Good evening all,
Lovely day here despite the wind we had. Not as bad as predicted but still fairly windy. Went with my friend/neighbor to watch some of the subdivision's pickle ball tournament. Aside from the wind a picture perfect day temp wise and lots of glorious sun. It was fun. Came home and got the bedrooms dusted and clean. Did a load of towels. Made lunch/dinner for myself. It was spaghetti and a small salad. Finishing up last night's red.
Tomorrow for us will be a grilled Thai Steak salad. It is soooooooo yummy. You have have all the components of hot, sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. You have tasty meat, great veggies and a little fruit. It has mangoes in it which I do like in 'food' especially with beef. The Thai's have mastered this flavor profile mix. Side should be some kind of rice/noodle. I will have to ponder that.
TT....Hate to say it but it sounds like your neighbor has reached the point where she needs somebody to look in on her regularly and help her with shopping, meal prep, laundry, etc. OR she may need to think about going to Independent living that transitions to assisted living. Not such a bad thing as all the 'hard stuff' is done for you but you still enjoy your own space, time and come and go as you like. Plenty of other folks there just like you. She would have company.
If she has boxes of food in her fridge who knows what is in them or how old they are? You don't want her getting sick because she gets food poisoning.
I know even now my and Dave's appetite isn't what it used to be and we are only 59 and 53. We cook and eat half of what we used to. Leftovers linger way too long in our fridge. I have to really 'watch' to use them up and make sure we are not eating expired food. I try not to make too many leftovers or stuff that has to be frozen.
I remember visiting my MIL and FIL when they were in their late 80s. I can not tell you how much we threw out of the fridge and freezer because it was expired and just bad, old or expired.
I did not feel it 'risked' eating or keeping. I even went through their pantry and cupboards and found stuff 3 years old!
Honestly if you haven't used it by then, it IS time to throw it out.
Rosie...Trip to Italian grocer's is always a treat. I miss them. We had several good ones in Ohio where I grew up along with great Italian restaurants and pizza shops. I miss it.
Margaret. I 'know' of Gina the Italian Grandma. Her videos are great. Have one saved of her making chicken cacciatori. She is a treat.
She is also every one of my relatives and the neighbors I had growing up in Youngstown, Ohio regardless of 'ethnicity/ethnic background' : Italians, Hungarians, Greeks, Poles, Checks, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Germans, Greeks, Romanians, etc. were all in my neighborhood. I don't think there was anyone I went to school with who was not a 1st or 2nd generation American. We were all children of immigrant parents/grand parents who came to work in the steel mills and factories of Youngstown, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Akron, Dayton and Cincinnati.
As for tripe...I agree. What a nasty dish.
Not something I feel the need to eat as long as I can afford even the cheapest cut/s of meat or reasonably priced seafood or chicken. Talk about stink.. That's it! We have a Mexican restaurant locally that makes it on the weekend. You can smell it a block away! UGH! We will go there on weekdays as the tacos and burritos are outstanding. We give the place a wide berth and go to Taco Bell on the weekends. The stench of the menudo will drive you away and just make you ill!
Sally...Agree with you. YouTube is useful. The husband and I have both found many 'how to' videos on it and used it for a variety of things when we wanted to 'see' how to do something around the house, gardening, cooking, etc. Lots of instructional stuff on it. Also just some fun and entertaining stuff.
In the same line as Grandma Gina is Pasquale Sciarappa. He makes a lot of authentic and rustic Italian dishes. I like him as he is fun and his cooking not overly complicated. Has anyone seen him?
O.K. recipe for mac-n-cheese. This is from "The Best of Cooking Light" under Meatless Main Dishes. It is called Creamy Four-Cheese Macaroni. I have made this before and it is pretty good. If you don't want to use the Melba Toasts you can use seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs (Progresso) as a sub and it comes out pretty good with a little Panko bread crumbs mixed in.
CREAMY FOUR-CHEESE MACARONI
INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 and 2/3 cups of 1% low-fat milk *
1/4 cup (3 ozs.) shredded fontina chees or Swiss cheese
1/2 cup (2 ozs.) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup (2 ozs.) shredded extra sharp white or yellow cheddar cheese
3 ozs. light processed cheese (Such as Velveeta Light)
6 cups cooked elbow macaroni or small shells (about 3 cups cooked)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Non-stick Cooking Spray
1/4 teaspoon salt
Non Stick Cooking Spray
1/4 cup crushed onion or garlic flavored melba toasts (about 13 pieces)*
1 Tablespoon butter; softened
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.) Preheat oven to 375F
2.) Lightly spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup and level with a knife. Place the flour in a large sauce pan and then gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended.
3.) Cook oveer medium heat until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Add the cheeses and cook 3 minutes or until the cheeses melt making sure to stir frequently.
4.) Remove from heat and continue to stir while adding in the macaroni and salt.
5.) Spoon the mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish that was coated with non stick cooking spray.
6.) Combine the crushed toasts and butter in a small bowl and stir until well blended. Sprinkle over the macaroni mixture.
6.) Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until bubbly and browning. Yields 8 servings at 1 cup each.
Nutritional Info: Calories: 350 with 29% from Fat. Fat 11.2 Gram; Sat 6.4; mono 2.9; poly 0.9%
Protein 18G; Carb 42.4G; Fiber 2.1G; Cholesterol is 32mg; Iron 1.9mg; Sodium 487mg and Calcium 307mg.
* I usually do not have 1% milk on hand. I typically use 2%. I have used 2% with this recipe and it works just fine. It does, however, alter the calorie count, fat, etc. It still comes out quite good. I have also subbed regular Italian Progresso Italian seasoned bread crumbs with the addition of some French's fried onions to them in place of the Onion Melba Toasts. Again this changes calorie/fat/sodium count but I can't imagine by all that much.
It is an over all good 'basic' adaptable tasty recipe that can be tweaked. I like it for that reason. Hope all have a pleasant night.
AG
