to be and ended up with a cardiac catheterization and a stent. Hopefully home tomorrow. This is no doubt going to have a great influence on my cooking. The good news is I feel fine, or will once they let me out of here.

Nance, sounds scary but glad you feel ok.

DH cooked Sunday, chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn. He rarely cooks anything green, so yesterday I made us big everything salads. Tonight will be soft tacos, no idea about the rest of this week though.

(((Nancy))), totally scary--glad you went to the ER when you thought you had heartburn; and that you got timely cath'ed and stented. Hope they spring you soon. I also see a Mediterranean diet in your future. The only times chest pain sent me to the ER it turned out to be first an irritated gallbladder and then 6 yrs. later, a whole lot of gallstones. It felt both times not like heartburn, but instead as if I were having a heart attack--so much so that Bob, who is a cardiologist, insisted on calling 911 for me.

Made shakshuka for brunch. I had bought a 4-pack of Osem brand (Israeli) shakshuka "omelet sauce" which I'd planned to use until I read the nutrition label: each 8-oz. container contains 2 servings, each of which contains 11 gm. net carb--courtesy of 4 gm. added sugars. (Sure enough, sugar was the third ingredient listed--why do they add sugar to stuff whose recipes don't include it?). So what I did instead was use only a couple of Tbsp., stretching it with Bulgarian zero-net-carb zero-sugar roasted eggplant/red pepper dip and 1/4 c. Rao's "Sensitive" marinara--adding a few dashes of za'atar seasoning, half a dozen black olives and 1 oz. crumbled Greek feta. I simmered a jumbo Vital Farms egg atop it. It was yummy. Good thing I didn't use the entire portion of the Osem sauce!

We're going to walk over to Regalia tonight--and face the challenge of sticking to low-carb while there. No bread, pasta, risotto, spuds, dessert or limoncello for me. Wish me luck.

Nance, glad you have come through your "adventure" and will soon be home! Take care and sending soft hugs ((())).

For dinner, (after doomscrolling all about possible portacath complications because I have a freshly placed port and of course that's what I do), we made thai street style marinated chicken thighs . My son ate his with white rice. I ate mine with bittermelon sauteed w fermented salted black beans (simple easy & mouthwateringly and deliciously bitter- I highly recommend if u like bitter things). My bedtime snack will be a bowl of plain greek yogurt w blueberries & strawberries & cinnamon. I don't start the taxol until next week so I'm enjoying the flavors now.

Oh, Nance, I’m so sorry to hear that you had to go through that scary emergency. But I’m glad it was taken care of efficiently and hopefully, by now you are home resting in your own bed! There are so many good foods to enjoy on a healthful diet, you’ll be fine. And what better place to find some new ideas but here! 😉

Last night we had Bertucci’s baked salmon since I’ve been sick (non-Covid acc to 3 antigen tests), and we were running low on protein options here. So I made a salad and an avocado spread (just mashed with some roasted garlic powder…easiest spread ever) for the Bertucci rolls DH loves so much.

Over the weekend, I made a baked lemon chicken breast dish with artichokes, capers and onions. It called for Italian spices, and I used some dry ones from a jar which I think gave a taste I didn’t like, tho DH really enjoyed it over the rice pilaf with salad. DH is a bread monger, and we had none, so I served us rosemary crackers with our fave avocado spread.

If I ever make it to the kitchen tonight, I plan to make a frittata with whatever veggies are here, plus kale., and of course, salad. If my salads look similar, it’s because they often are….usingvarious dressings as I make them.

auntie - oh no! That had to be scary! Glad to hear you are on the mend and hopefully you will be home soon, if not already.

Dinners here have been nothing to write home about - or apparently here about, lol! I realized it had been a minute since I posted here. I did unearth some cranberry sauce from the freezer - man, it was yummy with a turkey tenderloin, some brown rice, and Brussels with a little balsamic glaze. We did have some thin ribeyes with home fries and broccoli, and tonight is Rao's, augmented with mushrooms, over chickpea pasta, with a wedge salad.

I am gearing up for Super Bowl Sunday - the tradition is enough snacks to feed everyone for a week. I am going to try to make at least some that fall into the eating plan we follow, but most will not - DD, her beau, her BFF, a friend of mine, and DH is the watch party so far. And me. So far is Chex Mix, Cuban sliders, 7 layer dip, sweet and sour meatballs, bourbon cocktail weenies, sliced veggies with a dip, fruit platter with Kahlua dip, loaded deviled eggs, Buffalo chicken sliders, chocolate dipped strawberries, and prob some cupcakes.

Adding to Mae’s seafood theme, tonight was Barramundi with broccoli, smashed potatoes, and a simple romaine and apple salad with lemon dressing. I seasoned the fish with smoked paprika and lemon. I blanched the broccoli and then charred them in a hot skillet. I’ve tried roasting broccoli in the oven, but the skillet seems to work better for me.

SpecialK, the ribeye, rice and broccoli with balsamic glaze sounds yummy.

rbc I’ll be thinking of you next week as you start Taxol.

I like to make my broccolini in the skillet too--with olive oil, lemon, garlic, red pepper flakes and finished with sea salt.

Just in case anyone here gets one. I just got a phishing message purporting to be from Verizon. It's offering a $199 discount on my next bill. The web site looks the link sends you off to looks a Verizon website, but it's not. It's just trying to steal your email login/password, phone account login and social security number via a fake "security check".

And now back to the regular scheduled programming.

We both had a late lunch and we weren't very hungry, so Sharon did make some cauliflower chunks sauteed in a small amount of soy sauce and orange juice that had some corn starch mixed in to make the sauce kind of sticky.

Thanks, Eric. I've gotten several from banks where I don't even have an account. Whenever I get a text or an e-mail about an account I do have, I never click on any links--I go directly to the website (typing in the legit URL) to confirm.