So...whats for dinner?
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Congrats, Maggie!!
We also go to Walmart about once/month…it has been two months since no Sequim run. Costco and Walmart are an hour one way, so I keep a running list. They won't deliver out here, so either pick up or shipping, which offers fewer things.
Leftover fish stuff tonight.
We did not lose power yesterday but did have some rain leak through windows and bottom door of laundry room in the night.
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Congrats Maggie - what happy news!
The mushroom spinach lasagne was a red sauce base, very rich and tangy. Served with garlic bread. Today DH and I splurged after my PET scan and went to lunch at our favorite Peruvian restaurant , I had a pesto fettuccini with shrimp, scallops, and minced octopus, it was amazing. Now home drinking a kale smoothy lol…Wally - hope the leaks didn’t cause too much water damage. Mold can be a problem from the damp.
Carole - hope the gas leak gets some attention, and is fixed soon. It makes me nervous for you from across the country …Nance- I find adding more water for brown rice the better, sometimes adding even 1/4 cup more water for a moister rice. It can sit and absorb the moisture after cooking as well. I prefer basmati brown rice best.
So full from lunch, tonight is more sipping on the kale smoothy with frozen raspberries and bananas.
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Carole: Did the plumber show today? Hope the news wasn't too bad.
I spent from 10am - 2pm weeding beds & cutting out dead stuff up at our community pool. Then I came home & pruned my roses (and some shrubs). I know Valentines Day is the magic time for roses, but it was really cold & wet - so today was it. It's a bit late since they are growing so profusely, but it was nice working in 76 degree sunshine.
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Thanks, everyone.
Carole, It’s wise to have a plumber lined up so the repairs can be done as soon as the gas is shut off.
We made it to FL and spent a good deal of time trying to find the rental in a large condo neighborhood with no house numbers where everything looks similar. It’s not so bad being lost in the warm weather with no snow in sight.
Our local Walmart has minimal groceries since it is next to a large supermarket. I just get cleaning supplies and paper goods there.
Dinner tonight was spinach ravioli in Alfredo sauce.
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The plumber came and found the problem area. His company gave us an estimate and we promptly agreed. Hopefully, the work will be done this week.
Maggie, so nice to think of you enjoying some warm weather. Mardi Gras is in full swing in New Orleans and surrounding towns and the weather is beginning to cooperate.
DH will be driving himself to PT this morning and he began making his own breakfast yesterday. He still has some distance to go before getting back to pre-surgery energy and stamina.
I had limited success at the Walmart's yesterday. It's laid out somewhat differently and I don't like it as well as the one closer to us or the one in MN, where I shop regularly during the summer. However, I got most of the items on my list.
We had an oven pork steak dish for dinner. The pork steak cooked with Mexican/Spanish rice. Also a salad.
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Carole - Whew…good news that the plumber found the gas leak. And that DH can drive himself to PT.
Maggie - glad you made it to Florida safely.
Wally - did you get the leaks taken care of?
Last night was leftovers - Ramen noodles cooked in a small amount of beef broth with two leftover meatballs. Also leftover coleslaw.
After my marathon yard work yesterday, I also did four loads of wash of the blankets & spreads that were covering my plants. Hope we're done with freezing and I'm not being overly optimistic. Every muscle was sore so I was really glad to have Lymphadema PT this morning.
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Minus, the leaks were only caused by the 50mph wind gusts. Normally, no leaking…direction and force of wind. We may see if the window requires recaulking but otherwise, we're set…till the next massive wind storm. Thankful we did not lose power. Bainbridge Island has been without power for a 24-48 hours, also parts of Seattle.
Carole, I agree with Minus…glad you have that gas leak dealt with.
I think I'll make peanut noodles. …maybe add bacon.
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Carole, Good news that the plumber found the source of the gas leak and can repair it soon.
Minus, Hopefully you are done with the cold weather and PT helps your arm.
Wally, I would not have thought of adding bacon to peanut noodles but it sounds like a good combination.
The warm weather is wonderful. This kitchen is pretty basic in terms of what there is to work with but I can manage. Dinner tonight was chicken and asparagus in cream sauce with boiled potatoes.
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I made a sheet pan dinner last night. Cornmeal breaded catfish fillets and zucchini and yellow squash. Lining the pans with foil made the cleanup easy.
Tonight will be chicken thighs and turnips.
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Carole, I always use foil when making sheet pan dinners. In addition to easy cleanup the sheet pan has a longer life.
Dinner tonight was chicken and onions in sour cream with boiled potatoes.
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Leftovers tonight.
I'm thawing a goat shoulder (yesterday). If it thaws by tomorrow, that will be dinner, otherwise I'll cook it the following night and have to figure something out for tomorrow.
DH had his telemedicine visit today. They want him to redo labs..if creatinine is not lower, they won't do Pluvicto, which will really disappoint him. Labs on Monday.
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Sharon went skiing today and tonight's dinner was a quick salmon and Brussels sprouts.
For tomorrow, I'm (it's 10pm) cooking a whole chicken in the pressure cooker.
The rub that goes on the chicken includes 10 cloves of garlic, pepper, salt, rosemary, paprika and olive oil. It's amazing, but the garlic is not overpowering. The liquid in the pressure cooker is a cup of chicken broth and a few ounces of lemon juice. The chicken is set in the broth upon an onion that has been quartered.
It's a bit longer than an hour, plus a bit of time for the chicken to cool down enough to go into the refrigerator.
My other little project today was to figure out the ice maker problem. My first attempt was correct…defrost the freezer and "all is good now".
Foil is the best way to go with "sheet dinners"…little to no cleanup.
The weather here has been "weird". Yesterday it was 72F degrees. Today it was only 50F degrees and it's supposed to be colder tomorrow. Night time low temperatures are in the 15F-20F degree range.
I'm glad the gas leak was found and hopefully fixed. Gas leaks are "not good" as the vapors can travel through the ground and accumulate to problematic levels.
That is a lot of laundry, Minus. Hopefully, now that you've washed everything, the freezing is over.
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The chicken sounds good, Eric. Chicken is probably my favorite meat. I have never cooked a whole chicken in a pressure cooker but have cooked one in a slow cooker.
DH is talking about making soup with lentils and leeks. It's not soup weather but any weather is good for someone else taking over dinner duty.
The gas leak fix cost almost $900 and it came with the caution that all the old gas pipe out to the meter beside the street may need replacing in the future. Dh says switching to all electric would be much more expensive.
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It works out to, once the 15psi weight gets "jiggling", about 5 minutes per pound.
We thought we had a cracked glass stove top and were considering a "no electricity needed" gas (propane) range to replace it, but what we thought was a crack was just "dirt".
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Wally, I hope your DH’s creatine is lower on retesting. Being well hydrated helps.
Eric, I always use more garlic than a recipe calls for. I guess it keeps the vampires away. I’m glad there was snow for Sharon to ski on.
Dinner tonight was ravioli in Rao’s.
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Wally - I always use extra garlic also. I learned that after my baby brother convinced me to read the Anne Rice novels.
Eric - fingers crossed that the freezes are over. But I haven't had the nerve to bring all my hanging plants back out yet.
Carole - glad you're fixed up for now. My house & neighborhood is the same age - late 60s early 70s. So of course the pipes were galvanized. Two neighbors have already had to replace gas lines from the central meter by the street to the meter on the sides of their homes. One was $15,000. EEEK. I've replaced my roof and my furnace and air conditioner & the A/C ducts in the attic. I guess either the gas lines or the water lines are next. The water lines are under the concrete slab. But I plan to stay in the house until the hearse has to haul me away, so…. I agree with your DH. It would be prohibitive to switch everything to electric at this point. Not to mention the higher cost of electricity compared to natural gas (at least right now)
Dinner tonight was two soft boiled eggs that I pulled out of the pan early, while the others continued to become hard boiled for salads & egg salad sandwiches later this week.
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DH labored in the kitchen yesterday afternoon making a gigantic pot of soup, lentil, potato, leek. It was a noisy process and he used two 6 quart pots because he had to replace the first one. It isn't a pretty soup but it tasted good and there are two large containers of leftovers He realized near dinner time that the soup called for croutons. I made some with slices of frozen white bread. We also had a side salad.
During the morning I went to a store in the town of Covington to buy anchovy olives. Also on the list was marsala wine and dry sherry. Not on the list were beautiful eggplants, which I happily bagged up. Back home I made two meals of eggplant lasagne with Raos and cheeses. One went into the freezer and we'll have the other one tonight. This store is run by brothers who have built up a reputation for their wine and liquor selection and also their extensive cheese selection.
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Carole…YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. And drool on that store. Can you share your recipe/process for the eggplant lasagna. I adore eggplant and DH only eats it if he cannot recognize it, so I make asian or indian meals with them.
I'm finally making the goat shoulder. I think I will serve sweet potatoes and/or carrots and cauliflower for sides.
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I second the call for eggplant lasagne recipe. I love eggplant but have never cooked with it. I tried once to make babagonoush and it was not a fav. Ordered in from a local Iranian restaurant (Persian food is very interesting) and had Kashk Badmjan which is eggplant and yougurt with fried onions, garlic and walnuts for an appetizer, served hot with fresh pita bread, and a Gormeh Sabzi , a vegie stew with mushroom and kidney beans over rice, baklava for dessert. DH had a chicken kabob which he loved.
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I know this isn't the book thread, but it's the main place I post & a number of you are readers so I wanted to share. First Saturday is the day the Houston Public Library has a warehouse sale of duplicates, discards, donations, etc. It's 5 miles from my house so it's easy to attend. The price has gone up but I still came out with 30 books for $60.00. Most were hardbacks this time - which as we all know are now up to $29.99+ EACH. Even at the big box stores, they're rarely less than $20 each. I always feel like I've won the lottery.
It's 3pm here and I'm about to eat some fresh raspberries with heavy cream. I was going to finish the split pea soup tonight, but it's 83 degrees so maybe I'll have a large salad.
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Minus, That library book sale is a real bargain. There are a couple of free little library boxes that I pass when I am out walking. I end up taking books to read from them that I would probably not have bought.
Dinner tonight was margherita pizza at the horse show. Saturday nights are a huge public event. The rest of the week there are hardly any spectators even though the jumping competition is just as good.
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Leftover goat shoulder.
May add mashed potatoes (instant from Bob's red mill..easy and shelf stable) and DH wants BBQ sauce on his tonight.
Minus, congrats on your haul. I've started reading a lot of kindle and e-library books…no space. I worry about my last move. Not sure I want to stay here if DH goes before me.
I read about Gene Hackman's weird death (and his wife & one dog) and New Mexico looked breath-taking. I worry about the water issues.
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Wally, I borrow e-library books when I travel but find the real thing easier on my eyes. If I have to move again I’ll tap my years of experience downsizing.
Dinner tonight was salmon in orange sauce, sautéed spinach and boiled potatoes.
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I'll usually get a book at the airport for when I'm flying "back east" and then another book for flying home. When I'm done, I'll take them to the library for the used book sale. If I manage to get the book done before the 4 hour flight ends, I'll pull out the phone (in airplane mode) put the ear buds in and listen to recordings of Dragnet radio broadcasts.
History books, technical books, or old engineering books, if I find those and the price is right….I am unable to resist. :-)
Dinner tonight is spaghetti and "Sharon made sauce".
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Gene Hackman's home in New Mexico is so lovely. At first when the news of his death was reported, I thought he and his wife, who was relatively young, had committed suicide together. Now mystery surrounds the deaths.
I definitely wouldn't stay in this house if I were alone. I probably would stay in the area for practical reasons.
I read on my kindle. I have a kindle app on my phone and on my laptop and my library of books is available to all three kindles.
My sister has an app called Libby on her phone that gives her access to the public library. She downloads and reads books on her phone. DH and I also have Libby and use it to check out e-books from our public library to our kindles. Occasionally I buy e-books when I can't wait for a book to come available at the library.
The eggplant lasagna is easy but somewhat labor intensive. I peel my eggplants because I find the skin bitter and tough. I slice them into rounds, about 1/2 inch thick, but you could slice length wise. Brush the sides with olive oil and cook in a big skillet on top of the stove. You could use the broiler or a very hot oven but the eggplant must be cooked. Once, the slices are cooked on both sides, use them like lasagna noodles and layer with sauce and grated cheeses. Cook in the oven until bubbling.
The sauce can include ground meat. I've used ground beef and Italian sausage. Or the sauce can be vegetarian. I use Raos. Sometimes with meat and sometimes without it. Zucchini can be used the same way but I like the eggplant better.
We had a grilled ribeye and boiled small potatoes for dinner last night.
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Gene Hackman was 95 and Betsy was 65…would love to see the inside of that house.
Still working on the goat shoulder. Delicious. I may have to freeze some…4 pounds is a lot to get through.
Carole, thanks for the recipe. I've grilled the eggplant and then used it in stuff…do you think microwaving would work? Sounds like a labor of love.
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Wally, grilling the slices of eggplant would work. I've read numerous Persian style cooking recipes for poking holes in eggplants and cooking them whole in the oven or on the grill. I have not tried that. The results definitely aren't pretty. DH loves fried eggplant the way it's cooked by a lot of southerners. The slices are dipped in egg and then in breading and fried to a crispy brown. Delicious but not the healthiest food. My mother cooked eggplant this way and also made a ground meat stuffing/dressing/casserole. The peeled and diced eggplant is boiled, drained and mixed with cooked ground meat, onions and garlic.
It was a crazy crowded world out there today on Lundi Gras. It didn't occur to me that a lot of people wouldn't be working today. I was glad to get home.
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Carole, Thanks for the eggplant lasagna recipe. Hopefully you don’t have to go anywhere tomorrow.
Eric, Like you DH can’t resist on sale technical or riding books and he keeps them forever. I mail boxes of books to my daughter or sister when I’m done with them; they then pass them on. Anything I think they won’t like goes to the free little library. I’m happier spending the money when I know books will be read again by others.
Wally, I have microwaved eggplant slices in a single layer on paper towels for a couple of minutes on high. It looks nicer if you bake the slices brushed with olive oil on a sheet pan in a 400* oven for 30 minutes. The microwave method tastes fine, however.
Dinner tonight was pot roast takeout from Cracker Barrel since DH wanted a change from skillet cooking. At least I got my okra.
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Maggie, I have two short trips today. Out to the street to get the garbage can to prevent it from being blown away. On the same trip, a detour to the outdoor refrigerator in a storage shed to get the flour for making a loaf of bread. LOL. Other than that, I have chores to keep me as busy as I want to be indoors. Fingers crossed that we don't have violent winds as in tornado.
Dinner last night was the soup dh made recently. I tweaked it a little (Wally's word) because it was very thick. It tasted good with croutons and grated parmesan.
Tonight will be a cauliflower and broccoli oven dish and a side salad. I have the recipe in an email.
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Oops - sorry I haven't been posting much, but there's nothing exciting here. Left over split pea soup one night. Boiled new potatoes and Brussels sprouts the next. Tonight will be leftover meatloaf sandwiches. YUM - the main reason to cook meatloaf.
As for moving - I plan to stay in my 3 bedroom home until they carry me out feet first. Yes, I could probably do fine with a smaller place (who needs a dining room for one), and I'm wondering how long I can keep up the yard - but it's a small subdivision with only 188 homes and I know most of the neighbors. And it's paid for. And - where would I put all my books??
Carole - are you surviving not only the hoopla but the weather? Looks like we missed most of the storms with high winds but only 1/2" of rain. I saw on another thread that you have a Viking Cruise coming up. Where are you going? I love both cauliflower & broccoli so please post the recipe if it turns out to be a keeper.
Eric - are you still making sourdough on a regular basis?
Special - hope you are back on track and doing OK. I have a neighbor who has been taking care of her son's cattle for the last month. We tease her about being a rancher, but it gets old.
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