Too funny!!! DH always rolls his eyes when I drag it out each year and make him do it, but his bark is worse than his bite - when it comes to pretending to be surprised at the contents, he has as much fun with it as I do. But he would roll his eyes some more if he heard it described as adorable and romantic. 
Some years I’m more creative with his stuff than others (but not this year).
I don’t blame you. I made the decision when I started working that I would buy lunch on Friday mostly as a break from cooking and I would get take out on Saturday nights as a treat. The rest of my meals are all homemade, made from scratch. I joined a bunch of meetup groups about 10 years ago so I tend to dine out with them once a week, usually dinner but sometimes brunch, so I will limit myself to one meetup-dinner-out a week so those meetup meals will be my meal out instead of take out on Saturday night. It’s easy for single people to just pick up take out somewhere, especially where I live since I live in a downtown core with lots of restos. But not only will that cost lots of money but it’s not healthy. One of my friends, who is also single, picks up dinner on the way home from work. She takes two buses to get home from work and she has to transfer buses at a mall and the bus stop is conveniently located near the fast food court so she will often pop in to pick up dinner. There are also lots of restos near her apartment. The nights she doens’t feel like picking up dinner, she has frozen dinners at home that she can have instead. She is now in her late 50s and she has type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Her doctor keeps telling her she needs to eat more homemade meals but she won’t listen…
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Where will you be heading for dinner? Do you know what you will be ordering?
My friend has always had poor eating choices so diet is likely the primary cause. Her parents live in a house next door to her apartment building so before the pandemic she used to eat at her parents house 3 or 4 times a week. Those were the only times she was having nutritious meals. Ever since the pandemic started she has been responsible for her own meals, hence the increased eating out. She just can’t be bothered to cook. I’m sorry if it came across that I am shaming her, but I would never say anything to her face, firstly because I would be fighting a losing battle and also she has been getting enough grief from her doctor and her mother. She tells me a lot of stuff about herself and she even told me at one point her doctor told her that her diabetes was caused by her eating habits and that she should make more meals from scratch. Her main reason for telling me so much is that she knows I like to cook and has been asking for assistance with recipes. I can’t help too much because there are a lot of foods she can’t eat and I’ve lost track of what she can and can’t eat. Also, I’m not a doctor so there is only so much I can do. I suggested she consult the Canadian Diabetes Association website since they have some diabetic-friendly recipes posted online and I also suggested some Anne Lindsay cookbooks since she published some of them in conjunction with the Canadian Diabetes Association. She also mentioned that she has a slow cooker and I suggested she dust it off. I think they are great for someone that doesn’t cook much since everything can be cooked in one pot and she will just have the one pot to clean up after.
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I did say further down in my comment that her doctor had even told her her diabetes was caused by poor eating habits. I have obviously touched a nerve with you so I will no longer be engaging with you about the subject.
Unknowns, at this point. Unless it’s a special occasion, we’re not that into restaurant culture to put a lot of effort into it. I know a lot of people on this board are really into restauranting as a planned activity, but unless it’s a very special occasion, we’re more of the eat-and-run type. Frankly, I think we both feel home cooking is better tasting, healthier, (less costly) and more comfortable that dining out, but sometimes the change is nice.
I get that.
I have tried hundreds of restaurants with Chowhound friends and a few HOs since 2006, when I went to my first Chowhound meetup. For a good 5 years, up until around 2015, I was trying a lot of new restaurants in Toronto.
I alternate these days. I plan some restaurant meals carefully, seek out some specific dishes or cuisines with running lists I keep, and I wing a fair number of resto meals.
These days, I’m usually setting off on a 12 km walk, and I’ll stop to try coffee shops and restaurants I happen to pass. Sometimes path of the walk determines which restaurants will be convenient, and sometimes what I’m craving guides the walk.
I do think you get out of it what you put into it. I’m sure there is big pay-off in studying the dining scene when selecting a restaurant, and then the menu.
If we want to something celebrate something special, we usually head to the same heritage steak house in the city.
Where I live, there are a couple of dozen restos (which come and go constantly), none of which are going to be listed anywhere as a “must do” dining experience.
When travelling, we pretty much just roam around until something looks interesting. This is a very hit-or-miss way of eating out, but the method works for us, even if the meals sometimes leave us wanting.
I don’t really do any of the Must Do-type restaurants these days, when I’m at home. I suppose I try the most interesting-to-me options on my road trips within Ontario.
Restaurants come and go. I like supporting smaller businesses in my neighbourhood, and trying foods I don’t make at home.
It’s been a quiet week since I badly stubbed a toe while vacuuming last Saturday. I can still wiggle my toes and stand on that foot so I’m pretty sure I didn’t break anything. I went to see my doctor on Tuesday afternoon and she agreed it doesn’t look like a break so she recommended I stay at home for the next few days and keep my foot up and put ice on it and if it isn’t better in a couple of weeks I should get xrays done. That toe, and the one beside it, are turning various shades of purple so maybe that’s a good thing? But my toe still hurts so what I do the next few days depends on how mobile I am. To make matters worse, the heat doesn’t seem to be working in my apartment. The super mentioned to me earlier this week that there are a few tenants in the building that have been complaining of the same thing and he said if it doesn’t heat up in my unit within the next few days to let him know and he will caulk my windows. I told him that probably won’t help since our units are heated by baseboards and there is no heat whatsoever coming out of them and caulking the windows won’t fix the problem. It is still cool in here so I emailed the property management company to inform them so we’ll see what happens. My menu for this week is as follows:
Today: Take-out lunch was from the nearby deli again - spaghetti and meatballs this time. My toe hurts too much to walk further and I didn’t feel like making lunch today. Sometimes I need a break from the kitchen. Dinner tonight will be a chicken salad.
Tomorrow: Fridge and freezer cleanout day. I am hoping to go to Costco next Saturday the 19th for a big grocery shop, if my toe will cooperate. My vacations start next Friday and I want to do a big cook-off while I’m off. Dinner will be peanut butter noodles with cucumber.
Sunday: I’m planning on going to the cinema to see a matinée movie. (This week it’s “The Shop Around the Corner”.) I am hoping to pick up a few groceries on the way home, again depending on if my toe will cooperate. I have to cross 8 lanes of traffic to get from the movie theatre to the market and I can’t move that fast. I have never taken a bus to cross an intersection before so this may be the first 
I will have an arugula salmon salad for dinner.
Monday: Risotto with sundried tomatoes and leeks.
Tuesday: Chicken with mushroom sauce, egg noodles, arugula and cherry tomato salad.
Wednesday: Linguine with broccoli and carrots.
Thursday: Pub night with one of my meetup groups. There is a restaurant very close to home that has a burger special on Thursday nights - all their burgers are $10 on Thursdays so I will be joining the group this time. It’s only a block away from home so I’m pretty sure I can walk there 
I hope everyone is having a lovely week.
Hope that foot heals quickly!
Thank you!
OUCH on the toe. Mine responded well when “buddy” band-aid splinted to the toe next to it for support, and surprisingly a LOT of walking while on a vacation trip. Hope yours heals up quickly.
Your menu sounds great. Every time you post peanut butter noodles with cucumber I think “I should make that” - then fail to get a cucumber and follow up.
I’m wondering if that’s what happened to mine. Both the little toe and the one beside it are turning purple right now. I stubbed my toe so hard this time everything hurt You never realize how much you need your feet until you hurt them…
I started making that peanut butter noodles recipe in 2020 when I started getting a CSA and was looking for new recipes. I often use my cukes to make Greek sslads which are my favourite but sometimes change is good.
I hope very much that your toe is getting better!
Been a busy few weeks, and Lulu is home for the whole month. Making her favorites and possibly over-feeding her. We went to visit my mother (and my brother was visiting too, which was so great). Got back last Saturday afternoon. Here’s what we’ve eaten:
Sat: LLD cooked: salmon, roasted potatoes, salad
Sun: fried rice with kimchee and turkey bacon
Mon: black bean tacos with feta and cabbage
Tues: (chicken) sausage, cabbage, and potato soup
Wed: carry out burritos
Thurs: penne with salami, fennel salad
Fri: carry out gyros
Sat: LLD making pasta with mushrooms
Lulu and I both got Godiva Advent calendars (and I have been told I have a Neuhaus one hidden away! Squeaky wheels work!) so there hasn’t been much baking. I’m starting to feel ready for Christmas, although I have a lot of wrapping to do. Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Actuals for Dec 9 week, cooking for 2 in MN and baking for gifts to family and friends, and for us. Family reactions to the mailed cookies have been quite happy – all boxes arrived timely, cookies in good shape and still fresh. Our Christmas note to enclose with cards is ready, and getting cards ready to mail is on today’s to-do list, while a fruitcake bakes. We’ll put up our (artificial) tree sometime this week, and we’ll deliver the remaining plates of cookies to friends.
Mon: BAKED Oatmeal Raisin cookies BOXED cookies. Dinner - Mini crab cakes (Costco), wild rice, Normandy vegetables with shredded Gouda. spinach salad. Cookies.
Tues: MAILED cookies to family - 6 boxes, 3 states. I delivered 1 plate of cookies to local friends.
Dinner - Slow cooker honey garlic pork tenderloin over white rice
Wed: I delivered 1 plate of cookies to friends. Dinner - Reheated slow cooker honey garlic pork tenderloin over white rice, peas
Thurs: Lunch - Homemade pizza - pepperoni / bell peppers (use up marinara) and stromboli – ham/cheddar. Spinach salad . Dinner - Skillet-cooked chicken thighs in Italian dressing with pasta Alfredo and broccoli. Breadsticks. Post office delivered some cookie boxes to family.
Fri: Dinner - Reheated honey garlic pork tenderloin over white rice, broccoli. Cottage cheese and fresh pineapple. Post office delivered some cookie boxes to family. I delivered 1 plate of cookies to friends.
Sat: Reheated skillet-cooked chicken thighs in Italian dressing with pasta Alfredo and Normandy veggies. Post office delivered last cookie box to family.
Sun: Skillet fajitas inspired by https://www.juliapacheco.com/steak-fajita-quesadillas-10-minute-dinner/ Plan to BAKE a fruitcake for me - I found shelled Brazil nuts at Costco and have a recipe given to me years ago (along with memories of a delicious few slices) that calls for those.
I am seriously under pressure to make room in the freezer for goodies being delivered at the end of the week so my plan is all about that. Also work is super busy and having meals to reheat saved my sanity last week.
Lunches: lentil soup with kale (from freezer) and andouille.
Dinners: sausage slammers (freezer) with NYT one-pan orzo with spinach and feta (spinach from freezer and TJ’s 10 minute farro instead of orzo because I prefer it) and harissa roasted carrots for three dinners (slammers are 3 to a package); one dinner of linguine with sausage ragu from freezer; one dinner of chicken and green beans in Indian simmer sauce (freezer) with rice.
