What are you having for dinner?

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Old people tend to lose their taste. It's unfortunate, as their other sensual capabilities and options also shut down over time, bringing food to the forefront as one of the most lasting sensual pleasures they can enjoy. Few older people I've ever known, and I've known very many, don't tend to close down into themselves sooner or later. That's exhibited in food as much as anywhere.

Tonight I took out some quinoa I made yesterday in my rice cooker with some butter, chopped onion, sliced garlic and the tiniest pinch of saffron, which dissolved during the cooking. Couldn't even see the saffron. Maybe a waste. But good lord was that rice cooker, fully cleaned and dried, aromatic all night! Maybe it really did matter?

I caramelized some onions and added some chopped green onions, with worchestershire(sp???), soy sauce, thinly sliced leftover real ham, and some chopped thinly shaved carrot slices, dried thyme, as well as the last small part of a jar of commercial spaghetti sauce. Waste not want not. Cooked the rawness out of it.

I already had a big bowl of quinoa, which was tossed with some garlic powder, soy, raw green onions, raw regular onions, and raw carrot shavings. Filled the remaining frying pan space with that, tossed it all well, cooked till well warmed. Looked like fried rice. I didn't add egg because Chef John at Food Wishes says egg doesn't go well with quinoa ... though I've had it before and am not fully convinced.

Anyway, heated some nice pink pork tenderloin chunks reheated by putting its plastic bag in a pot of steaming hot water for a while. Didn't want to overcook it. When warm but still pink, sliced it super thin and put it on a bed of that quinoa mix on each plate.

Really nice, and though we ate through the last of the pork, the rest of the quinoa is still ready for left-over meals, and as good as any fried rice I've ever had.
 
A smoker! always a great piece of equipment! Even old I bet it cranks out good meats.

funny you want new tastes, I kinda don't now. I want simple basic food, like just a rack of ribs, I don't even want sauces on it. I do like to taste jump tho. I might make a big amt of taco meat, double up on taco spice almost so when I eat it, I know it LOL

My hubby just did a big old pot of pintos with some ham bones in it and he was in heaven.

Can't go wrong with southern cooking :)
 
Xertyz, you forgot about the big slice of fresh tomato from the garden. Sounds like a perfect meal to me


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I have eaten simple meals all my life. When I go to my sisters, she always cooks something fancy and new to me. I eat it to be polite but really wouldn't fix anything like it for myself, much less order it in a restaurant. I have never eaten what is considered healthy either. I have never gotten "tired" of the things I like and just eat them in rotation. All my likes are simple, burgers, meatloaf, steaks, pork loins, seafood (fried), ham with simple sides. Almost forgot chili! I don't eat much chicken but will get some fried chicken on occasion or make a chicken salad sandwich.
 
Boneless Chicken Breast cooked in butter and garlic woth some fresh spinach and a hand full of radishes thrown in. Grilled Bok Choy left from last night. Not very exciting but it does the job.
 
Had a bag of those colorful, small sized bell peppers that needed to be used up but no idea what I was going to make until I got started opening the fridge and cupboard.

Found a bag of buckwheat Sobo noodles in the pantry. Had a chicken breast. Cooked the peppers first in the skillet with some pepper and a few herbs and garlic leaving them slightly cruchy. Then cut the chicken up and cooked it over heat in the skillet so it stayed soft and tender. Took out the check but left the broth and added some soy sauce, a teaspoon of chinese hot mustard, the last quarter inch of a jar of pepper jelly, a splash of balsamic vinegar, tablespoon of brown sugar. Tossed it all together in a bowl.

It hit all the right spots that satisfy most people's taste buds, a little fat, some salt, the acid of the vinegar, the sweet and just a little bit of heat. The buckwheat noodles had a subtle flavor a little different than rice or other pastas. My friend enjoyed it. Slices of mango for desert went nicely with the dinner.
 
Scrambled Eggs with Green Onion and a can of Tuna added. Pot of Green Tea. :p
 
Sounds good, maki2 and also the chicken breast sounds good, jackie.

Went to Chef John on youknowwhattube and found his recipe for sweet potato and black bean chili. It was really good. I thought without meat, a chili couldn't satisfy, but this did just fine. I invited a couple people to join me and both liked it; one couldn't stop saying good things and that I should save a bowl for one of our friends to come eat it some other day. Chef John has a lot of good recipes.

It was fairly simple, but did require an oven to firm up the sweet potatoes before stirring them into the sauce and beans. That was recommended so they wouldn't turn into mush during the ordinary long slow cooking you do when making chili. I think you could do the same thing in a frying pan, but then you would have to do it in batches, and that would become pretty time-consuming if you were making very much of it.

Still, though it doesn't sound like chili, it did use the standard chili powder plus cumin, and a jar of canned mild green peppers. Garlic and onion rounded it out. I forgot to add the tomatoes, but the recipe didn't suffer for it. Oh, also added, as per the recipe, a tablespoon of raw cacao(chocolate) powder. I got it long ago to put in my coffee and it goes real slow, so I had some around.

Had a nice cucumber, green onion, and avocado salad on the side.
 
simple tonight as usual

garlic butter basted shrimp skewer on grill along with a nice small sirloin steak. love grilling!
 
Grilled Chicken Thighs with a Ginormous Bowl of Mustard Greens with Hot Pepper Vinegar. Needless to say I am currently sprawled out on the Living Room floor in front of a fan.. asking myself Why...Why did you do that...
 
Chicken thighs, rice and vegetables prepared by master camp chef Abnorm! It was YUMMY and the rice was cooked perfectly for me to gum. Damn I'm going to miss him this summer!
 
tonight is 4 super thin cut pork chops with a smidge of Cajun seasoning. Love them so thin, they fry up so fast and crispy, the way I like. maybe some bacon and eggs for brunch time if hungry....right now looks like a dinner only day. I love when I am just not hungry LOL
 
At my son's for dinner..Sockeye Salmon with Spinach amd Mushrooms. It was so good..did not want a glutinous repeat of last night so I bought home a doggie bag ( I'm the Doggie ) it's enough for lunch tomorrow.
 
Tuna fish patties -- cilantro, some lemon juice and zest, chopped green onions, sliced water chestnuts, and eggs to bind it Dipping sauce of seasoned rice vinegar, some more lemon juice, a squirt of soy, and cilantro. Some salad on the side.

It does take a bit of a pantry to put it all together, but overall super simple to make and not expensive. Water chestnuts sounds expensive but they are a bit over a buck a can for more than you might even want to use. Tuna is tuna. I've used cilantro in the last three meals for 50 cents combined.
 
jacklelop, you had me cracking up that you are the doggie :)


tonight is simple
sautéed chicken in alfredo sauce
I might get wild and add a little mushroom and broccoli florets into the mix. will see. don't require them in any way but every now and then I like to eat them.
brunch time food...hmm, not that hungry again so maybe a protein shake if wanted. I don't care.
 
RoamerRV428...Sometimes I have make myself laugh. Glad I made you Chuckle


Tonight I'm having a small Ribeye Steak with a little Blue Cheese on top and a side of Sliced Cukes. Green Tea to wash it all down.
 
Sounds delicious, jacklelop.

Made some quinoa salad, but for tomorrow. Added the usual beans, olives, vinegar and oil, pepperocini, some leftover bacon chopped fine, caramelized onions, raw green onions, thyme, garlic. Right into the fridge after tasting for seasoning.

For tonight, made those Starbucks-type eggs. A dozen eggs, half cup or more of cottage cheese, for regular cheese only a sharp cheddar I shredded up, lots of caramelized onions deglazed with soy sauce, a fair bit of thyme, and some raw sliced green onions for some color. Had some leftover bacon and sprinkled just a few tiny chopped pieces on top of each egg thingy before cooking. I wanted to experiment with not using a blender this time ... and it came out no worse for it. I won't bother using a blender again. I think small-curd cottage cheese probably makes a difference here, which I like the best.

I used this, from Amazon, to cook the eggs in. Two tablespoons per pocket or whatever you want to call it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076V9C817/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Lowered it into a frying pan that had about an inch of water in it and covered up. Takes a good while to cook these things, much more than you would think. Even oiling the pockets, the eggs aren't easy to get out until a good 15 minutes of steaming has passed, regardless of the temperature. After a long while, they do finally tend to separate from the sides, so that can be a definitive clue they're ready.

Pretty delicious, but worlds better when hot than cold. So eat fast. Reheat great, freeze well, and I was at a friend's house so I made lots and still had plenty leftover from the dozen eggs etc. The uncooked mix freezes very well too, if you just want to mix up a batch and break it into small portions for cooking later.
 
Grilled Chicken Breast tonight with some homemade Harissa on top. My neighbor made the Harrissa and Good night nurse is it spicy!!! But it tastes terrific I like spice...I like alot of spice but that one even made me sweat. My side was a bowl of Collerds(yum) dident need my usual hot pepper vinegar cause my mouth was getting a break between bites of that 5 alarm Harrissa. Hope everyone is having a wonderful dinner and a relaxing evening.
 
good info Ding.
I so get ya on some foods need to be eaten HOT. I am that way on ribeye steak. The amt of fat that is greasy, lardy in it means I need it very hot and it tastes fab, it starts to cool a bit and it seems fatty ***** lardy which I hate.

J, made ya sweat LOL that sounds a bit too scary for me to handle :)



tonight is our holiday meal.
Monday is a work day so today is party day

NY strip steaks on the grill
a lot of frozen snow crab legs for all of us to enjoy. melted butter obviously for dipping, yum

on grill for the family we got fresh corn also and hubby making his famous baked beans.

and the beer and all will be flowing thru the day HA
 
Calf's liver with heaps of sauteed onions and peppers, and rice pudding. Weird, I know. But it's is easy, nutritious, cheap,  popular with DH, helps clear up some stuff in the fridge. Added pkus is that I don't have to deal with the traffic and weekend crowded stores to shop. I have what I need.
 
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