So...whats for dinner?
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Carole, I hope you enjoyed your lunch out.
Dinner tonight was Kung Pao chicken. Nance, I thought of you as I made it.
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My lunch was good, but "different." I ordered two fish tacos. They were the smallest tacos I have ever eaten, or seen. The little corn tortillas were about 4 inches in diameter. The strips of red snapper fish were miniature. I smile as I remember and visualize. I also ordered a bean side dish that was served in a small bowl. I ate it with a spoon since the consistency was like soup. It was a very upscale Mexican restaurant in appearance. It was not crowded. My dining companions all ordered chicken entrees. Two of them needed to go boxes. I did not. LOL.
Afterwards I went to nearby Fresh Market for a couple of items. I browsed at the seafood counter and spotted peeled and deveined fresh shrimp, 40 to 60 count. On impulse, I bought a lb for dinner, thinking I would use the remainder of the jar of alfredo sauce in the refrigerator. But when I passed two possible meals by dh, he opted for a shrimp and rice dish using leftover cooked rice. It turned out really good, even though I could have used more rice and fewer shrimp. Ingredients were celery, yellow bell pepper, fresh ginger, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil. More veggies, like baby bok choy, would have been good. The dish was a mental break through for me. I will make it again with more advance preparation.
Tonight will be my first attempt at Indian tacos.
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Leftover crustless ham and broccoli quiche for tonight.
I made a chicken breast in the crockpot, yesterday. Shredded it and had that for dinner last night. YOW on the size of that breast. I usually buy thighs. I've never seen one that big…I had dinner, we both had it for lunch (I shredded it) and have enough to do something else with it.
DH's dentist created a "ledge" next to his gold crown, to keep food from packing into the huge hole that has occurred on his "healthy" side with the gum separating from the Prolio cancer treatments. It was pure magic watching him work.
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Wally - sounds like you've got a dentist that really cares.
Dinner was frozen PF Chang Shrimp Lo Mein purchased with a coupon. It was OK but the sauce was "heavier" & sweeter than I like. I won't buy it again.
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Carole, Those fish tacos sound like they should be called appetizers. The ingredients in your shrimp dish sound like a good combination.
Wally, Your DH has a wonderful dentist. We used to get chicken breasts processed in the meat lab which were the size of turkey breasts. They were so big because they were from the great great grandparents of the broilers sold commercially
Minus, It’s worth trying something when you have a coupon but a bit disappointing if it’s not so good.
Dinner tonight was Goan shrimp curry with turnips on rice. It comes from an area of India which was a Portuguese colony.
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Our neighbors texted an invitation yesterday for a late afternoon ride on their pontoon boat. We accepted and I made the dough for the fry bread, kneaded it as directed and then put it in the refrigerator. When we left, I took the dough out to come to room temperature while we were gone. It was soft, sticky dough so I oiled my hands to handle it. It puffed up when cooking to become thicker than I expected. It was also a bit tough. We had good toppings and enjoyed the meal, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the fry bread. Any recommendations, Nance or anyone else?
The ingredients for the fry dough was 2 cups flour, 1 T baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup warm water. Knead 5 minutes. Rest 5 minutes.
The ground meat for the meat topping was ground prime brisket that I happened to spot at a supermarket and bought, thinking it would make good hamburgers. It was delicious.
No idea yet on dinner tonight.
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Carole the recipes I use call for warm milk or a half and half combo of milk and water. Don’t know if that’s the difference or not. I don’t knead them too much.
93° yesterday, 55° today. Weather whiplash here.
Cubed steaks with onion gravy over brown rice tonight. Spinach for color.
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So far, the "fake tooth/filling" seems to be helping him. YAY. We see the dentist again on Monday to evaluate.
I'm taking the last of the shredded chicken and will make a socca bbq "pizza" with that, for tonight.
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That sounds like an amazing dentist.
Sharon and DD's future MIL are in Detroit to help DD pick out a wedding dress. Sharon says she's glad for the help as, "Except for my wedding dress, my formal wear was always uniforms."
My guess on the fry bread is the dough rested too long.
My tortilla press is around 6 inches in diameter, so we end up with around 5 inch diameter "rounds". When we are faced with smaller shells, we just eat more of them. :-)
Dogs are being very obvious about wanting their walk right now. So, I guess I'd better go do that. Old dog is 15-1/2 so I'm actually glad he's so insistent about wanting to go for his walks. We do two 3/4 mile walks per day. Young dog just loves walking too.
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Carole, The recipe you used is the traditional Navajo method but adding milk makes the dough softer. The recipe I have been using adds powdered milk to the flour. I’ll have to try Nance’s whole milk ingredients.
Nance, DH would love your cubed steaks in gravy.
Wally, It’s good that the dental fix is working.
Eric, Dogs are great for keeping you moving and fit.
Our temps have gone from the 40s to the 20s, a difference that is unremarkable since it’s just plain cold.
Today after an appointment up north we bought a wood fired thin crust Margherita pizza which was delicious and so filling neither of us felt like eating tonight. I had an Italian art teacher in junior high who called me by name in her native language so I always think of her when I eat that type of pizza. One year she broke her arm and every day had a new silk scarf sling that matched her outfit, la bella figura indeed.
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The dogs' walks are "theirs" and take however long, time and distance, they decide. The morning walk is around 3/4 mile and takes 30-40 minutes while the evening walk is a bit more than a mile and takes about an hour. Lots of sniffing happening. The joke is that they are reading the P-mail. :-)
For my cardio fitness, I run. I'm up to around 30 miles per week. The roads are dirt and I can run for a week and not encounter a car…it's awesome. :-)
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Yum on the wood-fired pizza.
Eric, I wondered about the extended rest time for the dough. The history of the fry bread isn't a happy history, but unhappiness is currently being scrubbed from our history.
Last night's dinner was ho hum. I thawed what I could tell was chicken. Breast or boneless thighs? Turned out to be thighs. I breaded and panfried them while dh heated a Stouffer's mac and cheese that was on sale. Condiment was Major Grey's chutney. Some nights the goal is "something for dinner."
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DH's dentist really is beyond kind and caring and skilled. Last year, he offered to come to our house and knock down the wasps' nest when DH was telling him he was climbing ladders. He is really into music and I'd love to figure out a gift for him.
Leftover socca "pizza" tonight. Turned out really well. I doctored the BBQ sauce and we enjoyed it.
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My dad was a marine during WW2 and was the beneficiary of the Navajo Code Talkers' skills. He said he was always amazed that even with the treatment of their parents and grandparents, the Navajo men still "stood up". He said the Code Talkers that he was with were all "fine marines". To my dad, calling someone a "fine marine" was the ultimate compliment.
I looked through some books and all said that gluten can develop two ways….kneading or resting for long periods of time. Another reference says that over development of gluten makes the bread more 'lofty' but also more tough and chewy. So, my guess is still "too long of a rest" let too much gluten form.
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The Navajo Code Talkers were amazing. When the Irish army was sent overseas by the UN they just used Gaelic since nobody else understood or could read it. At a store in Navajo nation DH and a college student working there for the summer had a long conversation about the similarities between the two unrelated languages including the lack of a possessive.
Wally, Would the dentist like good noise canceling headphones?
Dinner tonight was salmon loaf, an old recipe my mother used to make. It was never awesome but I saw the recipe and made it since I hadn’t eaten it for fifty years.
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Eric, my fry bread was definitely "lofty" and "tough and chewy." I think you nailed it. LOL.
Dinner last night was pork piccata, made with a tenderloin. Side was freshly cooked brown rice and butternut squash, cooked in the oven. Slicing and cubing butternut squash is sometimes too much labor.
Tonight will probably be takeout pizza.
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Carole, I agree that peeling and dicing butternut squash is a lot of work. I never buy the precut squash, however.
Dinner tonight was chicken in orange sauce, summer squash and mashed potatoes.
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Peanut sauce over penne pasta.
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I saw bone in pork loin rib roast on sale for $1.05 a pound (limit 1), so I got a 4 pound one and roasted it. I used a red pepper flake, brown sugar, garlic powder, salt, olive oil and red wine vinegar rub. With just one person there are leftovers for a longer time. The dogs keep offering to help eat the leftovers but I've been ignoring them. :-)
Sharon should be on the plane right now for the flight back to Phoenix. The flights to Show Low never time align for a quick connection, so she's staying at a friend's house for the night and joining their Monday night music jam. Tomorrow she'll be flying back up here. The two flights between Phoenix and Show Low are $99 total, which is worth avoiding having to drive 300 miles.
The house is "settling" and a few of the doors are sticking or not latching, so I've been fixing those while she's gone. Some doors get a quick treatment with a belt sander while for some it's easier to take the trim off from around the door frame and readjust the frame itself.
Sharon uses a potato skin peeler to remove the skin from the butternut squash. For the cutting part, we have a pair of knives that my father had made when he was in China in 1946. He said the blacksmith made them from the leaf springs of a wrecked 5 ton Studebaker truck. Anyway, the cleaver style one is sharp and heavy enough to make cutting squash easy. Mom called the other knife a "kitchen hatchet" and it was her preferred knife when having to cut through bones. I clearly remember the "WHACK" sound when she used that "hatchet". :-)
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I microwave my squash for a few minutes. Cutting once cooled makes the whole thing less scary.
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That seems like a good tip, Wally. Do you poke a few holes in the skin?
I'm thawing the last package of catfish fillets for dinner. I bought enough for the freezer some time ago when the catfish were on sale. I'm also thawing a container of cooked mustard greens. I may cook another veggie, too. Carrots would add a nice color and taste.
The take-out pizza last night was a much-enjoyed substitute for cooking for me. It was also a good price because of a "special."
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Carole, I don't always remember to poke holes. I'm not cooking the whole squash (though you can) in the microwave, just soft enough to get a knife through, easily.
I've got an all beef meatloaf in the oven. I am trying potato flakes (I get bob's red mill because it has no sweeteners or icky stuff in it) instead of breadcrumbs. Sweet potato and broccoli or maybe boiled cabbage for sides.
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Eric, That’s a good deal on the pork roast as well as Sharon’s flight. The dogs just want to keep you company by eating the same meal as you, lol. What an interesting provenance on your knives.
I also use a potato skin peeler on the butternut squash. My dad bought my peeler 40 years ago when he didn’t like how the one I owned worked. I kept it in my suitcase whenever we moved. My knives are Japanese and a wedding present from my college roommate; they were not made from truck springs as far as I know.
Carole, Mustard greens are as hard to get here as okra.
Wally, Let us know how the potato flakes work in the meatloaf.
Dinner tonight was spinach ravioli in Rao’s with ground beef.
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The remainder of the knives are also Japanese. A bit more than four hours was spent picking out eight knives at "The Knife House-Phoenix". Sharon, at first, was "Okay, whatever" about the knives, but after using them for a days she went back to the same store and bought more knives to complete the collection.
Good "tools" may not make a great chef, but it sure does make being a mediocre one much easier. :-)
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I have soooooooo many knives and usually use a cheap steak knife. It is embarrassing.
The potato flakes made the meatloaf— AMAZING. Best meatloaf I've made thus far. I cannot wait for the leftovers.
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Our colorful meal last night tasted really good. A bowl of mustard greens with peppery vinegar, carrots flavored with butter and a small amount of brown sugar, and blackened catfish fillets. The mustard greens were cooked and frozen leftovers from a winter meal. Mustard greens are a cold weather vegetable in south Louisiana gardens. I buy them at a nearby produce stand.
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When I pickle/can Serrano peppers, I save the vinegar solution…awesome stuff! :-)
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Sharon is home from Detroit.
The Show Low Airport is dog friendly (last year one dog ended up sitting on the Airport Manager's lap without any complaint from the manger), so I can bring them in. The passengers deplane out on the tarmac and walk into the terminal so there is about a minute between getting off the plane and coming inside. As soon as the dogs saw Sharon come down the steps, "old dog" started making happy whines and was wagging his tail so much his whole body was wiggling. Young dog sat down, also started making happy whines and had her tail was wagging "like crazy".
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Wally, I’ll have to try the mashed potato flakes in meatloaf.
Eric, I use pickle juice as seasoning, too even though it is from a commercial jar. It’s good that Sharon made it home safely. Flying out of small airports is so much easier.
Dinner tonight was sole meunière, sautéed baby potatoes and asparagus.
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The flight Sharon was on had someone that was on the wrong plane…correct airline, wrong plane…..
When she told me, I was, "Uh-Oh. Someone is going to be writing a long report. A lot of mistakes were made for that to happen." About 2 hours after we got home an airline representative called asking about "that". :-)
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