Lamb chops with Brussels sprouts and rice

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Beebamom
Lamb chops with Brussels sprouts and rice

Lamb chops with Brussels sprouts and rice

As I have mentioned before lamb chops are not photogenic. John grilled them and I heated up the brown rice that we had earlier in the week and I also prepared the Brussels sprouts. In our family they are known as Incredibly Yummy Brussels Sprouts.

I made up the Brussels sprouts recipe myself! Here it is –

Take about 20 or so Brussels sprouts, trim the root end, and peel off undesirable outer leaves. Cut in half. Wash. Lay the sprouts cut side down in a pan. Add about 1/4 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and a sprinkling of sugar (not even an 1/8 of a teaspoon.) Take one or two teaspoons of cold butter and dot it around the pan. How much you use depends on how low in fat you want this to be. You do need some fat for the browning. Cover. Bring the water to a boil and cook for 4 or 5 minutes. The sprouts should still be a little underdone at this point. Take off the lid. Continue to boil rapidly. When there is just a little water left add a teaspoon or so of dry sherry. Let that boil away. Turn down the heat a little. Let the sprouts remain in the pan until the cut side is nicely brown. They will be sweet and delicious. The sugar aids in the browning and the sherry enhances the nuttiness of the sprouts.

Yum!

Yum!

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Penne, meatballs, tomato sauce, ho-hum – 2/23/17

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Beebamom
Penne with meatballs and tomato sauce

Penne with meatballs and tomato sauce

Boring. Easy. Quick. That about sums up Thursday’s dinner. The sauce was leftover and frozen from some previous Italian-inspired dinner and the meatballs come frozen in a bag. We cooked the penne.  It is embarrassing to post this but I need to keep the blog 100.

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Comfort curry – 2/22/17

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Beebamom
Curried chicken and rice with vegetables

Curried chicken and rice with vegetables

Having undergone the trauma of the past four days, we decided on some comfort food.  John made up his spice blend and cooked it in some oil with the onions, garlic, and ginger to round out the flavors. Then he added the pieces of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and the rice along with the raisins and carrots. After it had simmered until the rice and chicken were cooked through, he added the broccoli. A warm and comforting dish on a cold (but unrainy) night.

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Please just a normal dinner and no more driving – 2/21/17

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Beebamom

All we want is a normal dinner tonight. No more eating crap on the road. We decide to share a chicken breast, rice, and asparagus. I bought asparagus in St. George for $1.77 a pound (WOW). It made the return trip with us. I steamed it and put a pat of butter on top. I also prepared brown rice using the oven technique and added diced vegetables to it.  John sous vide the chicken breast. I added some BBQ sauce to mine.

The saga of the roof continues. Today a roofer came. He finds that we have two leaks and that is why it is still leaking. He will fix it on Saturday. At least there is no rain in the forecast before that. I am so done with the rain.

Chicken with rice and asparagus (plus the new issue of Milk Street!)

Chicken with rice and asparagus (plus the new issue of Milk Street!)

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On the road again, Part 2 – 2/20/17

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Beebamom

We arrived in SG around 2PM on Sunday. We plan a dinner of burgers but after having a late lunch decide that we are too full to eat dinner. We have an English muffin with peanut butter instead.

On Monday we get a text from our daughter. It has rained very hard and the roof is leaking big time. Shortly after lunch we get in the car and start the trip back to California. We stop again in Barstow. We eat again at Chili’s. I get the ancho salmon off their “light an healthy” menu. It’s pretty good but it seems like it should count for more than 590 calories. I give some to John.

Chili's ancho salmon with citrus rice and steamed broccoli

Chili’s ancho salmon with citrus rice and steamed broccoli

The plating was pretty messy.

After forgetting to turn my clock back to Pacific time, I set the alarm for 5:30 AM and we get up at 4:30 AM. After a quick cup of coffee we are in the car again and arrive home around noon on Tuesday. We are exhausted. We have driven around 1400 miles in the last four days. We are too old for this.

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On the road again – 2/18/17

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Beebamom

So we did not leave for St. George on Friday. We thought the leak in the roof was fixed but it was not. However, the crew came back on Friday afternoon and assured us that now they had really fixed it and so we left on Saturday. Our plan was to stay over in Barstow, CA and then drive the rest of the way on Sunday. The distance is 660 miles and that is a lot for the two of us to do in one day especially if we are driving east and losing an hour as we pass from Pacific to Mountain time.

One of the things we enjoy doing on our trips is to stop and have breakfast at McDonalds. Sometimes we get a McMuffin with no cheese but lately we have been getting the Big Breakfast which consists of scrambled eggs, an unbuttered toasted English muffin, a flat sausage patty, and a hash brown potato cake. DO NOT EAT THE HASH BROWNS!!  They are deliciously evil. I give mine to John.

McDonalds Big Breakfast

McDonalds Big Breakfast

That potato thingy in the upper left hand side of the picture? DO NOT EAT IT! They also give you some strawberry jam and butter.

Later we eat at Chili’s for dinner. It is right across the parking lot from our hotel. Because I already have had a lot to eat today, I just have a version of my “sad lunch.” Instead of the broccoli I have asparagus with my salad and shrimp.

I substituted asparagus for broccoli in my "sad" dinner salad

I substituted asparagus for broccoli in my “sad” dinner salad

Thus fortified we retired for the evening in preparation for the rest of the trip the next day.

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Fajitas and fixins’ – 2/16/17

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Beebamom
Steak fajitas, black beans, and rice

Steak fajitas, black beans, and rice

I am still trying to use up stuff in the refrigerator. We have so many tortillas! They don’t come in a package size for two people who don’t eat tortillas every night!! After tonight we will have fewer. I am also finishing up rice from Chinese takeout night. Some salsa and seasoning makes the rice seem less Chinese. This was a very filling dinner. Not really dining lite ☹️.

We will be eating on the road tomorrow. Next post on Saturday.

 

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Bits and pieces – 2/15/17

Posted on February 16, 2017 by Beebamom
Steak, waffle fries, rutabagas, asparagus, kale, and bernaise

Steak, waffle fries, rutabagas, asparagus, kale, and bernaise

What can I say? We are leaving on Friday and clearing out the refrigerator and freezer. BTW the asparagus was awesome!

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Angel hair pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs – 2/14/17

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Beebamom
Angel hair pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs

Angel hair pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs

I was not feeling well on Valentine’s Day so I just made something easy. Since we did not have a jar of spaghetti sauce, John made a sauce with some onions, garlic, tomato paste and jarred diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. It was fine.

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Lentil stew with kale and turkey sausage – 2/13/17

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Beebamom

For a vegan/vegetarian version of this dish omit the turkey sausage.

Lentil stew with carrots and turkey sausage on kale

Lentil stew with carrots and turkey sausage on kale

Here is an easy, fairly quick, and filling stew. Although we prepare it with turkey sausage, it is easily made omitting the sausage for a vegan dish.  First we sweat the onions and then add the celery, carrots, garlic, and turkey sausage. After picking over and washing the lentils, add them to the pot with enough water to cover by two inches. Add a bay leaf, a little thyme and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then lower to a simmer for about 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked through. I ladle out a couple of scoops onto a bed of kale and serve some bread along side. Drizzle the whole bowl with extra virgin olive oil.

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