So...whats for dinner?
Comments
-
Making sausage stir fry with peppers, squash and onions. Wimped out last night - heated 2 chicken sausages from TJs with a pkg of frozen rice/vegies. I have to get in the mood to cook. Not near your temps Eric but my therm. hit 101 today. We are quickly wiping out the pkgs of frozen leftovers. I need to read through the crockpot books I've been buying at HP Books Clearance Sale. Chicken breasts and pork loin on sale this week (buy1 get 1). Not in the mood for either. But I may buy the pork loin and have one sliced up in medallions.
Monica/Eric - do they use those continuous ice machines on knees there? I think they do here but never had to take care of anyone with it. Just heard about it.
Lacey - stay safe. Looks like rain dumping in the NE. I saw a Tweeted pic of a waterspout at Lake W---- (I could never spell it) from over the weekend or late last week.
When I went to PT last year they had the best cold packs, stayed cold a long time not like the drugstore kind we have. Have on Amazon but not cheap.
Joyce - I prob. know this answer but what are "Fenway" franks - the kind served there?
I made a flatbread with turkey meatballs and sauce. It was OK but not spectacular. Neither of us cared for the flatbread which is odd because we both love naan. So we pried the meatballs off the leftovers, put them on a hotdog bun with extra BBQ sauce and some undressed coleslaw mix. I know that kind of "hotdog" has a name - DH thought I was a genius.
I think I found a frozen turkey in my chest freezer. I don't even remember buying it. Guess it's there for the duration unless we get a really oddball cold front.
Oh yeah, the scale. I had to weigh pts for their recert. for hospice (if they could stand that is otherwise measurement is the upper arm circumf.). One pt had carpet in every room - includ. kitchen and bath. We did the best we could
Tell me the salsa chicken again - boneless or with bones. I've never made it. One of these days I need to read from page 1.
0 -
Tonight was Chinese carryout from a new joint in town. Not bad. Not quite spicy enough for my taste, but ok. My little town is getting quite cosmopolitan with 2 Chinese restaurants!
0 -
Funny - I actually made Laurie's "salsa chicken" last night too.. My son is in town while roofers are installing a new roof so I made it w/red salsa. Turned out OK, but I prefer green chili. Here's Laurie's post so you don have to go looking for it.
The salsa chicken recipe comes from a friend of mine. It great, easy
and healthy. Usually I hate left over but this one is the exception, it
makes for great wraps or enchiladas a few nights later.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.Whats great is it takes literally 2 minutes from fridge to oven AND you
get to say you made dinner:)0 -
So - my son (who lives in northern CA) and I both agreed it's too darn hot in Houston to have the oven on - although the salsa chicken was wonderful. Spent most of the day outside at 95 degrees actual but 105 degrees heat index. Whew!! Tonight I made Beef Burgundy in my deep electric pan & served on noodles. Except I substituted beef broth for most of the wine & added just a small amount of Malbec. I remembered that he doesn't like "chunks" of onions so I chopped them REALLY small. I forgot he doesn't like mushrooms either. Turned out OK since I like mushrooms better than the beef & we just divided the wealth.
Tomorrow we'll have strip steaks on the BBQ. Anything to avoid the heat. Roofers doing a really good job. Moving on to windows next.
0 -
Joycek - the higher you put your router the better. Also they have signal boosters - we had to get one to send connectivity to the far end of the house when the DD was in college and needed to use her laptop.
Everyone's dinners sound yummy. Have not been cooking much since I'm by myself. DH came home Sun, leaves again tomorrow a.m. until Sun. again. We both leave Mon but I come back same day, he comes back Wed. So ..... No cooking!
0 -
I've been tempted to get a used electric stove at Goodwill and set it up in the garage so I can use the oven without heating the house.
....just got a severe weather warning...
0 -
Eric - when we lived in upstate NY (in Rome) we saw extra stoves in basements and garages - very common. The realtor said it was for tomato season and marinara sauce making.
0 -
Special, that is really an interesting regional culinary lifestyle fact about the extra stoves for tomato season in upstate NY. Love it!
Luv, we have missed the bad weather in much of MA since we are way out in P-town. So far have only had wild wind, which today calmed enough for us to enjoy a few hours on the beach. Started the day at 6AM, walked 50 minutes into town to get coffee. Every year we used to walk to a hotel on the water about a mile up the road. That was this morning's plan....except when we got there it didn't feel like much of a walk (that's what 35lbs of weight loss and daily working out can do!), so we decided to go all the way into town (2 more miles) which was fun since we could really appreciate all the antique houses and local gardens that you can't pay attention to when driving on that very narrow pedestrian filled street.
We enjoyed coffee (and unfortunately some delicious pastries, purely 'cause they looked good after our walk....no scales here;) next to the harbor, then after some shopping, decided to take the bus back to our place. Got set for the ocean beach. Our beach here is on the bay side and very nice, but since we got our senior free parking national park card a few years ago, we love going to the various ocean side beaches. Simple happiness!
So I spent the afternoon collecting beautiful ocean stones on the beach which the grandkids will have fun painting next week when they visit at the lake. Oh, Luv, I saw the footage of that Lake Winnipesaukee water spout....don't know anyone who saw it. Laurie??
Tonight we attended a Broadway cabaret show at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre. The singer was excellent, and quite moving with some of her original songs. We ended the evening with a stop at our favorite ice cream place, and DH had maple bacon flavor...it was actually quite tasty! I had a cranberry bog flavor that had cranberry with chocolate and white chocolate chips and walnuts ( for extra protein;). Yum!
Before the show we had had a quick dinner at a seafood place near the theatre...DH had fried oyster tacos, which he liked. I resorted back to my BLT quest....and it was good....but then I was really hungry! Also had kale sausage soup....just can't get away from my favorite soup!
Earlier in week we had dinners at restaurants in town...I had an arugula salad with crabcake(s!) one night, and their tomato-y kale sausage soup; yesterday had grilled jumbo shrimp with pesto, watermelon and pineapple over rice. Both were good. Tomorrow evening we are going to see a local performance of "Rent" and will go to one of the more popular restaurants in town before the show if we can get a reservation. Glad I am not at home cooking in the humid 90 degree heat! No air conditioned kitchen in our house!
Speaking about disjointed posts, Eric, I am not even going to review this long missive....so good luck all and good night! Probably another walk in the AM.....
Sorry not to respond to other posts....very late....t-i-r-e-d!
0 -
Lacey, glad I'm not reading your post later in the day when I'm HUNGRY! You have such an interesting life and eat such delicious food out at restaurants. I loved sharing that walk with you and your dh and enjoying the quaint houses and gardens. And then walking on an ocean beach.
I refuse to mentally share those temps with Minus, LMG, and Eric! It was 61 this morning when I got up and I'm wearing long pants, long sleeved shirt and socks. The down side is that we stay inside and drink our coffee. If it were a little warmer, I would go outside and enjoy the morning out of doors.
Joyce, your indoor/outdoor meal sounds really good, too.
I've been hearing a loon at night and in the morning. The sound is so wonderful. I just love it!
Today we'll go bike riding on a different portion of the Heartland bike trail. First we have to buy bread from Mary Dodge, the Pie and Bread Lady, who has her tent set up on Weds. and Sats. We'll also have lunch out somewhere after biking. A number of choices but none of them compare to Lacey's!
Has anyone else taken leftovers out of the refrig. and expanded them?! I dumped in a little more salsa and also added some diced ham. Cooked more brown rice. And ended up with more leftovers!
Am thinking I will put some chicken pieces in the crockpot and dump some really good barbecue sauce on it. I have a whole chicken in the refrig. OR maybe get a steak out to thaw. Maybe I'll get input from dh.
0 -
Carole, your mushrooming leftovers effort is funny.....sort of reminds me of the "friendship bread" process! Maybe you could start a trend in the campground....."friendship leftovers".
Love hearing loon calls on the lake. You must hear lots where you are. We get only a few loons on our lake since there are very few coves. Squam has many more, and the sound is enchanting. Enjoy yours!
Several years ago, I was into making decorative house flags, and made a small "loon flag" for our boat. Sadly, on one "too fast" excursion, the little flagpole loosened, our flag flew off and was lost.....never to be seen again. Didn't feel like putting that much detailed effort into another one.....maybe some day now that I have time.
Hope everyone with steamy weather gets some relief. Coolish here on the coast so far today......
0 -
Carole - I regularly do "leftover expansion" with things I have, particularly if it is protein. When I cooked for our friend who is ill I had leftover cooked Italian sausage with onion so on Mon I turned it into spaghetti carbonara. I seem to do this more since I have no kids at home.
0 -
Carole leftover expansion was supper tonight. I broke up a hamburger pattie, fried onion, added leftover rice and leftover pineapple. Tossed in some soy and oyster sauce. Now I have a leftover sorta stir fry. LOL
0 -
Tonight we ate at a popular local restaurant before going to a musical. We both had a baby greens salad with cranberries, pine nuts and goat cheese. For main course, DH had a mustard almond crusted cod with roasted asparagus and wild rice, and I had salmon with roasted brussels sprouts and wild rice. I wasn't wild about mine, and DH kindly reminded me that when at the shoreline, eat the local fish! Duhhhhh! Tomorrow, we will both follow that advice and have lobster rolls at a place that uses no fillers (e.g., celery!).
After dinner we went to see a local production of "Rent". I loved that raucous show from the 90's and the local singers/performers did a great job. DH is not as much of a fan of this fast and furious production,so it was good of him to get us tickets and sit in a very cold theatre (guess the performers needed that) for over two hours.
So I hope that the new knees are all starting to cooperate! I love the sound of the "peas" ice pack you described, Eric. I would love to have some of them in the freezer when joints act up.
0 -
I must be the last convert to the salsa chicken. It was wonderful. Only had 2 boneless breasts - 1#. Used the whole can of beans but only about 1/2 the salsa. Yummy and leftovers. No expansion needed. DH says to take it to the next Mexican food party we go to. I have a church meeting tomorrow night so DH can choose from salsa chicken or sausage stir fry. Bet you right now it's the salsa chicken. He reluctantly eats squash (in the stir fry) but not his favorite. I think squash picks up whatever flavor the dish has kinda the same way I think about eggplant in a casserole. Oh well, if there are not to many appetizers passed I will come home to stir fry. I'm taking a baked refried bean dip, an old standby. Refried beans, chopped ripe olives, cheese by the bucketful, onions. What's not to like?
Lacey - you have the most interesting meals out.
0 -
Luv - I've made the salsa chicken w/large chunks of leftover chicken. Chunks might be easier to serve for a crowd. I have 1/3 of one chick breast left w/one scoop of beans for leftovers.
Cooked salmon fillets last night. DS & I were both too tired to grill after being outside and up & down the roof (him) all day. The heat index was 105 degrees around dinnertime so I didn't want to turn on the oven & heat up the house. Settled for microwave poached in dill. Served w/leftover rice and corn. Unfortunately just plain old frozen corn. He doesn't eat corn on the cob. Took him to the airport at 5am. What a treat to have such a nice son who will come & help w/big projects. New roof looks great. Windows are next. Trying to catch up on all the maintenance that got delayed with BC.
0 -
Went out to dinner last night with a friend on the spur of the moment. I took her a couple of pairs of pants (that are too big now - yay!) after my haircut and since both of our DHs are out of town, we went out. Had a lobster tail, roasted asparagus and a salad of arugula dressed with salsa verde, watermelon, feta and pepitas. Yum! Also was naughty and had a blackberry sangria - OMG!!! Delicious! I will justify it by saying I also got some antioxidants mixed in!
0 -
Special, glad that you had a night out and enjoyed your dinner. What's naughty about the sangria? No alcohol on your eating plan?
Moon, your expanded leftovers meal was very inventive!
Minus and LMG, the salsa chicken recipe adapts well to a slow cooker when it's too hot to light the oven.
Lacey, I try to stick to your dh's wisdom about ordering the fish that is local. Gets difficult when there is no local! Maybe order something other than fish? The lobster roll sounds delicious.
Watching the women's British Open on tv this morning. Playing golf this afternoon at a very nice course. It's cheaper to play the twilight time which starts at 3:30. Will get the crockpot going about noon with chicken and barbecue sauce. Last night's dinner was foraging because we ate lunch in Park Rapids at the Good Life Café. I had a roasted turkey and avocado sandwich on really good wheat bread with restaurant-made chips. DH had a fancy burger with battered fries. They are the best fries we've ever tasted. Golden and crusty and tender on the inside.
A cool 65 here.
0 -
carole - alcohol is not forbidden, but sugar is, so sangria is somewhat naughty. This had blackberry syrup in it, which made it super delicious, but you know it had a bunch of sugar. The diet author recommends red wine or tequila as alcohol of choice once you have reached your goal weight, so at least I had that part right, lol! I only have a drink about every six months (even when not on the diet) so since the rest of the meal was not too bad it is ok.
0 -
Carole - any suggestions for cooking the salsa chicken in the crockpot? Told DH he would see it again and soon. Too bad I can't get DD to cook - even she can do this and she has a rice cooker also. I bought a pkg. of Tyson chick. I think frozen thighs strips it turns out - thought they were whole. Might be a good use for them. It must be hard to bone thighs because they are always more fatty than I think they should be - even fresh ones. I forgot the sour cream but DH didn't care. He rarely uses it when I put it out but I had a bit I wanted to use up.
My oven though now 10 years old is really well insulated. I wouldn't want to be cooking that frozen turkey but the 1.5 hours for the chicken wasn't bad. I did chunk the breasts up some and prob. should have butterflied the chunks as well. I can't believe our forecast (one of them) is calling for 81 degrees end of next week. If by some chance it does happen I hear that turkey calling my name.
Special - blackberry sangria sounds yum. I love sangria - the cheap stuff outta the bottle but I bet your's had real fruit in it.
Someone on another thread I think, not here, mentioned Almond Roca syrup. Amazon seems to have only 750 ml sizes or multi packs. Sounds absolutely yummy. Ft. Worth has a few coffee shops - well besides the ubiquitous Starbucks - but not like Dallas has. Might be on my next shopping trip list. I have a foodie friend - actually child of friends. She is a budding pastry chef. I need to ask her. She might know. Will prob. see her next weekend. Must remember.
Need to scout thru the kitchen. I may have used the last of my Lundberg's Golden Rose brown rice. On Amazon in 25# bags oh my. I buy it at a little health food store in a little town north of us that I have no reason to visit any time soon. It is where I take my car to the dealer for service but - fingers/toes/anything else crossed - no need to do that soon. It does have a Walmart and some other decent shopping but not where I would want to go in this heat. Cute little county square. Besides they sometimes do not have it in stock. Hope I find another bag hidden away. If not anyone else have a brown rice recommendation? I guess I could see if Lundberg has any other brown rices. DH prob. overdue to make an Amazon order.
0 -
luv - it was yum! It had three huge blackberries in the glass, and the base wine was cabernet. I use Mahatma brown rice, or the 365 brand from Whole Foods. I just googled the Lundberg rice you mentioned and while I did see it on Amazon, there were a couple of other sites where it was cheaper, but I am not sure what shipping is on 25 lbs. of rice! Here is smaller quantities:
0 -
Carole: Thanks for the crock pot suggestion for the salsa chicken. I'm with Luv - how long, how high? Any other changes? I even put a pork tenderloin on hold due to the heat. I always feel guilty talking about our temperatures since I know Eric's are worse - but no humidity.
Oh Special - blackberry Sangria in addition to lobster & asparagus? I'm having a serious case of the envies. And i second Carole's thought about Lacey's lobster roll. yum, yum.
0 -
minus, I cut the pork tenderloin into medallions and glaze with jelly and a bit of balsamic reduction. Done on top of the stove in minutes.
0 -
minus - I actually asked our server what was in the sangria and have already searched and printed the closest online recipe I could find, lol! I have also done pork tenderloin stovetop by cutting the pork into medallions, pounding them slightly, sautéing and removing them from the pan, deglaze with some tarragon vinegar, then add some Dijon mustard and tarragon and pour the sauce over the pork. Quick and yummy.
0 -
luv, I buy lundberg short grain Brown rice on Amazon. it's my favorite.
BlackBerry sangria, oh my, yum!
0 -
Thanks Moon & Special. Good ideas for the pork.
0 -
Thanks Nancy I'll look for the Lundberg short grain brown. I thought you were the one that had a favorite. I really don't see many rice varieties in the reg. groceries. Mahatma and Basmanti are exotic here. I prob. won't get to Ft. Worth for a while. Just no compelling reason to go so may have to suffice with local Albertsons. But if DH puts in an Amazon order - Whoopee. DH would much rather have rice than potatoes any day. And yes I guessed right. He ate the leftover salsa chicken with more salsa on it. My refried bean dip came home empty - DH said it almost looked like they licked it clean. Easy dip - 1 can refried beans (I had black beans today, can use the vegetarian ones), 1/2 4 oz can chopped black olives, about 1/2 c salsa (mine was very thick so I added a bit extra), 1/2 c grated cheese + extra for top, 4-5 chopped green onions. Mix all but topping cheese. Put in greased casserole and top with about another 1/2 c cheese - I had 4 cheese Mexican blend. I think I use more cheese than it calls for. Bake 350 degrees 30 min. The original recipe is 2 cans of beans and whole 4 oz. can of chopped black olives - makes a huge amount. Half is just right for 8-10 people. I use a small CorningWare dish.
0 -
Special K--what book is the Diet in that you were talking about? I love Lundberg Rice. They have small packets of it at the Walmart here and also at Meijers. There was a recipe on the package that called for some mushrooms, and onions to bea dded, and maybe some nuts, and It was to die for, but they don't always have it. It also comes in a blend with wild rice and brown rice together.0 -
redheaded - I follow the Virgin Diet (nutritionist J. J. Virgin's book) which is an anti-inflammatory food elimination diet. Here is the link, but basically you completely eliminate seven things - sugar, dairy, gluten, corn, peanuts, eggs, and soy. She advises eating low-glycemic fruits and vegetables, and grass-fed or pasture raised proteins.
0 -
Carole, that Good Life Cafe lunch sandwich sounded so delish! Even more delish since I am starving after a long walk this AM and an afternoon at the beach. Tonight we are heading to a place called Napi's where DH needs to get his bouillabaise fix (fish stew, which is actually Portuguese style since it is a Portuguese restaurant) every year. Not sure what I will get.
Last night, we went to Pepe's Wharf to get the much tauted lobster rolls. Well, it was a beautiful evening, and we enjoyed a lovely sunset on the harbor from the restaurant's deck (when I get home, maybe I'll be able to post a pic with my computer which DH cleared out for me before we left town;) I saw that they offered a arugula salad with lobster meat, so ordered that (after we had fried calamari for an appetizer). DH ended up passing up the lobster roll for 1) a bloody mary with shrimp in it, then a seafood medley (shrimp, scallops and lobster) in a red sauce over linguini. The two gals who sat down next to us had the lobster rolls, and I have to say, that lobster meat looked wonderful, as did the fries! However, for me it was probably the right decision to have my lobster with greens after the fried calamari.
So we got up early and took the 3 mile walk into town....and DH decided we should get our coffee at the Portugese Bakery. In 31 summers of coming here,I have never set foot in that place....knowing that I did not need their wonderful baked goods. OMG! The pastries and desserts are so tempting. Yes we got coffee....and I just had to try their almond tart that caught my eye (tiny, so no calories, I'm sure;). And DH got a big ol piece of Portugese sweet bread that had been coated in sugar and cinnamon and french toasted. We sat on a bench by a harbor beach and enjoyed our treats before heading back on the bus to get ready for the ocean beach.
Got to see some seals swimming back and forth in front of us today.....then saw the small airplane that follows the seals to spot any nearby sharks so people will get the warning to leave the water. I actually think that the sharks were not so excited about the 62 degree water today, so no worries there. DH went in happily, but I decided to stay ashore and collect interesting rocks. It seems so odd to me that the waves bring rocks ashore. As a young girl, I always collected seashells with my father on the Jersey shore. Wonder if they have rocks there now too?? Anyway, I have lots of lovely rocks to use for art projects next weekend when our grandkids visit in NH.
I agree that Laurie's salsa chicken is easily made in a crockpot on hot days.
Special, your lunch out sounded great....and wonderful that you got all those antioxidants in!
I'm probably not much help with rice brands. We minimally have grains these days....and I've been feeling badly here leaving what feels like mounds of (sort of) wild rice on my plate at the end of my meal.
0 -
Salsa Chicken in the Crockpot. I had 2 large boneless chicken breasts. Cut them into strips about 1 in. wide. Put the chicken on the bottom. Poured the salsa and the black beans. Turned on High for 3 hours. Really remarkable that this 3-ingredient mixture tastes so good!
I would suggest consulting a slow cooker chicken recipe with raw chicken and using it as a guideline.
I love brown rice. Basmati brown rice is the best. I'm using up a 5 lb. bag of jasmine brown rice that I bought from an outdoor vendor at a farmers' mkt. in AL. The rice was grown in Louisiana and the bag is cloth. It's quite good but just tastes like brown rice. I have a bag of Lundberg wild blend that I bought because it was so pretty!
Cooked brown rice is very good warmed up in a skillet with some butter and EVOO.
Tonight's dinner is steak which dh will cook on the grill. I'm battling with myself over the veggie side: broccoli or boiled small red potatoes? Maybe I'll cook both and skip the salad but salad sounds good. Decisions, decisions.
I finally got dh to take me out on the lake today in a small pontoon boat with an outboard motor. We had a lovely boat ride and anchored and fished for a while. I caught a pretty "sunny," or sunfish, which we released. We get free use of this nice little pontoon boat so I'm hoping we'll take advantage of it.
0
