So...whats for dinner?

Eric - sounds delicious. But I'm surprised you didn't use orange juice instead of lemon with your surplus./

So after binge-watching 2017's Worst Cooks in America, I got caught up on this season. Good grief, these people get weirder and more clueless every year. The first three or four seasons, the contestants started out terribly inept, it's true--but most of them were of normal intelligence. They knew the foods they were asked to cook, but simply lacked the skills to prepare them. All of them who were not retirees or stay-at-home parents had normal jobs and IQs higher than the vegetables in the "boot camp" kitchen. But over the years, the series (much like most reality TV) has gotten progressively ("regressively?") dumbed-down to the point where not only are the "recruits" naïve or flat-out stupid but also truly unglued. (I was tempted to say "just fell off the turnip truck," but there are several contestants who could not tell a turnip from a tulip).

One episode involving "scary foods" was originally intend to be titled metaphorically: exotic foods to which people had various aversions, found unfamiliar, or were too intimidated to attempt to cook. But this year's themed episode? Two people had no idea what Brussels sprouts were. Last season, a woman had an aversion to eating eggplant because of what its emoji symbolized--this year a contestant had never heard of--much less seen--one, and expressed surprise that "plants lay eggs" and thought she was being pranked because it looks nothing like a egg. Now, I can understand why people can get grossed out by the consistency of raw oysters (or egg whites), but to be shocked to learn that anyone eats them? (The refrain "Who eats this?" is getting very, very old). Last year, there was a guy who was afraid of baby corn (the canned stuff that ends up in Chinese take-out). No, not afraid to cook it, nor afraid to try it--but literally afraid of it, as in the concept of miniature ears of corn was so alien and illogical that it "scared" him and gave him nightmares.

But what I've found increasingly disturbing is the growing infantilization (not sexualization) of female contestants--tiaras, tutus (no, they're not dancers), strange eyeglasses, juvenile haircuts and Ariana Grande kitty-ear topknots, weird barrettes with tchotchkes on them, glitter, unicorns, baby-pitched voices. Grown women (as in 30s and older) dressing like what ten-year-olds think hipsters look like. (They actually confuse the fictional Criminal Minds computer-maven character "Penelope Garcia" with a fashion icon--and no, except for a wardrobe of glasses, the actress who plays her doesn't dress like that). Unlike Ms. Garcia, they tend to be among the least intelligent (and I'm putting that charitably). And several times now I've noticed that it's not the week's worst cook who gets sent home, but the more normal and therefore less entertaining of the bottom two (remember Sanjaya on American Idol a decade ago--so awful that viewers kept voting to keep him in order to sabotage the show, inspiring a "vote for the worst" website devoted to sabotaging all viewer-judged talent shows)? At least they don't let the viewers vote on this show...at least not yet.

It's no longer a show about redemption, Pygmalion-style transformation from kitchen "zeros" into kitchen "heroes," and the emotional attachment of rooting for one's favorite contestant to do well enough to win is a thing of the past--all that has been replaced by schadenfreude and making viewers feel better about themselves by watching intellectual trainwrecks (to the point of being able to heckle them from the safety of one's sofa). I used to be just as entertained by it as by The Next Iron Chef or The Next Food Network Star, but it's no longer about competence, competition or even improvement--it's all just typecasting now, choosing the most eccentric, stupid, annoying or characters viewers would most love to hate.

I'm nostalgic for the old, primitive "TV Food Network," with live-to-tape instructional shows (especially How to Boil Water and David Rosengarten's Taste), and even daily news pertinent to food and diet (they even had a staff medical expert, Dr. Lou Aronne of NYU); not to mention the original Iron Chef and Iron Chef America, and eventually Alton Brown's Good Eats. But entire evenings of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives? (Am I the only person here who finds Guy Fieri annoying and am relieved that his Times Sq. restaurant was a failure)? And does every show have to be a contest? I actually used to learn things about food, wine and cooking on that channel.

DH made pan fried pork chops with Brussels sprouts and beans. The side of white beans, lentils and ham hocks was so good, I brought it for lunch!

Catfish fillets and cauliflower mash for dinner. A bag salad for dh but probably not for me. Not sure how I'll cook the fish. The last time I used a WW recipe for baked fish breaded with seasoned cornmeal. It came out crisp, a little similar to deep fried catfish (which we both love). Often I sear the seasoned fillets in a hot skillet, almost blackened. Whatever preparation, dh will mix up his tartar sauce with mayo, dill pickle relish and horseradish.

I played golf today for the first time since Dec. 13. Even though I go to the gym three times a week, golfing used muscles that have gotten lazy. I am tired tonight.

I must have lost a post.....I do not like the current crop of "reality" cooking TV shows that highlight people's lack of skill and knowledge or "someone has got to be pushed off of the show".

I want to get ideas or learn a few new things in exchange for watching all the TV commercials. :-) In college, I was an avid watcher of the public TV's "The Frugal Gourmet". That show ended due to allegations of sexual abuse.

Tonight's dinner was a pot roast using the recipe that I think I talked about earlier. Since the early 1980s I had been looking for a good pot roast recipe and this one, to me, is it. It is from the Canadian LIving website and is here. It, like the lemon chicken recipe is quite tart...just we like. :-) I think it takes me about 10 minutes to set up in the slow cooker and about 8 hours cooking time in the slow cooker, so it's perfect when I'm busy

I've been losing weight since I've retired, but it's been slow and a lot of work; I'm running about 25 miles (40km) a week. I wish Sharon could run with me, but her feet and joints hurt when she runs, maybe from the Arimidex, so I run by myself.

I miss "The Frugal Gourmet." I knew Jeff Smith: he was my law school's chaplain. He also ran a deli in downtown Tacoma called "The Chaplain's Pantry." I went in one day and ordered a pastrami sandwich on rye. The counter person began to butter the bread; just then, Smith rushed over and cried "NOOOO!!! Mustard only!" His wife & I used to go to wine tastings at the Nordstrom's in downtown Seattle. When my son Gordy was a toddler, he adored the show--he called it "Frugourmet." Smith came to a cookbook signing at a local cooking store, and Gordy greeted him with "I bid you peace." By the time the allegations of sexual misconduct came to light (they occurred when he was still in graduate school), Smith had had open-heart surgery and at least one stroke, and the show's days were numbered anyway. He was best friends with my Torts professor, who'd fill me in about Smith at alumni reunions. Smith died a broken man.

I still use his cookbooks.

ChiSandy, aren't you a walking Wikipedia, I had to copy/paste your post about the coffee and hereby I considered myself to be utterly prepared for the next tender, I will knock off my suppliers with all this knowledge. Funny story about the pastrami sandwich, I love when people are passionate about food.

Illimae, this soup looked so delicious and I reminded me that I was thinking about cooking Persian soup called ash, made of rice, black eye peas and green lentils, lots of dill and parsley, leaks, sometimes spinage and served with fried onions and this spread called kashk that is made of dried goat yoghurt. I have not had it for years and actually lost my former MIL recipe but I partly remembered and partly searched the web. I will go to for a run today and then stop by store to buy leaks and will cook it today. There is no way the youngest will eat it so I will think of something else for her.

eric, I have done chicken in orange juice for years, you use juice with zest, a dash of soy sauce, some garlic, salt&pepper, although I have a mixture of all possible peppers in my peppermill and even cilantro and mushrooms seeds, sometimes grated ginger. I usually marinate the whole chicken for a few hours and then grill it in the oven, I slice a half of orange and place the slices on the chicken like on this picture from the cooking book I got the recipe idea from. We like it.

I am trying to lose the weight I gained with all I got, I am not eating after 6PM and cutting on bread and carbs in general. It is not easy since I used to eat a lot while on chemo but luckily I am not that awfully hungry I used to be. But every night before I fall asleep I am thinking about what I am going to eat in the morning.

Yesterday I did some grocery and bought four artichokes, have a French recipe for those in one of my cooking books and I remember we liked it, they were cooked and then served in a beschamel kind of sauce with ham and something else. I also bought sea crayfish that we sill probably eat this weekend just as is, they are already cooked. And I also bought a package of organic kale because my mamma did not raise a looser))) I am determined to eat it until I like it. There is some research that shows the benefits of eating kale to prevent the recurrence and being still relatively new to this I am sometimes in the state of mine where I can imagine myself eating kale for the rest of my life. It is great that I sometimes even want to indulge myself and eat some chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, Lindt was on sale and I now have four bars: chili, sea salt, caramel and sea salt and just plain 70% cocoa.

I also bought organic turmeric tea that contains turmeric root, green tea and licorice root. Now when I google it both turmeric and licorice are considered to be bad for hormonal bc, anything any of you heard of?

Off I go to work for one more hour and then to try running, hope I will not end up in ER 2,5 weeks PFC but running gives me endorfines and I am in desperate need for those.

Cherry— seems Turmeric is an unsettled science with regards to hormone positive BC.

I have arthritis and prior to diagnosis, was taking Relief Factor (Turmeric and Onega3) which eliminated mist of my arthritis pains. I was told by MO to stop Relief Factor while on Taxol — which I did. After Taxol tx was completed I asked about returning to Relief Factor (once off the steroids that I had with chemo, arthritis pains returned) but was told not to take Turmeric any longer due to hormone positive BC as Turmeric may behave like estrogen and feed my cancer. I asked a 2nd doctor who said same thing. Both doctors said Turmeric in food would probably be ok as the amount would be far less than supplements. I even found articles targeted at men with low testosterone to stay away from Turmeric due to its estrogen properties. I stopped taking Relief Factor and am trying glocosamine with chondrotin along with Omega

We had red beans and rice and my DH smothers his in pepper vinegar, but I just do a few shakes for extra zip. So delicious! Tonight it is grilled lambchops with roasted smashed fingerling potatoes and green salad. Hoping to cheat and have take out pizza this weekend

DownNotOut - welcome. I love the fingerling potatoes but I don't often buy they. I eat so few potatoes that the bag goes bad before I can finish them. Oh - and now I'm hungry for pizza.

Hi all I haven’t had time to write all week but I have been
following the posts all along.

Cherry glad you’re starting to feel better after chemo… What
beautiful photos you posted that must have been some walk! Also I loved your
coffee service it is really beautiful.  Sorry but don't know anything about Kitchenaid. My mum did have a Kenwoood, and though I would love one I too say no as I don't have place in my kitchen.

Chi-Sandy that duck breast looked sooo delicious. Was impressed
by your coffee info…. Wow. DH and I both enjoy a good cup of coffee, though we
are nowhere as knowledgeable as you! We just enjoy a good cuppa and are very
particular regarding taste and strength. We don’t buy beans but prepacked coffee
for the machine. Invariably we always fall back on the same brand and flavour which
is the Italian Lavazza Gold which is 100% arabica. And we have a Gaggi machine
at home. I only have a cup of coffee at breakfast time these days, and then
drink green tea through the rest of the day.

I have tried a couple of new dishes. Last Sunday I had baby
butternut squash (and I mean baby as in comfortably fitting in a flat plate… )
which I halved and stuffed with minced beef which I had lightly fried with
onion, garlic, cherry tomatoes cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon and some
turmeric…. Not sure that’s going in again after the posts above. Then I baked
them in the oven for half an hour and tasted lovely.

Monday I baked macaroni – not as in mac and cheese, but
macaroni with Bolognese sauce, then added beaten eggs, some grated hard cheese
and bake in the oven for around 45 minutes.

Today I am cooking fish, I ‘m not quite sure of the name in
English, but I think it is some form of a ray. Anyway I’ll just boil that with
a lemon and celery, and then clean off all the bits of cartilage- no bones in
this one.

And with all the talk there has been of kale, I was thrilled
when our local store got some young fresh kale which is really nice and sweet
tasting. Still I can’t see anyone at home eating it as a salad, so I will boil
some for DH, but I am trying out a smoothie with the rest. I am using kale, home-made
apple juice and pulp, strawberries and banana. I might add coconut or almond
milk too.

I too need desperately to lose weight. Yesterday I went out
to try on a bra and tight fitting hose to get that tummy in! I was feeling I
look desperate. In my bra I don’t think people would cotton on to my recent
reconstruction and I am glad that I am back to being a “B” which is my size
before I married and had DD. But my tummy is awful! It is not helped by my
massive fibroids I’m sure, and the next op in line when I get over my recent
surgery is my hysterectomy and oophorectomies. But still there is extra flab and
lack of tone. Today I went out for short brisk walk (only 1500 steps) and I did
a Pilates work out at home though am avoiding exercises of upper limbs. I read
that you need to wait 12 weeks after surgery before doing upper limb workout.
Anyone knows anything about that? Next week I start work and I really have to
see how I am going to juggle my fulltime (tiring out) job, the housework, DD
and her homework, and time for myself to get my exercise as in walking and
pilates sessions. I also need to get a list of pelvic floor exercises to strengthen
them before my next surgery. Not looking
forward to my next surgery but at the same time, I hate looking in the mirror
and am hoping that removing my 24 week uterus will contribute to a better
shape! But then I think of the hot flushes and waaaaaa…

carole - pelvic or pectoral? Now I am worried...

Sent DH up to SC with food for him and his 3 sibs - they are going through the parental house this weekend, weeding out things for each of them to keep, deciding what to use to stage the house, and what to leave to an estate sale. I sent him with a breakfast casserole made from sourdough bread, chorizo, eggs and cheddar and some blueberry muffins with a crumbled topping - enough for both Sat and Sun mornings. I also sent a big pan of fusilli with an alfredo sauce with ham, peas and mozzarella. Topped it with Italian bread crumbs and parm to make brown nicely on top in the oven. Sent garlic bread and a green salad and some cookies. They will probably grill out tomorrow - they usually have steaks. I am looking forward to the reprieve from cooking and plan to have some salads and for some reason I am having a craving for baked potatoes, so I got some at the store yesterday.

Speaking of the grocery store - I finally did go, lol! However, am wondering if this has happened to any of you - I am missing items! I am thinking they ended up combined with either the person in front of me or behind me in line because I feel sure they were in my cart, but they are not on my receipt. I hope whoever got my lemon jello, taco sauce, tomato soup, and whatever else I am missing enjoys them! I figured this out when I went to make the lemon cake for DH and realized the lemon jello was MIA.

Pectoral! Lol! This happens to me all the time. The wrong word.

I just finished making the stuffed peppers. Two of the halves will be for tonight's dinner. The other six halves are in the freezer. I buy large colored peppers and split them from stem to bottom. Blanch the halves for 3 to 4 minutes.

I took a short cut and used a couple of packs of Seeds of Change brown rice and quinoa. 2 cups total. I normally use home-cooked brown rice, which I probably would have liked better. Instead of yellow onion, I chopped up some locally grown green onions and a couple of garlic cloves. Cooked the green onion with a lb. of ground beef, then added the rice mixture. Cooked a couple of T. of tomato paste in a spot in the skillet, added a little hot water. Cooked a couple of minutes. Stirred in half a cup or so of shredded Mexican cheese, reduced fat. (Apologies to you purists).

The amount of stuffing worked out perfectly!

Instead of butternut squash, I'll steam some broccoli I uncovered in the refrigerator and make a simple salad of romaine, compari tomatoes and cucumber. DH can add calories to his with blue cheese and avocado, if he chooses and he probably will. I'll sprinkle some white balsamic on mine for dressing. I'll trade the blue cheese and avocado for an adult beverage.

SpecialK, you are so good to your family, providing wonderful food at home and way from home. I hope they realize how lucky they are.

Off to clean the kitchen. I'll be ready for that beverage at cocktail time, 5 pm at our house.

Cherry, no way eating that tablespoon of turmeric caused your bc. If eating turmeric causes cancer, then all women in India, Pakistan, and SE Asia (all countries where curries are popular and contain turmeric) would have ER+ bc. (So would women in Spain who use turmeric to supplement or substitute for the extremely expensive saffron in their paella; or anyone who puts yellow mustard on their hot dogs--its bright yellow color is due to turmeric). Such is obviously not the case.

The seeds of bc are planted decades earlier--even if you tested negative for mutations and had no family history (parents or siblings). ER+ bc is more likely fueled by years of estrogen overexposure: early menarche, late menopause, few or no pregnancies, little or no breastfeeding, and >10 yrs on oral contraceptives. Age at menarche & menopause is completely beyond our control. Number of pregnancies is usually a personal choice, but infertility or impaired fertility is not--again, beyond our control.

Some pelvic floor exercises can be done anywhere--Kegels can be done while you're sitting in traffic or at your computer.

Dinner last night was great. Sadly, due to the flu epidemic and Chile's lack of cachet among many wine snobs, it wasn't well-attended. Appetizer was a shrimp-salmon seviche wrapped in cucumber in a sesame dressing. Next course was a short-rib shepherd's pie with corn, then beef/olive/raisin empanadas, followed by a mixed grill of carne asada and garlic sausage, with a side of arroz and a chickpea-avocado salad. Dessert was a drunken chocolate cake (milk & dark) with vanilla sauce. Sorry no pix--too busy eating & drinking,

Dinner tonight will probably be Tues. & Wed's leftovers (already had the rotolo di mozzarella over arugula & tomatoes with my lunch egg), or whatever is served at the theater where we'll see a movie tonight. Tomorrow night is an early dinner at the Civic Opera House before a lecture and performance of Turandot.