We are somehow nearly halfway through January and I feel simultaneously as though the month has FLOWN by and also that it has lasted six million years. Much of it – at least the past week – has been extremely dreary and fretful, both for external reasons (what is HAPPENING with our democracy) and internal ones. But even though I am feeling down and worried and unsettled, I feel like my complaints are so small and insignificant that they aren’t worth sharing. There is SO MUCH going on in the world right now, my dumb complaints sound even more out-of-touch than normal.
Like for instance how my return key does not work unless I press down on it with all my weight. Or how I am FINALLY getting to clean my oven (with the self-clean function) and so my house is filled with the acrid scent of imminent doom and also a soupçon of pizza essence. Or how I had to wait for more than an hour in the gynecologist’s crowded waiting room yesterday which a) I am SURE was the reason my blood pressure reading was much higher than normal and b) is making me Very Anxious about the likely unrelated fact that I have a scratchy throat today. Or how I have been working extra hard on revising my book and the whole thing is stupid and I am wasting my life. I really need to suck it up and stop wallowing.
I hope YOU and your loved ones are doing okay. And, honestly, if you had a small, insignificant gripe to share with me, it would make me feel better. Or not, that’s fine too. If you just want to scroll listlessly through my dinner options, trying valiantly to get up the motivation to think about making Yet Another Meal, that is a-okay with me.
Dinners for the Week of January 12-18
Over the weekend, I tried these Sheet Pan Cuban Chicken and Black Bean Rice Bowls (which Ernie mentioned recently), and they were delicious and a 100% keeper. They got me in a mango mood, so I have a bowl of mangoes ripening on the counter which is one good thing to look forward to, I suppose.
- Sweet and Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa: Speaking of mangoes, this is what we’re eating tonight. I have made it several times in the past and have always found the pork to be a little… weak in flavor. Today, I threw all the ingredients in the crockpot, added a bit of soy sauce and some minced ginger and garlic, and we’ll see if that does anything.
- Fish Taco Bowls
- Fire Fry
- Chicken Shawarma with Steamed Broccoli
- Tacos: The regular ground beef kind, per Carla’s request. I am going to have her make them, since she has been voicing some disappointment about the meals on offer lately. She seemed pretty pleased at the thought.
I also have some zucchini and asparagus in the crisper, for spur-of-the-moment stir fries or protein-and-a-veggie-side options.
What are you most looking forward to eating this week?
I would like to complain that almost every morning on my walk, there is a woman who is walking on the wrong side of the road, which means she is always facing me as we approach each other, and one of us has to move if we’re going to stay at least six feet apart, and I never know what to do about it. Cross to the other side to avoid her, so that now I am also on the wrong side of the road? That’s what I always do, but SHE should be the one to move! and also, it’s not a wide road, so I really don’t LIKE being on the wrong side, even for a little while! And I fret because of all those graphics from earlier in the pandemic about exercising people exhaling viruses in their wake: when is it okay for me to go BACK on my own side of the road again? Why can’t she just walk on the correct side of the road and save us all this fretting? THINGS ARE BAD ENOUGH WITHOUT VIOLATING PEDESTRIAN RULES
UGGGGHHHH. That is maddening. I find pedestrian behavior so frustrating! Like, why, when I am out walking with my husband, and I fall back behind him when we pass a couple, does that couple CONTINUE TO WALK TWO-ABREAST?
Dinner: It’s not an actual dinner, but I’m going to eat it as one: I got a crusty baguette from the store yesterday and I’m going to have it tonight with ricotta cheese and homemade jalapeno jelly and it’s going to be so good! Probably with a big salad, and a small serving of the Hamburger Helper that Mike wants for dinner, because I’m just not feeling heavy meat/pasta/sauce right now.
Small, insignificant gripe: Our water pressure SUUUUUUCKS in our apartment, and our bathtub drain doesn’t seal enough to actually take a bath. The water pressure was always not great but it’s getting worse and now all of my showers are dissatisfying, at a time when I would really like a nice, comforting, hot shower to be able to escape from the world and the news and the everything.
I would also like to eat your baguette dinner please. It sounds magnificent. Poor water pressure is the woooooorst.
They sell these flat flexible plastic replacement stops that can work right over the top of the non functioning drain to seal a bath- FYI from this former renter of MANY a duplex with that issue! Doesn’t fix the water pressure, but lord would I be lost without being able to take a bath…
Oooh, I will look into those, thank you! I have, on several occasions, resorted to taking a duck-tape bath (basically just covering the drain with duck tape, lol) but that sounds like a much better solution.
We had RecipeTinEats’ Greek yogurt-marinated chicken (https://www.recipetineats.com/greek-chicken/) last night and it was really good. I should have pounded our chicken breasts before cooking, but still, everyone ate it up, along with pasta salad, green beans, and homemade tzatziki. (Well, I ate the tzatziki.)
Mangoes sound appropriately bright for mood-lifting, good idea!
Nagi is amazing. I have never tried this recipe but it sounds SO GOOD!
Feeling so special that you mentioned me on your blog for simply sharing a recipe that I stumbled upon. 🙂 Glad it was a hit at your house.
I made pot roast over the weekend. Doubled it. Two crockpots brimming. This week was going to be a busy one with the babysitting, so now I have the 2nd crockpot to just plug in later this week. Probably tomorrow.
Coach grilled chicken on Monday. A new recipe because the kids have tired of his usual. It was a lemon pepper marinate, I think. Last night leftovers. I made chili yesterday for today. My new system is to double the meat and veggies, and freeze half so in a few weeks we can have chili with very little effort. It sucks the day I torment myself making that much chili meat, but it will be awesome later.
My gripe: We spent a bundle on tutoring for Tank’s ACT prep, and then the schools decided this year would be test optional. Awesome, but oh the money wasted. I am debating whether or not to invest in tutoring for Mini – will the schools once again be test optional?
As usual, I have nothing to add regarding the meal planning BUT I did recently read that “they” (whoever “they” are) recently changed what constitutes an elevated blood pressure. So, I guess it depends on which doctor you see. My dentist and gyno told me my blood pressure was perfect – only to be told by my GP that is was elevated. Who to believe?
As for the oven…I am here to tell you that the fume-free Easy Off is the way to go. Yes, it’s a dirty job but it’s not hard – that stuff works!
I made a squash and apple gratin tonight with smoked gouda and breadcrumbs. It was good, but very time-consuming because all the layers cooked separately before being broiled together and it takes so long to peel squash– or it takes me a long time.
On the other end of the spectrum, I’m making veggie hot dogs wrapped in biscuit dough tomorrow, with cole slaw.
Small complaint: I cut my thumb trying to clean the kitchen scissors last night, right on the joint and it still smarts when I bend it or get it wet.
Small complaint: Made a triple batch of Korean meatballs, one to eat and two to freeze. Got them formed and all browned… and now realize the sauce I braise them in is ALL sold out everywhere… so now I have to find a new sauce. Did I mention the sauce was my favorite part of the recipe?
Small insignificant complaint: because of our latest lockdown, I have to now get up even earlier so that I can make it to the grocery store just as it’s opening. Even at 8 in the morning it’s super busy. I cannot even contemplate lining up outside to buy groceries in January, so I have to get up EVEN EARLIER THAN I ALREADY DO JUST TO GET FOOD FOR THIS HOUSE FULL OF GARBAGE MONSTERS. (grateful to have food, etc, etc, but you know)