Tuesday, December 3, 2024, dinner?

[medtran49]

Tovala meals of penne and Italian meatballs with marinara. I ate 2/3 of mine and Craig got rest plus his bowl.

 

[GinnyPNW]

Great minds and all that...I'm making spaghetti and meat sauce...(thank you Mrs. Horowitz, 7th grade Home Ec teacher)...we'll have a Caesar's salad too.

 

[pictonguy]

Angela wanted alfredo so I made some and keeping with the pasta theme, who knew.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Tovala meals of penne and Italian meatballs with marinara. I ate 2/3 of mine and Craig got rest plus his bowl.

My ex wife has a Tovala, too. You are only the second person I've seen with one of those. She likes hers quite a bit.

I had leftover Thai shrimp curry for dinner.

 

[dragnlaw]

After fasting from Monday after breakfast, (I think we all know what that was for) got home today around 2 pm and did a big fry up of my typical breakfast. Bacon, Mushrooms, Shallot, Eggs. Today was on a split and toasted Englis Muffin.
Nibbled on another toasted English Muffin later with some Goat Brie and Blackberry Jam. Breakfast Lunch & Dinner all rolled into one.

 

[pepperhead212]

Today I made a one dish meal in the Instant Pot, using about 3 cups of canned tomatoes, and about the equivalent of 3/4 c of dried ones, plus about the equivalent of a lb of dried eggplant. I had a lb of sweet Italian sausage I had to use up, which is what got me thinking about making something Italian, plus I wanted to use some of that basil, since it's been a while since I had some!

I put the dried EP and tomatoes to soak in hot water, then I cooked the sausage separately, and set it aside. Then I cooked a medium chopped onion in a little olive oil on Sauté until soft, then added 4 minced cloves of garlic, cooked a minute, then added about 4 tb of Kalamata paste, the dried tomatoes, blended smooth with the soaking water, plus 3 cups more, and the crushed tomatoes in the jar, and the drained EP, with some marjoram and about a third of the basil, chopped up, and simmered about 25 minutes. Then I stirred in the cooked sausage, a little more salt and hot pepper flakes, and stirred in a lb of pasta shells and a half cup of moong dal, hit stop, put lid on, and set for 2 minutes on Manual (I usually set for 3, but this has more to heat up), and when finished, release heat quickly. Then I stir in the remaining basil.
First harvest of the basil from the hydroponics. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

A pasta sauce in the Instant Pot, with canned tomatoes and dried tomatoes, with dried eggplant, with sweet sausage and olive paste. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The sauce cooked down with a third of the basil, and the dried eggplant, then the sausage and pasta added, before setting for 2 minutes. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished pasta, with the last 2/3 of the basil, ready to stir in. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

First bowl of pasta, with a little more basil. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[taxlady]

I made a salad of green crisp lettuce, red oakleaf lettuce, red onion, cucumber, and peas and corn kernels straight out of the freezer. I used some of the new batch of vinaigrette on it. Pretty good and low effort.

 

[Jade Emperor]

Crispy Skin Salmon with Asian Greens and Black Rice, Lemon Cream Sauce

 

[medtran49]

My ex wife has a Tovala, too. You are only the second person I've seen with one of those. She likes hers quite a bit.

I had leftover Thai shrimp curry for dinner.

I like it a lot too. A meal is enough to more than enough for me, though I will add a green vegetable to the meals that are just protein and carbs of some kind. Very little to no prep and the meals are good to really good for the most part. There have been very, very few meals that we didn't like at all. Granted, more expensive than scratch cooking, but way less than ordering out.

 

[HeyItsSara]

LEFTOVERS FROM monday.

 

[Andy M.]

On Tuesday night our daughter and her partner took us out to dinner at a nice restaurant on the water in a nearby boating community. The focus was on seafood. dinner offerings are often too much for SO and me so we tend to focus on getting a couple of appetizers. I had no idea the appetizers at this place were so big! I did the best I could. Honest.

ALE-BATTERED CRISPY OYSTER PO' BOY SLIDERS
YUZU KOSHO REMOULADE | SWEET GINGER-PICKLED FENNEL BUTTERED POTATO ROLLS | SPICED CUCUMBER SCALLION PETITE SALAD

TRUFFLE FRIES
AGED PARMESAN | CHIVES

SHRIMP CEVICHE & GUACAMOLE
TOASTED CUMIN CORN TORTILLAS

 

[Jade Emperor]

These are appetisers ??? WOW!
I really dislike restaurants where the business model is to serve stupidly large portions of generally low quality food at “reasonable” prices. The amount of food wasted is staggering, at a time when food poverty is at an all time high.
In my city, we have venues where the competition is on to offer the biggest schnitzel meals for a very few dollars. I’m not kidding when I tell you that I have seen some places using platter sized tableware and the schnitzel is literally hanging over the edges. Very disturbing.

 

[pictonguy]

These are appetisers ??? WOW!
I really dislike restaurants where the business model is to serve stupidly large portions of generally low quality food at “reasonable” prices. The amount of food wasted is staggering, at a time when food poverty is at an all time high.
In my city, we have venues where the competition is on to offer the biggest schnitzel meals for a very few dollars. I’m not kidding when I tell you that I have seen some places using platter sized tableware and the schnitzel is literally hanging over the edges. Very disturbing.

Your describing most restaurants and why I really don't bother eating out much, especially lately with the crazy price increases in the last year or so.

 

[Jade Emperor]

My favourite restaurants have a good handle on satisfying portions at acceptable prices. @pictonguy you are right, the price increases over the past few years has been concerning, making dining out more of a luxury. Even putting a nice meal using quality ingredients on the table is expensive now.
I think we are seeing more people exploring “peasant” food options. More community gardens, more staples (pasta, rice etc), more secondary meat cuts as choice. The move towards a more sustainable way of eating, including cost, should in theory lead to some innovative food trends. I hope this is the case.

 

[taxlady]

My favourite restaurants have a good handle on satisfying portions at acceptable prices. @pictonguy you are right, the price increases over the past few years has been concerning, making dining out more of a luxury. Even putting a nice meal using quality ingredients on the table is expensive now.
I think we are seeing more people exploring “peasant” food options. More community gardens, more staples (pasta, rice etc), more secondary meat cuts as choice. The move towards a more sustainable way of eating, including cost, should in theory lead to some innovative food trends. I hope this is the case.

Unfortunately, every time I see chefs discover secondary meat cuts, the price of those cuts of meat goes up and the poor people who were relying on the cheaper cuts are left with fewer affordable meat choices. I'm sure that happens with fish too, but with fish it's probably species, not cuts.

 

[Andy M.]

Unfortunately, every time I see chefs discover secondary meat cuts, the price of those cuts of meat goes up and the poor people who were relying on the cheaper cuts are left with fewer affordable meat choices. I'm sure that happens with fish too, but with fish it's probably species, not cuts.

YES! I have seen this happen more than once. e.g. short ribs and skirt steak used to be reasonably priced.

 

[taxlady]

YES! I have seen this happen more than once. e.g. short ribs and skirt steak used to be reasonably priced.

Oxtails, beef shanks

 

[taxlady]

The cheaper cuts getting more expensive because of chef's making them popular includes chicken wings. Around here, they went up to more expensive by weight than chicken breasts. They have become much more reasonable again.

 

[dragnlaw]

I agree totally! Soup bones were practically free! Suet same. When it comes right down to it even ground beef. Stewing beef same price as some lesser steaks.

 

[msmofet]

The price of cauliflower is ridiculous now.