What's for Dinner #30 - The Hearts & Flowers Edition - Feb '18

Wow, that’s pretty huge even though it’s probably a good thing for you in the long run. Very stressful. Good that you pampered yourself and met up with a friend for support. Keep us posted! I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing you good thoughts.

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2 nights of ez chicken i have been run ragged the last few weeks not enough hours in the day. The couchguests fend for themselves if I dont feed them but sometimes that is worse. I bagged driving up to the mountains as its rainy and no skiing. Hoping for a bit more winter soon. Friday was a 1 pan chicken and artichoke casserole & tonight a roast chicken and basic garden salad . I just left it on the counter for them to serve themselves. Carcas is in the crock I’ll make soup tomorrow. 20180223_220938
(upload://gYI9kULv1ia2cklztIAU8vCn2d3.jpg)



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Just so you know, stress is the cause of 90 -95% of illnesses and many of which are preventable. Make a plan and walk away as soon as you can.

(Not going into detail due to strict professional protocols)… Nothing can bring back one’s good health. Take a substantial pay cut if needs be, for one’s health, sanity and quality of life. Just what I did, because nothing is worth my life.

Btw, the wine… it’s not Riesling! :persevere:

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I’m going to try posting from my phone. Didnt work well for me before.

Last night: Milk Street’s Curry-Braised Eggs
I will use half the garam masala and turmeric next time. After a few bites, I couldn’t even taste the eggs. Also, it’s too hearty for rice. Definitely goes better with naan or boiled potatoes.

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Sunday supper- flattened chicken with potatoes, onions and fennel. (we eat alot of chicken.
My husband made creamed cauliflower too, for the week. But I may have a bite with dinner. And wine…:wine_glass:

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Wow! Did you see any of this coming? Take some time for yourself since they have sucked so much out of you!

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Thank you so much for that reminder, it can be hard to see the big picture at times.

I know!! It was some random slightly fizzy Italian wine that they were tasting at the shop and having a special promotional price. Good enough but I won’t seek it out again.

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Rainy Day.
Laundry Day.
Quiet Day.
Reading Day.
A Wind-Down Day.

Easy dinner - baked chicken tenders, fettuccine in creamy mushroom sauce (I used fresh cremini and reconstituted dried shiitakes) and steamed green beans. Wine.

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Thank you so much to everyone here for the kind comments, they really mean a lot to me and are much appreciated :hugs:

I had found a 2lb bag of large rainbow carrots in my bottom veg drawer that really needed to be delt with- i think I intended to use for juices but never did. Chopped and roasted a good long while with some coconut oil and smoked salt. I cubed and sauteed some tempeh with coconut oil and a little splash of soy sauce, everything landed in my bowl with some defrosted quinoa and a gob of dijon. Crazy spicy cayanne ginger lemon Kombucha a la carte, apparently i added too much to that bottle!

I met friends for a late lunch/brunch which was just what i needed and included a second bloody mary since Sunday afternoon sobriety is overrated :wink:
After i got home and had a little nap soup sounded good, it’s been a chilly rainy grey day.
The rest of the rainbow carrots were added to sautéed onion and garlic, then a smallish bulb of fennel, plenty of black pepper, veg stock (better than bullion) and thyme. Once everything was done bubbling away together i added a can of white beans for body and blitzed with the immersion blender. The soup is a kind of muddy color from the purple carrots but otherwise tasty. I topped my bowl with some hemp seeds and had a handful of those beet crackers from trader joe’s that are really just round pink corn chips.

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A few dinners.

Last week, temperature started going down, cooked pulled pork with milk and thyme and rosemary. Husband came home with hot ramen. The pulled pork had to be waited for the next day. Sudden impulse and made this Chinese inspired green onion sesame pancake, that had nothing to do with the French style pork, still okay with the leek and especially the milky sauce linked the all elements.

Saturday dinner: “snake fish” called Congre cooked with Muscadet, onion, tomato sauce, curry, safran, butter, 40 minutes in oven, sauce reduced in pan with a bit of cream, actually quite good.

Tonight dinner, tuna tartare at the top with a soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, black sesame and spring onion dressing, haddock in the middle and potato haddock purée at the bottom, everything covered with a beet-sherry vinaigrette.

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i thought picture of almond float/lychee/ mandarin ranges were included in the post for what’s for dinner on Friday , the 23rd. Here it is again. I do not know what happened. Dementia I guess! Somehow I do not see the picture

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Very creative. Love it.

Thanks. Well, at times it works, many times fails miserably. But I still have much fun.

oh man, sorry to hear! It did seem like crazy town, but it’s still shocking when it happens. hope they took care of you to get you by until you find something new!

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I made dashi tonight, first time, but not the from-scratch method - i used Hondashi, and added other things (chicken bouillon, daejong, green onion, garlic, soy, dash of mirin) then simmered for 1.5 hours. turned out pretty good! Used “chinese-style” fresh noodles, and TJ’s pork belly that i marinated in brown sugar, mirin, and a new smoked shoyu i found today, then seared. other toppings were enokitakes, spinach, chili sauce, pickled mustard greens, sichimi togarashi, furikake, and soft-steamed egg also marinated in soy/mirin. i feel like the chili sauce overwhelmed everything a bit - not with heat, but just made it all taste a bit one note. Still, a pretty good dish! Pic of the broth before everything was added. And i forgot the scallions! Kicking myself.


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When I was little we used to catch Rainbow trout out of the river that runs through Dunsmuir - and older relatives would fly-fish north of Weed - maybe you can find local freshwater fish once the weather warms a bit?

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The upper Sacramento river runs through Dunsmuir. I live in Mount Shasta the upper sac what’s comes out of box canyon is 4 minutes for my doorstep…

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American Shad season gonna start soon. Nothing finer than standing waist deep in Tahoe snow melt.
Five lb hen doing somersaults at the end of 6lb test.

Some find shad bony. We find shad delicious. No C&R.

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Sole with gochujang and doenjang (Korean fermented soya bean paste). Made deep slashes and pressed pastes into them and on the surface. Once cooked the slashes were visible like sections which I removed with little effort. But the prize here is the roe.

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T…I am sure you know …“if you can make here you can make it anywhere”…
I am living proof, having worked for myself since 1982… and kind of semi retired…but still hitting out of the ballpark, as I am sure you will too!
Really sounds like you are on top of all of your games!

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