So...whats for dinner?
Comments
-
One of my friends at the farewell party Friday night is a part-time professional bagpiper--his gigs, mostly at senior centers, have dried up. Here in IL, we have our first nursing home outbreak: 42 cases, 30 patients & 12 staff, in the DuPage County suburb of Willowbrook. And one town north of us, Evanston, just reported its first five cases: three in the community, two in the skilled-nursing wing of a seniors complex on the NW side of town. (Other side of town from where a couple of BCO-ers live).
Will be making that shrimp stir-fry tonight, over cilantro-lime cauliflower rice. Suddenly, peeling & deveining a dozen of them doesn't seem as much of a PITA as before. Prepping veggies for it, too.
Brunch was a single Benedict: fried egg (rationing one per person per day), lomo Iberico ham, nuked packet of Hollandaise on half a Mikey's keto muffin. Had a snack of the other half with the cream that had clotted around the spot of the container we'd drained to whip last night, along with stevia -sweetened apricot jam.
Whole Foods came through with a couple dozen eggs (cage-free, not pasture-raised) and Jewel delivered my low-carb/hi-fiber whole wheat bread, so the only thing we're rationing for now is TP, which nobody has. (# of squares: "3 to pee, 4 for more" ).
0 -
Last night was the pot roast I began cooking the day before. I used the multi-cooker since I could brown the roast on the saute function and then switch to slow cooker. Yesterday I finished cooking the sliced beef with the au jus and the veggies, hunks of onion, large dice carrots and peeled potatoes. The result was very tasty. The meat had some chew, wasn't shredding apart like overcooked pot roast, and the veggies were perfect. DH made good use of his ketchup!
I'll be looking to incorporate leftover large dice roast chicken into a recipe for tonight's dinner.
I'm nervous about going to my hair dresser today for a cut. I'm worried about her as well as for myself. She had chemo a couple of months ago for lymphoma and I don't think she should be working and exposing herself to whatever customers could be bringing into her little home salon. I may start wearing plastic gloves when I go out on necessary trips. I have a whole box of them that have sat in a closet for years. I can't remember why I bought them.
Louisiana is now a "hot spot" for the virus.
Good to "see" you, Bedo.
Most of the food stores are announcing shopping hours for seniors.
0 -
Rainy and cold here today. Looks like it's a chili day tonight
0 -
Our county in KY's 1st case occurred yesterday, but where it occurred is 20 mins away from us. I have sheltered in place since Sat. 3/14. DH went out on 3/15 to the store & today to do drive-through banking. Rainy here today, but in the low 60s. Dinner will be the remainder of curry mix made earlier this week (mostly veggies) + 1 small naan round. We are trying to use up avocs & both had chopped cucumber, chopped avoc & sauteed shroom salads for lunch - I added shredded chicken to mine & DH had some fish. Doing well with supplies on hand, for now.
0 -
Here's my brunch, shakshuka:
Mix 1/3 c. ea. Rao's marinara and Mina mild Harissa sauce in an 8" nonstick pan. Add a couple dashes each Aleppo pepper (fresh ground black will do) and (optional) Za'atar seasoning. Slice 5 kalamata olives and scatter. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Make two "wells" and drop an egg into each. Simmer covered (I use a glass lid) till yolks are just barely set. Remove, pour into a pasta bowl, large soup bowl or rimmed dinner plate; sprinkle crumbled feta cheese to taste.
Gonna sous-vide & cast-iron-finish a steak tonight, steam asparagus and air-fry an artichoke Roman-Jewish style. Enough for the two of us w/o leftovers--we'll order out from Cellars tomorrow night when they roll out their curb service/delivery menu.
0 -
Breakfast for kids was Crepes and apple/pear sauce. Lunch was homemade pasta & eggplant Lasagna, Tunisian meatballs. Dinner - I am thinking left over Lasagna & meatballs, Cauliflower gratin that I didn’t finish making the other day, Fried rice from leftover Paella from last night, and salad of some sort.
DH and I are having a hard time eating healthy with the 2 hungry teenagers at home. Even my DS who is eating a lot of food to gain weight for baseball is saying we are eating too much carbs. My strategy now is to make a big lunch and giving the kids the leftovers for dinner, and adding more vegetables and salad for DH and myself. I don’t have the stamina to put in a lot of time for dinner. I get so tired after lunch.
The Wholefood delivery that I ordered at 3am came through. They were just out of Chickpeas.
0 -
Nono, you are saintly. If it were me lol, those teens would be learning how to cook 😉
Tonight is brats on the grill, baked beans and salad or cole slaw.
Hope everyone is coping with the new surreality (new word)
0 -
Not me! I am climbing the walls!
0 -
Auntie - you are absolutely right. My family is spoiled. But I also have an ulterior motive to become a better cook to audition for Masterchef when I am empty nested in couple of years. I feel like I was given a second chance at life so I should do something crazy. Anyway, I don’t know if it’s my age or the Tamoxifen, but I just can’t memorize recipes. So I watch Pasta Grannies on YouTube to watch how these 90 year old nonna’s in Italy cook. I’m getting better at making pasta & gnocchi dough by touch. Unfortunately, I am sure to be eliminated at the first cake baking challenge.
0 -
Nono, good for you. More power to you!
0 -
Wow, Chi. How I wish I could do/eat that!! I'm in a new hotel with only a refrigerator and a microwave oven, so cooking options are limited and the only eating places open are the ones that do drive through or takeout.... :-(
We have "relax a bit day" today..after working a 12 hour shift, followed by driving 9 hours...I slept 8 hours, attended a meeting and went back to sleep for another 5 hours..and will probably sleep a full 8 hours tonight. Making up for the lack of the kitchen are the heavy "blackout drapes" on the window, so daytime sleeping is pretty easy.
Tomorrow, I'm sure we'll make up for today's rest time!
Be safe and well, everyone.
0 -
I put the cast-iron pan away, as the grill is okay (igniter is shot but the BIC torch worked just fine). Gonna saute shiitakes in butter & marsala with parsley; will let the charred steaks "rest" tented and topped with butter and truffle slices while I set the table. Will use the other half of a packet of hollandaise (opened it yesterday for a Benedict) over steamed asparagus. No starch for either of us: Bob had an Italian "strudel" for lunch from the Pompeii drive-through.
0 -
Greetings from San Francisco, where we've been "sheltering in place" for the past five days. We are healthy and hope all of you are as well.
Since I hate running out of things, we buy toilet paper in bulk and have a well-stocked freezer and pantry. So no panic shopping here.
I made chile verde in my Instant Pot on Sunday, spaghetti with anchovies and breadcrumbs on Monday, and braised lamb neck with Israeli couscous and a salad of bitter greens on Tuesday at my husband's request. (He had lamb neck at chef Chris Cosentino's original restaurant several years ago and it became a favorite.)
I hard boiled some eggs this morning and made egg salad for lunch today. We'll have leftover lamb tonight. And support one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants by ordering takeout tomorrow.
Neither my office nor my husband's were prepared for us to work from home. So I am currently on paid furlough, and after a couple of days of extremely frustrating attempts to get his technology to work, his company is figuring out a Plan B to be put into place next week. My oncologist's office called me yesterday to tell me it was time to book my 2-year DEXA scan. I'm not sure whether the appointment will stay on the books, but I made it for early May, so we shall see.
Jazz shows we had tickets for in March-April-May have been cancelled. It seems fairly certain that the trip to NYC we have booked for mid-April will also have to be cancelled. But since there is no upside to my doing it now and it's impossible to tell when to reschedule it for at the moment, I'm going to wait a couple of weeks before making the call on that. As an inveterate planner, the uncertainty of the current situation is difficult, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that.
0 -
Chi, if your gtill's igniter is one of those that (used to) repeatedly clicks as long as you held the button depressed...then there is a battery hidden somewhere.
Mine was like that and the AA battery was in the button itself.
0 -
Thanks, Eric! When the weather gets better I'll look for a battery pack (or check the online user guide). It's a Broilmaster P400 natural-gas grill--about 15 yrs old, replacing one that we had for 17 yrs. We had it reconditioned last spring--new thermometer, butterfly burner, venturis, grates, lava bricks. Considering what a new one would have cost, it was a good investment. Sure, we could have bought a bigger shinier stainless steel one more cheaply, but those don't seem to last that long.
Anyway, couldn't get a good crisp char on it because about 3 min. in it began drizzling again. But at least I got some nice cross-hatch grill marks. (Didn't want to fire up the cast iron skillet on the stove and set off the smoke detector).
0 -
Carole - I was sorry to read on another thread that your SIL has died and you all can't make the trip. Glad you got to say good bye on your last visit. I'm holding you & your DH in my thoughts.
Mommy - how old are your 2 kiddos? Are you having to home school? Or are they eating you out of house & home like Mimi's are. Eric - hooray for black out blinds. And catching up on your rest. Magari - sounds like construction workers are exempt from the lock down in SF? Weird. I too hate running out of things & haven't had a grocery store close by me in a long time - so I have plenty of food & supplies. And yes, all the shows & concerts I had tickets for have cancelled - most places closed until summer. Joyce - I too was REALLY glad to see you.
OK - so where is Lacey??? They've had so many respiratory issues earlier this year I worry about them.
0 -
Carole I'm so sorry about the loss of your SIL.
0 -
Thank you for the condolences. My SIL had reached the stage of no quality of life. She will be greatly missed by her DH, son and daughter and grandchildren. Her granddaughter Hunter is graduating from the Naval Academy in May and has a wedding planned for the next day after graduation. We were so hoping that Bonnie would be well enough to attend but who knows whether either event will be possible.
On the dinner subject, Betty Crocker would have been proud of me last night. I used a Cracker Barrel boxed mac and cheese (white cheddar), a can of broccoli cream soup, a package of green peas, and the leftover rotisserie chicken for a "souped up" chicken mac and cheese hot dish/casserole. DH loved it. And I enjoyed my moderate helping, too. Casserole dishes like that are too easy to eat.
Our side was a tossed romaine salad with tomato, cucumber, and blue cheese.
We are also staying at home and making only necessary trips. DH just left to go to Sam's Club and Winn Dixie with a list.
I went to my hair stylist yesterday for a cut. She is spraying a liquid, I guess it's a disinfectant, on surfaces between customers. And she has a bottle of hand sanitizer. But I worry about her. She had chemo a few months ago for lymphoma and is doing a series of radiation treatments. She's very frail looking. But her cancer dr. at Mary Bird Perkins, the local cancer treatment center, gave her permission to keep working at her home salon. I find that astonishing. Her customers are rural/small town people who aren't world travelers.
Your schedule sounds exhausting, Eric.
0 -
The owner of my nail salon messaged me to ask if I could come in today or tomorrow for any services I need, because the statewide lockdown starts at closing time tomorrow. I reluctantly replied that my gel mani is only 9 days old, not yet lifting up; and since Bob still sees patients he may have been exposed and therefore so may have I. She has three daughters home now (two from college, one from high school) and though she could use the money, I don't want to endanger her, nor by extension them. So when my gels start to lift I will soak them up with acetone-foil wraps (I can do that easily) and then just use regular polish. No need to reinforce my "picking" nail (R index) because no gigs till at least June--and I have all the time in the world (assuming I stay well) to practice playing with fingerpicks. Once I can play cleanly with them, I may put up some videos on FB or YouTube (maybe here if the software allows).
Had my cut, color & keratin a couple weeks ago (seems like a lifetime), so I'm set for a long time. Not going out to meet people face-to-face unless absolutely necessary (I.e., stuff I must buy that can't be delivered or handed off through my car window). Even had my letrozole delivered today.
IL is officially under stay-at-home orders---Chicago did that yesterday. Jealously guarding my supply of asthma inhalers (unless Gordy needs one and can't afford it).
Ordered out tonight from Cellars: wedge salad for me, crab cake appetizer for Bob (it came with salad, but I made him a full one since the wedge has bacon, and it's a Lenten Friday). Entree for Bob was a root veggie pot pie; for me, grilled salmon with julienne veg. and grilled sweet potato slices. Also ordered the "DIY Martini" (bottle of vodka, little cup of vermouth, and olive skewers). I hauled out the shaker and made a pretty decent one (using lemon twist--Bob prefers to eat the olives on their own). Dessert was "bulletproof" almond milk cappuccino with nuts and a keto chocolate cookie. Lost 2 lbs. despite no exercise. Gotta get out tomorrow & walk! (Will cross street periodically to "social-distance").
0 -
Today's meal was another big salad - greens, cabbage & kale w/added avocado,black olives, tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, etc. Served with club crackers. I was going to do mini pizzas tomorrow, but I have asparagus that I snagged for $0.88 so I'll probably do a rosa chicken pasta to go with that. Maybe leftover asparagus on the mini pizzas the next day.
Wonder of wonders - I sent an email to my niece 3-4 hours away that I wish she lived closer so I could get some eggs from her many chickens. Turns out her brother, my nephew who lives here, is coming back home from that way tomorrow and will put 2 dozen on my front porch. That is in exchange for a 6 pack of TP.
0 -
Cooked up a little pasta and added it to the leftover chili
0 -
Mommy, I really like chili with pasta. Better than chili without pasta! Cincinnati has a good thing going.
We had the leftover pot roast with veggies last night. I added some extra carrot and potato chunks pre-cooked in the microwave. We also had our very repetitious romaine salad.
Tonight will be catfish fillets that dh bought on his trip to Winn Dixie yesterday. Sides will be fresh broccoli and salad. I will either pan sear the catfish or bread with seasoned corn meal and cook in a hot oven. Only problem with the latter method is that it's already summer weather here.
PBS is back to regular broadcasting this morning so I will have more recordings of cooking shows to watch.
0 -
No clue yet what I am doing for dinner yet. Might just do “clean out the fridge” night aka leftovers
0 -
Yesterday we had toasted baguette used for open-faced smoked sardine sandwiches with quick pickled onions and Italian parsley for lunch.
Decided to pick up pizza from one of our neighborhood favorites. (Ordered directly from the restaurant to maximize their profit, since the delivery apps take a huge cut and I oppose the "gig economy" in general.) We had the leftovers for lunch today.
Not sure about dinner. I've had a craving for nachos, but we lack tortilla chips. So I might make tostadas with tortillas and homemade salsa verde pulled from the freezer.
0 -
I'm having my leftover salad & salmon from last night. Bob called to order from the pan-Asian joint around the corner--hot & sour soup, Vietnamese summer rolls, beef & veggies, shrimp & black bean sauce, and a free side of chicken fried rice. Because I detest the sweet gloppy brown sauce they use for everything, they're putting it on the side. I will have some of the soup and shrimp if my leftovers haven't filled me up.
Gonna teetotal tonight--don't need the calories. Will order out for brunch tomorrow (Cellars does the best quiches).
0 -
Added some fresh mushrooms and 1/4 of a chicken breast (sliced) to the last of the already prepared red sauce & it is simmering. Just about to boil up some pasta
0 -
Didn't teetotal after all--there was enough leftover Alsatian riesling in the fridge for me to have a couple oz. Perfect after the hot & sour soup and with the salmon.
0 -
Carole, I’m so sorry to learn about the loss of your SIL. How sad, and especially for her immediate family, who may well have the upcoming important family milestones altered significantly given this destructive pandemic. Holding you all in my thoughts.
And Joyce, I hope you are content staying put in FL for quite a while since this mess seems like it may be here with travel warnings and restrictions for some time.
Noni, your culinary goals are impressive! I find that getting the brown bananas on my counter into bread form is a challenge anymore! Best of luck to you.....and lucky family you have there!
Eric, I hope you are able to stay safe given all the ground and hours you are covering!
Minus, you are my sweet faux mother with your concern. We are pretty much fine...mainly believe we are free of Covid-19. Given how long we have had these respiratory things, I figure we would both have expired by now if it were Covid-19.
I did need to make two trips to the hospital this week for diagnostic tests for a suddenly appearing abdominal pain. Great timing! Doc guessed possible gall stone over the telephone, and after ultra sound, blood work, and an MRI, it looks like a distended gall bladder after a stone that probably passed. B-U-T it could also be a gastric issue. So I’ll follow a low fat diet (pretty much already do), and take omeprazole for a couple of weeks to see if the pain resolves with that. Obviously, if it gets intolerable, another plan will be made. Not too excited about having any medical issue given what is about to happen at our hospitals!
DS1 and DDIL1 are busy trying to sort out their schedules, with telemedicine, and most importantly the major concern that DS1’s current flu-like illness may be Covid-19. His practice mgr was thought to have it two weeks ago, so he self-quarantined...and has been sick. Ugh! The employee couldn’t get tested. They were scheduled to be on vacation these past two weeks, but cancelled that, and hunkered down at home, with him spending time communicating with the governor about the need to close schools, restaurants, etc. He needs to be tested so he can know what he and DDIL can do re their practices. The kids have been allowed to renew their relationships with their Ipads, after a very long time. So we “see” them daily. At least I feel I can be helpful, having them do their piano practice while video chatting with us!
The other crew is working hard to create space with the nine month old whose day care is now closed. She is busy cruising, climbing, and trying to walk, so DS2 stopped here to pick up the gate system we use to make a play space for her, so they can both try to work from home while keeping her safe. I’m glad that they have created it in their whole living room since she really needs space, being quite the motor machine now. I have to believe that employers and colleagues in all industries will understand that most everyone has their kids at home now, so cries and giggles will be in the background of their calls, and a baby might be on their laps. We are not daring to go near any of them since the parents are both URI sick 🥴 and baby still has double ear infecs. Driving us crazy that we truly cannot help them given our elderly status, and my lousy lungs. It would be easy for us to have the baby here to give them a break. I so feel for all of my former client families who are at such risk for child abuse issues. Really worrisome!
Thread related....😉This week, meals were turkey chili set up as nacho grande (NOT low fat!) with cuke/red pepper/onion salad, more of that another night since I’d made lots of chili. Another night we had turkey meatballs and Rao’s marinara sauce over fettuccine with a garden salad. An old favorite appeared two nights ago...cod with Puttanesca sauce over orzo and romaine salad. Last night, DH grilled chicken thighs I’d marinated in a soy/balsamic/garlic/ginger sauce. Sides were sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, crusty bread and a garden salad.
This morning, DH made matzo brei ....but he was disappointed in the taste. I like that he is eager to fix that with some experimentation. While I complain that he “never cooks”, he really is a willing and pretty able breakfast cook. Sadly, I am not at all a morning food person...but did try some of his creation today. I definitely think he can get it right with some spices. 😊Once again I have droned on.....
I do hope you are all doing well medically and emotionally, given this exceptionally challenging time.
There are hundreds of carefully spaced people walking past our house. Better get my sneakers on and go for our walk, too. Happy for sunshine!
0 -
Good to hear your update, Lacey. Sounds like you have been cooking some good meals.
Indulged in a personal pizza using naan, roasted portabella & truffle pesto, spinach/feta chicken sausage, sauteed baby bellas & shredded mozzarella. Really hit the spot.
0 -
Frozen pizza night. Tomorrow is soup and sandwiches.
0
