So...whats for dinner?

We will be eating dinner in Bemidji tonight following my WW meeting. I have been googling the list of suggestions for restaurants that I got last Monday from people at the meeting. I'm leaning toward Lake Side Tavern on Lake Bemidji but all the menus looked good. And similar! The upscale Italian restaurant in Bemidji isn't open on Monday.

Bedo - I often have peanuts for dinner. Are you doing any fiddling at all?

Good news on the CT Scan report. They can see some damage from the radiation but the nodules are the same as they were 4 years ago. They're considered 'stable' and nothing to worry about. Hooray. In a couple of weeks I'll have a carotid scan, an echocardiogram and a treadmill test ordered by my new heart doc. There was no follow up after my wonderful MO retired, so the loop was never closed on the amount of possible damage from the Adriamycin or the Herceptin.

Dunch in a little while will be leftover stir fried veggies & fried rice served with leftover salmon.

minus - yay for a good scan! My DH has profuse lung nodules that provided a scare when they were incidentally discovered during a scan for abdominal pain (turned out to be diverticulosis) and his have been stable for quite some time. I am not too much help on the lentil front - but do have a recipe from my MIL that I included in the cookbook I made as a surprise for her 80th birthday - of mostly her own, but also additional, family recipes. I have never had it because DH is not a lentil fan so she never made it when we were there! In reading this recipe I am wondering if you could continue to let it simmer on the stove rather than bake it so as not to turn on the oven.

Polish Sausage and Lentils - put 1c. of rinsed lentils in a pan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cover and cook over low heat for 20 mins. Drain and reserve liquid. Heat 2 T. oil in a pan and cook 2 chopped onions with 3 minced cloves of garlic until tender. Mix in 1 med. can of chopped tomatoes and cook over moderate heat until almost all the liquid is evaporated. Slice 3 lbs. kielbasa into 1/2" thick pieces and add to the tomato mixture, add the lentils in along with 1 t. sugar. 1/2 t. pepper, a bay leaf, and salt to taste. Stir in a little of the reserved lentil liquid. Put the mixture in a casserole dish and bake for 30 mins at 350 F. Add more reserved liquid if the mixture bakes dry.

I watched this episode of Giada's show and she made this lentil salad, which looked different and good:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/italian-lentil-salad-recipe-1953215

Sandy, ouch! Heal fast.

Minus, good news on the scan. Most of the lentill recipes I have are soup. I did have one Nigella recipe for French lentils.

We had a rather filling (and mediocre) Mexican lunch today and so far I have no interest in dinner. The first of the local sweet corn is in and I have six freshly picked ears so that may be it.

MinusTwo, I haven't tried this yet but I just pinned it to my plant-based eating board on Pinterest: Vegan Enchiladas with Lentils! https://elavegan.com/vegan-enchiladas-lentils-gluten-free

Today I cooked some of the Anasazi beans I'd ordered from Colorado. Anasazi is a Navajo word meaning 'ancient one'. These beans were found in the cliff dwellings at the Four Corners area and Mesa Verde National Park cliff dwellings. They are grown at 7000 ft altitude on dry land soil just like the Ancestral Pueblo People grew them for 600 years before they started leaving in the late 1190's.

I cooked them with a few ham pieces, onion, celery & garlic. Skipped the S&P and just added a little from the table. They are supposedly sweeter than a pinto bean & I agree. It didn't call for soaking overnight but I did. So they cooked super fast. They were almost over-done in just over an hour. I bought a small burlap bag so I have enough for at least one more pot.

Edited to correct dates. They lived on the plains for 600 years and started creating the cliff dwellings in the late 1190's. They lived there for almost a century, but by 1300 they'd moved south into present day New Mexico & Arizona.

I generally use green lentils (nuked with chopped shallots, herbes de Provence, olive oil, S&P till al dente) as a bed for seared salmon.

Last night's pre-concert (Roger Daltrey and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra--basically the CSO's summer league--doing Tommy in its entirety) dinner at Ravinia's Tree Top buffet restaurant was seasonal "Southern comforts:" Mediterranean appetizer station (grilled veggies--endive, rainbow carrots, asparagus, etc., dolmades, olives, crudites, charcuterie); bistro roast chicken and buttermilk fried chicken w/honey-mustard glaze, blackened Chilean salmon; roasted red potatoes, potato salad, dirty rice, cheese grits, mac & cheese, and carved-to-order ham. Dessert station was chocolate chip & peanut butter cookies, blueberry tartlets, lemon curd squares, "blondies," and Black Forest cheesecake minis. No, I didn't try everything (not even close), but what I had was luscious.

Concert was wonderful--Daltrey, at 74, is in top form and great voice (fully recovered from the viral meningitis that nearly killed him in 2015 and with his asthma held in check)--and was able to perform mic-twirling acrobatics without hitting himself in the eye. (He must feel like a fish out of water at venues with wireless mics). The band included Simon Townshend (Pete's brother) on rhythm guitar and Pete's vocal parts, plus Daltrey's other touring band members (rather than Zak Starkey on drums & Pino Palladino on bass, who've been the Who's rhythm section for >15 years). Afterward, the encores were "Who Are You," "Baba O'Reilly"--aka "Teenage Wasteland"--(with an actual violin soloist, like on the Who's Next album, rather than Daltrey playing the solo coda on harmonica), and a brand-new solo song "Always Heading Home" (well, new to us, because he wrote it in 1992). Gordy & I were singing along to nearly everything--I stole glances at the audience, which seemed to be evenly divided between boomer/gen-X-er/older millennial Who fans and the staid Ravinia boomers attending as part of their subscriptions. (I also discovered how well I could rock out with both hands "in restraints:" I let my upper arms & shoulders do the work).

Brunch was low-carb wholegrain/hi-fiber French toast with maple syrup. (Only the real stuff--"pancake syrup" is meh, and the sugar-free version is vile). Tonight I pan-seared Verlasso salmon for Gordy & me (he didn't try the salmon last night, and Peapod delivered the filets this morning--always better fresh); nuked a brown & wild rice blend, sauteed snap peas, steamed fiddleheads (finished with flake salt and truffle oil), and stovetop-grilled spring onions.

Tomorrow is our 47th anniversary. We were waitlisted for the French wine dinner at Mon Ami Gabi tomorrow night, and this morning it came through!

In the morning I will revisit my hand ortho surgeon--he will take X-rays of my L hand & wrist to determine if the shadowy line on my scaphoid on last week's x-ray was indeed a hairline fracture (last night it sure felt like it) or (I hope) just an artifact or blood vessel; and of my R forearm & elbow to see how well the elbow fracture is healing and whether any "occult" fractures occurred along the length of the radius or ulna. I'm getting sick of this stupid sling--it's black, and I have an orange-&-white patch tabby kitty who likes to snuggle next to me. At least I can still work a lint roller even with my L hand in a rigid splint-brace. Last night on the train home, I saw a woman with a powder blue sling--I'd love to find one that light or even white. (How come it's only the white cat hairs that get shed)?

70s???? What's that? :-) I don't think it's been in the 70s for the past month. This time of year, the daytime high temperatures are around 110F/44C and nighttime low temperatures around around 85F/30C.

This is the time of year everyone can laugh at our weather.

Dinner tonight was tacos....fill the soft shells, pull the shell so it's a half circle shape, pat it down and put it in a skillet for 3 minutes on a side.

Sharon is thrilled---her weight is down 8-1/2 pounds in a month.

Whenever Sharon gets her banjo out and starts playing it, the dogs and cat compete with each other to get as close as possible to her. Tonight is no exception to this. The cat is on her feet, one dog is on her right side and the other dog is on her left side. When she sits down without the banjo, or sits down with the banjo without playing it, or sits down with the banjo and moves her hands/fingers without plucking the strings....they don't pay much attention to her...so I'm guessing it is the music that brings them over.

Amazing weight loss for Sharon! DH and I are blue grass music fans and the banjo is my favorite blue grass instrument. So I would be sitting there with the pets listening!

The pork steak was delicious. We had one side, corn cut off the cob and sautéed in butter.

Tonight's meat will probably be chicken thighs.

Tonight was rotisserie pork tenderloin with steamed cauliflower, squash and zucchini

Lunch was Hughies serving Vietnamese and a wide variety of craft beer and ales. This was my favorite meal Fried Rice Shaking Beef topped with an egg.

I am coming down with a nasty cold. (So is Bob). Had no appetite till lunchtime, when I had a fried egg and a piece of toast & jam. I'm depressed about Gordy moving out, but when I was his age I was already pregnant with him, so I have to get real. Those of you with grandkids probably think I'm being ridiculous, but he'd never even lived in a dorm--he commuted to college. That's why I freaked out last Sept. when he went incommunicado for an entire weekend--but relieved to learn it was because he'd fallen in love and was staying over at his girlfriend's place.

Dinner earlier was a mug of chicken broth ("souped up" with garlic, ginger, parsley & chives). Will slowly reheat that leftover filet mignon for a late supper. Slowly, because it's a perfect medium-rare and I don't want to ruin it (or eat it cold). With my surgery coming up, I am going to have to get used to increasing my protein to speed healing. Gotta make room for those extra calories--so it looks like the sugar and starch will have to go. But not yet.

Illimae - I love lunch at 11am. Or 1pm. Maybe after we all get through the upcoming holiday we could arrange to meet there for lunch one day.

Carole, that sautee with a few tomatoes thrown in is my DH's favourite veggie dish. Does the area you're in have "supper clubs?"

Sandy, I marvel at your ability to overeat/drink with your current disabilities. You must be more agile than I'm picturing from your description lol. I do hope you can get fixed up soon.

Going to be a scorcher today near 100. Ugh. I need to get out to pick beans before it's too hot and go grocery shopping. Spent yesterday making meatballs and sauce for the freezer, so meatball sandwiches for dinner.

Nance, there were "supper clubs" in this area. We ate at one in Walker that is now a restaurant. The dining experience wasn't good enough to entice us to return. They were known for their popover rolls, and they were delicious. The special was prime rib and it wasn't up to par.

Hubby requested that I make spaghetti today for tonight. Gonna make it in a bit, so all we have to do tonight is nuke it!