Good luck with completion of the project!
Do you make your pimiento cheese? (I’ve only seen pub cheese at the store - it’s good, but not as good.)
Thanks! I am trying to keep in perspective that having four small things on a punch list, while seemingly something they should be able to bang out quickly to bring this to a conclusion, in reality is four small things they have to schedule in and around whatever larger projects they are also working on. We’ll get there. The shower and toilet have been usable and have been delightful! I am looking forward to the rest of it! Cooking has been a great stress reliever too 
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Thanks! I generally do make my own, although I improvise a lot. This is what I used this time (roughly):
8oz pkg of cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sour cream
1/4 c. mayo
1/2 T. Mrs. Dash Onion and Herb seasoning (this is mostly dehydrated, flaked onion with some spices, no salt)
a splash of pickled jalapeno brine
1 large jarred roasted red pepper (happened to have some in the fridge), medium diced
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar
1 package of chives, minced (not sure how big those plastic clamshells are, maybe 2/3 to 1 oz.?)
salt and pepper to taste (it didn’t need much, if any salt)
Mix the first 5 ingredients until well combined. Fold the cheese, peppers, and chives in. Add a little more jalapeno (or other pickle) brine to loosen if you think it needs it. Check to see if it needs salt and/or pepper. Let sit in fridge for about an hour to meld. Serve with crackers and crudites. This made about 4 cups of pimiento cheese.
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Greetings, People.
Took a few days off for a road trip to the the mountains last week. Back now, relaxed and refreshed, and playing catch-up in home and garden.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Pan-roasted, fresh sockeye salmon. Farm stand corn on the cob. The last of a pasta salad.
SAT: Pushed from last week, the Budget Bytes cabbage stir fry – will use ground chicken for the protein, and cabbage, carrots and scallions from the garden.
SUN: A repeat of the salmon (it’s on sale!). Cucumber salad.
MON: Bacon, gruyere and herb quiche. Garden salad.
TUE: Beef kebabs with mushrooms, tomatoes, and peppers. Rice or couscous.
WED: My one creative cooking project this week: sweet cherry vareniki.
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Thank you! I will report back when I make it!
I also need to make a copycat of Stonewall Kitchen’s Jalapeño Artichoke dip, which is ridiculously good if you haven’t tried it yet!
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Awesome!
The Jalapeño Artichoke dip is on my list of things to make. I’ve got all summer!
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Update - the contractors have left for the day (but will be back tomorrow for painting things! Fun!). I am functioning on 2 Kind breakfast bars, so I am compromising with myself by braising the pork belly today so that it will be cooled and ready to slice when I do make the dish (at this point, Sunday). Am consoling myself tonight with spicy wonton dumplings, pork and vegetable gyoza, copious amounts of chili oil, and a couple bottles of Vermentino.
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Things are more stressful than they should be, so meals will be low maintenance.
For two adults in San Diego:
This week’s breakfasts: I might just make a chocolate cake.
S: (tonight) Takeout: Carne asada burrito (half, saving the rest for lunch tomorrow or Mon)
Su: Chili cheese dogs and chips
M: Shrimp tacos (garlic butter, onions, peppers, cheese, guacamole) - seafood
T: BBQ chicken, doctored canned baked beans, COTC.
W: Pasta with TJs turkey meatballs, red sauce, spinach, parm
Th: Lentil soup - vegetarian
F: Flatbreads with BBQ chicken, spinach, onions, peppers
Have a good week!
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Actuals for July 4 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where I optimistically browned 2 pounds of ground beef with onions Monday, and had 4 recipes chosen to use it. Leftovers from the first two were clearly stretching more than anticipated, so half-pound packages of cooked meat went into the freezer, ready for use in the other recipes late in the week and next week.
Pretty much everyone I’ve spoken with is cranky about a recent service incompetence from a government agency, bank, food take-out / delivery service or in-store assistance. I’m trying to be kind to those venting at me, and also to service folks I encounter. Although I’m retired, I still remember being the person who’s providing coverage for 3 others during a holiday week when often the individual who’s done a task for years is on vacation just as a process goes sideways. But I must admit, despite staffing shortages I’m expecting (hoping) one banking clerk to soon be told she’s “just not a fit”.
Mon (July 4): Noon - Steak grilled outdoors, sauteed mushrooms, brown rice/Rotel/black bean casserole. Evening - Greek spicy ground beef and pasta with 2nd sauce, salad
Tues: Four bean & ground beef casserole, cornbread. Strawberries w whipped cream.
Wed: Reheats w different sides - Noon - Greek spicy ground beef & pasta, Evening - Four bean & ground beef casserole,
Thurs: Reheat Rotel/rice/black beans, add rotisserie chicken
Fri: Zesty Italian ground beef topped with crescent dough casserole (half recipe in 8x8 pan), crescent rolls, salad, fresh pears https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/zesty-italian-crescent-casserole
Sat: Oriental coleslaw w chicken (recipe posted in reply below), red grapes
Sun: (today) - Noon - Tuscan tomato red pepper soup (just OK, I won’t make again) https://www.uexpress.com/seven-day-menu-planner/2021/4/11 Slow cooker mac & cheese, tuna and egg salad with crackers. Evening - Oriental coleslaw w chicken, red grapes
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Oriental Coleslaw recipe
Dressing:
5 Tablespoons white vinegar
¾ Cup vegetable oil (can use less – ½ C)
3 Tablespoons sugar
Flavor packets from 2 (3 oz) packages ramen noodles (Chicken flavored and/or Oriental flavored)
Salad:
1 lb. Cabbage, shredded ( 1 Bag of pre-shredded coleslaw cabbage & carrots)
3 green onions, including green tops, chopped
Topping:
Uncooked noodles from 2 (3 oz) packages ramen noodles, broken into small segments
1 teaspoon – 5 Tablespoons sesame seed
¾ cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted (5 minutes in 350 degree oven, stirring 3 times)
Optional: 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
In a small bowl or lidded container, combine dressing ingredients. Cover; refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Just before serving, combine all salad ingredients in large bowl, add dressing, add Topping (& optional chicken), mix well.
Hints: Break up noodles in unopened ramen noodle packets before opening to remove flavor packets for dressing. When taking salad to a potluck, package chopped green onions in small ziplock, topping in medium lidded container, dressing in small lidded container, inside a ziplock bag. Leave coleslaw mix bag unopened. Carry all in large bowl / lidded 9x13 Assemble salad just before serving, shake dressing well before pouring over salad.
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Stuck fairly well to last weeks menu plan. Below are the goals for this week. Do not plan to use the wall oven at all, but will be using stovetop on a very limited basis, and heavily using the air fryer and Instant Pot. And still staying with very simple and easily prepared meals. The heat and air conditioning just zaps all my energy.
Sun: Baked Fresh Salmon, Rosemary & Garlic Oven Potatoes, Roasted Broccolini
Mon: Cottage Cheese and SunSweet Dried Prunes (love these prunes with cottage cheese, as well as my homemade plain Greek yogurt)
Tue: Pizza with Tomato, Iceberg, & Romaine Salad/Italian Dressing
Wed: Bacon, Pancakes, Homemade Apple Syrup
Thu: Jarred Marinara Sauce with Pasta and Parmesan and Sauteed Brussel Sprouts with Onions
Fri: Fresh Roasted Salmon with Potato & Leek Soup
Sat: Hatch Green Chile Grilled Cheese Sandwich perhaps with French fries or potato chips
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This one?
https://stonemillkitchens.com/artichoke-jalapeno-parmesan-premium-dip/
Looks like it should be easy enough to replicate. Are the jalapeños more fresh than pickled?
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So sorry to hear things are stressful! Easy meals seems like a great idea. And they look good!
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Hello everyone! Summer is really speeding up and I’m feeling the crunch. I want more time! Our dinners have been a mix of exciting and kind of boring/use up what we have. I did an inventory of both freezers and the pantry and posted it on the fridge, and I am really enjoying seeing it all listed there and then crossing things off. Cheap thrills. Here’s what is happening this week.
Sun - it was my spouse’s birthday. Per request, we had grilled sausages, oven fries, and a really good panzanella. I also made Smitten Kitchen’s strawberry chiffon cake (using strawberries we picked with the kids!). It was a huge hit.
Mon - grilled flank steak, garlic bread, green salad
Tues - pasta with jarred marinara (a small Montreal-based company called Stefano’s–no sketchy ingredients), kale salad
Wed - butter chicken (from freezer), rice, freshly picked peas
Thurs - hard taco kit but instead of ground beef, I’ll be making Jenny Rosenstrach’s spicy-tangy-smoky pinto beans as the protein.
Fri - The adults are (finally!) going on a fancy staycation that was postponed due to Omicron. Not sure where we will go this night–somewhere casual where we don’t need a reservation.
Sat - Staycation. We’re eating at Richmond Station, a Toronto restaurant that people are wild about and which I’ve been wanting to try for ages.
Sun - We’re back. Dinner is TBD. I am thinking maybe a chicken & vegetable soup with cornbread.
Hope you are all enjoying high summer!
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I hope that everyone dealing with stress, cranky people, or low appetite feels better soon, that things look up and look brighter …
Actuals for the week if July 4th:
Mon: Thai food menu based on cauliflower laarb bowls from this site:
Modifications: I added some more chopped green chile to everything, especially the rice which needs additional lift because of the coconut milk. Added some tofu to the cauliflower. Family liked this and voted a repeat. Next time I will roast the cauli at 425 or 450 deg F, 400 is too low. Also, the suggested amount of cucumber salad is way too much; I was eating the leftovers after all the other dishes were done. Next time stick with one cucumber.
Tues: leftovers from Monday, supplemented with a great roast corn (roasted and cut off the cob) salad: with berbere spice and mayo (Hellman’s vegan mayo here) that I just love and DH makes, from a Marcus Samuelsson recipe.
Wed: leftover roasted corn along with red lentil misir wat and the cabbage/carrot atakilt wat. DH made, I don’t know from which web site or recipe, but the berbere is really good. Eaten with rice.
Thu: leftovers from Wednesday.
Fri: Achaari paneer, using up some not-so-good achaar juice. I thought all the other good ingredients in there (paneer, cream, cashews, tomatoes, spices, etc.) would compensate, but no. Mehh and more mehh. Throwing good ingredients after bad. I won’t make this again. More rice. Cucumber raita. Zucchini sabzi. These were good.
Sat: same as Fri.
Happy cooking all! I bow before your ability to cook a different menu each night. I am strictly in the cook-once-eat multiple times camp.
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Oooh, I’ll have to look into those beans as a taco protein. Enjoy your staycation!
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Hi everyone. Feeding two adults and a now-12yo in the Boston burbs.
Sun: breaded chicken breasts, baked sweet potatoes, steamed green beans.
Mon: DS turned 12! We made grilled pizza (Alton Brown’s recipe) and salad/crudités for dinner. I also made a chocolate/peanut butter cake (Snacking Cakes) and served with Jeni’s salted peanut butter ice cream.
Tues: roasted honey brined turkey breast (courtesy of Wegmans), corn pancakes (an old Runners World recipe, https://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition-weight-loss/a20853157/savory-or-sweet-corncakes-recipe/), steamed broccoli
Weds: chicken enchiladas (Laurel Randolph’s IP cookbook) and beans
Thurs: fish tacos, asparagus. We’re going fancy with the tacos and double-layering crunchy corn tortillas with a soft flour tortilla outside. Wish I could remember where I saw this; I thought it was on SK but it’s not in her fish taco recipe. The tacos will be a bit improvised as most of the recipes I’ve found online call for a mayo-based sauce (ugh) and avocado (ick) or both.
Fri: tbd
Sat: whatever DS wants as he’s leaving Sunday for a week of adventuring across New England!
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Saving!
Yumm. I’m saving, too.
Greetings, People.
Enjoying another week of just-right warm weather. Early mornings are for a walk in the nearby state park, and afternoons (hopefully) for putzing about on the property.
Better late than never, our annual summer garden and harvest traditions have begun: strawberries, blueberries, cherries, peas, carrots, cabbage, scallions, kale, broccolini, and lettuce. We hand pollinated the corn last week, and are keeping an eye on zucchinis gone wild. Tomatoes and cukes, however, are at least a month out, and raspberries, pears and apples even further.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Turkish kebabs on the grill. Homemade Olga pita wraps. Greek salad.
SAT: Beef and zucchini on the grill.
SUN: Chicken diavolo with garden salad.
MON: Blueberry vareniki.
TUE: Fresh fish of some sort. Garden veg.
WED: Grilled lamb kebab. Homemade pita wraps. Greek salad. Tzatziki.
THUR: Pasta Alla Gricia with bacon and kale.
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