It continues to be hot and smokey, and we continue to have no rain. Not my ideal summertime conditions, for sure. (Although, to be clear, we have it a LOT better than many.)
Here I am, all ready to half-ass some dinner plans for the week, and I just remembered that we will have houseguests starting Thursday. Perhaps I should come up with something a little jazzier than “scrounge around for something resembling food.”
Things that are hampering my planning:
- We continue to have no reliable grill. Earlier this month, I had someone come out to look at our existing built-in grill and give us quotes for replacing it. I have never gotten the quotes. (Although, very oddly, the same salesperson who came out to examine the grill showed up at my front door last week. He was looking for someone else, and had mixed up the addresses.) I should call the grill company to follow up, and I should also get a second quote from someone else but I have done neither thing.
- The heat makes me resistant to turning on the oven. Clearly I need to lean more heavily on my air fryer.
- Are we still avoiding lettuce? I can’t keep up with the latest on the cyclosporiasis outbreak and have no idea what produce are okay and not okay to eat. It would be wonderful to have some salads on the menu but… is that advisable? Well, the NYT has an article all about that very question, and I guess the answer is: maybe, as long as it’s from the whole head of lettuce and not iceberg lettuce. That helps, slightly… although I feel more comfortable putting myself and my husband at risk than I do putting my child and houseguests in the same position.
I think I’ve completely talked myself out of making dinner at all, ever again. How’s that for a Dinners This Week?
Dinners for the Week of July 20-26
- Pasta with Chopped Pesto and Peas: I can use fresh basil from my “garden” and frozen peas. Maybe I can make a couple of chicken breasts and salmon fillets in the air fryer for those who require a separate protein.
- Green Chile Chicken and Black Bean Tostadas: This will require the use of the oven, but it seems worthwhile.
- Beef and Veggie Stir Fry: Did I tell you that I jettisoned my wok? For years, my wok was my most-loved appliance. And then I just… stopped using it. Ever since we moved to this house (THREE YEAR AGO OMG), I have been making stir fry in my big chili pot, and I’ve never missed my wok. Not sure why I felt the urge to share this little tidbit with you, but there it is.
- Shortcut Korean Pulled Pork: This recipe calls for kimchi pickles and shredded cabbage, but I could also/instead make a quick and tangy slaw.
I cannot think of anything else, but there’s always takeout.
I’m really hoping that we get a break from the heat this week. It really puts the kibbosh on pretty much everything, including dinner.
The good news is that fresh pesto is always a winner! You can’t go wrong with that. Or chimi churri. Nom nom…
I’m with you on Team No Wok. I had one once and it never did anything for me that any other pan couldn’t.
UGH. I am such a jerk about the oven AND the grill (running in and out to grill is baaaaaaad). I have been just making whatever the nutritiotnist at HyVee has put out via recipe cards. Also lots of sandwiches.
*nutritionist lol
I like your typo — it seems apt for our current time. After the news about fresh vegetables, I feel I have had a nutritiotomy. Cake safer to eat than lettuce? I’m in.
And yeah, in my view, running in and out to the grill is more heat-creating than turning on the oven.
Highly approve of sandwiches.
We have had no rain either, and yikes. It is SO dry here. The air is a teeny bit smokey but not bad, but wow I wish we would get a bit of rain. It’s a lot of salads and air fryer around here these days (I am not worried about veg as mine is either garden or local).
Ha- yes, I can see why you wouldn’t want to feed your houseguests any of the contaminated lettuce. I just got a head of romaine lettuce and it seems to be fine! I would avoid bagged lettuce just in case. But also, yes- dinner is hard enough. Do we really need this added issue???
I’m in Michigan where the cyclo seems to be running rampant so I’m still avoiding lettuce (killed me to throw out my bagged salads). Not sure how long I can last on that. Your pesto/pasta sounds good!
We finally got some rain last night. It has been so hot and dry here yet still humid somehow, plus we’ve had wildfire smoke, too. I am glad we’ve only had a few days of dangerous air quality, though. It’s tough to keep the kids in the house as then they wrestle and mess with each other and drive me bonkers!
We are kind of mailing it in for meal plans this week. I’m going to have Phil grill some chicken breast marinated in a Greek style marinade plus some foil packets of potatoes and zucchini (separate, not together since they cook at different rates). Besides that, we grilled brats on Saturday and will have the leftovers during the week and our other menu item is turkey sandwiches with bacon. If it cools off a bit this week, we’ll get take and bake pizzas. But I am trying to avoid turning the oven on when it’s so hot!
I have been eating a salad mix from Aldi. I’m rolling the dice on not getting sick but I don’t think their bagged salads are sourced from the area where the bad lettuce is coming from.
We had rain, but it did not immediately lower the air quality index to normal range, although it *looked* less smoky. Grrr. So be aware that even though the air might look ok, folks should still check the AQI.
Finally, today our AQI is down to “moderate”. It was sooo hard to breathe last week.
I wouldn’t serve lettuce of any kind to guests, right now, lest they feel forced to eat it to be polite. The headline I read said that the test for cyclospora gave a false positive, and BOOM now I do not trust anything the FDA says, ever again. I hate to spread false conspiracy theories, but I believe the CEO of that company is a donor to the current gov’t toads, and it just seems possible/likely that he paid them to rescind the cyclospora test results.
Last night, I served book club the one precious cucumber that I harvested from a friend’s greenhouse which we are watering while friend is away. It was greatly appreciated!
So sorry you still don’t have a grill. Grilled veggies can be nice. And safe.
In order to avoid cooking this week, I am fine with us spending down the family inheritance on take-out.
Why did it not occur to me that the FDA guy might be LYING? I’m not a conspiracy theorist at all, so tend to dismiss such thoughts. But with these people, it all seems so possible.
I think I’m going to have ice cream for dinner.
I’m just thinking about a very easy dinner that we don’t have anymore (my husband does not eat bread and my daughter does not eat chicken)
Grilled chicken sandwiches – could use rotisserie chicken if that’s your jam, or use the air fryer, or turn on the oven, or cook on the stove. Get some nice French roll type bread, not too hard. Spread the rolls with pesto (fresh or store bought), then chicken, then tomatoes (It’s tomato season!) and whatever else you want. Could be just that. Could be some provolone cheese. Could be some arugula. Have that with some fruit salad or sliced watermelon, Ina Garten’s fresh corn salad, and maybe some potato chips. That’s what we’d be having if my family still ate that stuff.
Those tostadas look SO easy and really tasty. Also I would love that pasta.
Was your wok the plug in kind, or the type that goes on top of the stove? I saw on America’s Test Kitchen years ago that the ones that you use on your stove aren’t great because the sides don’t get really hot on conventional stoves. Better to use a big skillet.
I hate planning dinner. My husband and I are currently in a spat because I’m trying to reheat something up to temp and he said “I’m too hungry to wait” and he’s making something else and I’m pissed off about it because he won’t eat the stuff I’m reheating and it will go to waste and I’M SO ANNOYED. I hate food stuff.
I don’t mean to laugh at your marital spat, but this made me laugh. Make him eat it for lunch.
It’s way too hot to cook anything! Happily, my husband agrees. Sandwiches for the win! With sides of cold carrot sticks, cold tomatoes, cold olives, and cold cherries.
A little smoke started to roll in today.
We’ve been on the road the past several days and mostly eating out, but Beth did make BBQ tofu, fried green tomatoes, and corn on the cob one night in the place we were renting.
Now we’re back at Beth’s mom’s house and I have to think about menu-planning again, though I am only responsible for two nights a week. I should be able to come up with two ideas, right?
We were in Michigan which was the epicenter of smoke in the U.S. right before we got there and it cleared just in time for our visit.
I haven’t felt like cooking at all this summer. Hot, humid, and now smoky. It’s supposed to be 74 degrees tomorrow — for one day! I hope it’s nice enough to open the windows. I might actually make something then. 😂
But it’s good to know I’m not alone in my not wanting to cook. Sandwiches, air fryer, and microwave it is.
I think if you go to the Taylor Farms website and put in your zip code, you can see the products from them (it’s mostly salad kits).
We make a lot of salads around here. I wish we would use the grill more often (I love grilling stuff, but the clean up is always nasty.)
if your have fresh pesto & cherry tomatoes here is an easy and so delicious pasta. Put some olive oil in a pan, add salt pepper, lots of basil and cherry tomatoes. Heat until cherry tomatoes break down. Add a pinch of hot pepper spice. Cook pasta. Reserve a cup of pasta water Toss pasta with sauce and add some pasta water till a good consistency. Definitely a company worthy meal with some salad or a side of veggies and crust bread.