What's For Dinner? - 2020

[Winchester]

First time heating up the oil for fondue. Guess I had it up too high. I was talking to my husband and the dog started barking. Turned around and one whole side of the kitchen was engulfed in flames. Cabinets, range hood, and stove.

Husband and I grabbed fire extinguisher. I was in such shock, I never deployed the extinguisher. Husband emptied his and then grabbed mine and emptied it.

I told my husband that I knew he must love me because he didn't yell at me for burning down the kitchen. He did make me go to Walmart though for another coffee pot because he needed his coffee in the morning. I was covered in soot but I went.

klunick Oh my dear sweet Lord. You guys were so lucky. Your husband is a saint. Oh Rick would have done the same thing. But after it was over? Well, he wouldn't have yelled at me, but there would have been some kind of lecture. Bless your husband's heart for needing his coffee! I'm glad it was just the kitchen. And I'm sure you had a nice remodel from it!

neely You know, lizzie has a really good point about checking web sites for your discontinued part. And it's definitely worth a shot. I know your oven is 22 years old, but you never know what you're going to find out there.

Dinner was so good last night....I didn't have to cook. First time ever using curb-side service and it worked out well. I had a bone-in rib eye and Rick had ribs. We went with Texas Roadhouse instead of Longhorn. All that was missing was my margarita with the 1800 tequila kicker!

Tonight is "clean out the fridge" night. Leftovers from last night, rest of the mac and cheese, etc.

 

[Winchester]

M maggiedemi Not knowing your stove, I would say to put water, milk, margarine or butter, etc. to a boil (highest heat). When it starts to boil (lots of bubbles breaking on the surface), add the noodles (and your drained beans) and then turn the heat down to about 5 (don't put a lid on the pan unless the directions instruct you to). Continue to cook at around 4 or 5 for the time stated on your package. Then turn your burner off and let it set for 2-3 minutes. That setting time is what should help your dish to thicken a bit. Are you letting your dish set for a few minutes?

Are you using skim milk? Often when I'm making something with skim milk, the food won't thicken as well bc the milk is so much thinner than whole milk. You can adjust accordingly by reducing the amount of water a wee bit.

FWIW: On my electric stove....my burners start out at LOW, then 1-9, then HIGH.
LOW to 1 - is a bare simmer. You might see a bubble on the surface of the food every once in a while.
2 to 3 - is a simmer. You'll see smaller bubbles breaking through the surface. I would consider 2 to be Medium-Low
4 to 6 - You're going to see more bubbles breaking through more frequently. I consider 5 to be a Medium heat.
7 - Medium-High heat. You're going to see lots of bubbles at this point. And, if you don't stir your food, depending on what it is, it could scorch (not a good thing)
8 to 9 - You're heading toward a pretty high heat. Again, we're talking easily scorched food, if you're not careful. Bubbles are really breaking through and the bubbles are larger.
High - You're got boiling liquid.

If a recipe says, boil for 5 minutes than turn the heat down, I'd boil on HIGH for the 5 minutes, then turn the heat down to about 4 or so for the rest of the time. Don't forget to stir the food; you can tell by stirring if the food is starting to scorch/burn on the bottom of the pan. For some foods (and I'd say your packet is one of them), you need to get your liquid to BOIL. Why? Because sometimes boiling is what starts the whole cooking process (noodles, pasta). The liquid starts to boil and you add your food. Let it boil for a couple minutes, then you turn your heat down to continue the cooking process. Don't put a lid on because you want some of the liquid to evaporate during cooking.

And let it set. Just walk away for a couple minutes.

I hope I'm making sense.

 

[klunick]

klunick Oh my dear sweet Lord. You guys were so lucky. Your husband is a saint. Oh Rick would have done the same thing. But after it was over? Well, he wouldn't have yelled at me, but there would have been some kind of lecture. Bless your husband's heart for needing his coffee! I'm glad it was just the kitchen. And I'm sure you had a nice remodel from it!

neely You know, lizzie has a really good point about checking web sites for your discontinued part. And it's definitely worth a shot. I know your oven is 22 years old, but you never know what you're going to find out there.

Dinner was so good last night....I didn't have to cook. First time ever using curb-side service and it worked out well. I had a bone-in rib eye and Rick had ribs. We went with Texas Roadhouse instead of Longhorn. All that was missing was my margarita with the 1800 tequila kicker!

Tonight is "clean out the fridge" night. Leftovers from last night, rest of the mac and cheese, etc.

No real remodel. Because the house was only three years old, they still made our cabinets so we just got replacements for the ones that burned. Got a new stove and microwave and flooring but that was it. My husband picked the flooring and it was just as bad as the previous one which he also picked out. He joked that I burned the kitchen because I had been talking about how much I hated our coil stove and really wanted a glass top one. Guess what I got??

 

[catapault]

Mamanyt1953 About your vertigo - Several weeks ago I had vertigo when getting out of bed. Things were whirling around and I could not keep my balance. Fine the rest of the day so it might have been a different issue than yours. "Grit" in my inner ear was out of place. Situation easily resolved with some simple head positioning "exercises" for a couple of days and has not reoccurred.

It's called Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you're spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Thank you, C catapault , but mine isn't positional, or MOST of it isn't! I do the positioning exercises regularly, and it cuts out about 20% of the attacks. I'LL TAKE THAT WITH THANKS!

So I will make due with the stovetop and crock pot for now but seriously considering a new oven since our old one was 22 years old.

22 YEARS OLD? Good grief! Are you taking it to the dump, or burying it in the backyard with a headstone engraved, "Farewell, ye good and faithful servant!"?

Well. I should have been in bed 3 hours ago, but I'm glued to election returns, so YOUR "tonight" is my "tomorrow night," and I have no clue, but it will be something I can manage while half asleep! Regardless of when I get to sleep, I MUST be up by 5 PM, or the Outsiders (the ferals I feed) will riot!

 

[neely]

22 YEARS OLD? Good grief! Are you taking it to the dump, or burying it in the backyard with a headstone engraved, "Farewell, ye good and faithful servant!"?

I love your wit and sense of humor! No, not taking the oven to the dump but if you think that's old I hesitate to tell you how old my other appliances are especially the microwave. It's obvious they don't make things like they used to.

Meeting friends for lunch, outside dining so plenty of social distance room. I plan to get the roasted veggie salad and hopefully will have some leftovers for dinner.

 

[maggiedemi]

Yikes. I know I've been jokingly encouraging you to learn to like sweets, but that's a bit much, even for me.

It took 2 days, but me and dad finished all the desserts. I don't like cookies, pie, cake, or candy much. But I did like caramel apples, muffins, and Butterfingers. So...progress? I want to sample donuts & ice cream next. And maybe a danish.

Are you using skim milk?

I've tried whole milk and 2% with these packets. It's 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup milk. Okay thanks, I'll try turning it down to notch 4 after boiling.

Breakfast: Piece of wedding cake with frosting, and piece of iced pumpkin cake.

Lunch: Peanut butter muffin and I stole Dad's last piece of apple pie.

Dinner: 3 Thomas corn muffins with butter and vanilla peppermint sugar.

So basically nothing nutritious the whole dang day. But all the sweets are gone.

 

[lizzie]

klunick Oh my dear sweet Lord. You guys were so lucky. Your husband is a saint. Oh Rick would have done the same thing. But after it was over? Well, he wouldn't have yelled at me, but there would have been some kind of lecture. Bless your husband's heart for needing his coffee! I'm glad it was just the kitchen. And I'm sure you had a nice remodel from it!

neely You know, lizzie has a really good point about checking web sites for your discontinued part. And it's definitely worth a shot. I know your oven is 22 years old, but you never know what you're going to find out there.

Dinner was so good last night....I didn't have to cook. First time ever using curb-side service and it worked out well. I had a bone-in rib eye and Rick had ribs. We went with Texas Roadhouse instead of Longhorn. All that was missing was my margarita with the 1800 tequila kicker!

Tonight is "clean out the fridge" night. Leftovers from last night, rest of the mac and cheese, etc.

And I have to add this as well to what I said about looking for your part yourself Neely.I know,as I'm sure we all do,that there are disreputable repairmen out there.I don't feel for a single moment that the guy I use is one of them,but...I want to know if what he's charging me is on point and that I'm not being scalped too badly,and I have to say my guy has been right on the money.It makes me feel good to know that,and maybe next time I won't check up on him.But I can,and you can too,and they don't ever have to know.Peace of mind I guess is what I'm trying to say.

 

[lizzie]

Tonight was the leftover pork chops and stuffing,and I had a sliced tomato.So sad...there's only one left !

 

[rubysmama]

Baked beans and a slice of bread last night, plus an apple for dessert. Not sure about tonight yet.

It took 2 days, but me and dad finished all the desserts. I don't like cookies, pie, cake, or candy much. But I did like caramel apples, muffins, and Butterfingers. So...progress? I want to sample donuts & ice cream next. And maybe a danish.

Progress? LOL. You must not hate the sweets, if you managed to eat all of that. And you will end up having some you like more than others. And with baked goods, homemade is usually way better than store bought. So maybe over the winter you should try experimenting with baking.

So basically nothing nutritious the whole dang day. But all the sweets are gone.

In case I didn't mention it, sweets are supposed to be the final course of a meal, not all 3 courses!!! Also, eating them in moderation, makes them last longer. Though if you find something you really love, which in my case is ice cream, it's hard to not keep eating it till it's gone. That's why I rarely buy ice cream anymore.

 

[lizzie]

I haven't started cooking as of yet,but we're having pecan smoked polish sausage,mimi's green beans and potatoes of some sort...haven't decided just what yet.Yesterday I made cream cheese meltaway cookies and gave half the batch to my neighbor...she was out brush hogging our pasture...so I'd imagine that's going to be dessert.

 

[rubysmama]

Lentil soup, some crackers, and an apple. Oh, and a couple blocks of chocolate bar for my sweet tooth.

 

[muffy]

Lentil soup, some crackers, and an apple. Oh, and a couple blocks of chocolate bar for my sweet tooth.

I love lentil soup. Do you make your own or do you use canned soup? I like Amy's lentil soup.

For dinner tonight I was suppose to get a taco. All I got was a little bit of lettuce, tomato and some chedder cheese with a container of sour cream and sausa. No shell. That was not much of a dinner so I added rice I had leftover from lunch and opened a can of pinto beans and added some of them and it was very tasty.

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Just had a Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. Yum!

 

[maggiedemi]

So maybe over the winter you should try experimenting with baking.

Yeah, if I could make dessert with way less sugar, then I would probably like it more. Store bought dessert is way too sweet! I'm thinking I might have liked that apple pie if I had put it in the toaster oven to warm and crisp up? I read in the reviews that some people add butter to store bought desserts.

Just had a Chicken Pot Pie for dinner.

Yum. I love pot pie more than regular pie!

Breakfast: Finished up the Thomas corn muffin toaster cake thingys. They are pretty good, like instant cornbread, but shaped like little round pancakes. I put butter & vanilla peppermint sugar on them. It said a serving is 1, but they are tiny, so I had 3!

Lunch: Veggie sammich on Thomas wheat bagel untoasted. I can't wait until these are gone, they taste terrible. Mayo, habanero sauce, kidney beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, crackers, and spicy ghost pepper cheese that I sliced up.

Dinner: Huge dinner plate salad with Aldi California Red French dressing. Lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, orange bell pepper, sundried tomatoes packed in oil, pickles, avocado, crystalized ginger, sweet potato tortilla chips, wheat crackers, walnuts, flaxseed/chia seed, diced ghost pepper cheese.

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Yeah, if I could make dessert with way less sugar, then I would probably like it more. Store bought dessert is way too sweet! I'm thinking I might have liked that apple pie if I had put it in the toaster oven to warm and crisp up? I read in the reviews that some people add butter to store bought desserts.



Yum. I love pot pie more than regular pie!

Breakfast: Finished up the Thomas corn muffin toaster cake thingys. They are pretty good, like instant cornbread, but shaped like little round pancakes. I put butter & vanilla peppermint sugar on them. It said a serving is 1, but they are tiny, so I had 3!

Lunch: Veggie sammich on Thomas wheat bagel untoasted. I can't wait until these are gone, they taste terrible. Mayo, habanero sauce, kidney beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, crackers, and spicy ghost pepper cheese that I sliced up.

Dinner: Huge dinner plate salad with Aldi California Red French dressing. Lettuce, tomato, onion, orange bell pepper, yummy sundried tomatoes packed in oil, pickles, avocado, sweet potato tortilla chips, wheat crackers, walnuts, flaxseed/chia seed.

Chicken pot pies are one of my favorites. Just love them!

 

[LTS3]

Yeah, if I could make dessert with way less sugar, then I would probably like it more. Store bought dessert is way too sweet!

There are cookbooks for baking with less sugar. You can probably find some at the local library. Probably not an e-book version though. Here's a list:

Chowhound - The Site for Food Nerds: Cooking Tips, Culinary How-To's, & More.

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I had supermarket fried chicken for dinner with some microwave Uncle Ben's rice. A lazy dinner.

 

[Willowy]

Just had a Chicken Pot Pie for dinner. Yum!

Now that sounds good, I think I'm going to do that too!

 

[neely]

We got Thai food tonight. I had Pad Woon Sen - glass noodles, broccoli, carrots, peapods, onion, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and egg). Honeycrisp apple for dessert.

 

[strider rose]

i had some pizza from a place called hungry howies lol