My A/C is out and it's too hot to eat. I had a balogna sandwich around 1 a.m. because I was too hungry to sleep. Ha, ha, ha, the joke's on me because I never did get to sleep - it's too hot to sleep.

I haven’t had steak or pot roast in a very long time, probably about 5 or 6 years now. But yesterday I bought some meat that I slow cooked in a cast iron skillet, Dutch oven type thing, until the meat was fork tender.

I seasoned the meat with freshly chopped rosemary and coarse Himalayan sea salt (pink stuff), and added freshly sliced veggies (organic grown carrots and finger sized baby red potatoes) and added a whole clove of garlic, then dressed it down in evoo, while it simmered away all afternoon.

Glorious meal. Very tasty.

I’m fairly certain I will do that again today.

:bow:

Dinner
 

BBQ ribs and Tater Tots. Iced tea.

Bits of this and that - steak, pizza, pastrami/cream cheese/kosher dill pickle rolls - cleaning out the fridge.

Chicken and dumplings

Dinner
 

Chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese with long grain and wild rice. Ice tea.

- hot dogs
- potato chips
- green grapes

I have done as little cooking as possible these past few months, but I have found a few frozen meals that I really like.

Tonight I had Michelina's Salisbury Steak and Mashed potatoes, with some extra mashed potatoes which I also did not cook. They're Marketside brand and they are delicious. Often I throw a cup of canned french cut green beans in with it. They go well. Tonight I ate the steak and potatoes then I made a salad with romaine lettuce cauliflower bits that I did chop myself and some baby peas, Tossed with egg salad as a dressing. OOPS! I messed up! I did cook something - I cooked the eggs and made the egg salad myself
Smooches,
Keri

Grilled salmon, Jasmine rice seasoned with lemon and basil, and what was probably the last zucchini from the garden this year.

A grilled chicken salad with chopped romaine, cauliflower, kale, purple cabbage and almonds, with a ginger dressing.

A layer of mashed potatoes, topped with a layer of baby peas, topped with a layer of homemade Sloppy Joe. Mmm mmm mmm. Side salad made of Romaine, chopped fresh cauliflower, and the last of the peas tossed with egg salad as a dressing.

Smooches
Keri

Fettucine Alfredo with grilled chicken
Steamed broccoli

Chinese Pork Chops
Fried Rice
Vegetable TBD

Leftovers from last night: Sheet pan dinner- roasted cubed sweet potatoes, green cabbage, and chicken sausages. It was a spontaneous weird combination but it worked well together!

- a handful of crackers
- green grapes

thinking about vanilla swiss almond ice cream before bed . . .

Monday I hit a couple of food sales, one of which was a ten pound bag of chicken drumsticks for $5.99.

I had been craving homemade chicken soup. I claim the title for world's best chicken soup maker. Move over Paula Dean, Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse and whoever else makes chicken soup, mine is good!

But its a lot of work, and I have sworn off cooking.
. . . But the chicken I just bought was staring me in the face, so I finally just quit whining and got started.

First thing is to dig around in the veggie drawers in the fridge. I try to have at least 10 different fresh veggies in each batch. I was watching TV and chopping veggies during the commercials so it took quite a while to make. If I don't have enough fresh, I add frozen peas or corn.

I had already used up all my calories for the day so I couldn't eat any of the soup when it was finished.So that what I had for dinner last night - a big bowl of chicken soup, a few saltine crackers and a fudgsicle. I made a bunch of soup. I packed 6 lovely meal size portions in containers for the freezer. so my chicken soup cravings will be covered for a few weeks.

For tonight, I have half a can of chili in the fridge that I have to use up, so I'll probably have that on potatoes, maybe with peas on top. I've been hooked on peas the last few days. Happy eating, y'all!

Smooches,
Keri

Went shopping for food this afternoon and right now I have supper roasting in the oven: jumbo organic chicken breasts (3), cut up organic vegetables (garlic, carrots, potato & beets) and dressed down in evoo, balsamic vinegar and a smattering of fresh herbs (tarragon and rosemary).

I’m cooking for the weekend ahead, but tonight I will have a taste or two of everything, before i divvy it up into glass Pyrex storage containers.

:blueheels: :eyebat: :bow:

Keri, love the soup cooking narrative! Sounds delicious too. As does your dinner, Kätzchen!

Last night I made a quick peanut sauce to go over steamed shrimp, broccoli, carrots, and snow peas. It was good and I made enough for a few dinners so, no need to cook tonight. That means I can play outside longer after work.

A bologna sandwich and cream of tomato soup. Tonight will likely be the same.

I just want to do a mini survey among us here who post on the dinner thread. Do you like your soup chunky or pureed? I have a friend who makes delicious soup, but she likes it all smooth, so she purees everything. That was a foreign concept for me, that's why I'm asking your opinion; I like to load up my soups with different shapes and colors of veggies so it is visually appealing and colorful. Now to thicken a soup I will take out a cup or so, blend it and then return it to the pan, but in general . . .


I vote for chunky soup.

How about you?

As a side note, I prefers most things chunky, especially chunky butches,(blush), but that is way off subject.

Smooches,
Keri

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeorgiaMa'am (Post 1298902) A bologna sandwich and cream of tomato soup. Tonight will likely be the same.

Georgia, when I read your post about cream of tomato soup, I right away wanted some too. I don't much like (canned) tomato soup, but the idea of fresh tomatoes cooking in a creamy sauce sounded wonderful. I confess I had never heard of cream of tomato soup before.


I found a simple recipe on line and cooked it tonight. It wasn't as good as I believed it would be. I'm hoping you can help me figure out how to improve it. I sauteed 1 cup of onions, 1/2 cup of corn cut right off the cob and about !/4 c fresh mushrooms in butter till the onions started to brown a little. I added 2 Tb flour and two cups milk to make a roux, then I added 2 cups chopped fresh beefsteak tomatoes. and allowed it to simmer for about 20 minutes. I added very small amounts of the following spices: black pepper, ground ginger, a bay leaf, paprika (not smoky) and dried parsley. There is quite a bit left, so I'm hoping it will be better after the ingredients gel overnight. I mean, it wasn't horrible or anything, it just didn't "wow" me the way I thought it would. I didn't add the sugar the recipe called for because I didn't want it sweet, and I don't cook with salt, so I left that out as well.


Can you figure out what I can do to improve it? Thanks for your help.
Smooches.

Keri

I can’t help but think of people who don’t have a place to cook a meal or food to eat or clean water to drink. So far, out here in the Pacific Northwest we have not had horrifying weather conditions, like elsewhere. We did have serious fires back in 2020 and we’ve had a couple of very damaging winter days that wrecked peoples lives in small scale ways, but we’ve not suffered much out here. Yet. I worry about it all the time: will it be an earthquake that makes the volcano (s) blow or will it be a killer tsunami event that makes the Columbia River turn into an inland sea/ocean??? I have nightmare like nights, some nights.

My heart hurts for the suffering people are enduring out on the east coast and down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s a link to an organization that is feeding people in high impact weather event zones: https://wck.org/. (World Central Kitchen)

They are on site in Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Gaza, Lebanon, Israel and Ukraine, and other hurricane ravaged sites.

—————————.

I’m drinking water right now, but I had a turkey on rye half sandwich earlier.

Dinner Tonight
 

Fried filet of cod with a side of long grain and wild rice and steamed green beans. Ice tea.

Tonight I took one of the organic chicken breasts I roasted the other day and I shredded it and put it in my crock pot to make a navy bean chicken chili. Lime and fresh cilantro is all I had to get at the produce stand today ($2 bucks). Nothing like a bowl of warm chili to satisfy your hunger. :)

Here’s the recipe I used: https://www.thechunkychef.com/slow-c...chicken-chili/

🌧️👗❣️

Dinner
 

BBQ spare ribs with tater tots. Ice tea.

Dinner
 

Pasta with Alfredo sauce and added shrimp and scallops which I had, plus chopped broccoli. Was good if I say so myself. Ice tea.

iamkeri, I have to admit I can't help you with your cream of tomato soup because I eat the canned kind (Campbell's). I really love it and eat it often. It is a little sweet, so it might not be what you're looking for either.

Also, I like both chunky and pureed soups. It just depends on what flavor it is.

* * *

Tonight it was a Five Guys burger and fries kind of night. We're both too tired from a day of traveling home from vacation to cook.

(While on vacation, I had a large variety of shrimp and fish - the best was a garlic and white wine sautéed shrimp with a light cream sauce. Also two charcoal grilled steaks - our inn had grills to borrow outside on the decks.)

Dinner
 

My brother and I went out to the Halibut House for dinner. Delicious fish and chips and lots of chat.