So...whats for dinner?
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Hi everyone! It's been a little bit since I've been on, but all caught up now.
So interesting to hear the lent talk. We used to spend the summers down the shore where my uncle was seriously one of the best fishermen you'll ever find. If he went out on a boat and no one else caught a fish, he would at least get one. My brother was pretty good too, so lots of fresh fish in the summer, but we wouldn't have had that in the spring. I think we had Mac and cheese every Friday. Mom would make it with elbow macaroni, tomato sauce and velveeta. Always good. And I think until I was five or six, it was every Friday because back then I think that was the rule. When I got a little older, it started being pizza Fridays which kind of defeated the purpose since that was my favorite meal of the week. LOL
Funny remembering the summers down the shore. We lived right in the city, not down town, but the city, no green any where. My GF bought a tiny piece of land about ten miles from the beach, only about half a mile from the bay. He and my uncles built a house there. It was pretty primitive, no phone, no hot water (there was a tank of water on the roof that was heated by the sun, when that ran out, it was gone. If it wasn't a sunny day, there was no hot water at all that day.). There were three tiny bedrooms and a tiny parlor and the biggest room was the kitchen. My mother, aunt, sister, GF and I were there all summer. My older bro and sis and cousins and father and uncle woul come down on the weekends because they were working in the city. Sometimes another aunt or uncle and their family would come. I never knew where they were going to put me to sleep, but have wonderful memories of it all and wouldn't change it for anything. I think my kids are missing out because they have too much.
Any way, sorry for all that. I gave up the Internet for lent, so will only be around on Sunday's. The idea is to be more productive and family oriented with the extra time. We'll see how that goes. It was wonderful to get all the updates. Bedo, I so sympathies with you. I am back to work and feeling so stressed. I really don't know what to do. But I do have a DH with a good job, so I can really feel for you being your only support. I hope it gets better for you. Laurie, my ear and jaw are hurting too. I don't think it's an ear infection though since I don't have any fevers. Maybe allergies. I'll have to start taking Claritin. Hope you and the boys are feeling better.
Happy anniversary Joyce and Deb! I hope you celebrated and enjoyed it.
Carrie and Hauntie, hope you guys (and your mom and dad) are doing well. Hope to get updated today.
Great to hear all the exciting dinner options. I think I will try that jambalaya today with the quinoa I haven't used yet and omit the sausage for more chicken and shrimp. Would that mess it up too much, or do you think it would still be good? I have used a lot of my mozzarella. Made some pizzas, chicken parm, grilled cheeses. Fed a lot of it to my DD's friends when they were over. So far, no one is complaining. I think I might try eggplant parm this week some time too.
Have a great week everyone! Will check back in later tonight.0 -
Kay love the shore story. What memories. I agree our children had too much and didnt really know how to go outside and find something to do out of nothing more than a stick or a can to kick (the game kick the can) I tried to instill that in my children and make them play outside. We own a feed and farm store and my son once brought home corn kernels and planted them in the middle of our driveway....yup we had corn growing and had to drive around them.
I so would love to travel to see you guys, hmmm, having surgery on March 19, but maybe some day.
Friend hosted a fondue party last evening, beer cheese fondue, she had to borrow my fondue pot, not used in about 15 years.....blast from the past!
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Kay - good to hear from you. You can leave out the sausage in jambalaya, no problem. I think anything goes with that dish!
Carrie - you are not so far away, DH and I love road trips. Who knows???
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Speaking of lenten foods, I just made the Greek cauliflower in tomato sauce again today. Last time, it seemed a little light as a main course, so this time, I added some cubes of sweet potato as well. Butternut squash ought to work too. It was good and hearty enough to count as a real meal.
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Thanks Michelle! Jambalaya sounds good.
Carrie, what sx are you having? Hope it goes well.0 -
What a busy forum! I've been reading for at least 30 min. to catch up! I'm envious of anyone who can satisfy a mussels addiction. I first sampled them in 2007 when we visited Prince Edward Island. A mussel "farmer" was in an rv site near ours and brought a big bowl over for us to enjoy. I see mussels in little net bags in the supermarket seafood dept., but I wonder how old they are, etc. Plus they're very pricey. I always think it's better to stick to local seafood, and we have a lot. Shrimp, oysters, blue crabs, crawfish, varieties of fish. But no mussels.
Apple, my mother made tuna salad with the same recipe except no raw onions because of me. Like Michelle, I have never liked raw onions so the tuna salad, potato salad, etc. in our family were onion free. I still put boiled eggs in tuna salad and lots of mayo. Funny thing--I really like the tuna at Subway and it has nothing in it but tuna and mayo.
I wish someone who likes canned salmon lived close to me because I bought a whole case last summer in Alaska and have used only a can or two. I bought it at the processing plant and it is supposed to be really good. DH does not like salmon. I even have a cookbook with lots of Alaskan recipes for using canned salmon.
Last night's dinner was leftover Shepherd's Pie made with ground turkey from Fresh Market. I love that recipe which is very simple and the usual ingredients. Celery, carrots, onion, chicken broth, flour, fresh rosemary, dried thyme, and mashed potatoes with a little Smart Balance and lite sour cream. It's a WW recipe.
I printed out a couple of recipes from Mary Ann Esposito's tv segment yesterday on PBS. One is a chicken dish. Pieces of chicken marinated in fresh lemon juice and fresh herbs and then baked. Very simple and looks good. I love a lemony flavor. The other recipe is a side dish for large portobello caps stuffed with spinach and topped with cheese, also baked. I plan to try these recipes soon.
Friday I had my 3rd attempt at baking artesian bread. Fortunately my baking stone isn't large enough for me to bake both the loaves I'd formed. The recipe was Pane Bigio (Bread with a Starter). For some reason I set the oven at 550 instead of 450. When I first put the oval loaf on the stone, it soon puffed up very nicely. I went off to take a shower and eventually heard the smoke detectors beeping. My beautiful loaf was black! I adjusted the temp. and the 2nd loaf came out brown and crusty. I'm really enjoying eating bread that I know has no additives. We cut up the black loaf and put it out for the birds.
DH and I are playing in a couples golf event today. It's overcast and the high is supposed to be in the 60's.
Happy Sunday to all.
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Apple that made me laugh about the 7 tacos! I would have wondered about you too! Actually I would have wondered if you were expecting. So a trip to Sam Diego? He sounds handsome! These typos crack me up. Only kidding Apple! I would never survive if I had to be a typist! I've always wanted to go to San Diego. I've heard that the weather is perfect!
Sounds like you had fun Joyce!
Kay, I loved your story about your summers as a child. It got me thinking about Gramma's house in Michigan, and picking gooseberries for pie and playing "ghost" at night with the local kids, my Grampa's fiddle and his wihttling the most amazing things out of wood. Thanks for bringing up these memories and we will miss you for Lent
Carrie, I remember our Mother yeling "Go play outside!!" just to get us out of her hair. And we did. We built whole villages in the woods and huts out of branches and pine needles. We were instructed to sing "There are children in the woods! There are children in the woods!" during hunting season. Sometimes I wonder about that.. did we really drive her crazy??
Oooooh, Momine! Can you publish that recipe? That sounds like something I would really go for!
Hi seaside Hi lacey Hi everybody else who I left out because I aam 1/2 way through my coffee and it's 10:34 am!
Deb loved your picture. I still say that you look like the troublemaker of the group. A mother can spot these things.
Laurie hope you're feeling better!
Debbie, lol Im not "fast" anymore. I've slowed down in my dotage.
I'm trying to eat lots of fruit this week and drink water, not juice, as it has so many calories.
Chowed down a whole bunch of asparagus for dinner last night with soy sauce. That was it for dinner.
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Bedo, here you go:
Chop a large onion, several cloves garlic, stalk celery, 2 large carrots. Saute this in olive oil till onion is translucent. Then add 3 large tomatoes, chopped, or a can of tomatoes with their juice. Put in salt and pepper, a bay leaf, some parsley and a little oregano and let simmer 5 minutes or so. Add 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks and a head of cauliflower cut into large florets. Put a lid on and simmer until veggies are tender. Turn it a few times as it is cooking.
The sweet potato is not part of the traditional recipe, but it works. Butternut squash would probably work too. Our fast starts tomorrow and lasts 40 days. In the Greek church you eat no eggs, no dairy and no meat for the whole 40 days. If you are very strict, no fish either, only shell fish. For this reason, the Greek kitchen has quite a few veggie dishes in the repetoire.0 -
Wow...What a delightfully busy thread this is today! You're providing me a great escape from prepping for the return to work!
. I love everyone's blasts from the past re: not only food but childhood memories of play and vacation spots (guess those are all intertwined).
Kay, I too grew up spending lots of time at (I'm assuming you mean)the Jersey shore...so many fun memories, crabbing on the bay in a rowboat, after which my mother would make a huge pot of spaghetti sauce for the neighborhood and we'd have crabs and spaghetti....messy but delish! I somehow recall that we never cooked the crabs indoors due to my Dad's seafood allergy....must have farmed that job out to a neighbor's kitchen. Later loved being at the shore with my teenage friends...we thought we were wild, but by today's standards, not at all!!! Haven't been back to the shore since moving North...or at least since DS1 was a year old and we rented a house there for a month. Coincidentally, that son lives in Jersey now, so maybe he'll make some fun new shore memories with his family. Tho we hope they keep coming to boat with us in NH.
Bedo, isn't it something to think back to the days when kids could run out the door and return by lunch or dinner time and no one worried. We filled our days with so much fun with very little organization required. I was thinking of that last week when DS1 drove us past my early childhood home..... my first look in 50 some years. Funny how the "forest" behind the house was/is just a border of trees that felt so huge to us then.
Pickety Place looks delightful! Thanks for posting the pic, Deb. How have I missed this little treasure?!
I love their inventive menus, and the atmosphere looks so beautiful. Would love to have the chance to meet all of you there. In the spirit of the thread, I already checked out the luncheon menus for March and April!
By the way, no credit due here for any cauliflower recipes (would love that Greek one from you, Momine) or zucchini sticks....but they sound particularly tasty paired with hiney/mayo sauce. Actually I can't legitimately joke about anyone else's typos since I type with two fingers and then the machine turns it into what it feels makes sense, forcing me review to edit again or else my communications are pretty bizarre (or maybe just more bizarre!).
Carrie, I hope your surgery goes well.
Have a nice day everyone...the blue sky is soo strikingly beautiful here today.0 -
Oh, thanks for that recipe, Momine. The Greek fasting diet certainly appears to be a healthy one!
I've been avoiding red meat of late, and had a yen for it last night (and my RO seemed to be less concerned about diet than I've been) so we had grilled sirloin flanked by brussels sprouts and kale salad (my rationalization was that these super foods would counteract any bad effects of the beef:).0 -
Lacey, yes, somebody actually did a study on Greeks, which showed that those who follow the traditional fasting schedule were healthier than those who didn't. If you are very observant, you fast about 180 days a year. We usually just keep the 40-day lenten fast though.
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Made American Chop Suey last night, it should be even better tonight.
Thanks for the compliments, we all just turned 60. Is that considered over the hill like the balloons say at iParty? Once I am off this damn Arimidex, hopefully the bone, muscle and joint pain will go away.
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Wow everyone has been so busy! I love all the memories you have shared and agree- kids today have too much. It was better when things were simpler, a couple of tv channels, not that my parents let us watch it anyway. We were always outside.
Kay- I am impressed that you are giving up Internet for lent- and sad we will only get to hear from you on Sundays. My SIL husband gives up alcohol every year for lent, he calls it his holy detox, lol! It makes Easter Sunday lots of fun as he happily falls off the wagon and indulges! I hope your ear and jaw are better.
I am feeling better today, down to just a cold I think. My ear and jaw are finally not bothering me, now my biggest complaint is the sneezing and watery eye. I ran to the store earlier and felt like I was a million years old as I walked with a tissue in my hand, alternating from the dripping nose to the dripping eye. Half way through I thought about how gross that was- ohwell....
We had a fun sleepover and the kids are exhausted from playing too much and not sleeping enough, but they had fun and can go to bed early tonight. I have a pot roast in the crock pot going with all the veggies so I don't have to cook later.
I tried a new crock pot recipe, not very fancy, easy and pretty good. You brown a pound of hamburger add a 24 oz can of sauce when done- add seasonings you like etc. cover the bottom of the crock pot with some sauce layer over it FROZEN ravioli, more sauce, more ravioli, more sauce and top with shredded mozzarella cheese. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6. The only thing I would change is to add more sauce after the layering of the meat sauce. But it was like lasagna. It would even work with out the burger and just layer the sauce and raviolis.
I looked at Pickety Places menu too- mmmmm potato leek soup is on for March! Are we going to try for March or April? Both menus looked good!
Lacey- where do you live? Are you able to join us as well? Bedo- I am glad you will join us too!!!
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Decided to try my hand at making soup in my new Vita Mix blender and how easy that is. My first try was butternut squash soup. I roasted the already cut up squash from Costco, sauteed onions and celery, added 2 cups of chicken broth, then the squash. Once it is heated through put it into the blender and blend on high until smooth. Add extra broth to desired consistency. Add nutmeg and/or cinnamon to taste. Yummy, and we had leftovers for lunch the next day. There's also carrot orange ginger soup, and carrot tortilla soup, same basic ingredients except use carrots, and when you blend, you add the orange/ginger, and for the tortilla, you add the chili spices, garlic, some green chili peppers and anything else you want to throw in. It can be served with black beans and corn added after blending for some texture. It was really good. The squash and carrot/orange soups can be served cold as well as hot. I've tried them both ways.
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Busy, Busy thread today! I thought i would pop in real fast to see how you are all doing, dont have time to read all the posts right now, but will later. I made some homemade pizza dough, made some smaller rounds small enough to fit in my cast iron grill pan about (4) sauted veggies and when ready to eat i will top the pizzas with veggies and cheese and pop in the oven to melt.
Watching all the beautiful dressed women on the red carpet. Is everyone watching tonight?
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debbie6122: Thanks for the reminder...otherwise we'd be watching golf:(
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Momine, thank you! I will definately try that this week or next. I am currently making more lentil soup with baby spinach in the crockpot because it was so good last week. Is it hard to keep your fast? Do you also avoid things made with eggs and milk like bread?
Lacey, I kind of "invited myself" but I hope we can all meet, it would be so great.
Kaara, I love butternup squah soup. I make it with a tiny bit of apple juice and mushrooms.
Laurie, glad you're feeling better.
Good idea Debbie!
Early to bed tonight. I have to travel for work tomorrow.
Went to Savers today with a friend. Found 3 tops for $16.90 total! Then on to Christmas Tree shop for rain boots and Target for a hairdryerl Score!!
PPS, these dry eyes from antihormonals are driving me buggy. My opthalmologist told me to lubricating drops 4 times a day and hydrating ointment at night. What a pain, but I'm glad there's kind of a solution, but not totally, they still are bugging me, feel like there's sand in them sometimes.
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Hi all....am writing from my recumbent bike....
Laurie, that is such a clever way to make lasagna...I bet you could add almost anything that you'd put in your regular lasagna.....lately I've been roasting veggies for it. Thanks for the great idea! By the way, I live outside of Boston, but spend lots of time at Newfound Lake in the summer. We close the place for winters since we no longer ski, and tend to drive "south" to visit the grandbaby when I am off from work. Would love to join you ladies at Pickety Place so will keep my eyes out for your date. Those luncheon menus are amazing (to use the Bachelor/bachelorette overused expression....tho now that I said that I think they struck "amazing" from the script this season....it used to ring in my ears all week long after the show).
And Debbie, wish I were there for your yummy sounding pizzas.
I made that French lentil soup (with regular lentils) with the winter squash and interesting spices in it. I think I'll throw some omelettes together to have with it. Maybe put some kale in the omelettes with garlic, onions and sweet red peppers. Better get off this bike and do it!
Enjoy the awards, everyone.
By the way, I should add my real name since my screen name really belongs to our little pooch! I'm feeling like an imposter!
Will tell you how she was named at another time....but I am actually "Pat".0 -
Welcome Pat ~ I live just outside of Bean Town also. Most of my doctors are in Winchester and Woburn.
Well the American Chop Suey was very tasty and I had a salad on the side. DH had a salad and cooked up hot wings for himself.
Crap, back to work tomorrow.
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Ohhhhhh Kaara! I am having blender envy right now!! Had to replace my old cheapie that we got as a wedding gift many years ago and looked at the VitaMix 5200.... For what I would use it for... mostly smoothies.. I just couldn't justify it but, oh man.... The things that blender can do.... Someday!
Kay,
That is a very real Lenten sacrifice you are making!! We will miss the day to day interaction but will look forward to Sundays! Enjoy the extra time with your family! I often think about doing an experiment where we pull the plug on all electronic entertainment for a month but, haven't thus far had the guts to do it!
Been a busy weekend... Going to decompress a bit with DH and will try to catch up tomorrow!0 -
Bedo: I've looked back but can't find the French Lentil/spinach soup in a crockpot recipe. Would you please forward? Thanks
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Nice to meet you Pat. My neighbor's dog is named Lacey. They called her that because she was always chewing their shoe laces. Our dog is named Buddy. He's seven. When we were getting a dog, we had picked out Einstein for a name. When the kid at the pet store took him out of the crate, he said come here buddy. My daughter (she was seven) said she didn't want to change his name,so buddy it was. Einsteinwouldn't fit him well any way. Norwouldcopernicus, which what I wanted to name him.
The jambalaya was good! Thanks for posting Michelle! I just have to get low sodium chicken broth, it was a bit salty. Enjoy the awards. Octavia spencer just won. I loved the help. It willprobably clean up. See you next week. Enjoy your week everyone.0 -
http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-vegetarian-lentil-soup-294219
Here it is, Minus 2
It is good with fresh bread and as much Parmesan cheese as you can stand sprinkled on top without feeling guilty! (Or not)
PS, this is a huge amount of soup, so I generally 1/2 it and I have a regular sized crockpot.
I didn't post it before! Thanks for asking and I hope you enjoy it!
Sally
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Kay, That's exactly how our Lacey was named! DS1 decided on it after nixing all the super femme names I had chosen for our "dogter". I wanted "Chloe" so badly and he and the rest of the males in the house resisted. So the next day I came home from work and he said, "She's been chewing my laces all day. How about "Lacey'"? I thought it was another sweet girl name, and have always loved it for that reason while for the boys it conjured up that naughty little behavior. Worked for everyone!
Amusing footnote....11 years later, DS1 and wife adopted a rescue dog.....already bearing the name of Chloe!!!
Have a good week!0 -
Oh Deb....just saw your post also. Oscar has me distracted.
Am a bit more south than you, so get my treatment at NWH and the MGH there in Newton. It has been soooo convenient with my work schedule to avoid going into town. May we both have an easy Monday tomorrow!0 -
Very glad to see Meryl Streep win for best actress and Octavia Spenser for supporting actress, Meryl streep is great in anything and Octavia did a great job in the help. I love mostly looking at all the dressess and jewlery, thats the best part! LOL!
Sally- The soup sounds so good, I definatly will be making that! Bet it would be good adding some sweet potatoes in there too. We dont have a savers here, but my daughter who lives in GA talks about it a lot. Good save!
Pat- I love the saying, Dogter, so cute!
Seaside- Hope you enjoyed your evening with DH!
Deb-Hope you have a easy day tomorrow for work. Chop suey sounds yummy, havnt had that in forever!
Michelle- I just remembered you have a trip coming up to paris, is that in March?
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I forgot to mention, I made the tuna salad for lunch today, it was so good, (Apples mom's recipe) Dh loved it, its def a keeper especially with fresh tuna!
Kay- See you next sunday- wish i was as commited as you!
How long does lent last? You would think i'd know, im spiritual, but sadly i don't,
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Thanks Bedo. Looking forward to making the Lentil soup.
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Joyce- Aww, you probably are asleep by now, i would of chatted with you and bored you to sleep LOL! We actually had a dusting of snow this morning and suppose to have some tomorrow too. Hope you are sound asleep by now.
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Bedo, no the fast is not too bad. What I usually miss most is the cheese, but since I am trying to give it up anyway, it shouldn't be that difficult this year. Bread here is notmade with eggs and dairy, so that is not a problem. I do also allow myself milk in my coffee. We are not saints after all.
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