Normally for Christmas breakfast we have bagels and lox. However since we were away over Christmas we never got to use the lox we had bought. I figured why not have it for dinner? So we did. We wished each other a merry Christmas and chowed down the bagel of our choice ( I had rye, John had pumpernickel, and Sarah had super onion), with toppings of cream cheese, capers, red onion, and lox. Yum! What a delicious and unexpected dinner!
Lots of people like sweet dishes. I am not one of them. If you are like me I would suggest cutting the raisins to a quarter cup ot less in the recipe
Moroccan style chicken and chickpeas
We were all looking forward to grilled hamburgers. All the rain and chilly temperatures had made grilling outside unfeasible lately. When John went to turn on the grill nothing happened. The propane tank was empty. We had a spare in the garage but it was too dark to get it hooked up. I suggested that he pan fry them. So that is what he did.
The hamburgers turned out great but what a mess! Grease had spattered everywhere. We enjoyed the hamburgers and salad. John said he would clean up. What a guy! This morning first thing he hooked up the new propane tank so we wouldn’t have to go through that mess again!
The meatballs are hidden under all the spaghetti.
This dinner was a sub for the fresh ravioli that spent too long in the fridge and got moldy. It was too bad but any (non-moldy) pasta dinner is A-OK with me. Boxed spaghetti, frozen meatballs, and jarred sauce made a perfectly acceptable dinner for us.
Occasionally frozen tuna steaks go on sale at the local grocery stores. I usually snap up a few and keep them in my freezer until we are in the mood for tuna. John marinates them in soy sauce, ginger and garlic powders, and salt for 15 to 30 minutes. He heats up a tablespoon of neutral flavored oil in a frying pan and cooks them for 3 to 4 minutes a side depending on how thick they are.
We served these with rice and broccoli that I sauteed in a pan with a splash of water, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, a teaspoon of butter, chili flakes, and salt. It felt like we were eating a fancy dinner at a restaurant!
John and I typically go out to lunch about every two weeks. Our restaurant of choice has been Bangkok 101. We love Thai food and especially Thai basil eggplant with tofu. We were really looking forward to it last week since we have been away over the holidays and were really craving our favorite dish. You can imagine our dismay when we arrived at the restaurant and it had closed. There was a big sign saying Indian Restaurant Coming Soon. Nooooo!
In the same little strip mall there is another restaurant, Mom’s Pho and Banh Mi. Obviously not Thai but we like pho and banh mi so we figured why not? I ordered the vegetable pho and it was truly great. The broth was delicious and the bowl was full of cabbage, carrots, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, and noodles. I added bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, and jalapeño from the dish of accompaniments. WOW.
We still need to find a new Thai restaurant but it is nice to know we have a delicious fallback.
Tonight we have tilapia tacos with all the fixings. We get our tilapia frozen in a bag of portion sized pieces from Costco. John thaws the two pieces overnight in the refrigerator and cooks the pieces in a little oil in a large frying pan. Broken in half they fit into two tortillas that he sears over an open flame on the stovetop.
My job is to make the fixings. I use the liquid from a can of Rotel to spice up the beans along with a shake of cumin and chipotle powder. While the beans heat up and the fish cooks I chop up a piece of red onion, an avocado, and a mango. I shred some cabbage. We serve the tacos with the tomatoes from the can of Rotel and a wedge of lime. This is a quick dinner that your whole family can enjoy.
On Wednesday Sarah made a delicious lasagna. The large 9×13 dish held enough for two dinners.
Sarah made a traditional lasagna with ground beef, tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheeses. It was delicious. We were really glad to have a second lasagna dinner on Thursday!
Omnivore 