So...whats for dinner?

The meat was absolutely wonderful. At $16 a pound, I would be disappointed if it wasn't good. I don't do steak that often, but when I do (que up the Dos Equis beer ad), I get the Prime grade beef from the meat market.

Chi.....It sounds like you like capsaicin....me too.. :-)

Carole, that does not seem like a good way to lose weight!

Lacey, I've never heard of cauliflower pancakes. I'm not a huge fan of plain cauliflower (too bland), so I don't know how I would like them. Siracha, or any spicy topping would certainly help.

Special, our dogs would look at us and pretend there was never any meat on the counter. :-) I think the meat would be perfectly safe with the cat. I put a piece of trout in the cat's bowl with some dry food and he ate the dry food but left the trout. I've done this with hamburger with the same result. He's a strange cat.

Susan, any dementia (including Alzheimer's) is a sad and horrible thing--both for the person and their family. But, you already know that.

Two pork chops for lunch is livin' large!!!

We had a couple of meetings at the condo this morning. Our realtor says we did a fabulous job and did not over improve. She would love this as a listing, but of course, she won't get it. She furthermore hasn't done a redo on her own kitchen since she hasn't had time to select the materials and colors. She has asked that I send her a list of everything we used in both the kitchen and family bathroom, and then she doesn't have to do all that legwork! She wants to buy our leftover tile to get started. Isn't that funny?

Since Mr. 02143 and I were out together, we headed to East Cambridge where we bought some chicken parts for stock and eggs, then down the street to our fish monger where we bought a lovely swordfish steak, a quick stop at the nut wholesale shop where I had an order waiting, and a final stop at Whole Foods for milk and a bit of lettuce. Dinner will be the swordfish with the Ottoman spice blend I brought back from Turkye, a lemon-chicken stock bulgar with onions and almonds, a tomato salad, and a green salad. Today is my last chemo-free night for 21 days so I am going to enjoy some raw vegetables.

*susan*

DH is making a pasta dish for dinner. He saw Pasta for Every Palate on Cook's Country recently and it appealed to him. A variation of olive oil and garlic sauce with the addition of arugula and chopped toasted walnuts. The recipe calls for 50 garlic cloves!

I will make the house salad with romaine, tomato, cucumber, avocado and blue cheese.

Interesting, Minus. I might check into that, but I have to admit that I rarely buy frozen veggies of any sort since I am notorious for letting them languish in the freezer to the point of burn. I was just so happy to discover already "riced" cauliflower since I hate the mess of all that "dry white stuff" when I do it myself in the food processor. It was easy to just pour the riced mix into a bowl with the onion, eggs and cheese, etc. to make the pancakes. Besides garlic powder, I added tarragon for a bit of flavor....but still wanted that siracha/sour cream topping.

Tonight we grilled some (faux, I'm sure) kobe beef hamburgers that were featured at our local supermarket. They were actually really good, but maybe because we soooo rarely make hamburgers. The store had no ground lamb available. Really!! Anyway, I think that we unconsciously needed to chow down on some red meat before the doc vegans show up! We piled up tasty items on these burgers...red leaf lettuce, red onion, tomato slices, avacado slices. Messy but good! And beyond that, I decided to make an arugula salad, but realized that the greens bag actually contained baby kale. So I made a sliced baby kale salad with scallions, shaved carrots, red cabbage, sliced almonds, raisins and a balsamic dressing. It was delicious! I must write it down so I can make it again.

Am I the only one who is not really amused by the opportunism of a realtor who is too busy making money to do the hard work that we all witnessed you slave over, Susan? Maybe a consult fee (since you are a consultant afterall) might be in order to give away the benefits of all of your research....unless, of course she is a good friend.

Carole, once again I am impressed that your DH gets inspired to make dinner! And it sounds delicious!

In the process of finding a particular cleaning spray under the kitchen sink this afternoon, I discovered evidence of a slow leak. Any containers I had things like sponges in, also served as receptacles for over an inch of water. Glad I saw it...call will be going to the plumber in the morning...which means we will make a quick list of all the other minor items that can use plumbing attention to make it worth paying for the visit.

This morning as I was getting out of bed, I heard several thunderous booms, coming from the direction of our driveway. It was a huge hauling vehicle delivering a piece of excavating equipment, I assume, for the property across the street where a house is to be built. Yikes! We might want to go somewhere else for six months! Or get protective ear dear! Then we just learned that our next door neighbors are putting an addition on their house....on our side! Double yikes! Being at home, retired, rather than out working all day can have its drawbacks! Apologies for the rant......:/.

Nance, oh no. I can't imagine how that must feel. My heart goes out to you.... how hard.

Lacey, the realtor actually did offer to pay for this information. And when I refused, she said she would send me a gift certificate to my restaurant of choice. She has my number, eh? She is the first realtor that i have ever met who is smart, like Master in a hard science smart, and ethical. If my husband needs to sell this house and I am no longer around, he needs someone who will not take advantage of his Alzheimers. She wouldn't. And unlike most realtors, she doesn't make my skin crawl constantly. I took this as an opportunity to document what we did; the colors; the name of the tiles. And maybe I will get a decent meal out of it! Could you spend the summer at the lake? Construction on two sides doesn't sound like a lovely summer. But a lake does! Is that a valid thought?

Carole, funny how those cooking shows can spark a craving isn't it? Happens to the best of us! We had some of my magic-freezer mushroom raviolis that I made back in February, and it was all because of a show I saw.

My good friends have a dog who is fearless when it comes to counter grazing. They have a kitchen cabinet whose sole job in life is to keep the dog away from balls, meat, kibble, treats, and squeaky toys.

*susan*

Minus, I'm an only child, so he's stuck with me, for better or worse.

And he's lucky he has you, Nance! Not every adult child is so devoted as you are....

I've been trying to consistently have my main meal before 4pm. Something Special has called "linner" or maybe "dunch"? I seem to sleep better at night and also have more energy. Today was baked cod (wild caught, flash frozen fillets from Costco) dipped in melted butter & lemon & Panko crumbs & spices, with a side of Brussels sprouts. Hope to get doughnuts on Friday.

Going to give grain-free pizza one more try. Cauliflower crust mini-pizzas from the health food store were a bust, as it never got crisp and stuck to the pan no matter how well-greased; but Whole Foods had some “gluten-free. grain-free” full-sized pizzas on sale. The crust is made from arrowroot and almond flour. A bit too big for the toaster oven, so will clear out the regular oven, pizza stone or pan, & peel. We shall see if it works.

As is often the case at the beginning of my Xeloda cycle, my stomach was a bit off today. I needed soup. Imagine my shock that the magic freezer did not produce this elixir. No stock! So, I had Chef Lorenzo make my dinner. His chicken tortilla soup is just so good and only $4.00!!! This amazing bowl of soup must be a loss leader for him. It was filled with chicken, chilis, stock, avocado, tortilla chips, and corn. Mr. 02143 ordered his three favorite pork tacos and some black beans. For me, soup was the perfect meal on this cold and rainy evening.

Today I made some rye bread. I also roasted some chicken parts which I will make stock with them either tomorrow or Friday. Tomorrow, I also need to start brining some bluefish that a friend caught last season. We are going to visit her next week, and I thought it would be nice to bring her fish back to her smoked. Her husband loves smoked bluefish pate, so I will bring some of it in this form as well. I also managed some billable hours and a nap. Busy day!

*susan*

Had the low-carb Whole Foods pizza last night--not what I grew up with, but no worse than S. Side or St. Louis thin-cracker-crust style. Crust is made with coconut (not almond) flour, coconut milk, eggs and a little arrowroot. So not exactly Atkins-esque but less carby than the real thing, and holds up much better than cauliflower-crust. (Didn’t stick to the oven rack). Toppings no worse than most frozen cheese pizza.

For Jose Cuervo’s birthday tonight, gonna get some bison skirt steak and make fajitas. Perhaps with some black beans on the side. Have some low carb (3 gm net) whole wheat-chia tortillas. No rice. Might pick up an avocado and make some guacamole as a dip for veggies. Or might even go a little carbier and have only veggies--including grilling corn “elotes”-style.

I am going to dinner tonight because it is a good friend's birthday today - she spent last year by herself, so I feel particularly like we need to celebrate this year! I have a PET scan on Saturday morning so I need to limit the carbs tonight, then tomorrow will be all protein.

auntie - I feel for you with the dad situation. I did not like my mom's doc, even a little, and she knew that - but she adored him for some unexplained reason. I did confront him several times because of things he did that appeared unethical to me over the course of her 25 year chronic degenerative illness, and she was always mad at me when I did that, but I was acting in her best interests and I knew that he was acting in his. He even refused to provide a hospice prescription when she had less than two weeks to live because he would have lost control of the situation. She decided that was what she wanted and we went around him to get it. Hopefully your dad is having these feelings due to the amount of change and illness he has experienced and will come to realize that you love him and only want the best and safest situation for him.

hi ladies! Long time no see! Tonight we are having an old school dinner. Chicken cutlets, paper thin, homemade potato salad (with oil and vinegar, no mayo), steamed broccoli and a green salad. Hope you are all well and can't wait to hear what you've got cooking

Tonight was grilled Amish chicken and assorted lightly steamed vegetables that were languishing in the fridge.

Wonder of wonders, today on the phone dad asked me if I had talked to the supportive living lady yet and when was she going to come see him. Wow! Actually, she is going to visit the rehab place on Monday to see him and I will be there too. This should be interesting.

I have eaten. Yesterday, I met my daughter around 11, and after fussing with her condo we went to enjoy some lunch together. She chose a new Thai restaurant near her new condo. This space was once upon a time, a great Thai restaurant, and then went way downhill. It changed hands a bunch of times, but recently I saw a review that indicated that the newest owners are doing it right. We ordered the larb and a curry. I would post the name of the curry, but I can't find their website since they are so new. It was something like Pa Nanong curry with beef. The larb was incredibly spicy, but only with one pepper. Once that one spot on your tongue was numb, you couldn't last much more. The curry was also very spicy, but much more complicated. It was so delicious. We asked for an extra spoon, and the two of us split the rice and enjoyed this dish tremendously. Dinner was Weisswurst sausage with sautéed cabbage and a pretzel. Lunch today was some Marquez sausage with the leftover bulgur. I ate lightly and was told by Mr. 02143 that we would eat a light dinner. Okay then. I made Spicy Garlic Eggplant stir fry with some rice. I just can't eat that much eggplant. Evening snacks were freshly baked oatmeal cookies for him and some popcorn for me.

The kid was sent into a tizzy yet again by medical folks being concerned about her pregnancy. We are all getting really tired about this endless search for things that have gone wrong. It is so hard when they keep sending her for tests.... they all cost money and so far, not one of these concerns has turned into something that is worth worrying about. Results of today's extra tests: it is okay if baby goes past the due date.

*susan*