So...whats for dinner?
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Last night was leftover roast chicken (leg + 2 wings) and blistered shishito peppers (mixed with red pepper strips). Now, supposedly 1 out of every 4 shishitos is spicy--but 5 out of 6 of mine were. Luckily, I like spicy. (Stopped putting green bell peppers in my omelets, using poblanos or even jalapeños--seeds & ribs removed--instead. And as sharp a cheese as I can get my hands on--aged cheddar or provolone picante).
This a.m., a single egg Benedict: low-carb whole wheat toast, a slice ea. of jamon Serrano & salami, poached egg, and "Lost Ladle" brand hollandaise sauce with a dusting of cayenne. Tonight, depends on when Bob gets home. Likely a nuked chicken thigh, shrimp remoulade, with seared asparagus seasoned with balsamic. Got my Butcher Box delivery today and am drowning in pork chops, salmon, cod & sea scallops. Freezer is groaning.
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We had leftover enchiladas. Sharon's mom is now in a rehab facility. They told her that she would be there 10-15 days and then be discharged home. The doctors feel it is likely osteoporosis, which is already being treated.
We're going to go bring her cat over to our house as he is quite lonely with no one at home. It'll be an adjustment with TWO dogs that he doesn't know, but the dogs were happy to have Jessiecat around, so hopefully that will transfer. We're going to go buy a 'baby gate' with openings big enough for the cat to walk through but small enough to keep the dogs out and start out with Duffy (the cat) and all of his stuff in DD's old bedroom.
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eric - sounds like your MIL is making progress. Will she be able to be largely independent once she comes home? We have that type of a gate with the cat door, it is on our laundry room which houses the cat’s food. Our very gentle dog would never bother the cat, but he really likes cat food and the cat is a grazer, thus the door. The cat also regards it as his “safe” place - if something scares him, he runs in there. Our dog almost never barks - except at squirrels on the pool enclosure, if anyone has a Frisbee, or if you sing Happy Birthday with lit candles - so when he does the cat runs into the laundry room. Twice when both of them were outside by the pool, a squirrel appeared and the dog lost it, cat ran away but fell in the pool, so ran to the laundry room sopping wet. Yay for tile floors
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I'm hoping she'll be independent when she gets home, but I am a bit skeptical/worried. Her mind is perfectly sharp, so it will be up to her as to how she wants to handle things if she does need help. She absolutely, positively, certainly, completely,(etc.) does not want us to help, so if she does need assistance, it would likely be a choice between live-in care or an assisted living apartment.
Right now Duffy is hiding under the bed in DD's old room. This is certainly a huge change in his routine. After nearly a week being all alone, he was moved to a new place with two dogs. He has met the dogs when we took them to MIL's house and after awhile he would follow the dogs around, as if to make sure they weren't defiling his territory.
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Eric, your MIL is fortunate to have Sharon and you to help her out.
It's a lovely Louisiana fall morning here. I will have to act upon my words and venture outside to do some yard work. Heat and humidity excuse is temporarily gone.
Dinner early last evening was a seafood dinner at Pontchartrain Poboy. We met my younger sister (61 yrs. old) and her dh there, wore masks to go inside and order at the counter, then sat at a table in the dining room. The tables have been moved farther apart. Formerly they were much too close, even without Covid concerns. A waitress wearing a mask delivered the massive platters of fried oysters, shrimp and catfish. Also plates of onion rings (much to dh's delight) and fries.
This sister and her dh have not changed their lifestyle much, except when forced by the governor's actions that closed churches, limited congregations and inside dining, etc. In my view they have been fortunate not to catch Covid. They're among those of the opinion that Covid is "like the flu." You can fill in the blanks with their political views and choice of cable tv news.
Pontchartrain Poboy has not suffered any business loss during Covid. They did a huge take-out business when dine-in was prohibited and this take out business was very evident last night. They have a few outside tables.
The food order was much too large. Both couples left with take out boxes.
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Tonight is spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Going to make enough meatballs so that we can have meatball subs another night.
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Carole, I sooooo miss fried oysters--whether in a po'boy or on a plate with lemon. Tried air-frying them coated with almond & coconut flour--not the same. Low-carb has some downsides.
Eric, glad to hear your MIL has treatment options & that it's osteoporosis & not cancer mets. P.T., topicals & bracing could help.
Got my COVID (PCR) test result this a.m.--NEGATIVE!!! WHEW!
Last night's dinner was nuked leftover chicken thigh, asparagus sauteed in olive oil & balsamic and sprinkled with white truffle salt, and cauliflower florets tossed in Sur La Table's Cauliflower Seasoning and roasted. Dessert was cashews, and later an Atkins bar & pistachios. But couldn't fall asleep (Bob's snoring & cigarette smoke odor clinging to his hair, pulsatile tinnitus), so went downstairs, watched some Jeopardy!, did an acrostic, and--bad Sandy--gave into some carb craving: keto cereal mixed with Paleonola (which has honey) and a half dozen Whole Foods flour tortilla chips (definitely now a "trigger" food for me). Gonna be a good girl tonight. Brunch was a Benedict (on half of a Mikey's keto "English muffin," which is actually more like cornbread in taste & texture, with a slice each of jamon Serrano and uncured salsichon--Spanish salami--and topped with nuked Lost Ladle Hollandaise).
Going to Cellars tonight--or ordering out if they're too crowded to safely dine indoors. Still trust only them for the latter. They can't afford to rewire to power overhead electric heaters inside their tents, and propane heaters are illegal inside tent walls. If the city still allows indoor dining come Thursday, we're goint to their wine dinner--it may well be their last. Some West Loop restaurants have set up individual igloos with heaters for one table per--will likely have to reserve a week or two ahead.
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Eric - yes, I agree, your MIL is lucky to have you both. Especially since you listen & let her take the lead instead of trying to take over & tell her what to do.
Sandy - glad you test was negative.
Mommy - Oh you've made my hungry for spaghetti & meatballs.
I made Florentine Chicken tonight - sauteed & then white wine & reduced & then heavy cream & cooked until thick, etc... The flavor was delicious but the 'sauce' was too thin. I think I'll try Carole's spinach idea and use cream cheese next time.
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Dinner tonight was a rerun of last night's "goololli". Had my broken tooth pulled Thursday morning and a temporary bridge put in. The goololli was easy to eat without putting pressure on the sore gum and and tasted really good. Gradually healing from my fall (never fast enough!)
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Eric, I' M hoping that your MIL makes good progress and upon her discharge from rehab, finds a satisfactory living arrangement. Not an easy transition. Tho I'm sure she is relieved to know that her cat Is being well cared for.We are back home. Yesterday was a frenzied effort to finish housecleaning, pack clothes, then food, close up the place, and drive home in the rain. I am finding that those “return days" really exhaust me since reaching “old age". I must figure out a way to reduce the frenzy. But, we are back!
For last night's dinner, we ordered pizza from one of the local places we like....they make Italian style. One thing we miss at the lake is a reliably good pizza restaurant. So we enjoyed our homecoming pizza dinner.
Today on our walk, we took our mail-in ballots to the drop box in front of our town hall, then proceeded to the grocery store to pick up salmon for dinner. I was concerned that the wild caught coho might be a bit to strong tasting for me....so I marinated it in a honey/orange/garlic/soy sauce. It didn't matter. I could't get past the first bite. So I had salad (with an orange vinaigrette dressing), a sweet potato, and part of a baguette with a garlic/avocado spread. I'll know to avoid that serious salmon again! But will buy it for DH. 😉
Today, I also dropped my sewing machine off to a woman who services them. She owned a sewing store in our town and ultimately had to close it after 20 years due to high rent. I was happy to learn that she is available for machine servicing, since I figure I need to give mine some TLC. Also learned that she has started an online sewing subscription service which I might join to take some courses and maybe even finish a quilt that I started over 20 years ago!
Carole, I admire your tolerance for going out to dinner with a sister who sounds so opposite in thinking/life choices than you. I hope the food was wonderful! I would need to talk about the food the whole time to avoid conflict topics!
Rather than a pic of the too strong coho salmon, here's DH popping our ballots into the drop box at town hall. I am so deeply troubled about so many voters needing to wait in line for up to 11 hours to vote. I vacillate between feeling over privileged for our voting ease and being angry at the disgrace of expecting voters (often with the fewest resources) to wait so long. We have much to correct In our nation!
I hope everyone is remaining well as the Covid surges are predicted. I do believe the Thanksgiving gathering choices will certainly be critical to maintaining our health.
Oh, and Minus, I did get the radiology report on the lumbar MRI which indicates all sorts of (mild to moderate) issues I don't quite understand. Good news is no metastasizes! Will know how to proceed to do whatI can to make it more livable once I speak with my doc this week.
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Thinking ham steak, fried potatoes and salad.
Had enough meatballs leftover for meatball subs for another night.
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Yay for negative test, Sandy!
Lacey, my siblings and I have a text communication that helps us keep in touch. We share pictures and news. But we have to steer clear of any political discussion. It was the same in the past when we had fairly frequent family gatherings. My mother ruled in insisting on no arguments. She was a genius at changing the conversation if it veered toward contention.
Dinner last night was a leftovers buffet that was quite enjoyable. I made a stir fry of the leftover pork roast and brown rice. Warmed up the white beans and andouille with some brown rice mixed in. Warmed up the creamed spinach.
I worked in the yard yesterday and made some progress. More to do today.
Minus, I do not put onions in my creamed spinach. Two additions that are quite good are chopped artichoke hearts and water chestnuts. My original recipe calls for sliced water chestnuts and quartered artichoke hearts in the bottom of a greased casserole dish with the creamed spinach on top and bread crumbs topping all.
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Oh Carole - thanks for that Spinach update. Funny - I had a 1/2 can of artichoke hearts in the fridge. I thought about adding them but decided not to for my first foray into this particular recipe.
And I figured out what I did wrong to make the 'sauce' so thin.. The recipe called for cooking the dredged chicken first and leaving all the little bits in the pan. I used leftover rotisserie chicken, so there was no thickening. If I'd thought of it, I could have just sprinkled some flour in with the melted butter. Still, the flavor was terrific. I used Torrontes white wine from Argentina. Since I had to open a bottle for the recipe, I poured a full glass to inspire my cooking.
Today was the last of the Rosemary Chicken breasts. They had originally been cooked too long, so I sliced in small strips and heated with some "Better than Bouillon" vegetable broth. The chicken absorbed enough moisture and was perfect served over mashed potatoes.
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Lacey, when I was growing up we couldn't afford fresh salmon--besides, in my majority-Jewish B'klyn. 'hood, salmon either came in cans to be dumped on a plate of iceberg and unripe tomato slices, or cold-smoked: salty, or "Nova" (slightly less salty) lox. The day after our wedding, we moved to Seattle, where salmon was cheaper (we lived a few blocks from Ivar's Salmon House, where you could get a whole meal--wood-grilled salmon, wild rice, green beans & cornbread--for five bucks) and almost always wild. Now, I like both wild Pacific and farmed Atlantic (or farmed Chilean)--but to me they're like steak vs. chicken thighs. I've always liked "fishy" fish--back in my adolescence, sometimes we'd go down to Sheepshead Bay and buy the catch (usually striped bass) fresh off the boats. Now, thanks to Butcher Box, I have a freezer full of sockeye filets, and at least once a week I'll order out for grilled Atlantic.
Last night we braved the windy chill and ate in Cellars' open-on-one-side tent--our leather jackets helped a lot. We split a Caesar and a platter of calamari. Bob's entree was a root veg. "pot pie" (a stew of carrots, parsnips, turnips, mushrooms & cipolline onions topped by a large square of puff-pastry). I had gorgonzola meat loaf with mushroom glaze, green beans, and mashed sweet potatoes (instead of mashed white spuds). This morning & picked up brunch: my usual broccoli-cheddar quiche (I ate the crust, don't judge), and a bagel-lox platter for Bob. Tonight will be my leftovers for me, plus some rotisserie chicken breast and two more veg. (broccolini, perhaps, and cauliflower) for Bob.
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Minus, I admire you for preparing varied meals for yourself.
Our dinner last night was a big prime ribeye, slightly over the 1 lb. weight. DH cooked it on the grill to perfect medium rare. Our side was twice baked potatoes. There are two halves left over for another meal.
I bought the ribeye out of the case at Winn Dixie. The pre-packaged ribeyes tend to be a bit too thinly cut.
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Dinner last night was leftover roast chicken, with frozen palak paneer (Indian creamed spinach with soft cheese cubes). Bob had assorted Filipino dishes, cooked for the office by his medical partner---he brought some home for me: shrimp, marinated squid, and vegetable pansit (cellophane noodles). Tonight will be his belated birthday dinner: grass-fed NY strip steaks (grilled if it's not raining, cast-iron seared if it is), broccolini, cherry-tomato basil salad, and for Bob "Ancient Grains" and for me the rest of the leftover palak paneer.
Yesterday, my housekeeper brought over an entire quart of cherry tomatoes. Her neighbor had a bumper crop, with much of the vines hanging over the fence--and she allowed her to keep all those on her side of the fence, which was more than half a gallon. Hope my basil keeps up before it finally freezes.
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Probably no dinner here tonight.
I was out sifting gravel for about 5 hours and I'm not particularly hungry, so Sharon ate some left-overs. Making it even more fun was my wearing an industrial dust/gas mask. When wearing it, I look like Darth Vader, but I won't end up with mud in my sinuses.
I also got some filters for the mask that take care of the fumes from the better household shower cleaners. Before, a clean shower "cost" me a 3 days long sore throat.
The garden here is starting to come back to life. We have two growing seasons here, spring and fall, interspersed with two "kill seasons". Tomatoes don't do well in the fall season, but the Serrano peppers more than make up for the lack of fall tomatoes.
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Yup Eric, the two growing seasons. Interesting that my "Mexican Mini" tomatoes are having a fall resurgence. Don't know the technical name, but I got a start from a friend last March. They apparently seeded themselves after our "spring" season when I thought everything had died in the hot summer. Now I walk out daily and these are growing & blooming again. I get 4-10 tiny tomatoes the size of your thumb nail every day.
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Florida’s growing season is winter - which is weird. Our strawberries are here in March, and by June nothing grows. For the rest of the summer all the produce in the stores comes from somewhere else. For a California girl it seems like an upside down world.
Dinner last night was NY strip steaks that I bought during my last grocery store trip on Mar 17 and found in the freezer. Had some roasted baby potatoes and a small mixed green salad with a lot of radishes.
Night before last I was doing dishes and went to spray the sink - my faucet comes out and turns into a sprayer - and realized that water was coming out of the hose and all over me. Then looked down and saw the water starting to come out of the cabinet below. Ugh. So, the remainder of the evening was devoted to a mop up operation. DH had his imaging (MRI and bi-lat carotid US) in the morning and took the rest of the day off yesterday. He has adequate plumbing skills so we picked out a new faucet online, he went and grabbed it, and installed it! Yay! There was a minimal amount of bad words, but it’s tough to work in the space under the sink!
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Special - oh no about the water games. Eeek. How is your DH doing? Healing totally complete?
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minus - it’s always something, right? The funny thing is that I had just taken all the stuff out from under that cabinet - reorganized it - and cleaned the cabinet. DH is good, still in the process with the ophthalmologist that the ENT sent him to to find out what his eye issue is. He has had no further lights or swarms of floaters, but is receiving a full workup.He had some labs done and the MRI and US. His follow up with the eye doc is the 27th - which is also his b-day. The ENT felt his healing was ahead of schedule. It’s interesting when you have this surgery you can’t sneeze or blow your nose for a long time!
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OMG - so what do you do when you feel the urge to sneeze? I've never been successful stopping sneezes. And do you just let the snot rundown your face. Sorry - TMI but I'm in a weird mood tonight.
Maccaroni & butter for dinner with a side of mashed acorn squash. I had other interesting things planned but drank two glasses of Torrontes white wine while answering phone calls & frankly didn't much care after that. But I had to eat something since it was my only meal today.
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I've been wearing a mask for 4-6 hours a day while sifting the gravel and have come to the realization that "the mask will collect the runny nose". I suppose that's why "hygiene issues" are one of the replacement criteria for certain classes of filtering respirators. :-)
One of the priests, where I drive buses, was talking about plumbing projects and mentioned Job. I said that at least he wasn't talking about Noah. He got quite a laugh over that.
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Dinner was arroz con pollo in the Instant pot. Coming up on a week since having a tooth pulled and a three teeth temporary appliance put in. Not yet able to comfortably bite into anything so planning meals where things can be bite size for eating, this no fajita meat purchased when grocery shopping today. Found several instant pot chicken re up as that look interesting and doable.
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After getting the "all clear" on the annual mammogram today, DH and I celebrated at dinner by going to an outdoor, local Italian restaurant and enjoyed the beautiful evening. Seafood asparagus penne in a rose sauce (rich, it didnt even look like I ate anything when I finished -- believe me I did!) Along with a Cesar salad and a delicious Argentinean Malbec. He had baked ziti.
I should sleep well. The tension and anxiety pre-testing never really gets too much better for me. So I try to contain it to the day of any appt. Kind of give myself permission to feel the angst for that day only. It sometimes works 😏
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minus - one of the things he has had to do is use an aerosol saline spray, initially hourly when awake for the first three weeks, and this seemed to quell the urge to sneeze. You can wipe your nose gently, just cannot blow your nose. Fortunately the saline spray seems to prevent congestion as well, so he hasn't had any urge to blow his nose, and the pain from all the work on the deviated septum and other bone damage is painful still so he really doesn't want to.
eric - we have oak tree pollen right now and I am allergic. I am mostly staying in the house but when I do go out, I hate the runny nose inside the mask. I feel like I need a tissue inside the mask!
beaver - I would be all over some mac n cheese, with an ice cream chaser. Hope you are feeling like you can bite soon - having done the implant thing I feel ya.
reader - yay for an all clear - while my BMX was not a one and done experience I am glad I don't have to have any more mammograms. They turned out to be useless for me in the final analysis, but they have to be anxiety producing once you have had a cancer diagnosis.
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Rao came to the rescue again last night! A lb. of Italian sausage, a jar of Rao, and a package of linguine. Fresh grated Italian cheese (name?). Ta-Da!
I used the multi-cooker a couple of days ago to cook a beef pot roast. Saute function to brown. Pressure function to cook to tender stage. Slow cooker function to cook veggies. I added the sliced beef on top of the veggies to warm up during the final stage of cooking veggies. Nothing was overcooked and the pot did most of the work.
Tonight will probably be leftovers. I'm having lunch with two women friends.
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In order to suppress a sneeze (as I've had to do while performing), I've found that tickling the roof of my mouth with my tongue is a counter-irritant that distracts the brain and displaces the urge to sneeze.
Last night's dinner was some of that Filipino food Bob brought home from the office: marinated shrimp & squid, plus (carb alert) three little lumpia (sort of a spring roll) and 1/2 c. pansit (cellophane noodles) with chicken & celery; supplemented with garden cherry tomatoes & basil.
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eric - love the noah quip. Beaver - good to hear from another voice in the 'hot' lands. Reader - so glad your tests were negative. I have to see my oncologist next month. Ugh. Special - Great about the saline spray. I learn something new every day. Carole - my only problem with Rao's is that I WAY over stocked the first of the year. And bought the LARGE bottles at Costco too. So one bottle is 4 or 5 meals. How did the lunch go? I saw on another thread that you were going to be the "baby" of the group. Interested to hear about the venue.
I finished the last of my Christmas shopping today - everything on line this year. Since almost no one lives in town, I'll start wrapping & packaging to get everything mailed by 11/15 this year. I don't trust the new postmaster general to follow the orders to keep things the same. This turned out to be a great way to "tune out" what passes for politics.
Dinner was a large green salad w/artichoke hearts, cucumbers, mushrooms, radishes, carrots, and Mexican Mini tomatoes from the garden. I'm excited about my virtual Bach concert coming up at 7:30pm. Need to go open a bottle of wine.
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I had planned to make spaghetti squash again with the Prego sauce, red peppers, mushrooms, olives and ground turkey but the red pepper was moldy inside and the jar of sauce I opened a few days ago smelled off so I improvised by mixing mild La Victoria Red Sauce and Heinz Ketchup together and it was a surprising acceptable substitution. I don't think anyone would realize it wasn't pasta sauce.
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