Awesome! Thanks for that Intel re: Gaslamp. We just got into the hotel. I have been up since about 4am Eastern time, so a nap may be in my future. Looking forward to getting back into everything here!
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Greetings, People.
Cooking for two adults in the PNW:
FRI: Salmon and shrimp chowder. Homemade oyster crackers. Salad if we’re feeling the veg.
SAT: Leftover lamb kebab. Pita. Greek salad.
SUN: Hot wings on the grill. Veggie sticks.
MON: Halibut fish and chips, homestyle.
TUE: Blueberry vareniki (finally got the cherry ones made last week).
WED: Beef on the grill with garden veg.
THUR: Chicken-zucchini meatballs. Pasta with fresh basil pesto.
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Hello everyone and happy Friday. After going through a heatwave this week it has finally cooled down and is sunny. Our Asian night market starts today and runs through the weekend. I decided to go today since the weather is cooperating and the weatherman is predicting rain for tomorrow and overcast on Sunday so today is the day I head up to the night market.
On to my menu plan for this week for a solo diner in Ottawa, Canada:
Today: veggies and dip for lunch, Asian food for dinner.
Saturday: leftover marinara sauce that I made with the roma tomatoes from last year’s CSA and has been languishing in the freezer ever since. Spring mix from this week’s CSA on the side.
Sunday: off to see Lawrence of Arabia in the movie theatre. I saw it once when I first started working and had a 13" black and white tv that my parents gifted me until I was able to save up for a real tv. Time to see the movie in a more viewable format 
Basa fillet in black bean sauce for dinner, probably waxed beans on the side, maybe broccoli.
Monday: peanut soup. https://cookieandkate.com/west-african-peanut-soup/
Tuesday: chicken and broccoli stirfry. https://www.skinnytaste.com/chicken-and-broccoli-stir-fry/
Wednesday: black bean beef and vegetable stirfry. https://www.canadianliving.com/food/lunch-and-dinner/recipe/black-bean-beef-and-vegetable-stir-fry
Thursday: fettucine al pesto and whatever veggies I have left from last week’s CSA.
Have a nice weekend everyone!
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Hi, all! Cooking for 2 in Chattanooga. I have so much produce lying around and will probably make a big batch of jam this weekend, as well as eat green beans with everything…As you’ll see from my meal plans, I’m not that great a seasonal cook, lol.
Saturday, July 23: Tomato and bread salad from Milk Street, green beans
Sunday: It’s our anniversary, but we’ll wait to go out until temps/covid get a little more reasonable. In the meantime, chicken cutlets with bacon and onion from Cook’s Country, rice, green beans, apricot tart
Monday: Scrounge
Tuesday: Braised beef (“Grandma’s”) enchiladas from Cook’s Country, more green beans?? or maybe salad
Wednesday/Thursday: Scrounge or takeout
Friday: Green goddess veggie burgers and Greek salad
Stay cool and hydrated, everyone! Happy cooking!
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Enjoy the movie - that’s one of my all-time favorites! It’s spectacular in color…
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Last week, was pretty good about sticking to plan.
For this week, starting today.
Sun: Frozen Chicken Kiev, Roasted Potatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, Biscuits
Mon: Meatless Lasagna, Green Salad
Tue: Meat Loaf, Pinto Beans, Green Onions and Grape Tomatoes, Cornbread
Wed: Cajun Andouille Sausage, Baked Eggs, Roasted Asparagus, Biscuits
Thu: Repeat of Tuesday
Fri: Catfish Nuggets, Collard Greens, Southwest Corn, Leftover Cornbread
Sat: Lazy Enchiladas, Sliced Avocado, Salsa
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Hi everyone, cooking for two adults and a 12yo in the sultry Boston burbs. The InstantPot has been busy cooking 2/3 of the pork shoulder I got yesterday, feeding the freezer…
Sun: grill - burgers, zucchini. Corn on the cob. Coconut tapioca for dessert (or the last of the fudgsicles for DS if he isn’t into it).
Mon: rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas for the guys, I won’t be home for dinner (visitation for a colleague who passed away suddenly last week).
Tues: carnitas (http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/pork-carnitas-in-the-pressure-cooker/) on tostadas with refried black beans and cotija cheese. Mexican slaw that I didn’t make last week, peppers for DS.
Weds: pulled pork sandwiches and green beans
Thurs: pasta with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil - will run to the farm stand for fresh produce in the afternoon. Also our 15th wedding anniversary!
Fri: tbd, maybe anniversary celebration…?
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Actuals for July 18 week, cooking for 2 in MN where rain continues to be scarce and the lawn is crunchy. My husband says we need to invite a crowd over for an outdoor picnic – surefire rain-generating activity. Lots of multi-meal dishes this week, mix/matched for lunches with last week’s (too large) quantity cooking.
Mon: John Wayne casserole, tomato soup, Cold pea salad, tossed salad, pita chips
Tues: Burgers with mushrooms & gruyere cheese. Tater tots. Sliced tomato. Strawberry cake (from box mix) with strawberry jam-cream cheese center layer and fresh strawberry cool whip top.
Wed : Smoked turkey chimichangas w refried beans (used a can of pinto beans and roughly followed the Homesick Texan’s technique, half-recipe Dessert – strawberry cake with ice cream, sliced strawberries
Thurs: Chicken tikka masala & rice, cold pea salad, sliced cucumber.
Strawberry cake with center layer, whipped cream, sliced strawberries.
Fri : Smothered pork chops with onion, Provalone https://www.juliapacheco.com/smothered-pork-chops/ Mashed potatoes, peas
Sat : (Schwan’s) mini-eggrolls, leftover spaghetti Lo Mein (w/ slice red pepper, shredded carrots, broccoli, scallions & sesame seeds) which will have added five spice powder and less/no honey when made again, Dessert - ice cream
Sun (today) : Special breakfast – overnight enchiladas
Lunch – Lo Mein with added shrimp & five spice powder, grill pineapple chunks
Dinner - Chimichangas
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I’m going to try this sometime!
Happy anniversary!
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Congrats on the anniversary!
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This one got my curiosity, also. I’m wondering if MidwesternerTT has made it before?
Those DO sound good. Maybe with a can of green chiles added to the egg mixture. Saving this one.
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That’s a great idea!
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For two adults in San Diego:
This week’s breakfasts: Chocolate chip scones to start the week. Then I’ll have to think of something. Sigh!
S: Had some nice meals out while at Comic-Con. Outdoor dining reservations were honored, yay!
Su: (tonight) Red sauce with spinach and TJs turkey meatballs. Garlic bread to dip in the sauce, instead of pasta.
M: Crab cakes (purchased) with Caesar salad and garlic bread - seafood
T: Pasta with chicken, onions, peppers, and spinach in a chipotle cream sauce.
W: Breakfast tacos, possibly a take on these? https://alexandracooks.com/2022/07/02/crispy-potato-egg-cheese-taco-the-most-delicious-thing-ive-eaten-all-year/ - vegetarian
Th: Chicken tamale pie
F: Pizza (purchased dough, salami, spinach)
Have a good week!
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@MunchkinRedux it was a new recipe for me. The author makes these as breakfast-for-dinner. I’m cooking for just 2, so I made a half-batch of 5 tortillas filled and soaked in the egg mixture (using 2 eggs) overnight in an 8x8 pan. The egg was not fully absorbed by the tortillas, but what remained baked nicely around them in a thin layer. Mine needed to bake an hour. For us, one enchilada was a satisfying breakfast so I’ve got a another morning of quick-breakfast (just reheat) waiting tomorrow. Served with diced avocado and diced cherry tomatoes.
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My condolences over the loss of your colleague.
And happy anniversary!
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Every single dinner this week looks delicious! I love Asian food and that spaghetti lo mein looks delicious! I bookmarked it for a future dinner.
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Actuals for the week of July 18th.
Sunday: frenzy of cooking and clearing out my fridge prior to a long trip - hope family eats all that I made and not let it go bad and chuck it out.
Monday-Tuesday: several long flights. Airplane food. Although nowadays long haul flights offer a veggie meal option, I pre-book an Asian Veg meal that is typically something Indian-ish.
My first dinner was salad, chickpea masala (-ish, generously interpreted) with rice, and a brownie.
My second dinner was veggie korma (-ish, not bad, not great) with rice, salad, baklava, and the attendant offered me a chocolate mousse tart which I accepted. The mousse part was good, the tart shell not so great so I left most of that.
I slept through the breakfasts and had to grab a sandwich during my long layover.
I have low expectations for airplane food and just mentally accept whatever they dish out. I remember the days when long haul flights out of India used to come with a little plastic packet of spicy pickle (mixed veg or lemon/lime) and those were great to ease the food down. I would save any extras and douse the uniformly terrible breakfasts with them. We don’t seem to get these any longer. (shrug).
Wednesday: I arrived into India (city in the South) in the early morning. No breakfast.
Lunch: As my family’s designated eater (my mother is too elderly, sister is busy on a working day) I attended the ‘first year death anniversary ceremony’ of a close family friend’s father. This involved a South Indian banana leaf lunch. Not the time for pictures but you can get an idea here or here.
The meal was (as typical) fabulous. The local caterers don’t mess around. It followed the customary order of operations:
Sit at long table that has disposable paper tablecloth and pre-laid banana leaves (different from my young days when we sat in rows on the freshly cleaned floors and bent over to eat). Dhoti-clad waiters walk up and down serving from large buckets or baskets.
Water glasses are filled first. Protocol: eater sprinkles water on the impeccably clean leaf and brushes it off. Eat with right hand only (left hand is for personal hygiene, as in many other cultures).
First items to be served along the upper perimeter of leaf: a few slices of banana with sugar, a sprinkle of salt, a dab of pickle. These are customary.
Side dishes: kosumalli (chopped cucumber salad); a vegetable side dish or two (green beans, and a fabulous potato-black pepper sabzi); aviyal (mixed steamed veg in coconut, spices, yogurt gravy); koottu (veg steamed in dal w/ typical spices).
Rice, rice, and more rice: First, at the leaf’s center, a large blob of plain rice is served that the eater partitions into segments for the various accompaniments. Given the demographic of the guests, everyone was yelping to the waiters to serve only tiny rice portions. Waiters always serve a little more than people ask because must demonstrate hospitality and abundance.
Then come the things-eaten-with-rice: (1) a dollop of ghee on one of the segments, followed by (2) plain toor dal and (3) sambar - the eater mixes as they like. Eat as liked with dabs of the side dishes. (4) another segment of rice with ghee and rasam (ecstasy!). (5) Final segment of rice with yogurt or buttermilk. Making rice dams so that the runny dishes don’t drip off the edge of the leaf onto your lap is a skill acquired very early.
Add-ons: papad. Spiced rice side dishes - which seem redundant but are typical, usually something like lemon rice or puliyodare (tamarind peanut rice). Today’s feast was puliyodare. Just took one teaspoon of this to taste. Well worth it.
Sweets: two in today’s meal: badushah (like a sweet flaky glazed donut called balushahi in North India), and a paper cup of payasam (=kheer, rice pudding).
After eating we lined up to wash our hands dipping water out of a gigantic - waist high - copper vessel into the garden flower bed. Tucked up saris, dhotis, salwars, etc. to prevent splashes.
I did my duty as the family eater and staggered home in a food coma + jet lag. Don’t ask me what dinner was because I have no memory.
Thu: Breakfasts was pongal + usual sides (I posted in the What’s for Breakfast thread).
Lunch: tried a vegetable made from chayote leaves from the vine growing up the house. Taste was okay, nothing remarkable, but I think it was undercooked and fibrous. The dal component was sambar with veg drumsticks. I had chapatis. Yogurt. Last of the mango season: Mallika mangoes and pomegranate. (I missed some of my favourite mango varieties: Banganpalli, Malgova, Salem Gundu - gigantic mangoes from the town of Salem and the Tamil word ‘gundu’ translates to ‘fatso’ or ‘hand grenade’ or ‘sphere’ depending on the context.)
Dinner: mostly leftovers as is typical.
Fri: breakfast was hard boiled eggs doused in masala ketchup + toast.
Lunch: Morkozhambu (buttermilk stew) made with okra. Sabzi was green beans South Indian spices. Chapatis. Masala chips on the side - I cannot resist these. Eat now, exercise later. Yogurt, mangoes, pomegranate.
Dinner: leftovers.
Saturday: Breakfast idlis + accompaniment
Lunch: Lobiya (black eyed peas) dal, chayote sabzi, diced cucumber+tomato salad, chapatis, yogurt, Neelam mangoes, pomegranate.
Dinner: leftovers
Sunday: Breakfast: Kanjeevaram idlis: different from plain idlis in that the batter is spiced, boosted with soaked chana dal left whole and few cashew nuts. It is steamed in a large plate and then cut up, instead of steamed in individual rounds. Usual accompaniments.
Lunch: masoor dal, fried bitter melon (I am the only one who likes this), diced salad, kohlrabi sabzi, chapatis, yogurt, mangoes, pomegranate.
Dinner: same.
Monday: same pattern so won’t detail, only remarkable at lunch for a very delicious tinda masala sabzi that my mother’s cook is famous for - elevating a humble and much ridiculed vegetable into something we look forward to and ask for! Tindas are usually considered tasteless.
I will definitely be hauling excess baggage around my middle when I return to the US.
Happy eating all!
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That was epic! 
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