So...whats for dinner?
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Eric - thanks for the trip report. Sounds like a wonderful journey.
Dunch was leftovers from the freezer - 1/2 breast of rotisserie chicken on top of a serving of leftover "Ancient Grains". This is a delicious mix of rice, bulgar, barley, wheat berries, red rice, oats & quinoa that I found at Costco. I also steamed a bunch of spinach before it went bad.
Here's the link for the Food with Purpose rice & grains mix.
http://eatfoodwithpurpose.com/product/medley-rice-...
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Tonight Sharon made baked ziti. I ran three miles tonight and I think dinner undid all the hard work.... :-)
Well, my performance review went well and I set the wheels in motion to retire. It looks like "it" will be sometime in October.
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Eric, sounds like a dream vacation. With places and scenery like that, who needs luxury? When I moved to Seattle in 1971 in the depths of the Boeing recession, the city was gorgeous but jobs were scarce and poorly paid. My cynical friends back in NYC would say, “yeah? Well you can’t eat Mt. Rainier.”
Yes, you can.
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Pan seared Copper River salmon, sauteed sugar snap peas with sesame, garlic & ginger, and corn on the cob. Deciding whether to have berries, leftover mousse (it won’t keep) or a couple of mochi ice cream for dessert.
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Dinner tonight was more of Sharon's baked ziti. DD is living at home for a few weeks until her apartment lease starts (the old place wanted folks leaving to be out by July 31 and the new place isn't letting new people in until August 15) and her appetite is noticeable. Sharon baked a 10 by 13 by 4 inch dish of the ziti and 90% of it went into the refrigerator for later meals......there was barely enough for tonight's supper. :-)
Chi...go with the mousse.. :-)
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Not sure what I want tomorrow night—gotta be NPO after midnight (though my procedure's not till 2:20 pm Thurs.) so I will lobby Bob to take me out for lobster or a really great steak. Thurs. night I have training at 7—hope I'm up to it. There's also a beer-maker dinner at Cellars that evening, but I now have to avoid hops in any way, shape or form because (according to my trainer and some reputable sources' articles I've read) they're phytoestrogens. So even non-alcoholic beer is a no-no now.
And beginning Friday, Bob will have neither evenings nor weekends off till Labor Day, because the interventional cardiologist who covers for him is going on an extended vacation with his wife and five kids (London to see his brother, and Turkey as a tourist).
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Eric,
That is one BIG road trip. We have not done anything like that since we left Montana in 1986. When we criss-crossed the country, if we were headed to New England, we always enjoyed traveling through Canada until Toronto, and then would dip south. When we were headed to Georgia, the route was far less interesting and inviting. Thank you for sharing, and I suppose that congratulations are in order for your impending retirement. How will you fill your days?
*susan*
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Sharon has a list. :-). And the two engineers in the area that I've told about my retirement...both have offered me jobs if I want one.
Plus I have my own list, the school bus driving and the government job...so I will stay busy without the nasty commute.
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Eric,
Ah. So you are not retiring at all! You are simply amending your daily commute.
*susan*
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Eric - I was wondering if you'd keep the 'first responder' position. Is Sharon going to retire too, or teach a few more years?
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The round trip commute time, at its best, is 2-1/2 hours and during the winter months is over 3 hours.
So even just amending my commute is a huge deal!
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Dinner is fresh spinach salad with mushrooms & strawberries and Strawberry Balsamic dressing from Maple Grove Farms in VT. I'm allergic to walnuts, but if I can find some pecans in the freezer I'll throw those in.
Grey & drippy so not sure if we'll have water aerobics, although the radar shows the main storm has passed. I'd guess if I'm out exercising in the rain, dinner will be something 'warmer' & more cuddly.
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Did my training & cardio tonight because I realized that tomorrow night I'd still be too loopy from the conscious sedation I'll be getting for my EGD (scheduled for 2:20). We worked on hip flexors, my lower back & waist (ouch ouch ouch) and the toughest stuff of all: balance. Who knew that a 44lb. kettle ball dead lift would be easier than holding a broomstick over my head (I can't even reach that high) and kicking one foot each forward & back 10x without touching down or falling over? I’m glad I don’t drink & drive, because I would definitely flunk a field sobriety test...stone cold sober.
Walked to & from the gym, carrying an umbrella as rain insurance (to make sure it didn't rain). Didn't feel like walking into Whole Foods with my gym bag and having to pay for a shopping bag to carry home a roast chicken or food from the hot bar, so I made low-carb (Dreamfields) spaghetti in the microwave “Fasta Pasta" with marinara, to which I added basil & parsley from my garden, a little red wine, chopped roasted garlic, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Then some chicken liver pate on whole wheat matzo with Dijon mustard. For dessert, a couple of frozen mochi (chocolate fudge and black sesame) balls. Comfortably full, and it's only 11 pm. Supposed to be NPO after midnight tonight, but that's standard advice for anyone having anesthesia the next day, usually in the morning. Bob says I'll be okay if I stop eating by 1 or 1:30 a.m. and maybe even have some clear coffee or tea in the morning. (May have one shot of espresso to keep caffeine withdrawal at bay). I can take my BP med in the morning with a sip of water and bring the rest of my daytime meds with me for when I "come to."
Housekeeper's not happy about having to stay with me the whole time (Bob's working, Gordy doesn't drive, they won't even let me take a taxi home by myself), because we probably won't be home till 5pm and her knee is bothering her. She's seeing the orthopod next week but refuses to have knee replacement surgery. It's not the time off—we'll pay her; but rather the ordeal of recovery (she got me through it twice) so soon after recovering from bunion surgery.
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Gotta poke my nose into the freezer to see what I feel like making
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chisandy - hope all goes well today - will be thinking of you and hoping for answers of the best kind.
Have been AWOL - attended DH's 40th HS reunion last weekend in Miami, but only have a few good food adventures to report. DH and I shared two awesome pressed sandwiches at a little Cuban café in Coral Gables when we arrived. This place used to be located in Little Havana, but moved to CG relatively recently. We had a Cuban, and another pressed sandwich with shredded chicken, cream cheese and a spicy sauce - they use baguettes instead of soft Cuban bread. We also had iced café con leche - OMG, delish. Attended the Marlins/Cincinatti game that evening, but just drank beer, lol! Next day had a kale Caesar and some awesome fried green tomatoes and a spicy buttermilk sauce for lunch with my MIL's BFF, no dinner - the icebreaker had a BBQ but it was buffet and it got rained on, so, um ... no. On Sat DH went out on a boat with friends, I stayed in the hotel room in my pajamas because of the stitches in my shoulder and needing to stay out of the sun - watched cake decorating shows and cooking shows and drank too much coffee and had some banana chocolate chip bread. Dinner at the reunion was typical hotel fare, also a buffet - I had a poached chicken breast in a creamy herb sauce and some salad, pretty forgettable. Next day had some good gazpacho at a waterside restaurant with college friends of DH, and a nice dinner of marinated steak bites, half a baked potato (split the dinner with DH as we had eaten lunch a couple of hours earlier) and a decent house salad with balsamic vinaigrette with DH's younger brother and SIL at another waterside restaurant. Drove home late Sunday night. I have been trying to stick with my Virgin diet food choices and did manage to lose 2 lbs. while on this trip, so yay!
On a strangely coincidental note - DH's dad passed from acute leukemia last November. MIL had some dizziness last week so went to the doctor - had a CBC, which showed a hemoglobin of 6, and very low platelets. Can't believe she was ambulating with Hgb that low (she is 86), and she had a bone marrow biopsy and one unit of blood. The prelim info shows she is just a few percentage points from what is considered leukemic, but she will be there sometime soon - so it looks like she will go the same route my FIL did. He had vacillating blood counts for a number of years before becoming acute, and he passed 6 months later at 91. She will likely refuse treatment, possibly including transfusions, not sure yet. She has her appt. with the onc/hem tomorrow.
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Sandy, your workout left me tired, I admire what you are doing as I struggle with excersize. I met my personal trainer on Monday and was supposed to go again yesterday but had dizziness and nausea, so will go next week.
I'm debating whether to take a break and start the sessions again after we come back from a trip.
Tonight's dinner will be sea bass with veggies from garden along with spinach tagliatelle nests, or I may switch this to tomorrow and do something very simple tonight.
Specialk
The Cuban sandwiches sound very good, Yum. What did you think of the high school reunion after 40 years? My husband's sister found him after 50 years (they were separated as children in Germany) sending him a email saying she was his sister.
It was true and they are in contact but it's hard to connect after such a long time.
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max - hello! Both sandwiches were super - I like the baguette rather than the Cuban bread because it is slightly smaller and less fluffy. I felt like it allowed the sandwich ingredients to shine. That is quite a story about your DH and his sister! I am adopted and know I have at least two natural siblings out there somewhere. I have had DNA testing, but the closest relative I have have found is a 3rd cousin. My DH was a bit disappointed in the turnout but we had checked in advance with the friends had hoped to see. We had a nice time, but I'm not sure we will go again. My 40th was three years ago, and because my adoptive parents and only sibling have all passed away, I enjoyed being with people who knew me as a child.
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SpecialK, a few years back I went to an awesome Cuban restaurant in Coral Gables—the lechon asado, saffron rice & beans and tostones were heavenly. We have a mini-chain of Cuban joints here called 90 Miles—they do great Cuban sandwiches, and one Thursday a month is "Paella & Flamenco Night." I had a pretty good one at Sox Park (uh, "Guaranteed Rate Field," but everyone who doesn't call it Sox Park calls it "the G-Spot") a few weeks ago. We went to Bob's 50th HS reunion in June, in Melville, LI (though the school's in Queens).
Today's EGD revealed only a hiatal hernia, so we still don't know why I'm anemic. GI doc is pretty sure, given my normal WBC & RBC, that there's still a bleed somewhere, so next step is to, um, go in the other end—first appt. I could get is Aug. 31, but the GI doc says it's not urgent (and that even though the last one—which showed nothing but hemorrhoids—was in 2011, I wasn't due for a repeat one till 2021; but six years isn't too short an interval given the current circumstances). Meanwhile, I'm starting on iron till then. My hgb is somewhere in the 11s, and ferritin levels low, so they're pretty sure that the problem isn't in my bone marrow. But I'm stepping up my red meat (grass-fed), egg yolk, green veggies, raisins & dark chocolate intake.
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Today I made lunch which is unusual for me, Omelettes with veggies from the garden,Zucchini, tomatoes red peppers, and kale. The herbs also came from the planters.
I have abundant kale, how many ways can you use it? Thehousekeeper is trying to talk me into kale smoothies but I am still resistant. Anyone try kale smoothies? I know it's healthy but my response is ugh, maybe they taste better then it sounds.
Pic of walkway to lower veggie deck., I am into gardens, mostly flowers and specialty trees.
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max - beautiful! I can't grow anything in FL, very short growing season, then it is too hot and rainy. I resist kale smoothies too - liquefied vegetables are not happening for me, but my DH swears he can't taste them, but I can! I like sautéed kale in a frittata and kale Caesar salad, I wonder if you could do a kale and artichoke dip like you would with spinach - bet it would be yummy! I also have a recipe I like for a kale and citrus salad if you would like it.
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I treat kale like I do fresh spinach: wash it, nuke for 30 sec. to blanch, then wilt it in a skillet in olive oil with garlic and lemon juice. Maybe a couple of red pepper flakes if you’re adventurous. Don’t salt it till you taste it—it may be flavorful enough. I’m with you on green smoothies or juices—yuk. It takes too much apple juice or honey to make them palatable, and then the sugar content cancels out the health benefit. IMHO, if you’re gonna eat something with sugar, make it something that tastes good.
Gonna pan-sear fresh wild coho (WF has it on sale), stir-fry snow-peas and baby bok choy, and steam farro. Maybe broccolini or snap peas instead of the stir-fry. Corn is on sale, but I try not to eat it very often because it’s so carby. Sweet potatoes are nice, but they don’t look as good on the plate with salmon (I like them with steak or chicken thighs and Brussels sprouts).
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Yet another trial on a variation of Brandy Cream Sauce for dinner. This time I used chicken broth instead of beef broth, which I found just a little too strong when I'm pouring over delicate pork loin slices. It was so-so. Since I'm usually using pre-cooked meat or chicken (read leftover) it's hard to get that zing when you only saute onions & mushrooms.
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Last day of work in Bristol, RI. They gave us a great dinner. I had 12 large shrimp cocktail, 2 oysters and 2 clams on the half shell, with a cheese platter and that crouton salad with romaine, can't think of the name. Others had steak and cooked shrimp, salad bar Now grand babysitting then another 8 week job somewhere starting in Sept. Offered Nantucket again, but too late!
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Specialk,
When you have time I would like the kale and citrus salad recipe, thanks.
By the way Max and Otto are 2 cats who think they own our house.
I'm Kathy
Sandy, that's how I make kale but I'm overloaded with it. Tonight I grilled the sea bass, lightly brushed with oil and seasoned from a mix from the Spice House.. It's a freeze dried mix of dill, shallots, scallions, chervil and parsley. Among the spices I bought from them is Grains of Paradise; I couldn't resist the title.
Could I pm you about the Cuban restaurant. We are going to Stephenwolf tomorrow and
It might be nice to try the cafe. I was in Cuba a few years ago and liked the food.
Kathy
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Kathy, PM me and I'll find the closest 90 Miles Cafe to Lincoln Park. (I go to the one in Lincolnwood Town Center). What are you seeing tomorrow night? I'm gonna be pretty much a hermit (or a vampire) because Bob will be working not just weekends but every night, sometimes past midnight, to cover for a colleague (who covers for him) who is going to London and Turkey for 4 weeks. Half the time I'm up past 3 or even 4 am because he is.
Wish I had the chance to go to Cuba. Bob’s former partner, who’s Sephardic, left Cuba while Batista was still in power because he became disillusioned with Castro (whom he thought he wasn’t radical enough). We had a short window of opportunity for a couple of years. Nowadays, we may never get the chance to go except if we can get into a medical-education tour group (which was how we were able to visit China in 1994).
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max/otto - cute kitty names! Love it! Here is a rundown on the kale salad. I usually use curly kale and slice it pretty finely after tearing it off the stem, but this would work with any kind of kale. To a bowl of the cut up kale, add a segmented orange, or some mandarin oranges, some slivered almonds, and some crumbled goat cheese. Make a standard vinaigrette, but sub orange juice for half the acid you would normally use if you like, maybe a teaspoon of sugar, and add a generous tablespoonful of Greek yogurt or sour cream. Alternatively, I have used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing and added the OJ, sugar and Greek yogurt to it, but you could use any bottled vinaigrette.
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I wussed out and had the coho fillet atop some WF “Asian slaw” with a leftover half-ear of corn and some snap peas. Bought a bag of farro, only to discover it takes almost as long to cook as brown rice and I didn’t want to eat at 10 pm. Made a ponzu-ginger-sesame oil-honey glaze for the salmon and garnished it with sliced scallions. Having some raspberries and a black-sesame mochi ball for dessert.
Bought a speckled-green heirloom tomato, and between it, a huge yellow one (which I’ll have to halve before slicing), an orange one and my ripened homegrowns will have the makings of a nice Caprese for the block party brunch tomorrow. I have some buffalo mozzarella imported not from Italy but Peru and can supplement it with a ball of the domestic stuff. I will use two kinds of basil (will pick it in the morning), blood orange olive oil, real balsamico and some flake sea salt. I always make it the same morning because tomatoes get mealy in the fridge overnight.
It was chilly today (we didn’t get above 65 till evening) but it’s gonna be gorgeous tomorrow, about 79.
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Max_Otto. I like whimsical cat names. The first cat that adopted me, while I was in college, received the name of "Pest".
My friends thought that was a terrible name...until they spent the night on the couch.... 3am MEOWWWWWWWWWWW, followed by a cat on the couch and the feeling of a paw on their nose.
By the way, your garden looks amazing. I live in Phoenix, and non-desert plants have a hard time here. My "work around" for that is to put the plants into huge pots and then move the pots around--sun in the winter, shade in the summer and under cover when it freezes.
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I have the gift for choosing crazy names for animals. The cat in my user pic was my beloved Charcoal aka Little Man. I have another cat, Princess aka Demon Child, who will be 3 next month. Our Sheltie was named Jackson, for Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, due to the fact both hubby and I are history nuts.
Dinner is Country Style pork ribs on the grill, corn on the cob and a veggie
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That looks look my "Mr. Poo". Poo was a jet black short haired tiny (less than 5 pounds) cat. One of Sharon's co-workers found this kitten at their apartment complex and asked if we wanted a "new" cat. Pest had disappeared a few months earlier, so we said yes.
Poo had two favorite activities. Inside, it was sitting atop the dot matrix printer and watching the print head buzz back and forth. Outside...the next door "bunny" would come through a hole in the wall and Poo and "bunny" would play together. We had a Belgian Sheepdog at the time and he (dog) would keep watch over the two "kids". We had Poo for 17 years.
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