John grilled the steak, I made the potato, and Sarah assembled the salad. Fast, easy, delicious dinner for a hot night.
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Grilled NY strip steak. 9/17/25
Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, Hot weather meals, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners
Tagged Beef, Grilling, potato, Salad, Steak
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Chicken ramen noodle salad – 9/16/25
Sarah made her dinner a couple of days early since she was making a salad and it is very hot here this Tuesday. She found a recipe for a ramen noodle salad which reminded her of the days when I used to make something similar. I looked through my blog but I have not made it since I started this blog in 2011. So I think I made it as a kid friendly dish probably before we moved to California some 30+ years ago.
The ramen noodles are used straight from the package and they soften somewhat in the vinaigrette. She used cabbage and kale for her greens, leftover rotisserie chicken chunks, shredded carrot, cucumber, and cherry tomatoes. It is a fun crunchy salad to eat and we got to talk about “the old days” when she and her brother were kids.
I cannot find a digital version of the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens but here is the recipe that she used. https://www.budgetbytes.com/ramen-noodle-salad/
Posted in American, Easy, Hot weather meals, Pasta, Poultry, Recipes, Salad, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners
Tagged chicken, ramen, Salad
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Hot dogs, Birthday, Menu, Classic chicken. 9/15/25
I have gotten behind so I am using today’s post to catch up.
Saturday, September 13, 2025. Hot dogs, spicy pinto beans, and salad
Sunday, September 14, 2025. John’s birthday Lunch at Posada
Monday, September 15, 2025. Weekly Menu
Monday, September 15, 2025. Classic chicken dinner
Posted in Miscellaneous
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Greek fisherman’s stew. 9/12/25
I made this a couple of weeks ago and it turned out really tasting good so I decided to make it again. Still good! There is some chopping and you have to wait for the potatoes to cook through but the whole prep and cooking time shouldn’t be more than an hour. I cut up my veg earlier in the afternoon so everything was ready to go when it came time to cook it. This time I added one russet potato to the mix thinking that it might thicken the juice a bit but I really did not see any difference so I think I will stick with the small Yukon gold potatoes that I do not have to peel. I also added some fresh tarragon that we can get from the community garden.
Posted in Fish, Mediterranean, pescatarian, Recipes, Vegetables
Tagged Greek, potatoes, tilapia
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Chili using Muir Glen Chili starter. 9/11/25
Sarah made this delicious chili using Muir Glen Chili Starter (medium spicy), browned ground beef, undrained black beans, and a little salt. That’s it and it was probably the best chili that we have had in a long time. Here’s a page from Muir Glen with info about their chili starter. https://www.muirglen.com/products/muir-glen-chili-starter
She found the 28 oz. can at Grocery Outlet for $.99 (yes, ninety-nine cents!) and bought two, one mild and one medium. She browned and drained the excess fat from the ground beef and added the tomatoes and beans. As extras on top she chopped up some onion and cilantro and served those separately with sour cream and tortilla chips. We just could not get over how good it was. We ate the whole pot!
Posted in Beef, Easy, Legumes, Southwest U.S., stew, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners
Tagged black beans, Chili starter, ground beef
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Spaghetti with homemade pesto. 9/10/25
Sarah’s community garden friend gave her bunches of basil . Rather than let it spoil I decided to make pesto. I used this recipe from loveandlemons.com. https://www.loveandlemons.com/pesto-recipe/
It is simple and the pesto turns out great. I would suggest, however, that you keep tasting it for salt level. I started with 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt and kept adding from there.
Since pasta with pesto does not happen very frequently at our house I was rewarded with “yum” from Sarah and a suggestion that I make it again soon from John.
Posted in Italian, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners
Tagged pasta, pesto
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Sicilian swordfish and zucchini 9/9/25
We have made this Sicilian dish a few times with both swordfish and tilapia. I think I like it better with tilapia. Cod would be a good choice too, especially Atlantic cod which is much more delicious than Pacific cod. The swordfish is harder to cook just right and last night’s was just a little over.
The sauce is delicious with whatever fish you cook and probably would be pretty tasty with chicken too. You can find the recipe here. https://www.seriouseats.com/agghiotta-di-pesce-spada-sicilian-braised-swordfish-with-tomatoes-and-olives-5212333
Posted in Fish, Italian, Mediterranean, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Vegetables
Tagged Fish, rice, swordfish, tomatoes, zucchini
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Hamburgers and salad. 9/8/25
As I look through the spring and summer months grilled hamburgers and salads pop up almost every week. With John grilling the burgers and me making a salad, it is quick, easy, and delicious!
Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, Hot weather meals, Salad, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners
Tagged hamburgers, Salad
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Seared tuna and stir-fry vegetables. 9/6/25
We occasionally buy these frozen pieces of tuna when they are on sale. Two 7-ounce portions at $5 each make a fancy but economical meal for the three of us. John marinates the tuna briefly in soy sauce and presses sesame seeds into the fish. He cooks it very briefly in a hot pan, only a couple of minutes on each side. While he is working on the fish I reheat some pre-made rice and briefly steam the vegetables. I have already put together a sauce for the vegetables.
Here is what I am thinking about the result of the vegetables. Steaming them for a couple of minutes and the reheating them with the sauce made the vegetables over-cooked. I tried using a stir-fry sauce that I found on NYTimes Cooking but I wasn’t happy with the results. The vegetables were just cooked too much in a sauce that did not taste particularity Asian. It is back to the drawing board for this dinner.
Omnivore 