What Did We Eat Today?

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

Chicken with rice and vegetable soup. I'm on a non-dairy food regimen for a month so I've been trying to think up recipes along this line. I hope I can remember how I made it (a little bit of this & that, y'know) as it was *the best* I've ever made 😄.

If you need parmesan for pasta then nutritional yeast is the perfect sub.  

 

Dinner tonight:  Unbreaded chicken fingers and air fryer French beans with everything bagel seasoning.

Edited June 28, 2023 by PRgal

[annzeepark914]

Sabrett's hot dogs (made in The Bronx!), baked beans, & salad. I'd forgotten how tasty a hot dog in a toasted bun with Dijon & relish can be.

[isalicat]

On 6/28/2023 at 6:05 PM, annzeepark914 said:

Sabrett's hot dogs (made in The Bronx!), baked beans, & salad. I'd forgotten how tasty a hot dog in a toasted bun with Dijon & relish can be.

Sounds like you made a great head start on the 4th of July! Yum!

[Leeds]

Indian food for lunch and dinner yesterday, with a Haagen Dazs cookie cone for dessert.  Same again for a late breakfast (probably without the icecream, but you never know).

(For Indian food lovers in the Portland vicinity, all this came from Apna Chat near the Nike campus.  Delicious, authentic food (including fresh, well-cooked rice that you actually want to eat), with the bonus of a fantastic attached grocery store.  My wallet and my already overstuffed cupboards may not thank me, but my overstuffed stomach does.)

[Leeds]

.

Edited July 5, 2023 by Leeds

[DearEvette]

My husband and I went out to eat with his sister and her husband.  We went to an actual sit down restaurant with a waiter and everything.  We realized with some shock how much we had gotten out of the habit of eating out.  Pre-Covid we'd go out a couple times a months.  But post we only go so far as getting take out.

Anyway we went to a favorite Italian place.  We had Carpaccio for the table -- the beef slivers were sliced so thin  they were practically transparent and melt in your mouth silky good.  It was drizzled with this dijon mustard sauce.

I had Lobster ravioli in a creamy wine sauce with toasted bread crumbs. My ravioli was pretty,  it was tricolor striped (Italian flag).  My husband had this super flavorful, gorgeous Cioppino.  And we had tiramisu for desert.  Lovely evening, fantastic meal.

[annzeepark914]

Greek Lentil Soup and toasted French bread. At least, that's what I had. MrP914 concocted something out of a bowl of leftover sesame noodles (that's his great joy...fixing up leftovers, using his favorite ingredients). 

[chessiegal]

My husband flew to NOLA and brought back 2 of his granddaughters, ages 15 and 14, on Tuesday to visit. Yesterday we took them sailing, and they loved it. I wanted something easy for dinner, so last night we made hamburgers and french fries.  Grandpa took them into DC today to visit various sites.  They've never had salmon before, so tonight we're grilling marinated salmon with asparagus and baked potatoes. We'll see how that goes, but neither is a picky eater, and they are willing to try new things. 

[Leeds]

On 7/9/2023 at 3:41 PM, annzeepark914 said:

Greek Lentil Soup and toasted French bread. At least, that's what I had. MrP914 concocted something out of a bowl of leftover sesame noodles (that's his great joy...fixing up leftovers, using his favorite ingredients). 

Mine too - tonight I had leftover lentil soup with ajika (a Middle Eastern red pepper dip) from an ongoing jar stirred in and a little pickled onion juice to brighten it up, saved for just such an occasion even though the pickled onions are long gone.  Yum!

[chessiegal]

The 15-year-old didn't care for the salmon last night, but her sister did. Another simple dinner of grilled lemon marinated chicken breasts with baked potato and broccoli.

Bless their hearts, they have an 8:15 am flight out of BWI tomorrow morning.

[chessiegal]

I recently saw Michael Symon grilling corn on the cob. He soaked it in buttermilk and Old Bay seasoning for 15-30 minutes first. We tried it last night and it was good.

[DearEvette]

I made grilled barbecue chicken paninis.  Wegman's Tuscan garlic bread, shredded slow cooked chicken in my own barbecue sauce, provolone cheese, baby spinach, and caramelized onions.   Side of sweet potato fries served with hot honey dipping sauce.

[Leeds]

On 7/19/2023 at 9:30 AM, chessiegal said:

I recently saw Michael Symon grilling corn on the cob. He soaked it in buttermilk and Old Bay seasoning for 15-30 minutes first. We tried it last night and it was good.

I don't have a grill, but last summer I discovered the joy (ie, ease) of microwaving corn on the cob.

[chessiegal]

A friend of my husband is staying with us for a few days. He took us out to dinner at our favorite local restaurant where I've only gotten take-out for over a year. They serve a variety of food, but is mostly Tex-Mex. I had the same thing I always do - blackened shrimp tacos with Mexican rice and black beans.

Turns out they've added a trivia night contest. Definitely not Jeopardy! level. First question was "Haggis the national dish of what United Kingdom country? Duh.

[annzeepark914]

Swedish meatballs, potato salad, pickled beets, and salad. My heritage supper 😁.

[Gramto6]

Too hot to cook! 

Cottage cheese, small tub of Wholly Guacamole , toasted Keto Sundried Tomato/Basil street taco (no filling), marinated English cucumber with jalapeños and shallots.  

Never have much appetite when the weather is so warm.

[annzeepark914]

Last week when it was too hot, I thawed some frozen cooked shrimp from Wegmans (the only type, cooked or raw, that actually taste like shrimp to me) and made shrimp salad. I might be making it again this coming week as it'll be in the 90's again, every day 🥵.  Hurry, fall 🍁🌾🧡🎃

[Leeds]

14 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Too hot to cook! 

Cottage cheese, small tub of Wholly Guacamole , toasted Keto Sundried Tomato/Basil street taco (no filling), marinated English cucumber with jalapeños and shallots.  

Never have much appetite when the weather is so warm.

How do you marinate the cucumber?  Water:vinegar ratio?  Sugar?  Salt I assume.

(Too hot to cook here and I eat a lot of English cucumbers!)

What I would like to eat is an avocado but it's not ripe.  Does anyone have a good ripening method?

Edited July 23, 2023 by Leeds

[annzeepark914]

7 hours ago, Leeds said:

What I would like to eat is an avocado but it's not ripe.  Does anyone have a good ripening method?

I wash it, then place it among apples, oranges & lemons in the fruit bowl. It takes a day to ripen. Maybe it's quicker to place the avocado in a bag with fruit? No idea.

[Gramto6]

11 hours ago, Leeds said:

How do you marinate the cucumber?  Water:vinegar ratio?  Sugar?  Salt I assume.

(Too hot to cook here and I eat a lot of English cucmbers!)

What I would like to eat is an avocado but it's not ripe.  Does anyone have a good ripening method?

For marinating the cucumbers I just sort of eyeball it...  I cut/slice the cukes and shallots, then depending on how much, sprinkle with a bit of avocado oil, add vinegar (wine, cider, or whatever I have on hand) a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. Because I also added  jalapeños I put in a pinch of sugar to take away some of the hotness. It is all eyeball and to taste, sorry I don't really have a recipe.

As far as the avocado goes, mine weren't ripe either that is why I always keep some Wholly Guacamole in the fridge. It has nothing artificial in it and make a great sub for a fresh avocado. If I need to ripen one I usually put it in a paper bag with a banana or apple and it is ready in about a day.

 

Tonight I am going to sear some Ahi Tuna and have the rest of the cucumbers for dinner. Found small tuna steaks frozen at the grocery and they were great! definitely going to keep them on hand along with frozen shrimp from now on.

Edited July 23, 2023 by Gramto6
typo

[Leeds]

1 hour ago, Gramto6 said:

For marinating the cucumbers I just sort of eyeball it...  I cut/slice the cukes and shallots, then depending on how much, sprinkle with a bit of avocado oil, add vinegar (wine, cider, or whatever I have on hand) a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper. Because I also added  jalapeños I put in a pinch of sugar to take away some of the hotness. It is all eyeball and to taste, sorry I don't really have a recipe.

As far as the avocado goes, mine weren't ripe either that is why I always keep some Wholly Guacamole in the fridge. It has nothing artificial in it and make a great sub for a fresh avocado. If I need to ripen one I usually put it in a paper bag with a banana or apple and it is ready in about a day.

 

Tonight I am going to sear some Ahi Tuna and have the rest of the cucumbers for dinner. Found small tuna steaks frozen at the grocery and they were great! definitely going to keep them on hand along with frozen shrimp from now on.

Thanks!  I generally don't use recipes much, but these are helpful guidelines that work for me!

[chessiegal]

I took the cucumbers I got with my CSA basket Friday and sliced and pickled them. I use more vinegar than water but eyeball it. My mom added sugar when she made them, but I don't.  I also pickle canned beet slices the same way. I don't buy pickled canned beets because they add sugar to them. When I pickle beets, I add hard boiled eggs. I grew up eating what we called pickled eggs. They were always a part of holiday meals.

[Gramto6]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I took the cucumbers I got with my CSA basket Friday and sliced and pickled them. I use more vinegar than water but eyeball it. My mom added sugar when she made them, but I don't.  I also pickle canned beet slices the same way. I don't buy pickled canned beets because they add sugar to them. When I pickle beets, I add hard boiled eggs. I grew up eating what we called pickled eggs. They were always a part of holiday meals.

Yum! I don't usually add any sugar either but I did this time because of the peppers. And it was really just a small pinch at that.

I am going to have to try putting the eggs in with pickled beets next time I make them, that sounds great!

[Mondrianyone]

42 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

I am going to have to try putting the eggs in with pickled beets next time I make them, that sounds great!

They are great--and they look so beautiful! I had them for the first time at my boyfriend's (now my husband) parents' house in Pennsylvania, where they're a common dish. My in-laws were very surprised I'd never seen or heard of them before. You can leave them in to pickle for a short time, so they come out with just a hint of purple on the outside, or you can leave them in for longer so that the purple color reaches all the way in to the edge of the yolk--that's my favorite.

Somewhere I have a recipe for the pickling brine that comes closest to what my husband remembers them tasting like--although after I went through the whole process of reproducing his childhood memory, he admitted he never really liked them! But I like them, so what the hell. I'll post the recipe if I can dig it up. Make them, they're wonderful!

[DearEvette]

1 hour ago, Mondrianyone said:

They are great--and they look so beautiful! I had them for the first time at my boyfriend's (now my husband) parents' house in Pennsylvania, where they're a common dish.

re: Pickled eggs in beet juice.  The first time I had them was also with my then boyfriend, now husband's family.  His mom is  also from Pennsylvania and of German descent.

Unfortunately they never grew on me.  But they are still a staple at holiday meals esp. Easter.  It is kind of a running joke in the family that none of the in-laws (me or my brothers-in-laws who are married to my husband's sisters really like them). 

My mother-In Law brings out this big pickle jar with the eggs in the beet juice and her kids (my husband and his sisters )are all yay! Meanwhile us in laws --are all 'Um, yay?'  I am African American, one Bro-in-Law is Northern Italian and the other is French-Canadian so they were completely new to us until we married into the family.

[annzeepark914]

Interesting posts about pickled eggs. I figured they were a Pennsylvania thing. I don't recall seeing them in NY. Being Swedish-American I grew up eating pickled herring or herring in sour cream (Vita brand!!) on Wasa crispbread. Maybe I'd like pickled eggs (I like deviled eggs so, why not?) 

[Mondrianyone]

More on pickled eggs.

I used this guy's basic recipe. I left out the pickled onions, because I don't like them. I made my own pickling spice--you can find tons of recipes for that on the Web, and I honestly don't remember which I ended up using. I tweaked it a little, adding more peppercorns and cloves, based on what my husband said they should taste like. And I think they came out great, but you can adjust it all to suit yourself. There's a video further down on that page. Aren't they pretty?

[chessiegal]

I guess this Pennsylvania girl is a purist. Pickled eggs are made by putting them in pickled beet juice. Nothing else.

[Gramto6]

@Mondrianyone thanks for the recipe!! I have to get more eggs and then I am going to try it!

[chessiegal]

Picked up my second CSA offering today, and we got 6 beautiful tomatoes. BLTs for dinner. Perfect for when the temp outside is 95 degrees.

 

[chessiegal]

Since we got so many tomatoes this week in our CSA, I used one along with other ingredients to make ratatouille. It's quite good.

[PRgal]

It was a bit cooler and rainy today and we didn’t feel like going out.  We ended up ordering shakshuka from an Israeli-inspired restaurant (actually, it’s technically a chain based from Israel) for brunch.  We also had bread (challah for my son, focaccia for my husband and multigrain for me).  It’s one of my son’s favourite places to eat.  Tonight’s dinner will be roast chicken marinated in a kefir and garlic sauce, patty pan squash and tomatoes and a salad.  Homemade bread too.  

[isalicat]

I went out to dinner last night with an overnight guest (a long, long time dear friend) and when we arrived at the restaurant he picked the line was down the block, so mutually decided to go elsewhere (that restaurant does not take reservations). Went to a place I had been previously three years before that is locally known for its fried chicken and waffles, which is not a dish I eat more than once a decade, but the menu had several other offerings so we took our seats and both of us immediately decided on what was described as lamb meatloaf with a sherry mushroom sauce and locally baked sourdough. Well, the dish turned out to be a thin coat of lamb meatloaf (which I swear had *olives* in it) on top of a fried giant square of sourdough with the mushroom sauce poured all over and some roasted carrots on the side. The meatloaf portion was about four bites, so it was mostly this big block of fried bread. And the cost of this was $31.00 per plate. When the wait person asked our opinion, we basically said it was an interesting experiment...trying not to be too critical....but I thought it was almost inedible with this weird olive taste clashing with the mushroom sauce and the carrots not really fitting in at all. So...that was an expensive fail from my point of view.

[Bastet]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:05 PM, chessiegal said:

Picked up my second CSA offering today, and we got 6 beautiful tomatoes. BLTs for dinner. Perfect for when the temp outside is 95 degrees.

I didn't plant a garden this year, and my parents were late getting theirs in, so their tomato plants just finally produced ripe tomatoes.  I went and picked about half a dozen, and I'll be making a BLT tomorrow morning.  (I have marinated tri-tip I need to grill tonight.)  I haven't been eating much lately due to stress, so I'm hoping to tempt myself.

[annzeepark914]

Ham steak, potato salad, bbq baked beans, & salad. Also had sliced tomatoes from the farmers market that once again were not good.  I think I'm done trying tomatoes from different sources. They've bred the taste out just to make them look good 🥺. The only tomatoes I've found that have that wonderful taste are Village brand Campari tomatoes at Harris Teeter. 🙏🤞 nobody messes with them 🍅

Edited July 30, 2023 by annzeepark914

[chessiegal]

The tomatoes we get with our CSA from Clagett Farm (owned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation) are the only reason I signed up again this year. They are wonderful. Last year I mentioned to the woman who runs the program how good the tomatoes are. She said it's because we just picked them this morning. I think it's because of whatever seeds they are using. The heirloom are great, but even the regular red tomatoes are tasty.

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

They've bred the taste out just to make them look good 🥺.

My mom's friend loves to tell the story of when she had some grapes from my mom's cousin's vineyard out -- they'd been girdled for ideal taste (sugar content), not size, so they look "funny" to those who only know grocery store grapes, because they're smaller and uneven -- and a neighbor who had dropped by positively sneered when she offered him some.  She explained, and encouraged him to try one; his eyes about bugged out of his head when that perfect level of sweetness hit his taste buds.

My local market strives to get as much of its produce as possible from local farms, and then from farms no more than 100-200 miles outside of L.A. where they need to go with a bigger farm to meet demand, and the only produce they stock that has been trucked/trained in from afar are things that only grow (either while off-season here or year-round) in Central or South America.  And my parents and I usually grow some of our own each year -- the staples of tomatoes, cucumbers, a couple of squashes, peppers, onions, etc.  Which is good for me, because the local farmers' market that used to be held on Thursday afternoons went away years ago, and all that's left are held on weekend mornings and I don't do mornings.

But even at that local market, I will not buy the tomatoes; only from home gardens (a friend usually grows tomatoes, too, but she's too lazy to add the necessary amendments to her soil, so it doesn't produce well anymore, so now when I don't do a garden my parents plant enough different tomato plants to supply us all as they have a large, terraced garden space [back in the day, it was a real sight to behold, with such bounty, but none of us have the energy anymore to prepare that much soil and tend to that many crops]).

[annzeepark914]

Even watermelons have lost that sweet taste. And those tiny seeds in "seedless" 🤬 watermelons are a royal pain. I miss the big black seeds that were so easy to find & remove. One great thing today: it's in the 70's with a nice breeze 🎉 and I must say that the corn I bought at the farmers market last week was delicious (grilled with butter & pepper in foil) 😊

[Leeds]

On 7/23/2023 at 2:02 PM, chessiegal said:

I took the cucumbers I got with my CSA basket Friday and sliced and pickled them. I use more vinegar than water but eyeball it. My mom added sugar when she made them, but I don't.  I also pickle canned beet slices the same way. I don't buy pickled canned beets because they add sugar to them. When I pickle beets, I add hard boiled eggs. I grew up eating what we called pickled eggs. They were always a part of holiday meals.

I don't buy canned beets either, but also because of the texture -- too soft for me.

[chessiegal]

Just now, Leeds said:

I don't buy canned beets either, but also because of the texture -- too soft for me.

I buy canned beets, but not ones that have been already pickled because they add sugar to them. I don't mind the texture of canned beets.

[JTMacc99]

Ooh, so many things to chime in about here...

Let's start with homegrown stuff. This year I've got my usual complement of 18 full size tomato plants and two cherry plants. I had to move my cherry plants (I grow them in pots) to the middle of the lawn in the backyard to protect them from the chipmunks. The little jerks eat every single fruit the second they start to turn.  The big ones are looking good, but nothing to harvest yet. I have four different heirloom varieties this year, including on that makes giant beefsteaks and one that makes heart shaped bi-color yellow fruits with red streaks.

I also had some unused but prepared space in one garden bed so in late June I bought a "Japanese cucumber", which according to the picture on the plant, will make foot long cucumbers. Sure enough, I was out there watering yesterday and noticed a cucumber hiding from me. Damn thing was a foot long, and was starting to go into zucchini mode. 

Turned it into my grandmother's/mom's Hungarian cucumber salad. This recipe isn't as creamy/dry as my grandmother made it, but it's still a favorite. The recipe says "1/4 cup of vinegar" but it doesn't tell you what kind of vinegar. I've discovered that seasoned rice wine vinegar is a REALLY good choice. My mom would actually add the salt to the cucumber slices first, and then try to squeeze out some liquid first, but I'm too lazy to add that step.

Unrelated, I make pickled eggs with the beets regularly. I'll post the recipe sometime soon.

 

[chessiegal]

We're continuing to work, or I should say eat, our way through our CSA heirloom tomatoes. BLTs for dinner last night. I had tuna salad over tomato for lunch.

[oliviabenson]

Goat Brie with fig/olive crackers and nectarines. 
 

Summer is great for eating light refreshing foods.

[PRgal]

Morning snack:  One pluot

Brunch: Takeout salad bowl with kale, quinoa and poached eggs.  A bit of my son's mac and cheese

Tonight's dinner will be a salad and leftover chicken

[SuprSuprElevated]

Dinner was skillet apple cider chicken, and sauteed sweet potatoes w/onions.

 

[chessiegal]

Not sure what we will be doing for dinner. We're expecting heavy storms at around 6:30 pm. I was going to make a Blue Apron dinner tonight, but I'm anticipating power going out. A storm last week knocked out power for 8 hours starting around 5 pm. We have lots of tomatoes!

[PRgal]

Made toaster oven “grilled cheese” for my son, along with grape tomatoes, carrot sticks and celery “logs” (ants on a log minus ants).  Ate all of the tomatoes and logs plus most of the sandwich.  Left the carrots.  Not surprised.  I had baked salmon and steamed greens.  Dinner was cannellini and cashew noodles with spiralized vegetables and dumplings. 

[Bastet]

Last night I made tacos with leftover ribeye steak topped with scallions, cheddar, and guacamole and a romaine and spinach salad with cilantro pepita dressing, but nothing is speaking to me so far for tonight's dinner.  Not even a cuisine, let alone a dish.  So I'll probably wind up ordering in later when I finally get a craving, but first I'm wandering through this thread to see if anything strikes my fancy.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Tonight was patty melts and tossed salad. Pretty good if I say so myself.

Edited August 12, 2023 by SuprSuprElevated

[annzeepark914]

Late lunch or early supper...we just enjoyed Ina's Broccoli & Bowties (except I use mezze penne). Haven't had this in a long time & I tossed in a bit of rotisserie chicken and slivered almonds (pine nuts are too pricey right now). So good with Parmigiana Reggiana 😊.