So...whats for dinner?
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Five quarts of turkey broth (stock?) are cooling off a bit so I can skim the fat off before I "can" it.
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Happy December 1.. where does the time go. I’m reading everyone’s dishes from thanksgiving, and it makes my mouth water. This year I ordered the dinner from the local restaurant since it was just the four of us, and it was really good. First time I’ve had turkey in years. I’m mostly plant based with occasional fish and chicken and this felt like a treat. The rich gravy omg… lol.
Wally - inspired by your mahi mahi with cocunut curry, so last night I took a break from leftovers and made pan fried tofu and peas with coconut curry, was quite good, with brown rice. I used whole fat cocunut milk, might try light next time. Also made kale, zucchini, and carrot fritters with matzoh meal instead of breadcrumbs for a stuffing like texture.. was wonderful. Having fun in the kitchen is so relaxing.. when I’m in the mood of course.1 -
Rischaller, the main difference between full fat and light coconut milk is more water…and price.
I made mapo tofu last night and used dried mushrooms instead of ground pork…sorry if I am repeating here.
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The dogs did get rewarded for their guard duty. However I had to be careful to not give them too much reward…did not want to be the cause of "carpet bombing".
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Tacos
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Wow Eric - lots of good meals ahead.
Just found out I'll get to "baby sit" my 9 year old niece again this coming Friday evening. Now I'm glad that I forgot the Naan bread last week, since Naan Pizzas will be a good thing for her to put together. And they're going to drop her off & pick her back up from my house which makes it really easy. I just have to make sure her Christmas presents that are currently sitting on the guest bed are all wrapped & hidden away.
Tonight will be the last of the chicken breast - sliced on toasted bread with mayo.
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Minus, I'm glad the play was interesting and well done even though it was not what was expected. I once went to a production of Macbeth set in Vietnam during the time of US involement there. The dialogue was Shakespeare's but the visual was very different and the connection seemed somewhat strained. Naan pizzas with your niece will be a fun meal.
Eric, You will have delicious soup for a long time to come. Hopefully the carpet is still clean.
Rischaller, Matzoh meal sounds like a good swap for breadcrumbs in fritters.
We got to drive in the homeward bound traffic today. This MRI site is in a strange urban desert which used to be the location of a Ford assembly plant and now houses the hospital administration complex. They have turned part of the area into an upscale dining/shopping district. Chisandy would love the high end restaurants with free parking. Dinner tonight was Legal Seafood takeout. We both had clam chowder, DH had baked haddock with curried vegetables while I had scallops baked in wine, gingered broccoli and rice pilaf. It was better than Thanksgiving.
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Oh Maggie - Legal Seafood. Be still my heart. The Macbeth sounds challenging.
Considering two small theater plays after the first of the year - the Odd Couple, only set with females. And a production of Barefoot in the Park. I saw a full on production in San Francisco in 1964 but I think my memories are more about my date than the show. In the meantime I have tickets for an English Baroque Christmas concert in December and a Vivaldi & Bach concert in January. Guess you can tell I like "early" music.
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❤️❤️ Classical music; vivaldi and bach can transform you!
Tenderloin with sweet potato chips and roasted caluflower last night. Leftover hodge-podge tonight.
DH is doing labs today, dentist tomorrow and onco on Wed….stressful.
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Minus, Those baroque concerts should be wonderful. Unfortunately I can only attend outdoor concerts now and classical performances outside are rare. I did go to two orchestral concerts at the Boston Hatch Shell and a string quartet performance outside last summer. In Edinburgh I taught at a performing arts school and got free tickets to just about anything I wanted to attend so I guess it balances out over time.
Wally, I hope your DH gets good news at all his appointments. Make yourself a treat to eat or drink to distract yourself from the worry and stress.
Dinner tonight was artichoke and mushroom chicken casserole.
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Yes Wally - hope the week goes quickly with good news at every stop.
Maggie - the artichoke & mushroom chicken casserole sounds delish.
I woke up to no hot water. Luckily my ex-DH was able to come up mid day and light the pilot light. Hopefully that was the only issue & there won't be any more problems, but neither of us can figure out why it went out. The water heater is only 4 years old. So of course I bought his lunch. And he wanted fried shrimp served with french fries at Pappadeaux. WAY too much food with steep lunch prices. ($66 by the time he added a dinner salad). But still cheaper than calling a plumber so I'm grateful. And he wanted to stop at UPS to drop of an Amazon return, so I got all my Christmas packages that I wrapped & boxed over the weekend sent off to out of state family.
Mae - hope you are OK and it's not too cold out there on your mountain.
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Tonight is going to be leftover tacos from the other night.
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We arrived home in the early afternoon yesterday. Dinner was stuffed peppers out of the freezer and Bob's mac and cheese past the date on the package. It was wonderful to sip an old-fashioned in the living room, sitting in COMFORTABLE chairs, with the fireplace lit. Nephew's home in Florida is H&G with no comfortable place to sit and a gigantic tv over the fireplace. Where else? You get a crick in your neck watching it from the big low sectional sofa.
The Thanksgiving dinner had been delivered from a catering company and everything was very good when warmed up. There was twice as much food as needed and the leftovers are probably gone by now via the garbage pickup. Our host and hostess are mostly vegetarian. Nephew eats vegetables and fruit and berries and has theories about watermelon cleansing the body of cancer. And many other food theories. He thoroughly approves of the President Elect's pick for making America healthy again.
One holiday down and another to go and no road trip except a short drive to my sister's house on Christmas Day. Big sigh of contentment.
I stepped on the scale this morning and verified that today I start over on the weight loss effort.
DH's jaw pain has returned. His next move is to get an appointment with a neurosurgeon. First he has to see a neurologist and appointments are not easy to get.
Wally, hoping for positive news for your dh.
Minus, glad your hot water problem was easily fixed. Help is not easily available during holidays.
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Carole, I'm so sorry to hear your DH is having jaw pain. Nice to see you back here and glad you had a decent time.
Minus, glad your DH could fix your issue with the pilot light. I miss having gas appliances.
My DH is getting not-great-but-not-horrific-news. Tomorrow is the onco and we'll see what he says. So many new drug in the pipeline, so many combinations, new therapies and no one knows which works best for who…Sigh.
I cut up the last of the tenderloin, used the last of the brown rice, fleshed it out with some veg and made a beef stir-fry.
I bought a whole duck and it is thawing; I hope to make it Thursday. I think I will splay it and lay it over potatoes (to soak up all that fat).
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Well we had soup and sandwiches instead of the leftover taco stuff
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Minus, I hope your water heater keeps working. It was a pricey lunch but way cheaper than a plumber and you got a good meal, too.
Carole, Glad you made it home safely. Visits like that can be a bit stressful but you don't get to pick your relatives. Having lost weight before the holiday puts you in a better position now even if you are starting over. I hope your DH can get an appointment for his jaw pain in the not too distant future.
Wally, Those duck potatoes sound awesome.
Dinner tonight was salmon with Chinese five spice seasoning and sautéed yellow squash.
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OOps - water heater was out again this morning. I tried to lite the pilot but the Piezo Ignition will not produce a spark. The earliest plumber appointment I could get was Wednesday from 12-2pm. Hope it's an easy fix. At least I had today to get Monday's errands done so I can just sit & wait for the plumber tomorrowl
Last of the Christmas packages mailed to out of town family. Amazon hub return for an incorrect book done. Post office to mail the last Christmas package to out of town kiddos. Grocery store accomplished before I "baby"sit my 9 year old niece Friday. I think we'll make my Mother's "easy quiche" - everything in the blender and the "Bisquick" makes as crust while the quiche is cooking. She loves broccoli - so it will likely be a broccoli & cheddar quiche. And I will offer her the choice of making sugar cookies or peanut butter cookies,.
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We had chili last night made with ground chuck and canned tomatoes and pinto beans. It tasted good and we have leftovers for another dinner or for lunch meals. I think tonight will be chicken gumbo served over brown rice. I'm not sure about a sausage component. I may leave it out.
Wally, you are our adventurous cook. I enjoy reading descriptions of your meals. I'm so glad the news your dh is getting isn't "horrific."
Minus, we had that issue with a hot water heater. I don't remember if it was the current one. The fix required a new starter mechanism.
We haven't heard from Nance recently. I'm wondering about that slow cooker dish with dressing mix. How did it turn out?
Also, I'm curious about decorating for Christmas. Does anyone put up a tree and get out holiday decorations? It takes me about fifteen minutes to switch out the fall decorations for Christmas. I remove the sun flowers bouquet from a vase and replace it with a red berry arrangement. Replace the fall leaves in a giant floor urn with huge poinsettia leaves. Hang a crocheted Santa card holder that a fellow teacher made years ago. Hang a lighted wreath out beside the door with a timer. Done. DH places two tall boards, one on either side of the front door, that say Merry Christmas.
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Not sure what dinner will be…we may stop for a lunch out, which may mean a big salad for dinner.
We have a metal wreath with reindeer and a tree that we put outside. I also bought cheap night lights in the shape of xmas trees. LOVE those things. They make me smile. Some years, we light hanukkah candles on the menorah. The beeswax that I prefer get pricier and pricier each year, so we don't do it every year. My favorite snow globe was destroyed by the movers when we moved from WI to here and I've not found an adequate replacement.
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Hope everyone's thanksgiving was acceptable. We had two — a large gathering at DH's sister's house and second smaller one here Sunday with DDIL and DS. We are still dealing with leftovers which will soon be disposed of via a turkey pot pie. But not tonight.
We put up about an hour and a half's worth of Christmas decorations which includes a pre-lit artificial tree. This doesn't include outdoor lights which is about another half hour. The outdoor stuff is up, the indoor stuff comes out this week. Our decorating has downsized along with everything else. It's all very doable and much less than we've done in the past. I hate undecorating the most but this is tolerable.
Carole - the crockpot turkey and dressing needed some tweaks namely more liquid. Next time I'll put the stuffing on the bottom. I had to chuckle about the timing of our meals. I had gumbo for lunch yesterday. We seem to be of like minds.
DDIL and DS are big trader joe fans so far Christmas I got them a cookbook with recipes using TJ products. I accidentally ordered two but I like the simple recipes well enough that I'm keeping the extra. Obviously you don't have to use the products but I do use many of theirs too. So Tonight I'm making a recipe from the book with pork tenderloin and peppers. Side will be some green beans that are not as tender as they look so will get some intense cooking. Maybe with some baby potatoes.
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Going to make a taco skillet out of the leftovers from Sunday night
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I put up the last real Christmas tree about 25 years ago when the cats climbed it and knocked it over four times. DH and the kids wanted a cut tree but weren't willing to buy, decorate, undecorate and dispose of it so we decided it was not really important. I have a modern Sharper Image metal tree with red and silver ornaments that takes about 15 minutes to put up. The living room is predominently green with red accents so it's easy to add some candles and poinsettias to make it look decorated. I buy inexpensive pine door wreathes from the horticulture department at the high school where I taught. I'm with Carole on quick and easy.
Minus, I hope you can get an inexpensive permanent fix for the water heater. Cooking with your niece is a great tradition that she will always remember.
Carole, I'm fine with chicken gumbo without sausage but the frozen okra just doesn't cut it. I only make it when fresh is available.
Wally, enjoy your lunch out. The bonus of an easy dinner should make it taste better.
Nance, Two holiday meals is a lot of turkey so I don't blame you for taking a break. A Trader Joe's cookbook sounds interesting. We don't have a TJ near us but I’ll buy my favorite treats if we travel close to one.
m0mmy, Turning tacos into a taco skillet makes it different and better than plain leftovers.
Dinner tonight was beef Alfredo on egg noodles.
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Yum on beef Alfredo on egg noodles.
I did put smoked sausage in the gumbo and was glad. It definitely adds flavor. And I use frozen okra and include it in the early stage of cooking the bone-in chicken. I also put tomato in gumbo at the same stage but tomato is a no-no for some gumbo cooks. There's a debate in south Louisiana about tomato or no tomato. The Creole influence in New Orleans is responsible for the tomato. I was low on dry roux but had enough to add a dark color and flavor to the liquid. I stopped making oil roux many years ago. Before the dry roux came on the market, I would toast flour in an iron skillet on the stovetop and keep it on hand.
We don't have a Trader Joe. DH and I walked around in one at some time and weren't impressed. We were surprised that the store was small.
I haven't even checked out the new Costco that opened up recently. I've been meaning to but haven't gotten around to it. We get our prescriptions filled at Sam's Club pharmacy and have products there that we buy regularly, like our Community dark roast coffee.
Dinner menu undecided.
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Minus, was the plumber able to fix the water heater?
Carole and Wallycat, I hope the news for DH (and you) is good.
When I go to Maryland there is TJ type place, "MOM" (Mom's Organic Market). When I stay at the hotel with the in room kitchenette, it's about a 5 minute walk.
The other hotel I stay at is about 3 miles distant from "MOM", so I end up taking a government vehicle there or to the Walmart. The Walmart is cheaper, but i think the MOM produce is better.
Tonight will be thawed leftovers from before Thanksgiving—Sharon made spaghetti sauce and spaghetti and a "just add what sounds good" stew.
We put up a tree if DD is coming home for Christmas. I always install small cup hooks on the house and use a painter's pole with a hook to install the Christmas lights. It takes me about 15 minutes for that, so they always go up.
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Got my tree up and no more messing with lights. It’s a pre-lit one. Only have to mess with garland and ornaments. The lights we use outside are battery operated and/or solar.
Trying to think what to make for dinner.1 -
I'll be making my roast duck on a bed of purple and yukon gold potato bed with some carrots thrown in for color. I'll make some microwaved broccoli to add as a side.
DH is getting a referral for Fred Hutchinson to a prostate cancer specialist to see what his next course should be. We sort of know our options. Since the jaw infection, he has to figure out what treatments won't affect the immune system any more than they have (small pickings)…can't win this battle and it is unsettling.
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thinking chicken breasts, mashed potatoes and a veggie
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Wally - roast duck sounds amazing. Before I was married over 30 years ago lol..I used to live a few blocks up from Chinatown, and would buy sliced roast duck and soy sauce chicken .so yummy. that memory came up out of nowhere! Sorry to read about your DH and the continued treatments and testing. It is unsettling. That’s one of the challenges for me, being at home with the constant uncertainty . I have a note on my fridge to remind me to love my fate as a gift and a challenge. It helps each time my treatment plan changes, I reread it. Gives me strength to acknowledge what is hard and what is hopeful.
Tonight is black beans with the leftover vegi fritters, and side of baked beets.1 -
I hope all is okay with folks in Northern California. A couple of hours ago, there was a 7.0 earthquake offshore southwest of Eureka.
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Eric, I just texted my aunt in Oregon and her crew are fine.
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