Here's to good eats in the New Year!
My first dinner and post of the new year, now moved from the other...

Gee, I'm a fish lover of just about every kind. Catfish is good when fried. Well, actually, most everything is good to me when fried!

TT, thanks for the notion about cleaning the oven. I did that today. I was a perfect day for it here. Like you, I use the self-cleaning feature.

AG, ribs are a treat. It'll be a while before we'll be grilling again here.

Anna, lunch and dinner sound great. Plus, outstanding garlic bread is hard to beat! And not a word from Gene in months.

Here it was marinated lamb chops (garlic, rosemary, EVOO, lemon juice), with skillet potatoes with onion, sauteed spinach finished with balsamic, and served with a bit of tomato for color. It was a nice meal for the new year on this 8th day of Christmas. Blackstone Merlot.

Happy New Year!

Started 2021 with the covid vaccine!
And survived!

Hope anyone who wants it can get the vaccine soon!

Sean, thanks for telling me I inspired oven cleaning! So nice to open oven door and see it shining 😍!

I didn't use self cleaning mode.
I used baking soda and vinegar.
Now I need to get baking soda off!
Now mom tells me if I used cleaners, I may not be able to use self clean.
Anyone have info about this?

Anna, I agree with you about WM garlic and seasoned breads!
Also makes great grilled cheese!

AG, I am flattered you asked me about soup. Not really sure of ?.

I'm not much of a rib person.
However yours looked meaty and tasty 😋! I saw smoke ring!

I imagine some of the rib meat and veggies make Souper soup!

Looking forward to reading and seeing (wish I was tasting) tasty treats in 2021!

Everyone's foods look and sound fabulous! I have some nice shrimp, so thinking seriously of grilling them, they should cook quickly..... we will be having some really nice weather coming up and grilling when it's in the high 50 s outside is very comfortable, as long as the wind isn't whipping around.
So here's the pic of the Hopping John... sorry the pics so dark, I took it in the living room and didn't have many lights on. Turned out perfect, rich and chunky. Now to remember exactly how I made it! A lot of my cooking consists of throwing ingredients together with no measuring and no specific cooking time....

The movie was really great; it starred Kirsten Stewart and several other fine actors that I recognized from other movies. It was actually about a deep drilling effort in the Marianna Trench, 7 miles down, and the construction and the drilling stirred up some weird form of sea life.... I won't spoil it any further. Classic style monster movie, you don't really see the monster clearly until nearly the end of the movie.... the suspense builds and builds.... clearly a warning about deep sea exploration, as we don't really know what's down there. Not a movie for those who are claustrophobic. I highly recommend this movie.
Today will be leftover day, more peas, green salad, leftover potatoes. I will probably have to take some peas to friends, As usual, I made way too many for just two people!
Oh, I needed some celery but not a lot of it, and didn't want to buy a whole bunch and let the rest spoil, so I used dried celery leaves. Worked great.

Other than self clean, I've never cleaned an oven in my adult life. I remember doing it as a kid, with the nasty smelly spray oven cleaner. It was awful. Now, it's only self clean for me.

I haven't seen Gene around either. I hope he's OK.

Here's to a healthy 2021 for all of us.

Karen

Good morning all. Yes...happy 2021 to us all and hope it will be a good one.

Well it will be a long day for me. The husband has gone back to work today and will also be working tomorrow. Twelve hours each day (7-7) so I won't see him until almost 8 tonight. Then he will have the next two days off and repeat. I am sure he will find out more about receiving his vaccination today. I am hoping he will get it by Wednesday.

I'll get the house cleaning done and just live on left overs. There is still enough pork and pasta for another meal or two; ribs and rice and bean salad as well as chili I had just taken out of the freezer. That will keep us going for dinners and lunches the next few days before I need to even think of cooking again.

We have decided to start doing grocery delivery. Things are just too worrisome right now for us to be out even at the grocery store. We decided once a month is enough there and then only to pick up our Rxs and restock meat. Everything else we will have sent/delivered.

Sean....Lamb chops and potatoes look delicious! Thank you also for starting the 2021 thread.

Lynda....your dinner looks real nice. Hope you remember that recipe. Glad you enjoyed your movie. I have been watching 'The Queen's Gambit' on Netflix. Very good.

TT....As 'Queen of the Crock Pot' I thought for sure you would have had a handy-dandy recipe for me to whip up with all my left overs. Now I am not teasing you in a mean way but in a nice, fun way. You are so clever in transforming all your leftovers into crock pot meals and use it so often when you cook that I thought for sure you'd pull something out of your recipe repertoire for me. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

So New Years.........did anyone make any resolutions?

Aside from learning to work my new cell phone , trying to break one very bad health habit I have, the only other thing I am working on is something jointly with my husband. That is putting together small food boxes each month for the church's outreach committee to give to the food bank.

We don't want to just throw hodge-podge items in it. We want to 'feed' people. Give them complete meals or things they could make complete meals with if they just had a few things at home to add. Also we want them to be able to eat off of it for a while or to at least feed a family of 4 once.

So with that in mind we came up with a list of food items to include. Every time we shop we add 2 or 3 items to the box and spend about $2-$4. That's $8-$16 a month and really very little when you think of it. What...2 bottles of wine is what that translates into for most of us in reality. We CAN afford that. If anyone can think of items to add to the list it would be appreciated.

Keep in mind this is not meant to be 'gourmet' or necessarily stuff you/I would like to eat or want to all the time. It is meant to be shelf stable, filling, nutritional and things that can form complete or near complete meals that somebody or a family could eat off of for a little bit if need be with the addition of a few things from their own house hold groceries.

--- box of spaghetti and a jar of sauce
---can of tuna and a box of Tuna Helper
---boxes of mac-n-cheese
---jar of peanut butter and jar of jelly
---canned veggies like peas, beans and corn
---a box of Hamburger Helper
---instant oatmeal
---small 1lb. bags of rice
---powdered milk (it is shelf stable and can be used to mix with infant formula, oatmeal, Tuna Helper, Mac-n-Cheese, etc.)
---box of instant potatoes
---breakfast/granola bars
---fruit roll ups
---instant coffee and tea bags
---La Choy brand canned complete dinners (You know the big can where you get the noodles, sauce, veggies, etc. You just add rice).
---canned beef stew


So far last week we got a 1 lb. bag of white rice for $1.79 and 2 boxes of Kraft Mac-n-Cheese as they were 10 for $10 on special. So we spent $3.79. Now for this weeks additions to the food box. I'll have to check the adds and see what is on sale or on the 10 for $10 specials.

Happy Day All
AG

AG, your list is excellent and all the stuff I take to our local food pantry, with the exception of rice, which they buy in bulk 50# bags from an organization here called the Rice Depot and split up into family sized bags. I would like to add some items for you to put on your list..... bags of apples, oranges and potatoes. Tooth paste and tooth brushes. Inexpensive bottles of shampoo and body wash. Suave makes these that retail at $1.00 each. Socks. Amazing how many families need socks. Look for them at dollar stores and purchase big packages at big box stores and split the packages up. Boxed bars of soap. We tend to concentrate on food and might not realize these folks might not even have enough money to purchase soap to take a bath with. Even laundry soap. One grocery store here has large bags of powdered laundry soap; I buy these on occasion and the shelter packages it in small zip locks.

I forgot to add that this food pantry I contribute to is an outreach program of my Methodist church. AG, you can also contact Feeding America; they help subsidize our pantry.

Everyone's food looks great.

Lynda, I made Hopping John at least twice about 20 years ago, it was good, I don't know why I never made it again.

AG, that's a great idea for the food boxes.

Dinner last night was T-bone steaks, they were on sale at our local store for $9.89 a pound, I cooked them perfectly med rare on stove top, with a lovely mixed salad.

Well, I posted on the old thread before I saw this new one. Sorry!!

I made pancakes for dinner yesterday.

AG and Lynda, very nice of you. Since we are not going to groceries, we make a monetary donation to the local food bank. I guess it's time to do that again.

AG, Instacart has worked out pretty well for us. Which stores you can get delivery from will be determined by where you live. I pay $10/month. I regularly get deliveries from Kroger and Sam's (several times a week), but I have lots of other places to choose from. I'm currently awaiting a delivery from Meijer's.

Sometimes a shopper will bring a bad avocado or fatty chuck roast, but overall I think they do a good job. If they do even a decent job, I tip them very well. I'm grateful that someone will shop for me, and I'm happy to pay them well for it.

Karen

Hi gang,

Taking a quick break from the cleaning and eating a little lunch. Got a lot done: both bathrooms thoroughly cleaned; my bedroom dusted and floor scrubbed, the living room dusted; the kitchen counters and appliances cleaned and the dishes done and put away. Need to dust the office and dining area, and then run the vacuum. I can do the Swiffering of the floors tomorrow unless I feel real ambitious and want to get it all done today. Just may as the house isn't all that dirty and the cleaning is going fast.

I am glad to hear such good reports on insta cart and that those who are using it are happy with the service. That makes me feel better and more secure in using it. We have access to Walmart, Fry's (Kroger) Safeway, Food City, Big Lots, and Bed, Bath and Beyond, CVS and Cost Co. and a few others with it here locally. So we will be fine and not lack for choices. There's also a Walgreens literally at the entrance of our subdivision right when you turn in.

Yeah. The food pantry thing. It kind of hit me when I saw the local news and how many people were lined up for hours and hours for food. It really bothered me. I mean an extra $2 or $4 per shopping trip is not going to hurt us and will go a long, long way to help others.

Lynda...I like the idea of adding hygiene items also but am afraid to. You never know who has allergies, skin sensitivities, etc. If I did something like that I would probably donate a separate box. Good idea though as I know a lot of people do need the basic non-food necessities but often can't afford them. Maybe I can make every 3rd or 4th box I donate a 'hygiene' box.

Karen...Also very nice of you to donate to your local food pantry. I am sure they are or will put the funds to good use. And yes, I agree with you on having somebody willing to do the shopping for us now. It is a great service and one that I too don't mind paying somebody for if it will help keep me and others safer and stop this virus spreading.

Margaret....delicious looking steaks and salad! Very tasty looking. Hoping maybe Tuesday we can cook out as our weather will be slightly warmer. Steak would be nice with some potatoes and a salad.

O.K. lunch and my break is over. Time to finish the cleaning. Will catch you all just a little later.
AG

Well...I guess everyone is busy. I am finally done. All I have tomorrow is to Swiffer the floors. Got the mail, went for a walk, and ate. Dinner tonight was just a bowl of chili and a glass of wine. Very tired and looking forward to when the husband comes home.

Hope all have a good night.
AG

Made some chicken soup for dinner tonight. Turned out great, used kluski noodles.

We've decided leftovers can wait! Going to Popeyes chicken, I got some really good coupons in the mail. When we do fast food, usually not a choice because of the price. Our fast food places tend to be Dominos, Wendy's and Arby's.

I'm working on that second glass of wine. Thinking about some pineapple and strawberries. Sounds good.

Tom, did you make your own noodles??

AG, busy day here, we took down the Christmas tree.... what a job Going to be so nice to have my space back again.

Gee that list puts mine to shame. I buy big jars peanut butter and jelly ..the flats of Progresso soup and baked beans. I better broaden my horizons .. the folks at the mission probably hate me ..

I have chicken wings roasting in oven. Seasoned with a honey herb rub, honey granules, and a line of sweet baby rays bbq. Will serve with a new ( for me ) apple called "sugar bee" and baked beans with chopped red onion

Built a grill press from old steel scrap so I could make Cuban sandwiches and panini on a grill pan.
Baked a batch of sourdough ciabatta.



Then, the test: I heated the pan and press and put together a Cubano from spicy roast pork, sliced ham, and swiss cheese.



Turned out well, indeed. Total calorie bomb!

subarctic, good job on making a grill press. Your ciabatta bread looks wonderful, as does your Cubano sandwich.😋