So...whats for dinner?
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Special I will have to add that recipe to my rotation. Sounds delish. Thank you for sharing.
Tonight DH wanted to make dinner again! He made a great chili recipe from the back of the packet of McCormick's low sodium chili mix. Just add ground beef, beans and tomatoes. Actually quite good and I didn't have to cook it. Win-win. 👍😉
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Thanks Special - cream cheese is now on my grocery list.
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You're welcome - it is a pretty forgiving recipe as well, you can change up the topping cheese, or use leftover marinara, sub sausage or ground turkey for ground beef, use different noodles, or fat free cream cheese and sour cream. The recipe makes a 13x9 pan, so you can also cut it down if you don't need that much!
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Your casserole/hot dish sounds good, SpecialK. I like the idea of the white sauce made with those ingredients rather than a bechamel.
I enjoyed our simple meal last night, which started with thawing a large chicken breast, boneless skinless. I cut it into three pieces the way I saw on a cooking show some years ago. The pointed end about 1/3 of breast. Then the remainder sliced into two thinner pieces. Flattened all three, seasoned them, brushed them with a small amount of egg beater, and lightly breaded with Italian bread crumbs. Browned in small amount of grape seed oil. May be my favorite use of not-too-flavorful chicken breast.
Side was white cheddar mac and cheese. From a box, Cracker Barrel. Dh made a wonderful salad of many ingredients. I put out the two salad plates and requested, Just make a reasonable size salad. But as the ingredients were added, the two plates were mounded up.
Tonight's dinner may be the last package of shrimp in the freezer.
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Last nights meal was orange chicken and fried rice, made by me and egg rolls, courtesy of Trader Joe's. There was too much prep for me to want to make it often but since one of our two Chinese restaurants closed, making it myself is the better option for orange chicken. It's DH's favorite Chinese dish.
Yesterday I went to the local butcher in search of baby back ribs. It's a small store but they do their own processing so it's the only place in town where you can order exactly what you want. I buy most of my beef at Costco but pork is prevalent and good here so I get that locally. I was met with a fairly long line of people spaced 6 feet apart, half with masks, and a guy at the door letting people in as people left. That was new. Apparently because the local stores had limited meat supply this business is picking up the slack. Good for them.
Anyway dinner is, of course, baby back ribs, corn on the cob and a small salad. It's going to be in the 80s today - too warm for the first of May.
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carole - yes, making the white sauce out of cream cheese and sour cream also doesn't heat up the kitchen with the stove or take as much time - you just have to be sure the cream cheese is room temp first so they mix. I have found that dropping spoonfuls over the top of the noodles and then smearing with the back of a spoon or offset spatula works best for that layer.
We too had chicken breast last night - roasted, with a kale salad with julienned apple, macadamia nuts and a creamy balsamic dressing, and yellow squash sautéed, smashed and combined with a beaten egg, a little milk, some grated cheddar, and seasoned panko crumbs, then baked.
Florida is slated to come off stay-at-home orders on Monday, with a phased approach. Restaurants can open with 25% occupancy and socially distant table arrangement, although the restaurants say they can't turn a profit with that, so not sure what will happen. Hair and nail salons can't open yet. DH's workplace opening requires 14 days of sequentially lower cases reported, and testing is now more readily available locally, with no insurance requirement, which is good. The military base may relax that 14 day requirement, but not sure. We had a conversation with my SIL last night, she is a nurse for a plastic surgeon in NC, who does breast recon as well as elective cosmetic procedures. They have had no work so she was asked if she would be willing to work on COVID floors and elsewhere in the hospital. She declined - due to her age, she turns 66 this year - so is home, having to use her accrued vacation to get paid. Her fellow non-nurse colleagues all volunteered to work elsewhere in the hospital. They accepted because they knew they would not be utilized due to not being nurses, so they are staying at home and being paid without using their paid time off. Not fair. I have been home, with the exception of going to DD's house for the termite treatment, for 45 days. As we were having this conversation with my SIL I mentioned my low WBC on my last blood tests, and that this was the reason I have stayed home and been such a freak about laundry and masks and no visitors, etc.. DH was aghast - this has been mentioned about 100 times, lol and apparently he just absorbed this info. SMH. There is a breakout of cases online yesterday by zip code in the county I live in, and ours had the second highest number of positive cases. This zip is predominantly suburban single fam homes and condos, but not particularly densely packed. I was surprised to see this, but also confirms why it makes sense to be careful. I am a bit worried that this phased opening is going to cause a spike, but not sure what the alternative is. Bleh... DD's boss has indicated that travel will resume for her and her fellow regional sales managers on June 1st. Her first destination will be Miami, the epicenter of infection in FL, not great, but she also needs her job. She will just have to be super careful and hope she is lucky.
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None of Bob's nurses will go near patients--no BPs, EKGs, pacer checks, etc. I don't know why he doesn't just close up the practice and call it a day--except his partner won't agree (she wants to keep her insurance till she goes on Medicare, which I can understand, but she can afford private insurance). Nevertheless, when the $ stops coming in, the practice will shut down. Meanwhile, he's back at Little Co. of Mary this weekend, so I won't see him till tomorrow night because I make him stay at a hotel. (He left this morning w/o taking out the garbage, picking up my prescription, or even trying on the belts he insisted I buy him).
We ordered out from Cellars last night: tomato-bean soup (meh), crab cakes (1 for me, 2 for him) and fish & chips. (4 pieces, so he had 3 and I let myself have one plus a handful of fries to celebrate hitting goal). We had a large salad he brought home Thursday from Pompei, so that (plus the mesclun with the crab cakes and the slaw with the fish) was our veg.
Tonight I may dig out a couple of burgers to grill, as it's warm & sunny out. Tomorrow, Cellars will be doing brunch again, so I will order him bagel & lox (which he'll eat when he gets home) and a DIY Bloody Mary kit, plus quiche and salad for me.
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Meatball grinders
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Last night's carnitas turned out really well. I cooked the chunks of pork shoulder in my Instant Pot with the aromatics, drained them, basted them with a bit of the fat skimmed off the liquid and then crisped the pieces under the broiler. Only took about an hour start to finish, and we have loads of leftovers.
I have lots of bits and pieces of bread taking up space in my freezer, so pulled them out along with a couple of Italian sausages and will be making a strata tonight.
Eric - I'm a paralegal at the SF City Attorney's Office. My group deals solely with civil litigation (i.e., money cases) and the courts are more or less closed for that. So not exactly "essential" work in my opinion. I told my supervisor that it's not right to instruct support staff to go into the office, thereby risking their health and safety and that of their families simply because the office hasn't provided them with the tools to work remotely, while the attorneys remain safely at home. Got no real response to that. I'm also being asked to try to figure things our from home without remote access. Which is incredibly inefficient and frustrating - I'm being sent documents via e-mail that aren't searchable, and I don't even have a printer.
I'm thrilled to be part of the contact tracing assignment. Much more important right now. And we made the news!
San Francisco recruits army of social workers, librarians and investigators to track Covid-19
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/01/san-francisco-contact-tracing-coronavirus-california
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Magari, I'm so glad I retired from active law practice a few years ago. Working from home is a PITA, but I can't imagine going to court under these conditions. Bad enough Bob won't retire (and this is his Little Company of Mary--aka SW Side COVID snake pit--weekend). True, we can't do what we had planned to during retirement (restaurants, movies, concerts, theater, travel), but safety first. There's always Netflix, reading, and walking.
Breakfast was two fried eggs, one strip of bacon and a small piece of buttered toast with coffee. Lunch (after getting back from errands) was half a tuna sandwich. I bought two basil seedlings to replace the plants that died suddenly from root-rot due to being pot-bound, plus another package of basil leaves (the one I bought two days ago croaked despite my putting it in water by the windowsill). I'm hoping the new stuff can last a few days in a smaller glass of water on the middle island, with a plastic bag over it. Also got three tomato seedlings to transplant into the large pots our landscaper brought up on to the deck. (Alas, his crew screwed up and pulled up my chives, mistaking them for weeds. At least they saved the parsley and strawberries).
Dinner was the rest of the salad we ate last night, plus four grape tomatoes and a couple ounces of lox. Used the last of the vinaigrette for the greens, and squeezed lemon over the lox before garnishing it with fresh dill. (Not gonna try to grow any of that, as I've never had any luck with it). I'm defrosting a pork tenderloin to grill tomorrow night should I have room left after the brunch broccoli-cheddar quiche I'm ordering from Cellars, and Bob wants more than the bagel & lox I'm ordering for him. (I've been dreaming about their quiche since March: it's mile-high and insanely fluffy, like a soufflé).
Gonna do clothing laundry tomorrow (today was linens & towels), and maybe walk over to Whole Foods to buy a packet of chives to tide me over till the garden center gets less crowded when the novelty wears off.
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Dinner last night was a hot dish/casserole with the leftover white cheddar mac and cheese, steamed asparagus cut into pieces, and sauteed shrimp, half a can of cream of chicken soup and some water for "loosening." The shrimp were large so I cut them in half or in thirds. The dish was quite pretty and tasty.
The side was our usual tossed romaine salad absent an avocado since we are out of avocados. DH abandoned the two plates saying that he finds it easier to throw everything into a bowl.
Tonight's dinner will probably be meatloaf with ground beef and ground pork out of the freezer. A cauliflower will probably become cauliflower mash.
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Tonight was Baked Potato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
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Friday was delicious French toast from a leftover loaf of San Francisco Sourdough that has been hiding in the back of my fridge. Yesterday was a big green salad. Today was 1/2 cup egg salad, a fairly large piece of chocolate pudding cake, and tonight 1/2 cup of Spanish peanuts. Finished the last 6 oz in a bottle of Espelt Garnacha from Spain. That is a delicious wine & not eligible to shop to Texas. What a shame.
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Yesterday's dinner was a sorry excuse for a normally delicious red stuffed pepper dish. I tried to make it in a stovetop electric skillet I rarely use. Results were meh so we compensated by washing it down with a sweet Niagara wine.🍷
Tonight no experiments. We picked up Indian takeout. Chicken Korma and garlic naan. Yum!
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The meatloaf, a mixture of ground beef and pork, was cooked on the outdoor grill. It had/has a good flavor. The side, cauliflower mash, was good, too. I've learned that the mash is not hot enough out of the food processor so I transfer it to a casserole dish and heat it in the microwave.
Today I will cook dry navy beans, maybe only half the bag. The seasoning will be a couple of slices of smoked pork hocks out of the freezer.
I am feeling relieved about the tree removal job. A man from a reputable company came and gave a quote that we immediately accepted. It will be pricey but the tree is a danger and must be removed.
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Carole - such good news about the tree removal. Hope the process goes smoothly.
Dinner was another large salad. Pretty much everything leftover in the fridge got chopped & added. Citrus/Onion dressing. Opened a bottle of Estancia Meritage - a red blend wine I had been saving. I'd forgotten, this one's from Paso Robles too. Yum to one glass while chopping & one glass while eating.
I'm having a hard time finding Vitamin C tabs. I only take 500mg and what I can find is 1000mg. Tomorrow I'm going to hit Walgreens and if necessary, CVS.
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Homemade cheese pizza tonight (our current favorite) and an unimaginative side salad with a garlicky vinaigrette.
Had to make an unanticipated trip to the store today to get forgotten peppers so I can make fajitas for cinco de Mayo. Since today was the first day of lifting of restrictions I fully anticipated a lot of nut jobs rushing to the store, throwing caution to the winds and declaring the pandemic “over.” I was pleasantly surprised to find the usual half masked small crowd and handful of crazies. The big crowd was at the local garden center which just fully opened today. Those gardeners have been going through withdrawal
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Brunch was quiche (I broke down and ate a third of the crust) and salad; dunch was a small tuna salad sandwich. Bob didn't get home till after 10, and inhaled the bagel & lox platter; I had a decaf breve cortado (between a cappuccino & macchiato), a keto peanut butter cookie, and a square of sugar-free dark chocolate with almonds.
Went to bed about 1:45; was woken up at 5:30 by one of those awful tibial cramps and Bob's snoring; using earplugs caused the pulsatile tinnitus but white noise generator failed to drown out the snoring. So I went downstairs and had early breakfast: Cheerios (allowed once in a blue moon) mixed with paleo "granola" and almond milk. Watched the final "Chicago P.D." and went back upstairs, having taken the other half of the 0.5 Xanax. Bob had stopped snoring so loudly, so I put in the earbud, fired up the "brown noise" (thanks, Judy!) and put on the combo headband/sleep mask. Kitties woke me up 11:15. Finally had brunch at 1--a 2-egg bell pepper/provolone omelet.
Was going to roast the pork tenderloin tonight, but Bob called and said he will be bringing home a boatload of fried chicken about 9pm. So I'll have some (peeling off the breading) along with my leftover salad and maybe a small Caprese. Just had a breve cappuccino to tide me over.
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minus - yay for Estancia! We have their Pinot Noir often! Their winemaker is a Cal Poly grad.
chisandy - boatload of fried chicken - I’m on my way...
I spent the day, actually last two, removing the slipcovers from my exceedingly large sectional and washing them - took five loads, drying them in the dryer until just damp and then air drying so they didn’t shrink, ironing them, and then putting the covers back on. The cushions are down and difficult to put the covers back on. Kind of like putting shoes on babies - they don’t help and you kind of have to mash their little feet in, lol! I definitely broke a sweat and had to have a sit down afterward, lol! But, it looks great!
Dinner tonight was chicken stroganoff and a side of yellow squash.
Today was Florida’s first day of reopening. Since I haven’t left the house things seemed pretty much the same to me. DH is still working from home this week, not sure about next week. My dentist reopened today - DH has an appt on Wed., I had one in April that was rescheduled for July. They have a protocol that will be followed, will be interesting to hear about it.
We are having our pool resurfaced this week - not looking forward to it. Fortunately the city cuts you a break on the cost of water to refill it. Wish I could donate the water they will drain out, it’s literally money down the drain. I need all the power washing trucks with those big tanks to line up outside and we will fill them up, lol!
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Chicken stroganoff. A new thought.
Last night was navy beans cooked with smoked pork over brown rice. The only side was cornbread with butter. Instead of Jiffy, I used a Martha White mix that makes the same size small pan of cornbread. I found it to be better.
I have a dentist appointment today which will probably lead to an expensive crown. The tooth has a horizontal crack line near the top. The procedure is to call from the parking lot on arrival. I will be admitted and taken directly to the exam room.
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Regressed into childhood for early dinner today. Macaroni & cheese, with baby peas & tuna mixed in. Lots of carbs, I know. Cool & wet here today. Went out at 7:30 am with mask & all to grocery shop & felt like something warm & comforting.
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celia - sometimes you just want comfort food, right?
Dinner tonight will be a salad trio - Waldorf (apples, celery, walnuts), tricolor rotini pasta salad with a plethora of vegetables and roasted garlic dressing, and a classic chicken salad, possibly with curry powder added to the creamy dressing.
DH had a late breakfast of fried rice with extra scrambled egg. Fried rice was his pre-flight breakfast when he flew in the USAF - I have never gotten a clear explanation of the origin other than they flew a B-52 at low level, not what it was designed for - it is a high altitude bomber, but they flew it low to evade radar - and often crew members got nauseous due to jet exhaust entering the crew compartments. Fried rice seemed easier on his stomach, although he is not a puker. All that to say, he didn't want lunch so took a break to go to CVS and get sparkling water, cashews and macadamia nuts, and shop for wine on sale - I had coupons that were expiring!
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Pork chops, mashed taters and corn
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Guac, sheet pan fajitas with colored peppers and onions and tomalito. Cheese, sour cream and pico de gallo on the side.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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Roasted a small heritage pork tenderloin (marinated for 15 min. in olive oil, S&P, and herbes de Provence). Nuked Bob some Seeds of Change Spanish-Style rice (had quinoa & a bit of corn in it), plus an insalata Caprese. Even though 1/3 of the supermarket basil I'm keeping in water under a plastic bag had croaked, the rest was still okay. Tomorrow we will be ordering from Chez Simo, a French bistro a couple of neighborhoods to the southwest that is falling on tough times (they've started a GoFundMe) and has requested customers call rather than use GrubHub. Will order onion soup, moules marinière, frisee salad and duck breast. Thurs. Bob will pick up either from the Palm or Greek Islands, Fri. we'll call Cellars, Sat. eat the leftovers, and call them again for brunch on Sunday.
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for Cinco de Mayo tonight I made cinnamon tortilla chips, beef empanadas, and Mexican pizza. Now I'm tired
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No Cinco celebration for us. Hub went shopping during senior hour this morning and picked up nice bourbon glazed salmon so we had that, baked potato and baked baby tomatoes with a little butter, Italian seasoning and fresh parmesan sprinkled on top.
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One each - Zucchini & yellow squash spiralized together. Steamed a bit and then I added a small can of mushrooms and some spaghetti sauce. It made a full 1-1/2 Qt Corning dish, but I managed to eat it all. Zoodles may look like pasta, but they don't taste like pasta. Sigh - well they are healthier.
Finally found some Vit C today. And got to the nursery with 'samples' to figure out what was causing the leaves on my plumarias to roll up and the leaves on my gardenia to turn yellow/brown and fall off. Two different problems - each solution cost $20.00.
Been working on my property protest. I'm almost done except I can't remember how to customize the photos with text & symbols. I only did it once and that was a year ago, which I think is a perfectly valid excuse. I have a "tutorial review" on the phone with my son tomorrow afternoon.
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We really like Estancia wines too. Those Paso Robles red blends are nice. But I am also really s fan of the $6 Sangiovese we get from Wegman's. Their “six buck chuck", I guess.
So despite the mini hype about Cinco de Mayo, it alluded our kitchen today. I Was really hankering for oatmeal and walnuts with a dollop of cherry jam for dinner, so that's what I had! For DH, I heated up a recently made chicken parm with rotini, with a side of cuke, red pepper, red onion and black olives in a balsamic dressing. Would love to have salmon tomorrow, so if DH is willing to head to Wegman's that could happen. But we'll see...
Things are pretty boring here...Tho our being lucky for that is not lost on me. Just waiting for a good rain to reduce tree pollen so I can take a walk. Our across the street neighbors who rewrite motivational messages on boards placed next to their hedges this week advised, “Make your bed...It really helps!". I agree.
What also helped this week was an adorable video of little DGD-2 discovering her early morning shadow, and trying her best to figure out what was going on with it, why its head felt like the wall It was on, as did its hands, etc. Very entertaining and sweet. We so appreciate DS2 sending usvideos of her milestones that we must miss.Minus, I don’t recall what your property protest is about.
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Lacey - The local (county) appraisal districts re-value everyone's property every year. Since Texas has no income tax, a large portion of all revenue comes from property taxes. (think all schools) Of course the values & thus the taxes go up every year. You have to file a formal protest & likely go to a hearing if you don't agree. That means spread sheets for how equity values compare with your neighbors and spread sheets for market value of last years sales. But of course, no one has to disclose the sales since everything's a secret. I think I can prove my house is unfairly valued for both equity & market. And then you have to send pictures to show your particular condition issues.
My niece has been sending me videos too of her 3 & 5 year old boys. Fun stuff.
And last but not least, I've decided I'm against making beds. Oh I straighten the covers, but leave the sheet & blanket turned back at a jaunty angle for airing.
Special - I've love fried rice for breakfast if I have leftovers. No way would I do all that chopping early in the morning. But then I like pizza leftovers for breakfast too. Where's Bedo when I need her to weigh in on strange eating habits.
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