What Did We Eat Today?

[Bastet]

I hardly ever eat rice, but when I cook it I just follow the directions on the package.  It should probably be fluffier, but it's good enough.

I cannot decide what to make for lunch - a turkey wrap, a shrimp taco, a bowl of wonton soup, an egg white scramble, a mixed greens salad with some chicken or shrimp, or just munch on some salami, cheese, and crackers.  They all sound good, but nothing is sounding like The One.

I'll be roasting pork tenderloin for dinner, with kale as the base of either the side dish or the salad. 

[annzeepark914]

I just made butternut squash soup for MrP914 & am making chili for me (he doesn't like my style of chili 😏). 

[Bastet]

It's just me for Super Bowl this year (even without a pandemic, I won't go to SB parties, as I cannot stand the people who are there to eat and talk rather than watch the game, so I usually just go to my parents' house, but they're off in their RV, meeting up with my aunt and uncle in theirs), so I won't have the usual smorgasbord of snacks, but I'm still going to munch for the day.

So far I've had some veggies and dill dip, and I just put chicken wings - coated with parmesan, paprika, parsley, basil, and oregano - in the oven, so they'll be ready at kick-off.  I may make spinach, artichoke, and cheese dip at halftime.  I also cooked some shrimp and made tartar sauce; I can either nosh on those today, too, or use the shrimp on a salad tomorrow and cook a piece of halibut for the sauce.

[MargeGunderson]

I made sticky chicken fingers and potato skins for the Super Bowl. And bite sized brownies in my mini muffin pan. 

[annzeepark914]

I overdid it. Just made fritto misto (green beans, fennel, and lemon slices) and fried some oysters that I added to a Caesar salad (Joanne Weir's recipe), and aioli. From now on I'll just fry oysters (so much easier).

[Anela]

I had leftover tandoori chicken, and the rest of my mango lassi.

[chessiegal]

Dinner was supposed to be grilled salmon, asparagus, and baked potato. However, on the way home from the grocery store I found out my fish monger is closed until the 8th. So, dinner was cheese and asparagus frittata.

[chessiegal]

The Fresh Market to the rescue. Grilled salmon, asparagus, and baked potato for dinner. I'm picky about where I get my seafood. My fish monger, The Fresh Market, or Whole Foods. 

[annzeepark914]

Mr P914 wanted soup & grilled cheese sandwiches for supper. I found some leftover (canned) tomatoes in the freezer, thawed them, added a can of Campbell's tomato soup & some seasonings. We made our own grilled cheese sandwiches and it all turned out very tasty. 

[DearEvette]

We have been trying to reduce our red meat consumption out of health and well, lack of wealth. LOL.  Seriously, stuff is expensive these days! 

Had a lovely winter salad Hummus bowl that was surprisingly more filling than it looks.  It is hummus, topped with a kale/brussels sprouts salad dressed in rice vinegar/honey/tamari and olive oil. And served with split lengthwise soft boiled egg.  And topped with a seedy granola.   I broiled my brussel sprouts (the recipe called for them to be raw and I just couldn't do it) and I am glad I did because the little toasty char on them added to the flavor.  It was a lovely medley of flavors overall.

Here is the recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/winter-salad-hummus-bowls

[annzeepark914]

Eastern European Chicken Paprikash (a recipe I found in my early days on the internet, back in the 90's) over noodles, & a tossed salad with homemade Greek vinaigrette.

[annzeepark914]

I made Ina's Mac & cheese w/ sliced tomatoes and breadcrumbs (Panko!!) on top. It was delicious. I added leftover grated cheeses to the Panko and so there were plenty of crunchy toppings along with the wonderful mac & cheese. Thanks, Barefoot Contessa ☺️.

[chessiegal]

I made a chicken marsala meal kit I picked up at The Fresh Market this week. It came with broccoli and mashed potatoes and was quite tasty. The kit even included olive oil!

[Bastet]

I marinated pork cutlets to make chuleta valluna, but didn't really plan what to make with it.  I wound up just seasoning some zucchini with cumin and coriander and sautéing it for the side dish, and the salad was romaine, avocado, red onion, cucumber, and tomato (last year's plants were still producing, but to diminishing returns, so these were the last) with a cilantro lime vinaigrette.

[PRgal]

Husband had the day off, so we ordered takeout brunch from a place that no longer does takeout on weekends (now that things have opened up), but does during the week.  Spinach and cheddar waffles with avocado and poached eggs for me and eggs benedict for him.  They don't have a kids' menu, so the little guy ate bits of our orders.  I think he liked the waffles most (and yes, they were delicious).  Dinner tonight will be baked cod done Chinese style (i.e. soy sauce, ginger, garlic and green onions) and greens for me and the little guy, and the same, but over chicken for my husband (he doesn't eat fish).  

[Lovecat]

I made French onion soup for last night's dinner.  The crouton was a thin slice of one of the pumpernickel bagels I made on Saturday, and as the recipe suggested, I included a thin schmear of Dijon mustard underneath the cheese before putting everything in the broiler.  Delicious!  [Though my house still smells faintly onion-y...]

[chessiegal]

In honor of National Pi Day, we are having chicken pot pie from The Fresh Market. They had it on sale for $3.14 off.

[isalicat]

In honor of National Pi Day, we gave out numerous apple and pumpkin pies as our "dessert" offering at the food pantry today. Its good to be relevant on a holiday and our clients got to pick which they wanted (we had some cakes too for those who don't like pie :)

However, apropos of the thread heading, I must report I did not actually eat any myself (the food is for our neighbors in need, not us worker bees! strict rules!).

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, isalicat said:

(we had some cakes too for those who don't like pie :)

Aw, that's nice.  I'm not much of a pie fan, as I don't generally care for cooked fruit.  I love my mom's lemon meringue (but have been disappointed with the others I've had -- too much meringue!) and I like key lime pie, but the only other pies I like are with fresh, uncooked fruit (so long as there isn't too much or too sweet a glaze).  But I love many kinds of cake.  So if I was picking up food from a pantry, saw some big Pi Day celebration and thought "Damn, I'm going to be left out" and found cake options as well, I'd have been quite tickled.  Was one of them a Boston Cream Pie, since that sounds like a pie but is a cake?  That's where my mind would have first gone.

[isalicat]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Aw, that's nice.  I'm not much of a pie fan, as I don't generally care for cooked fruit.  I love my mom's lemon meringue (but have been disappointed with the others I've had -- too much meringue!) and I like key lime pie, but the only other pies I like are with fresh, uncooked fruit (so long as there isn't too much or too sweet a glaze).  But I love many kinds of cake.  So if I was picking up food from a pantry, saw some big Pi Day celebration and thought "Damn, I'm going to be left out" and found cake options as well, I'd have been quite tickled.  Was one of them a Boston Cream Pie, since that sounds like a pie but is a cake?  That's where my mind would have first gone.

I'm with you - I also prefer cake although pumpkin pie once a year, liberally swathed in fresh whipped cream, is very acceptable. I think Boston Cream Pie is "okay" as a hybrid sort of concoction. My fav is a made from scratch basic vanilla cake with coconut cream frosting - one those ones with like 5 thin layers with frosting in between each layer. Simple perfection (for me). The cakes we had to give away were basic chocolate with chocolate frosting (remember, these are donations to us from the local markets - we can only give out commercially made baked goods) and a couple of red velvet cakes. We usually have at least 2-3 "party cakes" stashed and I love to give them to families with kids - there is always someone with a birthday just had or coming up :)

[PRgal]

13 hours ago, chessiegal said:

In honor of National Pi Day, we are having chicken pot pie from The Fresh Market. They had it on sale for $3.14 off.

A local pizza joint was selling margheritas (10” diameter) for $3.14 from noon until, you’ve guessed it, 3:14 pm yesterday.  You had to pick up - no delivery for these guys 

[Bastet]

15 hours ago, isalicat said:

The cakes we had to give away were basic chocolate with chocolate frosting (remember, these are donations to us from the local markets - we can only give out commercially made baked goods) and a couple of red velvet cakes.

I don't like red velvet cake because of the frosting - I hate cream cheese.  In general, I don't love chocolate cake - I love chocolate frosting, but chocolate cake is anything from bleh to okay to good - but if it's nice and moist with a good frosting and, especially, a good filling, I'll happily eat it - because, cake!

My favorite cake is the mango mousse cake from a Cuban bakery here in L.A.  Second favorite is probably a tres leches cake.  There's another bakery near a friend's house that specializes in tea cakes, and those are delicious, so I pick some up (they're square cupcakes) whenever I visit her.  I also love lemon cake, and a simple vanilla cake with any number of delicious fillings.

Now I want cake!

I just had some leftover chicken chasseur for lunch, and I have no idea what I'm going to make for dinner.  Probably something with the leftover roasted pork loin.

[isalicat]

Leftover roasted pork "yells" tacos to me....all you need is corn tortillas, salsa, grated cheese, guac or sliced avocados, tomatoes, red onion and you are set. I keep all those things in the house pretty much all the time (well, I grate my own cheese when needed...) so I'm always up for tacos with whatever left over roasted meat presents itself.

Ahem. However tonight was just a leftover piece of prime New York steak that yes, cost the proverbial arm and a leg, but I eked it out for three meals so I feel like it was well worthwhile.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, isalicat said:

Leftover roasted pork "yells" tacos to me

I've had tacos a lot lately - which, for me, is saying something, as I already eat tacos with some frequency (they're just so versatile and tasty!) - so I decided to use it in a stir fry instead.

But the leftover ribeye, that will get turned into either tacos or a quesadilla Thursday night.

Tomorrow night I already know will be either doro wat or tibs (with chicken); a neighbor who knows I don't eat a lot of bread brings me a small amount of what she makes, and she has told me she'll bring some injera tomorrow.  So I'm going to make berbere, and then decide which way I want to go.  Either way, gomen for the side dish, because I have some niter kibbeh in the refrigerator from the last time I made Ethiopian food.  Salad to be determined.

[MargeGunderson]

Now I want tacos and cake! Fortunately I had tacos on the list for this week, so I guess that’s what I’m having tonight. Just have to find some cake……

[PRgal]

Ravioli soup for dinner tonight.  I was super-lazy and just threw in a jar of mushroom soup and some frozen ravioli in the oven, cooked it for 40 minutes at 400 and then simmered it for a few minutes stovetop.  

[Boston]

My T-Fal smokeless indoor grill just crapped out (20 yrs. is a good run..RIP).. I only used it for steak once in awhile and vegetables.  So now I have an underdone piece of steak.  Don't know what to do with it. (I have ideas .. after i cook it more)

[isalicat]

5 hours ago, Boston said:

My T-Fal smokeless indoor grill just crapped out (20 yrs. is a good run..RIP).. I only used it for steak once in awhile and vegetables.  So now I have an underdone piece of steak.  Don't know what to do with it. (I have ideas .. after i cook it more)

Time for an outdoor grill, if only just a hibachi! Makes all the different in the taste of meat for me and since the cost of meat is *crazy* I want it to taste as good as possible. But 20 years for any appliance is remarkable! Good for you.

[annzeepark914]

I made Caesar salad with fried oysters & fried shrimp. Love this dish but the only drawback is that our house smells like a beach seafood shack! Had the air purifiers running full blast 😸

[PRgal]

Roast chicken in chimmichuri sauce and vegetables including sunchokes.  It was my first time cooking sunchokes and I’m not sure I did the best job.  Are they supposed to be crunchy after roasting for 45 minutes at 375?  I didn’t really like then that much.  Perhaps I need to give it another chance…

[isalicat]

19 hours ago, PRgal said:

Roast chicken in chimmichuri sauce and vegetables including sunchokes.  It was my first time cooking sunchokes and I’m not sure I did the best job.  Are they supposed to be crunchy after roasting for 45 minutes at 375?  I didn’t really like then that much.  Perhaps I need to give it another chance…

What are "sunchokes"? Are they the same thing as artichokes? In which case I have never tried roasting them, I usually cut off the stem flush with the bottom and boil them in a covered pot for 1/2 to 3/4 hour depending on the size of the choke. When the bottom outer leaves start falling off on their own, its done. If a sunchoke is something else entirely, please ignore this!

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, isalicat said:

What are "sunchokes"? Are they the same thing as artichokes?

No, although they are sometimes called "Jerusalem artichokes" (even though nothing about that name is accurate).  They're also called "fartichokes" as they tend to have that effect.

It's a root vegetable, the tuber of a species of sunflower plant.  Some like it as a potato substitute.  Or raw on salads - a little sweet, a little nutty.

19 hours ago, PRgal said:

Are they supposed to be crunchy after roasting for 45 minutes at 375?

On the outside, yes, but they should be soft on the inside.

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

No, although they are sometimes called "Jerusalem artichokes" (even though nothing about that name is accurate).  They're also called "fartichokes" as they tend to have that effect.

It's a root vegetable, the tuber of a species of sunflower plant.  Some like it as a potato substitute.  Or raw on salads - a little sweet, a little nutty.

On the outside, yes, but they should be soft on the inside.

Thanks.  And I think the Jerusalem term came from Italian immigrants calling it gerusole (my spelling is probably way off).  No idea where the "choke" part comes from.

[annzeepark914]

It's been so cold here that I made Hamburger (& potato & veggies) Soup for supper last night, along with Parmesan crostinis.

[Bastet]

I don't love coconut, but I sometimes like it as part of curries, and I was in a mood, so I made ayam kalio tonight.  Cah kangkung as the side dish ("water spinach" stir fried with garlic and Chinese-Indonesian fusion spices).  The salad was a gado-gado with the usual peanut sauce, just no protein, to make it a side salad.

[Anela]

I had KFC. 

[isalicat]

Although it was Good Friday (and therefore a fast day for us practicing Catholic types), it was also my birthday yesterday. So I treated myself to some delicious smoked salmon on top of cream cheese on an Ezekiel Genesis muffin (bagels are fine, but too chock full of carbs and gluten for me) for breakfast. Nom, nom, nom!

[annzeepark914]

Chicken burgers on brioche buns with lime aioli, baked Parmesan tomatoes, & Ina's Confetti Corn.

[BooksRule]

I love ham, so I always pick up one (or two) around Easter and then at Thanksgiving/Christmas and put them in the freezer.  Then, when it's 'off-season' for deals on spiral-sliced ham and I'm craving ham, I get one out and heat it up.  (and eat ham for days, since it's just me.  But that's fine, because I never get tired of ham.  And I always put some away for flavoring beans and soups.)  But --plot twist! -- I decided to leave both of the hams I have in the freezer where they are this Easter and put a roast in the slow cooker.  I've got rice cooking on the stove right now, so I'm getting ready to have a really late lunch (early supper?) of pot roast with rice and onion gravy.  The house smells amazing right now! :) 

Edited April 17, 2022 by BooksRule

[chessiegal]

We're visiting family in St. Petersburg. They started a new tradition of ribs for Easter. I, on the other hand, have every symptom in the Pepto Bismal jingle. Didn't stop me from having a glass of Prosecco at lunch. I think I'll be having a plain toasted bagel for dinner.

[PRgal]

As we still aren’t dining indoors and it’s too cold for patio dining, brunch was takeout m for the third year in a row.  We ordered French toast, a veggie omelette and some scrambled eggs.  But guess what?  That French toast was gross.  Seriously, it looked good - two slices of very thick cut bread with whipped cream cheese, berries, berry compote and maple syrup.  But it was extremely tough and impossible to cut. It was like…cardboard.  Eggs were really fluffy and delicious though.  
 

dinner:  since we did Eastover with the family last night (combo of Passover and Easter), tonight was…leftovers.  

[Gramto6]

Don't know where to put this. Watching Food That Built America about popcorn. The host says in the old days of microwave popcorn you usually burned a lot  and that smell would never go away...you had to move... I laughed out loud as I remembered those days! It took so long to get that smell out of the house.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Gramto6
typo

[annzeepark914]

Spanakopita (TJ's and very good!), steamed haricot vert (sp?) with butter & Greek seasoning, and sliced tomatoes.

[Bastet]

On 1/16/2022 at 6:55 PM, DearEvette said:

Super simple and quick to make.  Here is the recipe: https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/pasta-with-mushrooms-and-prosciutto

I had noted this when posted, and last week my local deli had Swiss cheese and prosciutto among its specials, so I bought both to make chicken cordon bleu, and got some extra prosciutto to try this recipe.  I had that tonight, and it's indeed as delicious as it is simple and quick.  Thanks again for sharing it. 

I also made vindaloo paste today, which I will use to marinate chicken tomorrow and have that for dinner with cauliflower rice and probably kachumber as the side salad (but maybe a spicy mango salad, as I have half a mango to use).

I don't know why I made a larger batch than normal this weekend (to go on the side salad for shrimp tacos with mango slaw [thus the half a mango to be used this week]), but I have a good amount of cilantro pepita dressing to use among the next couple of weeks' salads (with extra pepitas and cotija as toppings).  What a hardship.

[Gramto6]

Dinner was Forbidden Rice Ramen noodle salad with peas, peppers and shrimp.  Tamari and sesame oil dressing. Different, but good!

[SunnyBeBe]

On 4/16/2022 at 4:16 PM, isalicat said:

Although it was Good Friday (and therefore a fast day for us practicing Catholic types), it was also my birthday yesterday. So I treated myself to some delicious smoked salmon on top of cream cheese on an Ezekiel Genesis muffin (bagels are fine, but too chock full of carbs and gluten for me) for breakfast. Nom, nom, nom!

Happy Belated Birthday! The smoked salmon sounds awesome.  I haven’t had a bagel in ages.  Maybe soon.  

[annzeepark914]

On 4/16/2022 at 4:16 PM, isalicat said:

Although it was Good Friday (and therefore a fast day for us practicing Catholic types), it was also my birthday yesterday. So I treated myself to some delicious smoked salmon on top of cream cheese on an Ezekiel Genesis muffin (bagels are fine, but too chock full of carbs and gluten for me) for breakfast. Nom, nom, nom!

🎵Happy (belated) Birthday to you! 🎉🎂🎶

[Boston]

Brought my mother to an ENT appt. today.. gave her her Mother's Day gift (because we won't see each other on Sunday) and I made garlicky shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta (she can cook it - but i made it easy for her.. she only really has to cook the pasta).  So easy and SO good.  My go to when I have friends over at last minute.

[MargeGunderson]

I made an artichoke and spinach dip pizza. The topping was chopped artichokes, (frozen) chopped spinach, garlic powder, a scant 1/4 c. of mayo, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. I was skeptical, but made it because I have a surplus of mozzarella and found the spinach and artichokes in the freezer. It was surprisingly good! I think adding some sun-dried tomatoes would be good, as would caramelized onions.

[PRgal]

16 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

I made an artichoke and spinach dip pizza. The topping was chopped artichokes, (frozen) chopped spinach, garlic powder, a scant 1/4 c. of mayo, a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. I was skeptical, but made it because I have a surplus of mozzarella and found the spinach and artichokes in the freezer. It was surprisingly good! I think adding some sun-dried tomatoes would be good, as would caramelized onions.

That's interesting.  So the sauce was mayo and Worcestershire sauce?