Yes…(don’t laugh) there’s a Lexington and Concord reenactment here in central FL. I won’t have my uniform yet, so I’ll be a woman of the camp.
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Homemade Gnocchi – I need to serve foods to Sunshine that she can eat with one hand. Gnocchi is fairly bite sized, so they worked. Peas were served on the side (not pictured).
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Got back after a weekend away, and was a bit tired so threw together a quick sheetpan meal. Briefly marinated chicken thighs in lemon, olive oil, dried oregano that was gifted to me from Greece and s&p, baked high over some fancy potatoes that were deeply on sale, served with spinach and more lemon for squeezing.
Including the before pic so you can see the bright colors on the potatoes!
We all really liked this.
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Classic Boeuf Bourguignon from “Dinner in an Instant” by Melissa Clark - cubed beef chuck, bacon, red onion, carrots, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, tomato paste, flour and red wine are cooked in a pressure cooker for 25 minutes with natural release. In parallel, you sauté pearl onions and cremini mushrooms until nicely browned. Mushroom mixture parsley are added to the stew and served with spaetzle
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Snowbirds. 
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Did I miss something? Is Sunshine having a problem with her hand? Hope it heals soon!
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Last night I made a shrimp, kale, butternut squash salad. I steamed the kale for a couple of minutes and I wasn’t expecting that much shrinkage in such a short period of time. When the kale was done, I used some cubed, roasted butternut squash I had in the freezer from last fall’s CSA. I dusted it lightly with a little smoked paprika and heated it for a couple of minutes in the frypan then added it to the kale then topped with some pre-cooked shrimp. The salad was okay - it wasn’t bad but I won’t be in a hurry to make it again. I’m not sure what it is missing but it didn’t wow me.
I shared the photo with a friend and she said her cats would like the shrimp so there’s that.
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That’s an interesting combination of ingredients.
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Agreed. It sounded like the squash and kale would work together but I’m not entirely sold. Serving the dish with shrimp sounded odd but I am always open to trying new things but I wouldn’t do that again.
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I mean… I’m in the “shrimp make almost every dish better” camp, whereas I don’t care for most winter squash — too sweet and mushy for me, so I mighta left that out.
It’s still a very odd combo of foods.
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Perhaps a vinaigrette/sauce would bring that salad together and add acidity. Something like a lemon tahini dressing. Lemon works nice with kale and shrimps whereas tahini and roasted butternut squash works well together. And tahini also adds some creamy texture
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I used a lemon juice evoo dressing to the kale but I think adding tahini might be the texture I am looking for. I am making another kale salad tonight but this one is a tried 'n true recipe. The dressing calls for using some puréed avocado in the dressing. The puréed avocado adds a nice texture to the kale so I could see how the tahini would work.
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Yes, Sunshine fell into the pantry a few months ago. Apparently it was a break and not a sprain; a tendon in her hand was damaged. She could not extend her thumb.
An operation was required, which went well (so far). There is a 3 month healing process, so she is down to one (non-dominant) hand to eat with. Moreover, the doctor really wants her to take it easy, so she has to learn to use the remote with her non-dominant hand. There are plenty of movies she can stream via ROKU, but Sunshine is already bored.
I’m going to the Little Free Library at the end of a neighbor’s driveway and trade in a book for another one. But reading and watching TV are pretty much all she can do for the next 3 months. We have an appointment on March 11th (post op follow up), we are hoping she can do a little light walking around the neighborhood. We’ll see??
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Oh that sounds so frustrating for her. Hope the March 11 appointment goes well!!
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Oof. That’s a long recovery time. I’m roughly on the same schedule with my stoopit shoulder. I think Sunshine might be surprised how adept she might get in the meantime with her non-dominant hand!
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Thanks…
Patience is not one of Sunshine’s strong points – I’ll do my best to help her get through it, but you kind of have to follow the doctor’s orders if you want a good result.
A few years ago, Sunshine had to have a toe operation. That was frustrating, as well – but we followed the doctor’s instructions and had a good result.
I’m hoping for a similar outcome with the hand/thumb.
For the record, I’ve since rearranged the pantry so items she likes/uses are at the front of the pantry (at eye level) and not towards the back. It was just a really freak accident that she fell into the pantry reaching for something at the very back.
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If you don’t already know about Kanopy for free TV shows through your library, you might want to explore.
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So far – so good. Brushing her teeth was a challenge, but she got through that. I never thought about or tried to brush my teeth with my non-dominant hand…
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I have an electric toothbrush, which made the switch easier.
I might have mentioned before that I am technically left-handed (if one goes by handwriting), but I was stunned to find out just how many things I actually do with my right hand — e.g. most kitchen prep & chopping.
So yeah, it’s been an adjustment.
Mine is negative 10 
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Yes, we have Kanopy and Hoopla – if she see something she likes – all good.
So far, her choice has been the old games shows on Pluto TV, but I imagine that will get old soon enough. Luckily, there are plenty of movies on the Free streaming services. Anything Rom-Com and she’ll enjoy it.
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