Starter: crab salad on mixed greens with a chile-lime vinaigrette (this was absolutely delicious!)
Mains: (1) chicken breasts stuffed with spinach/artichoke/cheese filling, grilled broccolini, saffron couscous, and (2) salmon with some sort of glaze, wild mushroom risotto, and some kind of sautéed greens. (I am a little vague on the dishes other than the chicken and broccolini as I didn’t eat them.)
Dessert: molten chocolate cake (I couldn’t eat this, they made me something else chocolately and gluten-free)
Is it wrong to admit I only use canned clams to make linguine with clam sauce now? Started doing that in 2020 when procuring fresh seafood became a bit more challenging, and it’s soooooo much easier this way.
Coming back to say the menu plan has been a great success so far (and also enabled me to override people trying to derail it).
We have been going through the top faves for the first few days: mac & cheese, cauliflower cheese, puris & accompaniments, Indian Chinese, and so on. Going to get through all the favorites once we can hit some of them again.
Hello to everyone from the suddenly cold Twin Cities of MN but it’s supposed to warm right back up and we are looking at a brown Christmas- what can I say- solar panels work better without snow on them. Trying to start shifting the family to the new reality that I will be going to work again! My position was eliminated in 2020 with Covid/corporate Mergers and all that stuff (and then distance learning and our house reno) so I haven’t worked professionally for 3 1/2 years. Waiting on my background check to pass so I can get a start date. If anyone knows where the lunch containers are I would be delighted to know where I stashed them. . .
Actuals and plans for 2 adults and 2 skating girls:
Thurs 14: Chicken shawarma ala Costco. Like the gyros better but ok Roasted broccoli
Fri 15: Both kiddos skated. Freezer find red sauce, Mr Autumm cooked some noodles. Side salads for some.
Sat 16: Got my Covid booster as the virus is “in the house” at work (nursing home) Felt crummy almost immediately. Told Mr Autumm he was in charge of dinner all I wanted was a good egg roll. 2 hours later guess who (me) was making them frozen ravioli with store pesto. Grumpiness
Sun 17: Mr Autumm had his covid booster. Finally read the room and takeout
Tonight Mon 18: Big kiddo band concert and both kiddos skated. Leftover Red sauce take 2 and noodles. I think Mr Autumm had a salad as well.
Tues 19: Leftovers from Sunday’s takeout before synchro skating. I need to try on work clothes during the day. Scared!
Weds 20: Spinach salad with warm bacon dressing, probably Alton brown’s version to finish off the big tub of spinach. My first skating board meeting virtual right during the girls showers/bedtime routine
Thurs 21: Fancy cheese night vs clear out the fridge. Might push this back to Friday
The girls want to make cut out cookies in here sometime. I would do this on Friday as no school but I don’t know when I’m starting my new job. Blurgh.
Continuing to be so grateful for this group- We got this. together!
Congrats on going back to work! As for the lunch containers, my sure-fire way to find stuff like that is… to buy new ones. As soon as the new ones are run through the dishwasher (or unpackaged), the old ones will pop forth to say a cheery “hello! Were you looking for me? My bad!”
For the lunch containers, look in that back of the corner cupboard spot beside the glass party-trays/punch cups from your grandmother that you haven’t had the heart to donate yet.
We just returned from a holiday trip through Seattle and Vancouver, BC – four days and three nights of enjoying the urban crowds, festive lights, shopping, eating, and relaxing. Leaving our car behind on the peninsula where we live, transportation was primarily by ferry, train and on foot. We travelled light, taking only what we could carry in our small backpacks. The two of us had a wonderful time. Now back at home, we’ll celebrate our Christmas on the 24th, visiting with my 96-year-old father in the morning followed by a nice meal in the evening. On the 25th we’ll head to my sister’s house for Christmas dinner with the rest of my family. Somewhere in there will be visits with the various branches of DH’s family via Skype.
As far as meal planning goes, outside of traditional fare, I’ll be trying to keep things light while cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Pasta with roasted tomatoes. Green salad.
SAT: Chowder of some sort.
SUN: Rosemary smoked tri-tip on the grill. Potato gratin with caramelized onions and bacon. Green salad.
MON: Christmas dinner with family – no doubt a roast with all the trimmings.
TUE: Senate bean soup.
WED: Leftover tri-tip and gratin.
THURS: Roasted salmon of some form. Salad greens.
Wishing you and yours a warm and meaningful holiday!
it is actually a dream of mine to take the train from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver, BC hopping on and off the train the whole way there . Seven years until retirement…
That sounds great! One of our dreams is to take the train from Vancouver to Banff. We drove through the Canadian Rockies just after we first got married - one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
Actuals & planned for Dec 18 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where we’ll have a no-snow Christmas. A FB site (MN Weather) put together a clever graphic with counts of MN Christmas snow-cover over the past 70 years. Memorably for me, 1988 was one of no-snow. We’d gotten a riding lawnmower in the summer and a snowblower in the Fall. Neither got much use the first year due to drought conditions. This year, I got a new snow shovel in November…
Mon: Stuffed salmon (Yelloh/Schwans), baked sweet potato, red grapes
Tues: OUT - steak & lobster, using a gift card
Wed: Chicken & white bean chili, biscuits, farro apricot side.
Thurs: Meatloaf Querencia, mashed potatoes w mushroom gravy (jar). Mixed veg.
Fri: Meatballs (commercial) in orange sweet & sour sauce. NOTE – online recipe has typo in cornstarch amount for sauce – s/b 1 Tbl
Over white & wild rice with mixed veggies.
Sat: (today): Sausage coins potatoes, peppers, onions. Fruit salad - red & green grapes, diced apple, orange
Sun: Stacked crab/avocado/salsa tower. Recipe from CH’er articshark in 2015 is in a follow-on comment below.
