What's for dinner? May 06

Actually, cheese, chopped onion and tomatoes on toast. We watched the football here too and I had to make something quickly at half time. Can't believe West Ham lost like that on penalties Kerri!

although the three temporary Liverpool supporters in our house were happy enough. I say temporary because the kids support Liverpool because their best friend does (yes, they share a best friend!) and DH did yesterday because the ex-franchisee who irritates him would've been supporting West Ham. I thought the Hammers deserved to win. But I came up and amended legal contracts for part of the game!

yesterday's chicken was yummy and I have no idea exactly how I plan to make the pork chops interesting, and tender. Last time I browned them then transferred them into the oven with some wet stuff (tomatoes I remember, not the rest).

Now we're off to watch the Formula One. Just as well we're not big sports fans or we'd never get anything done in the Summer round here!

Kerri.

I plan to eat it at least three times a week for the next six week's that it's in season. I think we'll have it roasted with parmesan tonight, then herb omletes cooked in the lovely fresh butter I found at the farmer's market.

Must plan the rest of the week.

Zillah

I had a sandwich at my Mum's at 12, but now it's 3.30pm and we're starving so I am going to cook a pizza. This will mean that we won't be hungry at the usual dinner time of 6 ish, so later on we will have pitta bread with something in. Egg mayonnaise and salad, maybe.

I haven't come up with anything brilliant for dinner tonight. We went out for breakfast and lunch so it needs to be something small. Maybe I'll make some pasta with cheese.

DS14 has gone to a Maths class, he is out of the house from now (3.30pm) until about 9.45pm tonight, so on Tuesdays I like to make dinner at lunchtime. Today we had lamb, couscous and roasted vegetables (aubergine and courgette (that would be eggplant and zucchini I think ), onion, tomatoes, ,mushrooms, red pepper). Yum.

that sounds fancy, and delicious too!

we had.... oh yes... one of those basic meals... chips, baked beans and then DH and DD had scampi while DS and I (who aren't keen on scampi) each had a leftover odd piece of breaded chicken or turkey - his was a garlic kiev and mine was lemon pepper coated. Not exactly haute cuisine, but those meals make you appreciate the others even more, and everybody here is sick of salad. Even me!

I've given up on meal planning for now but DH and I are winging it together on food which makes it easier. As long as I don't have to provide ALL the brainpower and then still make it every single day I am doing much better.

Kerri.

I love cous cous and roast veggies.

Tonight is asparagus carbonara and tomorrow something in the slow cooker, beany soup probably.

On Friday we're going to have a bon voyage supper for DMIL who's off to Australia for a month. Asparagus, then lamb chops and celeriac and tomato gratin. Maybe a pudding if I'm feeling really energetic after PhD day on Friday.

Zillah

I am eager for more bean/pulse/lentil type recipes as I only have about three so far. Those things are so cheap and nutritious! I didn't really realise until recently. So far I have

chickpea or haricot bean and kidney bean curry (supposed to be chickpea but the others work okay either with or instead of)

fakess (Greek thing with lentils, tomatoes, onions and garlic)

lentils and rice with mango chutney, Lynn's recipe

More ideas please! They're great for me as I don't like meat much anyhow

Today my friend was here for lunch. We had egg mayonnaise in pitta bread, with a salad. It was quite a plateful and DS isn't here this evening for dinner, so I may just have a sandwich or some cheese on toast.

Tonight: DH and DS15 fend for themselves because DS14 and I are off to marathon training.

Tomorrow: Orzo Pimavera(saute zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, red pepper, mushrooms, shallots in olive oil, pour on 6 cups of chicken stock, add 2 cups orzo, simmer for 10 minutes, add a box of frozen peas) and grilled turkey breast tenderloin

Friday: Crabcakes Benedict(like eggs benedict, but on crabcakes instead of english muffin and canadian bacon) and asperagus.

Saturday: Roast Pork with sauted apples and onion, broccoli, maybe cornbread stuffing

I found some new potatoes in the fridge that need using up, so I'm having those with Pakistani Kima, from the More With Less cookbook. I'm making enough for tomorrow's dinner too.

it was DH's birthday and we were planning to have baked potatoes with ... something. Then DH turned Garfield onus and requested lasagne, so that's what we had in the end.

My parents gave DH a BBQ for his birthday though, so there might be more charcoal in our future. If it ever stops raining. We had some fabulous hot sunny days this month and now it seems to have settled into being wet. Still, at least the BBQ could solve that drought problem they have down south!!!

The kids have judo classes across our normal dinner time today for the first time, so it'll be two smaller meals for them - something beforehand and something afterwards so nobody gets cramps from eating too much or too little!

Kerri.

What is it about barbeques? They take hours to light (well mine does) blow eye watering smoke in your face while you're trying to cook and you end up sweaty and exhausted with a couple of burnt burgers to show for all that effort. Or is it just me?

As for the drought - yes apparently we haven't had a problem this bad since the drought of 1976, which I remember but I'm sure Kerri doesn't, being a mere babe at the time. They turned all the taps (faucets) at my school to a dribble, and in some areas the water was turned off and there were standpipes in the street, though fortunately not in my area. We don't have a hosepipe ban yet in my locality, but we're expecting one. I'm not planning to put too many bedding plants in if I've got to water it all with a watering can

Oops, isn't this the dinner thread? Pakistani kima, same as yesterday

I am roasting a chicken - I take lemon pepper seasoning rub the chicken - its soooo good. I have fresh tomatoes from my garden and sauted zuccini. Husband doesn't miss the potatoes then - its too hot to boil now.

Lentils with onion and garlic, basmati rice and mango chutney. Sounds boring, but it's one of our favourites. Cheap too DS will probably have a couple of sausages with his.

these things are brilliant... cost about a quid, don't need specialist equipment and actually light and cook the food before the weather changes! Not quite like having BBQ'd fresh king prawns, chicken wings and satay, but there has to be a reason or two to visit Singapore over the next few decades!

we came back form today's shopping via my parents and Mum volunteered to feed us so we had typical English food for Spring - stew and dumplings! It was just right on such a damp day.

as for the drought, we were living in Lincolnshire then so it wasn't as bad, and no, I'm just a teensy bit too young to remember it, but I remember it being talked of when I was a kid. Us Brits - moan when it's wet, moan when it's too hot...! Jenny would laugh at us complaining - how on earth they can manage on their rainfall when soggy old England has drought warnings I don't understand!

Kerri.

DH plonked the instant BBQ on top of the new proper BBQ and we had charcoal sausages (the BBQ got a bit hot!) with bread. Nobody really felt like eating much yesterday - DH and I because we'd had a fish and chips lunch out shopping and the kids because they had tried for a new chocolate-eating record when we got home and DH and I passed out for an hour or two.

Somewhere around, unless it's all gone off since Friday afternoon, we have Jersey royal new potatoes, English asparagus, and English strawberries, so all I really need is some kind of animal protein in there and I'll have it cracked!! Could be bacon I guess...

Kerri.

We didn't have sausages the other night with the lentils, so we had them tonight. With lentils again! I made the sausage lentil and onion thing that's supposed to have apple in as well but I didn't have one

I haven't decided for sure, though. But we have a coupon for two-for-one pizza, and it is awfully tempting.

Pizza sounds awfully good to me!

DS14 is out at his Maths class, we had eggy bread about 2pm. It only occurred to me when I saw this thread that now it's 8pm and I'm starving.

Off to raid the cupboards....

My only planned meals this week have been eaten! We had sausage left-over hash with carrots last night. Tonight was asparagus with holandaise sauce, salmon with sauted potatoes and spinach.

What happens next is anyone's guess

Zillah

we had spag bol last night which is what I do when I can't be bothered to think! And when I want to hide mushrooms so I don't have to do battle with the kids over dinner. That applied last night.

at 8:15am I have not a clue about dinner tonight, and I'm not sure whether DH will be back in time to eat or not, so that will probably guide my decision.

Kerri.

Tonight, though, is anyone's guess. Mondays and Wednesdays for the next month or so are going to be catch-as-catch-can because I won't be getting home until 9.

We'll have stuffed eggs, celeriac and tomato gratin, brown rice salad and a green salad.

I've bought a nice big bit of salmon today to make gravlax for my best friend's birthday dinner on Saturday. I've never done it before. Should be interesting

Zillah

How does one stuff an egg without it falling apart?

Last night I had instant noodles and beansprouts! Talk about cuisine.

Tonight is lemon chicken with pineapple rice and beansprouts.

fancy egg mayonnaise to me, where you just halve the eggs, drape them in mayo and sprinkle paprika (or cumin if you find you didn't have paprika!).

we had fish, chips and baked beans last night. They were those flavoured curly fries like A&W used to make. Except that I was helping DD with a school project and they fossilised a bit in the oven!

Kerri.

in the yolk....with mustard, mayo, paprika!
DH adores deviled eggs...I hate them

So what's for dinner?

I dunno.

Blessings,
Lenora
"...if woman's work is never done, why bother about how much of it [isn't] getting done at any given moment?"
~ Claire Fraser in The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

I was never able to find pickle relish in the UK anyhow. They have something called Bramford pickle but it's related to pickle relish only by the word "pickle." Deviled eggs are better without it anyhow. Now crumbled bacon, on the other hand, is good with them.

All this picnic food talk makes me want to go to the park!

and what a lot of fuss. I'd hate to see oyu lot arguing over the right way to make a particular kind of sandwich - there's an advert for Hellman's at the moment where a load of people have different ways about all the contents of a sandwich, but they agree on the Hellman's!

we had a large chunk of gammon, new potatoes and runner beans - all absolutely delicious! Hope my mother's getting beans planted this year because supermarket beans aren't a patch on really fresh. I haven't got room or time for anything other than a couple of tomato plants.

Kerri.

For some reason when I read 'stuffed eggs', I was imagining cutting off the top (as you would to eat a soft boiled egg) and then trying to stuff the whole egg with something. That sounded tricky!

Tonight we had eggs, bacon and hash browns.

Kerri, I was once on a mailing list for classical singers that had weeks of spirited debate about how to make sandwiches. I think it's maybe a bit more of a subject of interest to me right now because Memorial Day is coming up (that's our equivalent of Remembrance Day; on Nov. 11 when y'all have Remembrance Day, we have Veteran's Day which honors living veterans, while Memorial Day honors dead ones) and that is a big day for picnics, with picnic foods like devilled eggs!

And speaking of eggs, Honey, I think we too are going to have eggs, bacon and hash browns tonight. Eggs and bacon anyhow, I'm not sure if I can locate a knife with which to cut the potatoes.

Now I have to admit, Becky, that my hash browns were frozen ones from the supermarket...

We had lunch with some vegan friends today, which made me think about becoming veggie again. I'm not sure why I started eating meat again, I really can't remember. Strange, as I was vegetarian for several years. I am really not keen on meat and now I am in a very financially challenged phase, we are eating less and less of it anyway.

This evening we are having chickpea and kidney bean curry, with turmeric rice and raisins, only without the raisins because I just realised I ate the last yesterday with my bran flakes!

just because you don't particularly like meat and can't afford much of it doesn't mean you have to make a decision to stop eating it altogether. But watch out for the things you're missing out on when you're eating so little meat - of course I'm going to remind you about the B12 that can only be got through meat, but there are others you could be missing. Check up on it and be sure you are getting enough. If you ever start feeling tired for no reason, day after day, it could be lack of something you need like the B12 or iron, or umpteen other things, and we all know you wouldn't go to a doctor to get checked for anaemia!

food?? We had takeout Chinese last night, followed by the most severe stomach pains I've ever had. Not sure if there's a link yet.

Kerri.

I'd forgotten that our bacon was frozen solid! Didn't feel like warming it up in the microwave, so I stuck it in the fridge to thaw overnight and ordered Thai food. It arrived late because the delivery driver had "a bit of an accident" (I didn't get any details except that he was OK) and one of the other restaurant workers had to go get his deliveries from him and bring them around himself.

Kerri, did any of your other family members have the same pains? If not, "worst pains ever" makes me think of gallstones. Was any of the takeout fried or oily? I've never had gallstones but my cousin was telling me the other day he had horrific pain from gallstones after eating tempura. He went to the emergency room for it.

none of it was especially oily because it was all sauce stuff except a couple of chicken wings, and I've eaten one or two chicken wings in recent years without any problems. It felt like trapped air that absolutely refused to sort out, but it was so bad on one side that I literally couldn't move one way or another and had to wake DH to get me some paracetamol so it eased enough for me to move. Not sure where the gallbladder is - this pain was on the righthand side. I'll certainly check it out Becky. Maybe it was just a combination of things. Iron tablets give me a hard time too.

speaking of bacon, we had some in our fridge so when we came back in from gardening to find it was already 6pm the bacon was a real blessing. We had sweetcorn and baked potatoes with it (microwaved then quickly blitzed in a hot oven, following my mother's suggestion). I usually leave some bacon in the fridge in addition to whatever I have in the freezer because it lasts forever and it's such a life saver sometimes. So nice not to have turkey bacon too!

Kerri.

we were at a carnival, waiting for the parade which had been secretly diverted, and only the hot doughnut made up for the torrential downpour.

we later went to a pub for a variety of meals (I had a Cumberland sausage with onion gravy and some lovely chips, followed by lemon meringue pie!), then on the way home we popped into a supermarket late on a bank holiday Monday to find a ready roasted chicken reduced to a pound and bread reduced to 10p, so we had a chicken sandwich and a sticky toffee pudding (not reduced in any way!).

and I'm not even stuffed. Must need more water!

don't expect anything that exciting tomorrow!

Kerri.

yuck for the cumberland sausage, yum for the lemon meringue pie. Was it warm? If it was, then double yum

I can't remember what we've had the last few days, except last night which was tuna, sweetcorn and pasta.

This morning I was feeling rebellious in the supermarket so for this week I have bought lots of items needing minimum preparation. All of a sudden I am sick of cooking It cost me double, mind you

Tonight we're having pizza and salad.

I'm not so keen on some which can be far too spicy I reckon. This one was quite tasty. The lemon meringue wasn't warm but the lemon was beautifully sharp (so I got it all to myself whilst the soup eaters watched in annoyance!).

tonight was a semi-cheat... actually it's a total cheat as far as I'm concerned. Chicken tikka masala with the sauce out of a jar, served with chapatis and naan bread. Oh, and the chicken was turkey!

Kerri.

We're having a left-over stewish thing with tomato sauce, scrapings from the roast chicken pan, carrots, mushrooms, quorn. Roast potatoes.

Then I have to get mega-organized because my mum is coming to look after Sadie for a couple of days while I do some writing and I want to have some meals planned for them.

Zillah

Today for lunch we're having salad and fresh bread, with hummus/houmous - one of those words I can neither spell nor pronounce as there seem to be various versions - and some mixed beans.

That is a big lunch for us, so I don't know what this evening's offering will be. If we're not very hungry (likely) probably more of the bread, with ham or cheese.

In a few weeks time we should be eating my home grown salad! How exciting I have pots of cut-and-come-again salad leaves, baby carrots, radishes and tomatoes. For dessert, DS14 is growing strawberries This is my first venture into growing food. If all goes well, next year I may plant more. I'd love to do potatoes, onions and garlic - we eat loads of those so I'd hopefully save myself money too. I've even made tentative enquiries about an allotment

Crockpot pork riblets, mashed potatoes (from a mix, I'm lazy) and corn on the cob.

I've got a rotten cold and can't be bothered cooking (not to mention I can't taste anything!). Yesterday was chicken chargrills and salad, tonight was breaded haddock, boiled potatoes, peas and sweetcorn. Everything out of tins and boxes

we had a huge meal at a great restaurant - a whole rack of ribs AND a steak AND starters AND salads... the kids couldn't even make it through their mac and cheese! But DH discovered she quite likes ribs! I only get ribs when I feel fairly sure that they'll have been cooked properly and it seems to me that only American restaurants are a safe bet for ribs. This was one we've seen in Singapore and continually forgotten about and then said afterwards that we wished we'd remembered it. So finally we made it.

We also had a dinner at a Nando's - not sure if you have that in the US, though I've seen it in M'sia - yummy Portuguese chicken. I think I need a few quiet days for my stomach to recover. I've eaten lots of salad, lots of fruit (we were walking round parts of East London eating cherries in the street because we just couldn't resist them!).

simpler meals for a few days so we can all recover!

Kerri.

It's very hot today. 91 outside and hotter inside. So no cooking for me! I'm microwaving a couple of frozen burritos and putting COLD guacamole on top, and that's my dinner. Tomorrow we're installing a window air conditioner and things should improve then.

Hey Becky! If we could blend your 91 with our 62...we'd all be more comfortable!

I've got steaks for grilling today....I'm hoping the rain lets up...

baked potatoes (we've got fresh chives!)
rice (for DD11 and me)
salad
carrots
rolls (hopping up to start those in a minute!)

ice cream and (nut)cookies for dessert...maybe.

Blessings,
Lenora
"...if woman's work is never done, why bother about how much of it [isn't] getting done at any given moment?"
~ Claire Fraser in The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

When it's hot outside we have a favorite recipe. It's cooked macaroni, the salad macaroni or elbow, mayonnaise, frozen peas, a can of drained tuna, the large one and some diced red or white onion. Add salt and pepper, mix and let it cool. It's a good anytime meal.

Peace,
Michele

And I like that meal. We used to have that at Girl Scout camp. But (1) it involves cooking the macaroni, and (2) DH hates tuna. So no go for last night!

Today is much cooler, and I'll be cooking up some beans and rice with sausage for supper.

we made it lunchtime with my parents today because there was a forecast for rain by 5pm (which hasn't yet materialised 5hrs later!). So sausages, burgers (not my homemade because they tend to be fragile so we bought some fresh all beef ones) and chicken pieces with a variety of salads, including my version of pasta salad (it's been in the recipe box for years) to which I now add toasted pine nuts - yummy!

so no dinner at all. I believe one offspring had a yoghurt and the other may have had a sandwich (but I vetoed opening another can of tuna).

Kerri.