2021 What's for dinner tonight?

[daisylu]

Last night DH grilled some Roma Old Bay sausages and peppers from the freezer, paired with some bourbon and brown sugar baked beans doctored up with some hot honey. 

[chiver78]

last night, I thawed a portion of black bean pulled chicken and put that over some curly pasta.

tonight, I'm feeling like takeout. I thawed out the chicken b/c I didn't want veggie lasagna. I just had a portion of lasagna for breakfast, so I want something different for dinner. what, idk just yet. maybe sushi?   

edit - after our midday walk, I took a slight detour to my old village market and the fish market. I bought half of a swordfish steak, $29/lb     that I am going to cook on my grill pan, Nantucket style - brushed with lemon mayo. I'll pair that with Brussels, not sure yet if roasted or if I want to saute with pancetta. 

[Iggy aka IG]

Holy smokes we're nearly halfway through the month!

Sunday: DH grilled a ham steak, and we served it with bacon wrapped smokies, cheesy mashed taters, and green beans
Monday:  I slow cooked a beef roast in low sodium soy sauce, brown sugar and a cup of beef bouillon.  I added broccoli the last 30 min or so.
Tonight:  Crispy cod tacos, broccoli slaw, avocado, breaded shrimp, zucchini fries
Wed:  Doctored up cauliflower crust pizza, side veggie
Thurs: Salmon, veggies
Fri:  Take out from?
Sat: Neighbors over for appetizers, cocktails and beer pong
Sun: Family over for smoked ham, au gratin potatoes, veggies, dip, fruit salad, and a homemade Christmas tree shaped poundcake

[chiver78]

before last night's concert, I went to a new (to me) place in the North End - Boston's "little Italy" area. I had reached out to a local foodie group on FB the night before, and asked where I should go that I wouldn't be out of place as a solo diner sitting at the bar. the chef of this one place commented "come here, I'll take care of you" so I said okay! FTR, I wasn't expecting what ended up happening! 

he came out to introduce himself, recommended a few specific entrees, and came back with an appetizer of two huge stuffed meatballs on the house. I ordered a small plate of spaghetti carbonara. meatballs aren't generally my thing, but I can't be rude.     so I had one and packed the other. I can see why they are a house favorite item, but I wouldn't actually order them again. I ended up packing half the pasta, too. even the small plate was a lot. when I asked for the bill b/c it was approaching showtime, the meatballs weren't listed (expected) but there was only one glass of wine (I had two over the leisurely course of the meal). I pointed it out to the bartender when I handed over my card, and it came back with one glass comped "as a gift from us". so instead of a pre-tip bill of over $60 for what I got, I 'tipped the bill' for about the same final total. 

there were a few other things on the menu that sounded really good, so I'll totally go back to try them. I just refreshed the carbonara in a fry pan over low heat, with a little cream to loosen it all up. that's a fantastic "hangover" breakfast, I highly recommend. lol...  "hangover" is in quotes b/c I only had water during the show. but I am tired today... 

[chiver78]

I'm without a functioning dishwasher at the moment, so am trying to minimize dishes I need to wash. fun times, when I also cook for the pups. 🤦‍♀️. repair tech comes Monday, but will need a return visit after diagnosis that I expect to be a door latch, based on my own troubleshooting.

tonight I picked up a large onion/pepper pizza, $20 including tip. this will be 4 meals.

tomorrow I'll pick up Chinese takeout to cover me for a few more meals. will update this post once I figure our what I'm ordering, and $

[busymom]

Dinner tonight:  pizza


Actually, I'm planning on easy meals between now and Christmas Eve.  When you work so hard on the main holiday meals, we're gonna go "easy does it" for several days.  

[chiver78]

errands today brought me over the bridge, so I stopped at the fish market. I'll be baking a large piece of cod to split with the pups. I'm going to roast broccoli for myself as well, maybe a side salad. 

tomorrow night will be picking at chicken cutlet and eggplant as I fry it. I'll dip chunks into the pot of sauce and meatballs as that simmers. let's be real, here      I am making pesto tonight, and I have ciabatta rolls as well. 

[laterbloomer]

Home made chinese food today. Honey garlic ribs, chicken fried rice, beef and broccoli and egg rolls. About $70 but it will feed 6 today with lots of leftovers.

[Tennesseer]

I was in charge of bring two green vegetable dishes to Christmas day lunch today. I made balsamic bacon Brussels sprouts and green beans with mushrooms and fried shallots. No mushroom soup in the green bean dish.

Both were hits.

[chiver78]

this is my fridge right now, and I'm tired. lol... small foil pan in the middle is eggplant parm, that I assembled today, still untouched. large foil pan at the bottom is the rest of the eggplant and chicken cutlet. bottom right is *all* for the pups, as well as the container under the large foil one. some of this is going to my dad next weekend (will go in the freezer tonight). I've got one big container of sauce that's about half full after assembling the eggplant parm, the rest will all go in the freezer as well.

I think dinner tonight might be a small bowl of pasta and sauce.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Clueless.

I've got the rest of the roast beast I made for dinner last night but I'm feeling soup tonight.  I need to dig in the freezer to see if I have a chunk of ham to make some bean soup as that sounds good to me right now.

I really need to go grocery shoppping.  I have some carrots, celery and onions left from what I asked my neighbor to pick up so that can be the base for lots.  I do have canned stock, along with tomatoes and I think some sausage if I want to make some spaghetti sauce.

Gotta go dig in the freezer - those sound like a good Plan A or a Plan B. 

Plan B.  Spaghetti is on the menu tonight. 

[Opti]

Turkey sausage and ?

[chiver78]

eggplant parm and the other portion of pasta I cooked last night. I finally assembled the parm tray yesterday morning, in an 8x8 foil pan. it's only a half inch thick, so that's four portions.

today I picked up scala rolls, those will be getting some use with the red sauce leftovers the next few days. I need to pack up what is getting frozen.

[kadee79]

We had our Subway sandwiches for our Christmas dinner so tonight I dug some stuff out of the freezer...so we had soft tacos.  That cleaned up the taco meat I'd had already cooked in the freezer & some other things too.
I need to cook some bacon, we haven't had any for about a week or so.

[chiver78]

after a fantastic eggplant parm sandwich for brunch, I did not want red sauce for dinner as well. there apparently is such a thing as too much red sauce. 🤷‍♀️

tonight I used up fridge stuff, and picked up a huge piece of cod as I was Capeside earlier. I baked unseasoned cod for the pups, mine was dusted with Penzey's Northwoods blend. my side was broiled prosciutto wrapped asparagus.

cost today - $12 for the cod.

[Opti]

Going to bake turkey tenderloin pieces. Not sure what to put with them.

[chiver78]

I would roast some tiny potatoes and some other veggies, personally. if you don't have tiny potatoes, you can dice and roast full size just the same.

[chiver78]

tonight I finished off the eggplant parm and remaining unfrozen red sauce, with some salad and a roll for mopping up the sauce.

I also chopped a huge container's worth of salad greens and a whole cantaloupe. the pups with help with the cantaloupe. I'm going to make a grocery list in the am from the sale flyer, not sure what the next week has on the menu just yet besides salad.

[daisylu]

Picking up a brick oven pizza tonight - $18 plus tip, and so worth it. 

[Opti]

Think I might try this in the near future.

emilybites.com/2020/06/korean-inspired-ground-turkey.html

I need suggestions for using ground turkey. If you have some that do not include dairy or tomatoes, please post your suggestions. TY!

[chiver78]

I'm going to try to get better about planning out the week this year. part of my problem is that I don't shop on the weekends, since I can do so during the week when it's less crazy. (confirmed when I ran in quickly for some BSCB.. 😳) we shall see how this goes, I guess. 🤷‍♀️

I am slicing the BSCB into cutlets, marinating in a black peppercorn marinade and grilling (pan) this afternoon. I also picked up a single turkey breast tenderloin since there was one available.

Sun - game day pulled pork nachos, so dinner should be light. salad with one of the grilled chicken cutlets
Mon - roast turkey tenderloin with IP mushroom and spinach risotto
Tues - pasta with chopped chicken and broccoli florets (frozen steamer bag)

after that, idk yet. there will be leftover turkey as well as 2lbs of BSCB for the week. I can share the turkey with pups, but not the chicken as the marinade has garlic.

[Opti]

Jan 1, 2022 13:24:49 GMT -5 Opti said:

Think I might try this in the near future.

emilybites.com/2020/06/korean-inspired-ground-turkey.html

I need suggestions for using ground turkey. If you have some that do not include dairy or tomatoes, please post your suggestions. TY!

I did this tonight, although next time I'm going to use less oil because I had 85/15 ground turkey. I'll also look out for sesame oil as I used to cook with it frequently. Turned out OK, but I definitely think I should have served it over rice. Three more servings left, so I'll serve it a bit different next.

[kadee79]

It was meatloaf & mashed taters tonight...I'll have several more meals of meatloaf & at least 3 more meals of mashed taters...all will go in the freezer for now.  We also had sliced maters from my plants out in the flower bed...they didn't taste very good...not sure if it was due to the ups/downs in temps, the long stretches of no rain or short days...but I think it's time to pull those plants.  There are a couple more nice sized green maters that I should save & let ripen inside.

[CCL]

Jan 1, 2022 13:24:49 GMT -5 Opti said:

Think I might try this in the near future.

emilybites.com/2020/06/korean-inspired-ground-turkey.html

I need suggestions for using ground turkey. If you have some that do not include dairy or tomatoes, please post your suggestions. TY!

I make burgers. All I do is mince a jalapeño and a small onion, then mix them in a lb. of ground turkey and press them into burgers.

[daisylu]

Last night was smash burgers and fries from the freezer. Made just enough for DH and I, with no leftovers. Staying to figure out this cooking for 2.

Ground beef from meal kit = $2
Buns (2 from pack of 8) = $0.98
Fries (2 servings from xl bag) = $0.75
Leftover bacon from breakfast
= $3.73 for 2 servings

Sigh, that is a significant cost savings over eating out. Guess that means I'll be cooking more.

[wvugurl26]

Sunday night I roasted veggies (carrots, broccoli, bell pepper, small potatoes, zucchini and brussel sprouts) with Italian spices. I added sliced chicken sausage for the last 20 minutes. Topped with parmesan for serving.

I'm trying to get back into meal planning. The last half of December kicked my butt with long days at work. And it's been proven that DH is not a meal planner or grocery shopper at all.

[laterbloomer]

Last night I made Chicken Soup;
Chicken - $3.50
Bouillon - $1.00
Onion - $0.50
Frozen Veggies - $1.00
Total - $6.00 for 4 servings, $1.25/serving
with Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream for dessert;
Sweetener - $1.40
Whole Milk - $1.00
Heavy Whipping Cream - $2.00
Frozen Strawberries - $5.00
Vanilla Extract - $0.50
Total - $9.90 for about 8 servings, $1.12/serving

[Iggy aka IG]

Holy smokes December flew by!!!

Last night:  Leftover chili consisting of locally raised beef and a pasta chili mix from my stocking, a piece of cheesy chili cornbread I "baked" in the Traeger Saturday, with homemade dip and a few crackers.  Oh, and the champagne we forgot about NYE with chocolate covered strawberries.   
Tonight:  Air fryer burger bites, and some sort of veggie or two.  Eggplant?  Portobellos? I decided on a caprese salad in order to use up leftover mini mozz balls from holiday entertaining
Tuesday:  Air fryer chicken with yellow squash and zucchini
Wednesday:  Cod, shrimp, riced caul, avocado
Thurs:  Crescent rolls with scrambled eggs and cheese topped with gravy using locally raised pork sausage with berries on the side
Fri:  Take out from?
Sat:  Air fryer chicken tenders, veggies
Sun:  Beef roast in the air fryer, mashed potatoes

Guess who received the air fryer she had asked Santa for Christmas?  

[Iggy aka IG]

Hey, Blonde Granny, would you like to start a 2022 thread?

[wvugurl26]

Monday night was spaghetti.

Tuesday night I made the beef and cabbage stir fry from Budget Bytes. Unfortunately, the green beans I bought Monday were not great and I pitched them. This is a great veggie heavy dinner. I use packaged coleslaw mix and chop whatever veggies I have on hand to add. This time I added carrots, zucchini, bell pepper and brussel sprouts.

My goal for 2022 is to rely less on carb heavy meals and get more veggies into our meals.