So...whats for dinner?
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Leftover socca bbq "pizza" with a small salad on the side.
Costco had the copper river salmon for 13.99/pound, so we got a package (froze one big fillet and will cook the other tomorrow). It is a tad more than QFC price but looked so much better. Not sure what the sides will be yet.
Minus, if you have an outdoor outlet, you could plug the crockpot in outdoors and cook it outside, to keep the heat from inside the house. A friend of mine does that when it is too warm for them.
A lovely man helped me at the costco optical (I think he was gay and he sure knew how to be nice to this old gal). He steered me to the children's (or as they say, "youth") section and I found a pair of frames that weren't horrible looking. We'll see how well they make the lenses. 30 day return so not much to lose. I'm always tempted to get a brand new shape/style of frames when I replace my old pair, but truth be told, with my squarish face/jowls, the shape I have works well, so I just looked for something similar.
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Wally - the problems is I don't have either a crockpot or an instant pot. Got rid of the former when ceilings were re-done & never had the latter. And I do like the children's glasses frames. Good idea.
Goldie - I too eat early - between 4-5pm. Works for me. However I'm never in bed before 10pm, and tonight it will be 1am. Too many last minute things I want to tweak since my son hasn't been here in a year.
Carole - I looked up Clancys. Boy - you are seriously UP NORTH.
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Minus, apologies, I missed that you don't have those. Do you have a grill? If you had a le crueset type pot, you could set the whole thing on the grill grates and close the lid. I've seared duck that way using a cast iron pan on the grill (so the fat collects in the pan not on the heating elements). I've made the dish and I think it could be done on the stovetop---but that still heats up the house. And if push comes to shove, if all the items are already cooked, I would venture heating it through in the microwave, once composed, would work OK. I know some people are super tasters and can pick out the minutia. I'm not amongst those.
Copper River salmon tonight!
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I am kind of in the camp of no fish with cheese, but since I don't eat much fish, it is not an issue, lol! Exception to the rule - I do love a tuna melt. This also begs the question - why isn't it a tuna fish melt if we are following the tuna fish sandwich line of thought? Food for thought, ha!
Two nights ago I asked DH hot or cold for dinner - he voted cold. I had an abundance of broccoli so made a broccoli salad, which I usually do with a dressing of mayo/sweetener of some kind - lately monkfruit/cider vinegar. This is the salad you have all prob seen or had - almonds, bacon, red onion, broccoli, dried cranberries. I ended up making an almond butter dressing with a little soy sauce, brown sugar Swerve, vinegar, and some sambal oelek. The other ingredients were the same, but I also added celery. It was yummy. I also made a cobb salad but had no avocado, and subbed chopped red pepper for the tomatoes, as DH is anti-tomato, and crumbled goat cheese for the blue cheese. Dressed it with plant based blue cheese dressing. Very yum on a hot night. Last night was a pasta dish using the Caulipower pappardelle, hot Italian sausage, spinach, onion in an alfredo sauce made with plant based butter, vegan cream cheese, plant based TJ's milk, vegan parm, S&P. This was very good and I will definitely make it again. I cooked the sausage with the onion first, removed it from the pan and poured off almost all fat. Sauteed the rinsed spinach, removed it from the pan. Added the butter and cream cheese and melted and whisked, then added the milk and parm, and spices. Added the spinach and sausage back in, and when the pasta was done (frozen - cooked for several minutes at a rolling boil) I added it to the pan and tossed, topped with extra parm.
Edited to add to minus - I really like using an electric skillet, and they are more versatile than one would think. When DD was doing her paid internship at Theater of the Sea down in the FL Keys, she lived in an efficiency that did not have a stove or oven. She survived with a microwave and electric skillet - made spaghetti - sauce first then removed it to a bowl, then boiled water and cooked the pasta, chili, quesadillas, enchiladas, grilled cheese, pancakes, mac n cheese. Re-heated stuff in the microwave like we all do - it worked well for the year she lived there. She was glad to be back in a normal kitchen with the job she moved on to, but learned a lot about how to survive and eat well without a major appliance.
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My sides were roasted maitake and lion's mane mushrooms in butter, steamed broccoli and red rice.
I also poured my first gin of the year. It is a Bombay Red label. I am miffed that my favorite Beefeater has lowered its ABV and people say, the taste is off. I can't believe I used to be a bartender but cannot make a decent martini in my own home. It hit 75 or 77 (depending on where you checked) and for us, that is HOT. Worse tomorrow. before the cool down. Then hopefully, back in the 60s. I am in awe of those of you living in constant high temps most of the year.
Thanks to those who humored me on my tuna "fish" discussion.
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Wally - Bombay is my son's gin of choice. I drink Gordons if I'm mixing with tonic - but for martinis I'm a Tanqueray person.
Nope - no grill either. But it worked REALLY well in the electric skillet. Served over 7 grain rice.
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Somehow I have been missing this thread. I love my Instant Pot. It is so good for braising meats and making soups. However, nothing beats the roasting of a chicken in the oven. Crispy skin!!
My DH says I am good with the "loaves and fishes" -- taking what looks like nothing at all in the fridge and pantry, a piece of this, a sad stick of celery, and turn it into something really really good. That being said, I love the neighbourhood I live in where you can get pretty much anything you want to eat within a few blocks either way from my home. I liked having people over so I could pull out all the stops and knock them out with a great meal.
SpecialK: can I come over for dinner? How can anyone NOT like tomatoes? For me, the are part of the essential food group, along with garlic and onions.
Not a gin fan. It must be the juniper berries. It is too "perfumey" for me. I figure that is what Chanel No 5 might taste like. I have tried it in G&T, martinis etc. I usually think the first sip is okay then it is -Nope.
My DH is the same. He always says "That sounds good" Occasionally he will announce a craving. Like pan fried oysters. Fortunately we have a fresh fish market/shop about a block and a bit from where I live.
Wallycat: where do you live? I like a temperature around 70-75 F. When the Pacific Northwest got hit with the heat dome I thought I would die.
I made a big vat of a veggie soup (carrots, peppers, celery, zuchinni, eggpplant, onions, garlic) with beans and fire roasted tomatoes in my Instant Pot today that I will chill in the fridge for dinner tomorrow and freeze the leftovers for later. I'll add some fresh basil on top from my herb patch when we eat it.
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Elderberry, I live in Port Townsend. We are having another "heat dome" experience, except the high pressure is further south, so no 100s ...yet.
I only recently developed a taste for gin. I'm usually a wine gal, but with spirits, single malt, rum and brandy/cognac are my go-to. Bourbon is an "i'm not sure"...sometimes yes, sometimes no (must be the wild turkey fiasco when I broke up with my first long term boyfriend in my 20s--I'll spare you). I've only had tequila a few times so I am not sure how attached I am to it, LOL.
Minus, so happy the electric skillet worked out.
Special, your salads sound wonderful. I'd have to sub the almonds (allergies); off to copy/paste your ideas.
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Interesting reading about the crazy food combos posted here! I'm usually willing to try a bite of something new. I always told ds any time he tried a taste of food and didn't like it, he was allowed to spit it out in the trash can. That way he'd be more willing to try new foods. These days seems he's always introducing dh and I to different things we never ate before.
When dh was young, his dad shoved tomatoes in his mouth to get him to eat them so of course dh hated them. After growing tomatoes in the garden for me for many years, he gradually started to like them.
I don't like tuna steak and never cared for salmon. But I like tuna salad and tuna melts.
One thing that makes a tuna melt is the bread that's used. I love something with a crusty buttery brown crunch. A restaurant called First Watch serves a roast beef and havarti cheese sandwich on the most heavenly grilled Parmesan-crusted sourdough bread. Oh my. Most excellent! Melts in your mouth. Mmm mmm!
I'm part Italian through my mother who was a great cook. I never eat out at Italian restaurants. I was recently talking to a woman who also has Italian roots who said she never eats out at them, either.
Elderberry, I am envious of your being "good with the loaves and fishes", able to toss things together to make a tasty meal.
Illimae, I took a screenshot of your creamy Brussel sprouts recipe and plan to make it some day. Speaking of recipes and hearing another mention of Laura's salsa chicken, if someone would share the recipe, I'd love to try that, too.
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Here you go Devine: SALSA CHICKEN
2-4 chicken breasts- put them in a Pyrex dish and dump a jar of your
favorite salsa over it. Open a can of black beans and drain- dump that
over it too. Cover and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours. (it works like a
fast slow cooker and makes a sauce out of the black beans and salsa, the
chicken just shreds apart.)
Make some brown rice and 2 minutes before you are ready to eat uncover
the chicken and top with cheddar cheese, or mexican blend, what ever is
handy, We eat it using the salsa mixture on the rice as a type of sauce
and a spoonful of sour cream on the chicken.0 -
I'm not a gin fan either (also not into vodka). But I do like juniper berries in my choucroute, and the couple of times I had Dutch genever liqueur (in Amsterdam and on a Viking river cruise ) I really enjoyed it.
Last night we went out with the kids for belated Father's Day and advance 51st anniv. to the Palm (much better than I'd expected). My last visit there was in 2019, shortly after the Landry Group takeover--and remodel (from a clubby old-school NY-style Italian steakhouse to, as some described it, airport sports bar). The bar, which had been against the window-wall, was enlarged to an oval with sports TV screens. The divider partition between the bar and dining room was removed, along with the trademark caricature walls and tall wooden booths--plus the expert career wait staff. So I was pleasantly surprised to find a new post-lockdown main dining room with fewer, newer local-oriented caricatures of live people. (You got a caricature either by being a celebrity who was also a loyal customer, or someone egotistical enough to trade their frequent-diner points for their picture on the wall instead of free meals & discounts).
The menu has been tweaked since then. We split a seafood tower: oysters, clams, king crab legs, jumbo shrimp, lump crabmeat, a large lobster tail and "Sicilian poke" (which had olives, capers and for some weird reason golden raisins). I also had some of Bob's "Gigi" salad (he ate the avocado, shrimp & egg). For our entree we split a porterhouse, because he likes filet mignon and I don't mind strip steak if I don't get my first choice of ribeye. Sides were hashbrowns (I demurred), creamed spinach and sauteed broccoli rabe (aka rapini). Ate too much to even contemplate looking at the dessert menu. Tonight we split the leftovers: a shrimp each, the poke in lettuce cups, the steak, and the green veggies (again, I left the spuds to Bob). Tomorrow night I'll grill the duck breast and have the rest of the leftover rapini, with maybe some tomatoes--it's his late night at the office.
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Last night I made our usual romaine salad on dinner plates and topped with strips of crispy chicken. I coated thin chicken breast fillets with panko crumbs and cooked in a skillet.
DH ordered a pizza stone. We will try cooking pizza on the grill.
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Had to google Gigi salad. Yum.
Carole, is it a stainless "stone" or tile? Let us know how it works. That is a great idea.
I'm in meltdown mode...PTSD for a simple meet/greet with doc for colonoscopy...not even the procedure yet. Leaving in about an hour. I hate that my body does this. Rant.
Leftover copper river last night.
Tonight will be whatever I pull out of the freezer-pre-made meal. Should be our last hot day. Hopefully no more 79-80ish for the year; a gal can dream.
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We just got the internet service established!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So, I can use something other than the "painfully" slow to use "smart" phone.
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Hi everyone,
Tonight for dinner is a summer favorite in my house. We call it pasta zucchini basil. Here's the recipe below. We usually add more cheese than is listed, because...cheese.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
- 3-4 medium zucchini and or yellow summer squash, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
- 1 pound pasta, use your favorite cut
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Lemon juice, for serving (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup grated parmesan or manchego cheese
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Start your pasta first, cook your zucchini in the olive oil with the garlic. I add the basil in when the zucchini has softened. Mix everything together and top with the fresh tyme. Yummy.0 -
kotchaj - The zucchini looks good. Thanks for sharing,.
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wallycat: you are in my neck of the woods. I thought you might be in Alaska. My friends in Seattle was saying it was getting too hot. We are only about 4 - 6 degrees cooler than you guys, normally, and I have managed to keep the house cool by letting air in late at night, then closing everything up during the days and leaving fans running. If we get another Heat Dome I won't even do that. We West Coasters as whimps when it comes to extremes.
kotchaj: someone I knew once said "You can have too much cheese" You can? Really? How much is too much? Your pasta zucchini would be good cold too. I like making cold pasta salads with tomatoes, cukes, peppers, artichokes, black olives, fresh herbs.
The Salsa Chicken sounds great. However, in an Instant Pot you have to have a least one cup of liquid. You could put the breasts on the trivet that comes with the pot and have the meat above the liquid.
CaroleHalston: I keep a pizza stone on the bottom shelf of my oven. It is there all the time. I just shift it to the middle rack when I do pizzas. I let the oven reach it optimum heat but wait another 15 or so minutes so the stone is good and hot. For Wallycat: mine is baked clay of some sort. Not metal.
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If anyone uses Daily Harvest prepared meals...be careful: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/27/tech/daily-harvest-...
I ended up using the last of the red rice, added black beans, red onions, tomato sauce and cooking that through, added 4 eggs, covered till cooked, melted sharp chedder before serving. Almost like a mexican flavored shakshuka.
The ocean breeze is here!!!! We'll have some nasty winds but it will be cold air. YIPPPPPPPPPPIEEEE.
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All this talk about tuna had me craving it bad. I love tuna salad on saltines, so I had that yesterday. Tonight I used the remaining mix for a tuna melt with salad.
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WOW, that is beautiful, Illimae. Mine never looks that photo-worthy.
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elderberry - regarding The Salsa Chicken & liquid in the instant pot - I use Mrs. Renfro's Green Salsa. A jar is 16 oz and mostly liquid. But I expect you could NOT drain the liquid from the can of beans. For those trying to do a conversion, how long would you have to cook?
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Eric - either you're ecstatic to finally have decent internet, or you had gotten used to being off the grid & are perfectly happy. Cudos either way.
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There is no television reception here either, which is just like when I grew up. I still prefer radio over television because I can be doing other things while listening to the radio. The television is still in storage (in Phoenix) and will likely be one of the last things to come up.
I knew the telephone and internet connectivity would be a problem until the phone company got the service established, so I made sure the first load of stuff coming up had the gear I needed to at least eke out some faint semblance of cell phone/internet capability. We also made sure the first load of stuff coming to the new house included several boxes of books. :-)
It is a bit more than 12 miles/20km, one way, to town and 30 miles/50km to the larger town (also one way distance), so being able to call or check online with a store before driving there saved a lot of $4.98 per gallon gasoline.
Kotchaj, thank you from Sharon and I for the recipe. Sharon likes to combine pasta with zucchini, so I printed out the recipe for her. Her mom (my MIL) is up here to see the layout of the place before she moves in with us and she also likes zucchini mixed in with pasta.
We need a couple more things before we can make the tuna melt, so it will wait until we go to town for groceries or "something else". I agree that Illimae's picture looks amazing.
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Now I want to make my first tuna salad melt!
I assume the pizza stone is the clay variety. I have two at home, a round one and a rectangular one.
Walmart's had lovely globe eggplants yesterday. I bought two with the intention of making my much-liked eggplant casserole. Fortunately it's cool enough today for doing some cooking. With no house oven, I'll use the outdoor grill in "oven mode" to heat the casserole at dinner time.
Last night's dinner was grilled ribeye and baked potatoes. The potatoes were from a bag of MN potatoes, light colored and mid sized. They tasted good with butter and sour cream and grated pepper.
I'm amazed that Rao's is apparently popular with Walmart shoppers. The brand gets good shelf space, a little higher than eye level. My usual marinara was sold out so I bought a garlic marinara. The price was between $6 and $7. There is now a larger jar at a couple of dollars higher price.
Recently I used the Newman's marinara. DH's comment was that it was good but not as good as Rao's.
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Thanks Carole. I had a ceramic from Pampered chef that cracked on me, so I have been leery. I may look into the stainless one. I love the grill idea.
Eric, here I thought we lived in a "godforsaken wasteland" ...no TV would be a deal breaker for me. Well, that and the heat
.I just oven cooked up bacon while everything is cool and cloudy. Made cauliflower, bacon, cheese, red onion, lettuce shreds salad. We'll see if it becomes a side or a main meal. My neighbor in WI gave me that recipe, long ago, and I love it! She also gave me a southwestern bean salad which reminds me, I should make that.
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Last night was pork tenderloin in brandy cream sauce. I usually serve over noodles, but my son had never tasted Bob Evans mashed potatoes & I wanted to prove a point - that they are pretty good. Took DS to the airport at 4am this morning - so it will be an early to bed night. I know the Hawaiian Sliders were a success since he wanted to take two with him to ask the flight attendant to warm.
I now have leftovers for: Salsa Chicken, Hawaiian Sliders (ham & turkey) and the pork tenderloin mentioned above. I also have a bag of salad & some asparagus that I'll need to eat soon. And a dish of homemade guacamole with Rotel tomatoes & chili. Son doesn't eat "green" stuff if he can help it. Since his DW is a vegetarian, I gave him a break while he was here and the only veggies were black beans, potatoes, and some of my frozen, horded Olathe corn from last year's batch. Nothing green hit his plate.'
Eric - sounds like you are getting settled. I agree with you about the radio over a TV. I was actually listening to vinyl on my record player this weekend - Jackson Browne "Running On Empty".
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Wally - I'd like your cauliflower salad recipe if you would share.
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I'll post the recipe along with my comments; I tweak this as needed. Today, I used a bag of the tri-color salad and used cheddar cheese and a red onion. The thick cut bacon now sells as 12 oz, so that is what I used.
I usually nuke the cauliflower a bit because DH doesn't like crisp cauliflower.
I also subbed fresh spinach, chopped for the lettuce (brighter green and good combo with the bacon, and more nutritious). Oh, and I omit the sugar or add only 1 TBS. We don't like sweet main dishes/sides.
head of cauliflower - broken in small pieces
1 head of lettuce - shredded (or chopped bag of 9-12 oz baby spinach)
1 pound of bacon -cooked - broken in small pieces
1 sweet onion (chopped)
1 cup of parm. cheese, shredded.
mix together
1 1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sugar (I omit)
add dressing to salad mixture
add 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese
refrigerate over night0 -
Minus, I know you must have loved having your son's company during his visit.
I watched an interesting cabbage and beef recipe on Facebook. The cabbage was sliced into two pieces, the top piece about 1/3 of the globe. The bottom piece is hollowed out. Then filled with small meatballs. A cup of homemade red sauce is poured into the cabbage and around it in a baking dish. Top replaced on the cabbage. Wrapped in foil and baked for 90 minutes. I might try this next winter if I remember.
The eggplant layered dish was as delicious as always. I had a moment's worry when I was spooning the Rao's roasted garlic marinara. It did smell garlicky. The cheese was mozzarella and some of my remaining fresh grated romano that I brought north with me. The side was a tasty tossed salad with the home-grown romaine I was given at the farmers market. One of the nearby vendors is a farmer who gives away some items she doesn't sell. I should post a picture of her booth. It's beautiful with the veggies displayed very artfully.
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Wow Minus, that was a quick visit! But I'm sure you enjoyed every minute of it!
Y'all cook/eat stuff I've never heard of! I'm a simple cook. Yesterday was air fryer chicken, boiled potatoes with butter/parsley and a kale bag salad with dijon dressing. More tonight.
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