what’s for dinner

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Giveaway Winner, Mystery Item Identified, Things I’m Making and Planning to Make, Something But Not a Lot

We’ve got a new week and a new month and a new blog post. Thank you for being here.

Giveaway Winner

Thank you so much to everyone who entered the giveaway for Nicole’s debut novel, Inhale, Exhale. Twenty commenters threw their names in the hat, and the winner is…

Stephany! Woo hoo! Your copy will be in the mail asap.

Mystery Item

It took until Saturday for me to remember the mystery item I’d been meaning to order last week. (By the way, I loved Kate’s suggestion that it might be chipotles in adobo, which I’d previously blogged about running out of in a previous post! Good eye, Kate – fortunately, it’s on my grocery list, although my store was completely out of chipotles the last time I looked.) The mystery item was Loop ear plugs. Not a kitchen item AT ALL. I keep meaning to get Carla a pair of these ear plugs because a) I think she could use them during in-class study time, when her teachers discourage the use of headphones and b) I know she could use them when we go to noisy restaurants, which tend to make her feel unbearably overstimulated.

Things I’m Making

Speaking of Carla: she is going through another phase of not being particularly amenable to eating. She eats a decent enough variety of things, I think, but she gravitates toward easy foods which are often less nourishing and/or nutritious than I’d like. I would especially like for her to have easy foods to grab for breakfast a) because she often skips lunch. (We have discussed this with her doctor, we are on top of it, do not worry.), and b) because I want her to be self-sufficient in the mornings.

One food she has been into lately is the Starbucks bacon, gouda, and egg breakfast sandwich, which she gets without the cheese. I am having a strange and intense aversion to Starbucks lately, which isn’t the worst thing for many reasons. But this means I am less open to taking Carla to Starbucks. Also, Starbucks costs money and I am not eager to spend money on fast food breakfast more than once a month (outside of extenuating circumstances). Anyway, this is to say that I gave in once last week and took her to Starbucks for a sandwich with the caveat of using that sandwich as a prototype from which to make our own homemade breakfast sandwiches.

I made these bacon and egg sandwiches on ciabatta bread and froze them. (I added about a quarter cup of cheddar cheese to the egg mixture, because my kid likes cheese mixed in to her scrambled eggs, she just can’t abide it melted on top of things.) The finished product seems a little dry to me (no butter? no mayo?), and Carla has yet to try one, so please cross your fingers on my behalf. I will be quite irritated if she doesn’t eat them. (I eat very few sandwiches and also dislike eggs, so I will not be eating them. Maybe my husband will eat them.)

While I was cutting up the loaf of ciabatta bread, I made a miscalculation and ended up trimming the ends off of all eight sandwiches. Which gave me an excuse to make French toast muffins, a thing that seems delightful and which I have never tried before.

The French toast muffins needed to sit for two hours, so while they were sitting, I made a batch of homemade granola. I love granola, but it’s spendy. This batch called for coconut oil, which I don’t love, but it turned out okay. I used chia seeds, which is what I had on hand (because I purchased them specifically to make granola), but I would like to try adding flax seeds and/or hemp hearts and/or puffed quinoa to future batches. I suspect it will take me a long time to make it through this batch, though – I really only add a few tablespoons to yogurt.

Things I’m Planning to Make

I suppose while I’m making things, I might as well make a meal plan for this week.

Dinners for the Week of February 2-8

  • Slow cooker Mongolian beef: This sounds good and slow cooker meals are always appealing – especially when it’s so enduringly chilly outside.
  • Cream of mushroom soup: This sounds luxurious and warming. I will have to make some sort of protein for my husband to go along with his.
  • Ramen with shrimp and edamame: My husband wanted to try the squiggly noodles from Trader Joe’s, and I am always a fan of ramen with shrimp and some frozen edamame. Easy peasy.
  • Chicken paprikas: Yes. We haven’t had this in a while and it’s the perfect cozy comfort meal for winter.

Something But Not a Lot

In a rather drastic tone change, sometimes I feel so keenly the exhortation to say something that reaches beyond my little cozy corner. I have sat at my computer, many hours and many days, trying to find the words to express my despair and disappointment at the state of the world, to articulate the scale of my love and hope for all of us. Maybe it’s ignorance or delusion or cowardice or all three, but again and again, I find that I don’t know what to say or how to say it. I continue to read and listen to voices stronger and braver and more knowledgeable and more eloquent than I am. (The fragment “Before the apocalypse, there was the apocalypse” keeps looping through my brain.) I continue to seek out blog posts, fiction, essays, and poetry to make sense of things, to offer comfort, to provide distraction, to inspire, and to organize the complicated tangle of emotions into words.

Today, this poem is resonating with me.

That’s all I have for you today, Internet. Stay warm and be well.

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Meals for a Snowy Day (or Week)

Quick note that the giveaway for a copy of Nicole’s debut novel is open until this coming Friday. Please enter if you or a loved one need a(nother) copy of her book!

Are you having a snow day? If you are in a part of the world that is caught in a deep freeze right now, I hope you are safe and warm and that you have electricity. We are so very fortunate (so far) in that our home is warm and cozy and our larders are full of food.

I’m not actually sure what a larder is, so when I say “larders” I mean “the two refrigerator/freezers we own” and “the pantry and kitchen cupboards.”

The last time I went to the grocery store was Wednesday, but I feel like I made some pretty smart choices in terms of purchases. I am also feeling pretty smug about my slow-to-die pandemic habit of overbuying things and stuffing my freezer and pantry full of things that have lasting power.

Here’s (most, but not all of) what we have:

  • Protein: Salmon (wild and farm-raised), chicken, halibut (a Christmas gift from my brother and his wife), ground beef, steak, sausage, four shrimp, eggs, pepperoni
  • Dairy: Milk, yogurt, cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan), cream cheese, a partial container of sour cream, half and half, almond milk (not really dairy, but I’m counting it anyway), butter
  • Fresh produce: Lettuce (iceberg and a salad mix and romaine), cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, celery, onions (red and Spanish), one green pepper, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, one cucumber, apples, grapes, avocadoes, lemons, limes, 5/6 of a pomegranate, a mango that may be past its prime, some cilantro that may be nearing its end-of-life, scallions, one jalapeno, a quarter head of red cabbage
  • Frozen produce: Peas, corn, edamame (in the pod and half a bag of de-podded), various potato products (hash browns, diced potatoes), mango, cranberries, cherries, raspberries, ginger, garlic
  • Pantry staples: Lentils, dark red kidney beans, cannellini beans, one can of black beans, chickpeas, chicken/beef/vegetable stock, one can of coconut milk, tomato puree, noodles of various sorts (but no complete boxes of any of them), rice (basmati and brown), quinoa, farro, flour, sugar (brown, powdered, granulated), chocolate chips, oats, various nut butters, various nuts and seeds (mainly almonds), various tortillas and taco shells, various curry pastes
  • Sweets: Carla made an enormous batch of cupcakes yesterday on FaceTime with her cousin, a cookie mix, some frozen slices of apple cake from my husband’s birthday
  • Breakfast foods: A variety of cereals and frozen things (waffles, etc.), instant oatmeal, my favorite bread, and my husband’s collection of Oats Overnight
  • Condiments: A huge selection, especially of hot sauce
  • Herbs and spices: A huge selection
  • Baking necessities: Vanilla, baking powder and soda, honey, maple syrup, various oils, various vinegars, gelatin, yeast, etc.

As long as our electricity holds out, we are all set. I mean honestly, I don’t really need to go shopping again for months. Good lord, we have so much food.

Anyway, I am distracting myself from all worries by contemplating meals I can fashion out of this abundance of ingredients.

  • Potato, Sausage, and Broccoli Frittata: I like a frittata, and we truly have way too many frozen potato products on hand, plus I have some frozen sausage that I will never otherwise use, so this would be perfect. I would make a half batch, in part because we do not need 8 to 10 servings of frittata, and in part because the full recipe requires 10 eggs and I might want some of those eggs for other things.
  • Creamy Vegan Pasta: I love the idea of using some white beans for a lush, garlicky pasta sauce. We would have to mix pasta shapes though, and that makes me feel uncomfortable.
  • Chickpea Curry: I love this easy, warming recipe and it would be a great way to call both chickpeas and coconut milk into service.
  • Salmon Bowls: I love a good salmon bowl, and I like how this recipe includes edamame and avocado both of which I have in abundance. I will probably skip the mango though; I have a weird aversion to pairing mango with avocado. Although I do have that ripe mango that really needs to fulfill its purpose in life… hmmm. This recipe also calls for cucumber, but I am saving my cucumber for more of this salad.
  • Lentil Soup: A warm bowl of lentil soup would really hit the spot today. I was planning to use the carrots and celery for snacking, but I could apportion some of it for mire poix. Soup would also give me a good excuse to make some bread!
  • Beef with String Beans: I have a good number of green beans left from last week (although I used some in a red curry last night), and I have a bistro fillet of steak in my freezer. Why not put them together?
  • Chipotle Lentil Stuffed Sweet Potatoes: My husband and I made this a few months ago and it was delicious. (I can send you the recipe if you can’t get beyond the paywall.) My only concern is that I don’t think I have any chipotles on hand, which is very unlike me. It’s so unlike me that I almost don’t believe it. But I did make chipotle chicken tortilla soup last week, and I used the last cube of frozen blended chipotle I had, and I didn’t see any other cans of chipotles in adobo in the cupboard, so I may have slipped up in my chipotle stocking.
  • Vegan Sticky Sesame Chickpeas: I have never tried this before, but it sounds good. If I don’t use up the broccoli in a frittata, I could use it here. Or I could add some peas instead. (It doesn’t actually even call for veggies, but I dislike plain legumes.)
  • Black Bean Burritos: This is a standby in my household. I have a partial bag of frozen Mexican style roasted corn that I can add to black beans. My husband also likes a little rice in his burritos.
  • Chicken Avocado Salad: I don’t have bacon or tomatoes, but I think I can make a nice salad that’s loosely based on this one. I have some mozzarella pearls, and I could throw in my lone green pepper and some thawed frozen corn.
  • Chickpea Salad Sandwiches: I have been meaning to make a batch of chickpea salad, but haven’t gotten around to it. Now might be the time, especially if I end up making bread.
  • Halibut with Lemon Butter Sauce: If I don’t use up the green beans for something else, I could serve them alongside the fish, perhaps with a baked potato. Or I could whip up some warm farro with peas and red onions to go alongside.
  • Steak and Caesar Salad with Potato: We have some leftover tenderloin from Christmas and I could whip up a Caesar salad. If I don’t use the potatoes for something else, I could use them here. Or I could roast up some of our plethora of diced frozen potatoes with some lemon zest, garlic and cilantro, in an homage to a dish from my favorite Lebanese restaurant.
  • Japanese Curry: This is a regular on our meal rotation, and we happen to have some golden curry cubes on hand. This can only happen if we don’t use the potatoes and sweet potatoes for something else, though. I also throw in a bunch of frozen peas, and broccoli if I have it.
  • Lettuce and Cabbage Salad: This salad is intriguing but I haven’t tried it yet.
  • Tortilla “Burgers”: I love a hamburger, but we don’t have any buns in the house. I suppose I could make some from scratch, but I also find the idea of making a “burger” with a tortilla quite appealing.
  • Roasted Chicken Fried Rice: This looks good and pretty easy.

Wow, look at all those meals I can craft without ever setting foot in the grocery store! But what about sweets??? Surely I can make something yummy for dessert from what I have on hand. Besides cookies from the cookie mix. Or instant chocolate pudding, for which I also have a mix.

If you are having a snow day (which seems like it could very easily morph into a snow week blergh), and you are in a head space that allows you to think of frivolous things like baking and cooking, what are you planning to make for today’s meals?

If you are not having a snow day (hello, Florida and California friends!!! what is your guest room situation like these days, hmm???), what do you make when you have no desire to set foot in a grocery store?

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Recipe Report, Holiday Status, and, Sigh, Dinners This Week

Oh yes, it is Monday already THE EIGHTH OF DECEMBER, why does time behave the way it does? (I read an article recently about time that made my head spin but kind of addressed this very thing, in case you are interested.)

Let’s see. I wanted to update you on the cheesecake I made for Thanksgiving. I used the America’s Test Kitchen recipe and followed it to the letter, except I used gingersnaps for the crust instead of graham crackers. First of all, my oven WOULD NOT HOLD A TEMPERATURE. So I may have used the broil function to bring it up to the appropriate level… and then the top of the cheesecake got a little broily. Then, the recipe said to remove the cheesecake when the center registered 160 degrees F, and it NEVER DID. I finally removed it after A Very Long Time, and, predictably, the cheesecake was very dry. My parents were gracious about it, and ate every bite, but it was not my finest hour.

I did also make a back-up apple cake, and THAT was a bust because the alcohol flavor did not cook out and it tasted unpleasantly of rum. Sigh.

The pumpkin caramel sauce was, however, delicious, and really helped with the dry crumbly cheesecake.

I also made a delicata squash recipe, in an effort to recreate my delightful in-restaurant first experience with delicata squash. It was a bit fussy, the recipe (and I omitted the parsley because blech), with lots of steps and chopping and whipping… but the end result was quite yum. I think the whole thing could have used a bit more acid – even with the pomegranate seeds I added. I will definitely make this kind of squash again, though.

How are you feeling, holiday-wise? Did you know that Hanukkah starts THIS WEEK? We don’t really do a whole lot for Hanukkah, besides opening a present on the first night, eating Trader Joe’s latkes, and lighting the menorah. I picked up some gelt and a giant chocolate coin from Trader Joe’s, though, and I remembered to buy candles for the menorah when I was at Michael’s. The list price was something like $16.99, which seemed EGREGIOUS for candles, and then they were 50% off, which helped, but still felt pricy. But I don’t think we have a present for the kiddo yet? Is that possible??? Maybe I will requisition one of her Christmas gift books and use that. Goodness knows she will get PLENTY of gifts this season, even though I keep fretting that we haven’t gotten her anything FUN.

Speaking of gifts: a) I LOVED Swistle’s take on Christmas for the non-religious among us. Whenever my kid has gotten too carried away by the gift aspect of the holiday, I’ve said something like, “Gifts are not the reason for Christmas.” But then it seems like the correct follow-up is some stuff about Jesus, when really, we don’t DO a whole lot with Jesus in our family. I grew up Christian, but I’ve always been pretty agnostic, and then I married a half-Jewish guy who believes in science over religion, so I’ve always felt a little at sea with the whole “what does Christmas MEAN” thing. With Carla, I’ve usually defaulted to things like “it’s about being together with people you love” and “it’s about thinking of others instead of yourself.” But I’ve never really been able to explain why the season feels important and special despite our mostly-secular take on it. Swistle said it so well, in the words I would have wanted to use had I Swistle’s wisdom and eloquence.

Well, that list item got a little out of hand so let’s regroup. We were speaking of gifts, and we are at b): I think I am pretty well done with the gift buying portion of holiday prep. There’s one thing left to get my dad, but beyond that I think everyone is accounted for. Does my husband have enough stocking stuffers? Hmm. I need to think about that. The next BIG task is to wrap everything and mail all the things to our out of town loved ones. And, of course, some of those things have yet to arrive, which is a little panic-inducing.

In other holiday status news, our tree is up and Leo seems interested but not to the point of leaping on it. We have been taking a staggered approach to putting ornaments on the tree, and so far he has been more interested in the part where we hang ornaments on the tree than the part where the ornaments are already hanging on the branches.

“Just admiring the tree from this vantage point, not contemplating how best to climb it.”

I ordered our holiday cards last week and am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I probably need stamps and should go take care of that. My husband and I have not yet gone through the Christmas list to update addresses; we need to tackle that next.

We are also at that point in the holiday season where boxes seem to be arriving on our doorstep continuously and I feel gross and over-consumer-y and like I’m single handedly destroying the environment.

Leo, on the other hand, LOVES IT.

“When are you going to OPEN these boxes so I can BE IN THEM?”

Okay, let’s talk dinners, which I have delayed for 700+ words already.

Dinners for the Week of December 8-14

Are you incensed that we have to think about DINNER when we are in the midst of HOLIDAY CHAOS? How are you feeling about holiday prep?

I feel a little weary of it all, to be honest, and would love something else to think slash post about. If you have any ideas or questions for me, my Ask Me Anything form is ready and waiting.