What's for dinner?

Started by Homegrown Tomatoes, October 17, 2007, 04:08:34 PM

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glenn-k

I think we can find some of that for you. ;D ;D ;D

Homegrown_Tomatoes

Count me in, too... I have no idea what we're having for dinner tonight!


Homegrown_Tomatoes

Well, hubby got caught in a meeting and so I decided to go ahead and whip up something.  We're having Black rice (short grain wild rice?) with sort-of a Chinese-y thing... maybe a cross between peanut chicken and kung pao chicken.  Kind of spicy with peanuts, chicken, and lots of veggies.  Wish I had snow peas... I love the way they crunch when you bite into them.  Instead it's got green beans, red peppers, and carrots, garlic, and onions.  It tastes pretty good so as soon as the rice is done I'll go ahead and let the kids eat.   :-/  Mexican OUT sounded better, but I need to use up the groceries on hand in case we do move.

glenn-k

QuoteCount me in, too... I have no idea what we're having for dinner tonight!

Come on over -- we'll have plenty.

We can even eat outside here.  70.7 degrees F. right now.

MountainDon

Quote70.7 degrees F. right now.
Nice.  Down to 52 here now.

Tonight's dinner was last nights dinner.


Homegrown Tomatoes

The high here was something like 42 yesterday.  I think it's going to be slightly warmer today because the wind has finally slowed down.  UGH.  I hate being cold.  I like cold weather food, though.  Baked stuff and stews and so forth.  Don't need any, but like it... all the more reason we need to move to a warmer climate.  I looked at the forecast for our hoped-for destination, and it is in the mid-70s all week... looks perfect.    It's driving me crazy waiting for word about whether or not we're moving... Even though it looks like a really good chance, I am somewhat worried about what will happen if for some reason he doesn't get the job.  He's had other offers but I just wasn't as emotionally invested... now it is almost winter and suddenly it is REALLY important that we move (especially since all the flannel sheets are packed up in storage already waiting to be loaded onto a truck!!!) and because it is his dream job.  And I'm getting really sick of "clean-out-the-pantry-and-freezer" food.  DH always gets a turkey for Thanksgiving from work, and we have already decided to give it to a family we know with 5 kids because there's no way that just the four of us are going to be able to eat a whole turkey on Thanksgiving and deal with all the leftovers before the potential move date.  I think we're going to have black-eyed peas and cornbread for dinner tonight...I'm off to try to finish the rest of the kitchen tile!!!

Sassy

Ummm, I love blackeyed peas!  Add a little ham or bacon, some onion - one of my favorites.  A friend used to get boxes of them - I bought some one year - gee, it is a lot of work shelling all those peas!  I even got Glenn into the act...  ;)
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You will know the truth & the truth will set you free

Homegrown Tomatoes

Sassy, that's exactly what I had in mind until I got down to the freezer and realized that there was absolutely NO bacon, ham or anything else that would do the trick... instead I added a little bit of hot giardineira in hopes that the oil in it somehow replaces the fat from the meat, and that the flavor gives it a little extra punch.  I got out some fish fillets to grill too because DH doesn't like black eyed peas without some ham or bacon and I figure he won't eat enough to fill up on them.  

I think the kids and I will be plenty hungry by the time dinner rolls around because lunch was simply macaroni and cheese and some minted peas with green onions (my kids are weird...they LOVE peas.)  Unfortunately, they also love cornbread, and so I always figure if I make a skillet of it, they're going to eat 2/3 of it before they touch anything else.  

Well, I hung laundry out and now it is trying to cloud up and rain, of course!  It was gorgeous all morning until I hung clothes out on the line.

MountainDon

#208
Tonights dinner was last nights dinner  ::) (the last of the pasta bake from the night before that) with stir fried Brussels sprouts (halved), baby carrots, onions.

[I don't usually stretch the same thing out over three nights in a row. However, we're running around a lot what with the MIL's health issues/crisis. She won't see a chiropractor. Stubborn. She's still in pain in her hip. She was constipated, from the hydrocodone. Now isn't due to the power of prune juice  :) ::)  Now she tells us she's also had problems swallowing for some time so hadn't taken some of her meds. She's not eating much. She was back in the hospital for most of today because her temperature was coming up again. Nobody's sure what is wrong. More tests. We think she's been depressed before this happened as well.]
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


Sassy

It's tough caring for family members...  sometimes you just don't know what to do for them & they don't know what they want either.  The families I think it is hardest for, though, are those whose loved one has dementia or alzheimers.  The pt can be pretty combative, you can't rely on them to follow through on anything - it's like having a toddler in an adult body.  
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glenn kangiser

Quoteit's like having a toddler in an adult body.

Now you know how I feel.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Homegrown Tomatoes

Our next door neighbor just recently put her mom in a long-term care facility because she was so exhausted from taking care of her... her mom had alzheimer's and would forget stuff constantly.  I felt so bad for her... she didn't want to put her mom in the place but  felt like she didn't have another option.  I used to watch her mom in the mornings until the senior center bus would pick her up, and every day I'd tell her our names  and the kids ages again, and each day she'd forget before she left.  Yet, she'd work a book or so of word puzzles every week and told me that when she was a little girl in Sonora, TX that's how she learned to speak English (she's Puerto Rican).  She would tell me stories about her husband and about gardens they'd grown and places she's share-cropped as a young woman.  All over my neighbor's house are big signs saying, "Mom, don't use the stove."  and "Mom, flush the toilet" and "Turn off light" and "Close refrigerator door" etc.  She was so afraid that her mom would burn the house down or wander off.  When she made the decision to put her mom in the home, she really had a tough time with it...she came over and cried for a few hours... it's a tough spot and I hope I'm never in that situation.

Don, sounds like your MIL is pretty fiesty.   :)  I hope she gets to feeling better soon, for her sake and yours.

MountainDon

#212
One day at a time. Who knows about tomorrow?

At least we won't have to make any decision about a nursing home, ourselves. My MIL & FIL made the decision themselves in the mid 80's when he retired and they moved to Albuquerque, NM. One of the reasons was that ABQ is home to one of the few retirement communities in the country that offers three stages.

1. You live in your own apartment, have your own kitchen, etc. But you have the option of having one, two, or three meals a day in the dining room. Costs extra of course.

2. Assisted Living, where you have a one or two room apartment clustered with others in it's own wing. No personal kitchen. There is staff on hand to assist with day to day life chores, bathing, dressing, whatever is necessary. You eat in your own communal dining room.

3. Healthcare; a nursing home type wing. One room. For folks who are in need of help with nearly everything.

It's expensive, but they could afford it and it offers the peace of mind of knowing where you'll be if some illness or whatever comes along.

Her husband passed away a couple years ago, after suffering a torn aorta. That took him from being able to live an ambulatory 85 yr olds life to being totally dependent on others in one fell swoop. Rather than dieing quickly after being struck down he lingered on moving between hospital and Healthcare for 5 months. That was a trying time.

October was the second anniversary of his becoming incapacitated. I think that affects her more than she will let on. She may be fiesty as it was put, stubborn, but she's also closed when it comes to talking about herself and her feelings. We've been aware of her declining memory. She's been able to do most of the day to day things in life up to now, with only some help for a few things. She's not been very fit for years and is on the cusp of requiring oxygen. She resents those intrusions on one level, accepts the need on another.

Now she needs assistance with everything. She can't get herself out of bed, across the floor to the bathroom, because of pain. That would be depressing to me too.

Maybe she's pondering if it's all worth the effort/pain.  :-/  A couple of comments she's made have us wondering. The doctors inability to pin down the source of her pain, why her temp rises & falls, is disconcerting, depressing.

Time will tell. Hopefully something will click and she will be able to resume what passes for normal life. However, a small part of me wonders if she'll even get back to walking with a walker, let alone on her own steam. Whatever will be, will be.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

Homegrown Tomatoes

I hope that she makes a good recovery, Don... sometimes I think people lose the will to make it on their own, and that's worse than any physical or mental loss.  

Tonight we're going out... most likely for Mexican food.  Probably have chili rellenos or carne asada.


MountainDon

#214
Buffalo burgers tonight; grilled, crumbled blue cheese on top. Some baked beans; Bush's Maple flavored. Tossed Salad with onion, black olives, jalapeƱos. Just my son and I. DW is over at the nursing home (Healthcare) with her Mom.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

glenn kangiser

Sassy made fried Pork chops, mashed potatoes and corn.

I found an add for a local small orchard that still had some apples - end of the season- so yesterday we picked apples and today  she made apple pies with crumbly stuff on the top.  So some of that and Ice Cream for dessert.  Yummy. :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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MountainDon

Quote...apple pies with crumbly stuff on the top.  So some of that and Ice Cream for dessert.  Yummy. :)
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! French Vanilla Ice Cream? ... and it must be the good stuff! When it comes to ice cream I refuse to use inferior tasting, low fat, no fat, options. Mind you we only have ice cream maybe 4 times a year so I can afford that (healthwise).
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

glenn kangiser

Yes - French Vanilla -- Sassy had to go to the store to get some.  I can even eat it with Peanut butter and chocolate ice cream though. :)

I agree about the Ice Cream.  It has to be real, but I refuse to buy any -- even the best brands where they have cut the sizes down to 1.75 quarts.  Many still call that 1/2 gallon.

It is a blatant consumer ripoff with no redeeming qualities.  The only reason the big dairies are doing this is to shortchange the customer and make more profit by selling many more packages of a slightly smaller sized product for as much or more money than before.  I am boycotting Breyers - my favorite, Dreyers, Denali,  and any other company participating in this consumer abuse. >:(

I currently buy Foster Farms Ice Cream as they still have 1/2 gallons that are really 1/2 gallon.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Homegrown Tomatoes

Tonight the rest of the family had a lot of assorted leftovers, and I took a snooze on the couch instead of eating... either the baby's going through some huge growth spurt or something or I've got a little bit of a bug or something. :P

Sassy

Hope you are feeling better soon, Homegrown...  

We had company for the weekend.  One of the nurses I worked with in ICU & clinics for years.  He & his wife & their 22 y/o niece.  I made a big pot of vegetable soup - of course I had to add dumplings for Glenn.  They brought salad & some really good French breads.  The salad had sugar peas, pine nuts & sunflower seeds in it, very tasty  :)

We had the other apple pie, brownies & ice cream for dessert.  
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MountainDon

Pretty simple tonight; grilled a NY Strip for us, a baked potato, salad.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

glenn kangiser

Sassy said,

QuoteWe had company for the weekend.  One of the nurses I worked with in ICU & clinics for years.  He & his wife & their 22 y/o niece.

He was the one who made 6 of us dress up in thrift store cloths for the Janet Reno look alike contest many years ago.  I did not win as I recall.  I think I was too pretty. :-/

Hope you feel better soon too, Homegrown.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Homegrown Tomatoes

Thanks guys.  I do feel a little better after sleeping a bit. Still not really hungry, though. The girls stuck a caterpillar up my pants leg while I was sleeping so the rest was short-lived.  I'm just glad I didn't kill him before I realized what it was... they were just trying to tickle me, not traumatize the wooly bear.

You know... I always thought that no one could make dumplings as good as my grandma, and every time I had ever tried before, they weren't that good... but last week when I made the pumpkin/chicken stew, I decided to try some (guess Glenn talking about his Bisquick dumplings made me hungry for them), and they turned out so good... they were light and fluffy, and really good.  I may have to do that more often if I can just get it right every time.  Well, I think it's time to go back to bed... the girls and the caterpillar are long since asleep by now.

glenn kangiser

Good nite- sleep tight - don't let the bed bugs bite -- or the woolly caterpillars as you prefer.  ::) Rest well, Homegrown. :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

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Homegrown Tomatoes

Well, I didn't even realize it was a caterpillar they'd put up my pants leg... I thought it was a piece of grass or a dried leaf or something, so I was brushing at my jeans trying to shake it loose... it's a wonder I didn't kill the poor thing. :-/