This seems like a great solution.
(tbh, I’ve stopped making fondue from scratch these days bec the TJs boxes are so easy and also a lot cheaper)
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You can do the cornstarch in the wine, but we’ve had success skipping the cornstarch and using a couple tablespoons of flour with the shredded cheese. I think it stabilizes it better over the course of the meal.
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I had bought a box of imported fondue last winter, and never found the right time to do a proper fondue. One day I boiled some pasta and stirred it into the warmed fondue cheese. Would do it again. 
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I have made it to Spring Break. Too tired to try new recipes, so Trader Joe’s to the rescue. Might indulge in a few lunches out. Will try to keep work to a minimum, although I really do need to catch up on grading and committee work. SIGH!
For two adults in San Diego:
Breakfasts: Will start off with toast made with chocolate bread from a local bakery.
S: (tonight) takeout - BBQ chicken flatbread
Su: Ramen with leftover carnitas and veggies - soup
M: Shrimp tacos, with cheese, onions, peppers, guacamole - seafood
T: TJs spinach tortellini with Boursin cheese and peas - vegetarian
W: Pasta with red sauce, TJs turkey meatballs, and spinach
Th: Egg scramble with chicken sausage, spinach and cheese, with hash browns.
F: TJs orange chicken with veggies and rice.
Have a good week!
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Hi everyone, it’s good to be back to normal cooking/eating/life after a crazy 5 weeks. I went to Sicily on my own in February for almost 2 weeks, came home to find Lulu sick with covid, then caught it myself. Tested negative 1 day before we were leaving on our Spring Break trip. Phew! Got back late Monday night, and spent the week trying to catch up. Finally feeling like things are settling down, and the post covid fatigue is slowly melting away. I hadn’t gotten my latest booster and LLD had. He didn’t get covid. Get your boosters. Here is what we ate:
Tuesday: pasta puttanesca
Wednesday: coconut chicken curry soup over rice, salad with Asian dressing
Thursday: dinner out, belated birthday steak for LLD
Friday: shrimp with chinese chives, rice, roasted green beans
Saturday: LLD made salmon, roasted Brussels sprouts with Parmesan (amazing), naan
Tonight will be carry out. College decisions come out this week, and it’s feeling a little prickly in the house. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
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Actuals for Mar 18 week, cooking for two in MN where winter has returned/arrived with small snowfalls that are providing much-needed moisture to our parched lawn and plants. Tonight’s much-hyped forecast of 12 inches of snow overnight got downgraded to 2 inches - we’ll see which prediction was closer Monday morning. Today’s meals will (hopefully) clear out accumulated half-servings of leftover sides.
Mon: Tacos - Adobo-rubbed shredded pork, rice/rotel/black beans casserole, guac (2nd in a tasting test of grocery guacs – I’m tired of unripened avocado failures)
Supper - Cucumber seafood soup, from Joy of Cooking cookbook, grilled cheese sandwiches
Tues: Teriyaki pork w rice, spinach salad, broccoli
Wed: Halibut, asparagus with hollandaise, hot crash potatoes
Thurs: Chili, cornmeal muffins
Fri: Terrific tuna salad - Caesar salad romaine (bag) with tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, h.b. eggs, tuna & capers, bread machine Sweet Oatmeal (7-grain) bread
Sat: Lunch - Chili & cornbread, Dinner - last of the pork adobo in hardshell tacos, rotel rice/black beans, tossed salad
Sun: (today) - Chicken breast, potatoes, holladaise and asparagus, bag Caesar salad w tomatoes. Supper - Leftover Chinese takeout, leftover green beans
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Glad you were able to REALLY get out of the house - both vacations sound great. Is LLD no longer making his “signature” salad with the salmon meals? It always made me smile to see that on your menu.
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Thanks MTT. Lulu decided she didn’t like arugula. Sometimes we make it anyway, and she eats it, but overall we’re keeping it to a minimum.
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I’m sorry to hear you caught covid but glad to hear you are feeling better. You seem to be adjusting well to being an empty nester 
(Even though Lulu hasn’t technically left the nest yet.)
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Mentally preparing myself. Emotionally might be a different story!
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Short menu this week as we’re heading out camping for a week on Easter Sunday. Cooking for two adults and an almost-7-yo in Asheville, NC.
Smoked ribs and sides TBD
Nobu miso cod, sauteed asparagus, peanut noodles. I had some frozen Sam’s Club cod to use up. Hopefully it’s OK despite not being as rich as black cod.
Bourbon/mall chicken with sauteed cabbage, carrots, and onion and leftover steamed rice
SK broccoli cheddar soup w/squishy Italian loaf and hot dogs on the side
Shrimp saganaki with ww orzo
Leftover tortellini soup
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Thanks for reminding me about the SK Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I always forget about that recipe but I like it a lot. I think I served it with Sour Cream and Onion Biscuits last time I made it.
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Sounds like great trips; glad you recovered in time for the second one.
I just got my 7th covid vax…qualify as a senior citizen Despite feeling very sick for 24 hours afterwards, I’m glad I did it! It’s so weird how the reaction disappears.
Send good luck wishes to your house for college news!
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Sides are red skin potato salad in vinaigrette with bacon and broccoli salad with cashew dressing, dried cranberries, almonds, and pickled red onion.
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Hi, everyone. I’m exhausted from the week and weekend - much of the weekend revolved around DS’s show (Newsies Jr), and our schedules are all out of whack. He and the other kids did a great job and I really enjoyed seeing him play a thug/hired muscle. (I hadn’t known that was his character, and burst out laughing at the first show when he swaggered on stage, cracking his knuckles and looking for a fight. Completely not his personality!!)
And now, back to reality and a busy week ahead…
Tonight: original plan was sesame chicken with (optional) cashews and (hidden) dates [NYT], green beans, rice. However, due to some cranky tired kid requests, swapping this out with: “popcorn chicken” (breaded and pan-fried) using the chicken I’ve already cut up, one-pot mac and cheese, and the aforementioned green beans.
I also made chicken/broccoli stir-fry for DS’s lunches, chickpea/cauliflower tikka masala using jarred sauce for my lunches, granola for my breakfasts, and prepped 10+ lbs of chicken for the freezer. Future me will be grateful but today me is tired.
Mon: takeout - since we didn’t get to go out last night - and I have a 7pm meeting with a vendor in Australia
Tues: frito pie (also NYT) - not sure how well this will go over but she who cooks picks the meals and I want Fritos
Weds: DH’s birthday + we have a 7pm Zoom meeting for DS’s trip next month. “Pot roast” (https://smittenkitchen.com/2015/02/oven-braised-beef-with-tomatoes-and-garlic/) over noodles. Birthday cake during the meeting.
Thurs: leftovers/freezer dive - all-day meeting in the office for me. Cranky DS said he’d cook, as part of tonight’s dinner renegotiation, so… maybe he’ll actually cook?
Fri: tbd…
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Wow - I’m tired, in empathy, just reading that – good job on the prep ahead and also catering to tired kid’s meal request.
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Thanks for the link to the peanut noodles recipe. I made some tonight to go with the skimpy amount of leftover Chinese takeout chicken and green beans. Another time, I’ll omit the optional lime juice – that was one flavor “note” too many for us.
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I did it this way, plus a later cornstarch/kirschwasser slurry that my mom used to do. It was very good! I don’t have a fondue pot, so we plugged our portable induction burner in tabletop and it worked great.
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Good luck and fingers crossed with the college decisions!
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We have a bunch of boxes in my mom’s freezer, and last visit I suggested using some for pasta, but it was declined because “too heavy”. I guess a bunch of vegetables and bread + some cheese vs. all the cheese plus a pile of pasta makes sense… and that’s why my mom will forever eat more healthfully than I do 
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