I had a very nice time on my solo trip - Ischia is lovely and relaxing, and Naples is crazy, thrumming, fun, and exhausting. Also did day trips to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Amazing. Then home to an empty house, as LLD was visiting Lulu for Homecoming weekend. It was a nice way to ease into being home. This has been a tough week, the election did not go as I had hoped; yesterday was the Celebration of Life for my friend. Trying to take things easy. Here’s what I/we ate:
Sat: solo, black bean tacos with shredded cabbage and feta (so good after 10 days of Italian food - it was delicious, but I needed a change)
Sun: solo, NYT’s sardine and tomato toasts
Mon: LLD home! Spicy Sichuan turkey (instead of pork) noodles with charred green beans, RecipeTin Eats. I really love this.
Tues: shrimp rolls (like lobster rolls but with shrimp), cucumber spears.
Actuals for Nov 4 week, cooking for 2 in MN. Where I’m focused on freeing up freezer space for a 10-12 pound turkey, so I can get one for Thanksgiving before that size sells out. And also anticipating a 2 week span of careful chewing starting Wednesday with dental tooth crown procedures. My baking buddy tells me her dentist now does it as one same-day, 2 hour procedure with in-house build using sets of laser measurements. I got in some bread baking this week; husband and I are both happy with the results.
Mon/Tues: Pork, apple, sweet potato skillet stew with coconut rice. Sliced apple.
Wed: BAKED whole wheat buns for lunchtime sloppy joe sandwiches. Dinner (and Thurs lunch) -
Cod, baked potato, peas, cream of tomato soup (homemade, from the too-huge-from-Costco tub of cherry tomatoes.)
Thurs: BAKED – wild rice pecan bread, recipe and photo over on WAYB thread. Sampled amply so not much appetite for dinner. The last of the pork, apple, sweet potato skillet stew with coconut rice. Bread. Red grapes.
Fri: (commercial) seafood-stuffed salmon, asparagus with one-egg hollandaise, Italian Mix salad, wild rice pecan bread
Sat: homemade version of Curry Chicken & (wild) Rice Soup, cheesy garlic breadsticks (commercial frozen) Soup inspired by this Pillsbury bake-off recipe. BAKED bread machine cranberry walnut bread, using a recipe @MunchkinRedux posted on the bread machine thread.
Sun: (today) small lobster tails, baked butternut squash, reheated asparagus w/ hollandaise, salad
Feeding 3 in the Boston burbs. The highlight of last week was my theater night with a friend - I highly recommend “&Juliet”! (For those who like the theater but not ticket prices, check out luckyseat.com - this was the third/fourth show we’ve won tickets to and we’ve seen several shows I wouldn’t have prioritized at full price.)
Last week was otherwise very rough. Lots of comfort food, and cheese, on this week’s menu.
Sun: cheese enchiladas (NYT), some sort of Mexican rice and beans on the side
Mon: pilgrim meatloaf, baked potatoes, green beans
Tues: mac and cheese, roasted broccoli
Weds: IP honey-chipotle chicken tacos (NYT), refried beans or leftover Mexi-rice and beans
Thurs: leftovers as I have a dinnertime meeting with the Aussies
Greetings from Pasadena, CA, where I’m cooking/ feeding two adults and several felines.
Last week was a bust in terms of meal planning - only thing accomplished from my list was the birthday carrot cake for my partner. We seem to have otherwise subsisted on leftovers and scrounging. Between the election and the Mountain Fire/Santa Ana winds I lacked interest in cooking or eating.
Meh.
This week, though, I aim to be more productive, as my partner leaves next Saturday to visit his father and I offered to help restock his freezer. So much cooking, baking, portioning, LABELING, and freezing is in store.
Christina, how are you and your neighbors doing in Asheville? My sister is still staying in Raleigh due to conditions in Black Mountain. And the you were at the polls all day on Tuesday! Best wishes to all of you in the region.
The NYT cheese enchiladas were really good - reported here.
3 Likes
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
70
We are hanging in! I will say, there is a lot of variability in how people are doing based on how much they had to begin with. We are and were and remain very lucky.
So much sounds good here! I have made, and very much enjoyed, the turmeric fish from Milk St. Just use way less salt than the book asks for (I think it’s a typo). Mine stuck some in my wok, but it was very good.
3 Likes
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
76
Didn’t get to much plan-wise last week between lack of sleep and OTT stress, but I do still want to eat many of those things so I’m going to roll them forward.
I did eat a LOT of chicken quesadillas and spinach gozleme, which FINALLY used up ALL the flour tortillas hiding in my fridge and freezer, lol. Now I need more, haha.
Roll forward:
— Kheema macaroni and/or kheema shepherds pie (or maybe kheema pastitsio? but potato >>> bechamel so hmmm…)
— Steak bites & rice– maybe Bo Luc Lac or Japanese soy garlic steak
— Korean beef (turkey) and tofu patties / Wanja Jeon – this or this
— Shumai burgers, but maybe as meatballs, and might try with chicken thighs or ground turkey
More ideas that appeal:
— Fish larb from COTM NYT but possibly using frozen fish sticks to approximate the fried fish version at one of my favorite Thai restaurants (inspired by the Fish Finger Bhorta from Nigella, which also bears repeating)
— Thai shrimp cakes from COTM NYT
— Spanish-flavored chicken & potatoes – this combined with this
.
Might start some Thanksgiving-related projects:
— Another few rounds of Date & nut energy balls (for my other nephews )
— Puff pastry spirals – still thinking about what filling (I did kheema last year which was a big hit, but I’ve been mulling over something simpler like pimento cheese or cheddar & harissa)
— Maybe Chicken liver pate
Want to bake something, but uninspired at the moment.
I should get this from the library again – I recall a lot of interesting dishes with simplified profiles. I think I made Musakhan from it.
4 Likes
ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
80
I saw that one, but the picture didn’t appeal to me very much. I think I made the one out of Gaza Kitchen and it was really good.
ETA: Actually, I might Be crazy but I think it was from Dinner in an Instant. “Middle Eastern spiced chicken and rice with eggplant” – if I recall, it was quite good, and my husband made it, so, even better!
)
