So...whats for dinner?

Thinking of all of you who are in the deep freeze. We had mild temps today with rain, so most of the snow is gone...and now the temp is crashing, so we'll be cold once again!

Spent a couple of hours at the gym this afternoon (DH and I have been enjoying a stretching class after our regular workouts...feels so wonderful!), and we left at rush hour so got stuck in tons of traffic. I had to rush dinner since he has a committee meeting tonight, so quickly cooked up some butternut squash ravs from Traders, with a white sauce, accompanied by a baby spinach, pear and red onion salad. I had planned to have two ravs.....but I was puzzled by a certain taste I could not identify until I ate SEVEN of them!   I now think it was an almond flavor....but still not sure and the container label is out in the cold trash bin. Will have to buy them again to have on hand for a quick dinner....and to check out the ingredients.

Monica, hope you are loving your new Kitchen Aid! Maybe you can post a pic of your pumpkin yeast bread? I have never see a recipe for that......

Speaking of mixers, I received a scraper mixing blade for Christmas .....must make something to test it out, but I really do not want tasty stuff around, too much temptation!

Oh, that is so exciting Carol!! Maybe we should start a "here's a pic of may vacation discussion, lol)

Please let us know of any interesting food Down Under.

Lacey, that butternut squash sounds divine! I'm having left over soup for dinner Ha

Moon, how do you make corn chowder?

Nance and all, I hope you are all well with the freezing weather. That is really scary and I worry about people who have never experienced it or are not ready for it.

I'll sign off. Work all the time 10 hours today, which doesn't sound like much, but I can't pace it, I have to take things as they come.

Happy Monday to all

Snuggling with my Upstairs Dog.(Landlords) we both needed it.  Plus playing with an old sock tied in a knot

Took some Perdue boneless chicken, onions, small potatoes,carrots, celery, mini penne and made a chicken stew with lots of dried herbs from my garden.  Boy am I full. My sister is temporarily living with me until she can find a place of her own.  At least I am not alone.

Not nice for me to moan about the cold - but for Houston 20 is frigid.  Most people are running a water drip so the pipes don't freeze so the pressure is low.  (our pipes are either in our attics or under a crawl space for buildings up on blocks).  Hope those of you who are 'buried' w/snow are all OK.

I spent the evening sorting through my huge recipe box (at least 4x a regular one).  Interesting to see how my tastes & cooking preferences have changed over the years.  Part of it is living in Houston.  I don't turn on the oven except in the middle of winter & I often have to run the air conditioning even then.  Eric & Carole can understand.  A lot is the availability of fresh foods that were unheard of when I first married.  Iceburg was the only lettuce and veggies were canned - frozen veggies were just beginning to appear in the stores.  Casseroles were pretty much all we could afford.  One of my son's favorites was a hot dog, slit for a slice of cheese & rolled in crescent rolls then baked.  I haven't thought about that one in ages.  Lots thrown away and I still have 3/4 of the box to go - then the huge 12x15 envelope stuffed w/recipes I've clipped from somewhere.  Bittersweet to find recipes in my Mother's handwriting.

Bedo - love the adventures & the pictures.  Deborye - I agree.  No fair!!!

Really Deb?  You like torturing us?  I want my Carolina Home!!!!  Everything closed around us today, but I still have to go to work.  We did not get the blizzard but are in a deep, deep freeze.  I have been asked to assist at another clinic that we just opened and they need help getting settled in, so I will go there early then on to my regular job.  Hope the car can handle the cold.

Will do up some chicken tenders and have them ready for a chicken Caesar salad when I get home tonight.  Soup sounds like the way to go though or maybe take out.

It was -11 last night but it's up to 0 right now. Heat wave!

We are establishing new low highs on the northshore (north shore of Lake Ponchartrain).  It was only in the 30's today.  Tonight we'll have another hard freeze and then it will start warming up.  You should hear all the grumbling! 

I made a navy bean soup today with ham, chopped carrot, celery and  onion and canned tomatoes.  It was good but would have been better with some  spinach or other type of greens thrown in.  We also had another good green salad with blue cheese. 

The turkey breast was delicious. Surprise it was boneless. Made the price per # a little easier to bear. I think I will try the foil cooking with chicken breasts and some dry Italian seasoning - homemade Good Seasons mix or maybe some rosemary powder, butter and flour. House smells wonderful. Cheated and made Velveeta mac/cheese. Enough turkey leftover for at least one more night and possibly 2.

Chicken and rice wIth broccoli tonight (new recipe). Not very exciting, but I did get my hg king Arthur flour today, so I'll start a new batch of bagels tomorrow. They probably won't get finished until Saturday because Friday I'm going to my favorite Italian grocer in st. Louis. Looking forward to some house made canneloni and olives of all kinds dipped out of big white buckets. The smell of cheeses, salamis, garlic and oregano greets you with a big smelly kiss when you walk in the door. Can't wait.

I accompanied two different friends to their vasectomies. It was very interesting to say the least. They're pretty protective of the "family jewels" lol!

Carol, it's very much like Central Grocery, only bigger.

Laurie:  Children gone is a wonderful idea.  When my DH had his vasectomy, the hardest thing was to keep the 4 year old from jumping on Dad to wrestle in the bed.  Hope surgery went well.  And I don't think you're being insensitive at all!!  What a great break for you.

Carole:  I know you'll have a super trip.  Looking forward to hearing from you off & on.

laurie - if you have not already, get some bags of frozen peas - they make great ice packs and are moldable for the vasectomy location.  Get a few so you can swap out the bags - just throw them back in the freezer and re-use them again for the next icing.  This was recommended for my DH's vasectomy and it worked great.  FYI - he was a baby about it too - no surprise.

My sister made a huge crock pot of spaggetti sauce with meatballs and 3 different types of sausages.  Guess what we will be eating for awhile.

I think tonight is enchiladas. Have corn tortillas I need to use up. I cheat and use a Wolf chili recipe. I still can't find a canned/jarred enchilada sauce I like. Pace had one that did not sell well that I loved. I do have a jar of Frontera sauce in there but DH liked the Wolf ones and asked for them. Still have just a bit of turkey left too. Umm may have a snack b4 dinner. I plan tomorrow during the rain we're supposed to get to dig down the freezer again and start cooking up stuff down there, including that whole chicken I keep avoiding. She may just get boiled and frozen in bits. So far I have avoided getting out this week at all. Think I will make it last until Sunday for SS/church.

Uhh Deborye - I could sure use some meatballs and sauce. Yum looking.