what's for dinner | pad patter 3.24.20

Tonight, it's Jambalaya! Tomorrow is Fake Chipotle Bowls. Friday is order out night... then I have Garlic Shrimp Pasta, Shrimp Corn Chowder, and Sheet Pan Chicken on deck.

Might have to get lettuce, and some veggies at the store. UGH. Dreading going out. It's mayhem when you go out! NJ is nuts!

 

Well last night he was having his choice of frozen dinners that he has been buying for himself post cancer. His taste buds are still off so there's no complaint about anything I make tasting 'not right' when he does that. Sadly, I think it's the high sodium count on what he's buying but whatcha gonna do. His choice was a swedish meatball dinner which is something he's NEVER cared for. Go figure.

I had planned to have Trader Joe's Chicken and Green Chile tamales. I didn't pay attention when I froze them that they need to be cooked from the non-thawed state. So I used up some smashed oven baked potato chunks (really good) with a fried egg and parmesan on top. Plus my finally ready to cut chives! Tamales tonight.

 

@jk703

Packaged, frozen or your own jambalaya. Dick loves that! and what is Fke?????

 

We use the Zatarain's prepared rice box.... either with Rotisserie chicken or low fat sausage. Yum. We have either a salad or fruit on the side. I sometimes add more rice for the kids. You can dress it up with veggies, black beans or whatever you like.




Fke... is Fake. Typo! Oops!

 

thanks Jenn

 

DH made lamb hand pies (technically Irish Dingle pie, the name of which the kids snickered at lol). He used this Food & Wine recipe: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/irish-lamb-pies-herbs

 

Tonight we are having Smoked Salmon Chowder. It always reminds me of Juneau, AK.

 

So, one good thing that has come with the Corona quarantine is that we have had like 10 family dinners in a row. Having everyone's activities cancelled has been great for family time. I have cooked like a fiend lately! I'm sure I'll get tired of it pretty soon but some of our meals...

tostadas & Mexican rice
fried rice with broccoli and dumplings
spaghetti carbonara
beef stew
chicken fajitas, black beans
chicken & mango salad
breakfast for dinner

I have also tried some fancy recipes from this cookbook I got from the library called Umami Bomb. I made individual apple galettes that were a hit and an appetizer - toasts with caramelized onions and beets which only I enjoyed!

 

I cook dinner most nights so that hasn't changed but I'm used to going to the grocery twice (or thrice!) a week so I'm scrambling to plan a whole week's worth of meals at a time. I went to the local (more expensive) grocery yesterday morning (just after they'd had 'senior hour' so the place was extra-clean) to make sure we had fresh meat after having to eat frozen Walmart chicken all last week -- blergh!

Tonight we had Greek sheet pan chicken (my current favorite dish I make) from Handmade Harvest. Since quarantine started, we've had pancakes & bacon, tacos, quesadillas (for said gross frozen chicken), spaghetti with chickpea noodles (Banza is our fave brand as it tastes the most like "real" noodles), crockpot chicken, "green noodles" (just noodles, chicken, and pesto) which is my super-picky DS' fave dish, and Mexican crockpot soup (browned hamburger, onion, diced tomatoes, black beans, & corn). Next week I've planned for us to so far have meatloaf & Pioneer Woman smashed potatoes and Pioneer Woman Hamburger Soup (my DD's fave dish) with biscuits. I think I have a good beef & broccoli sheet pan recipe that I need to dig up.

We are trying to eat healthier (more healthfully?) so I don't make casseroles anymore but I might have to bust out Cheeseburger Pie (just from the Bisquick box) and/or baked mac 'n' cheese if we have too many more weeks of this!

 

Last night ended up being wholemeal crusted frozen fish, herb coated potatoes, carrots and peas

 

YUM!!! And yes, so many SB's are suffering. Hopefully it will be brief.

Hmmm @littlekiwi - now ya got me considering our fish!

 

WOW!!!We are comin' to your house!! oh, wait- we can't!

 

Thankfully I've been mostly able to find what I need at the store. I try to only go once a week which means we usually start running out of enough eggs or milk to feed us all (I only have so much room in my fridge to feed all 9 of us).

Tonight is my son's 11th birthday and he loves Asian food. So I'm making Asian drumsticks in the slow cooker, Asian noodle stir fry, and Asian salad. Oh, and we are having chocolate cake!

For some other ideas this is what we've had this past week:
Noodle Casserole with Ground Turkey and Frozen Mixed Veggies Mixed in
Hamburger Salad and Mac and Cheese - Ground Beef with salad basically
Green Enchiladas, Corn, Chips and Salsa
Spaghetti and Salad

And with most of those meals, I triple or quadruple so we have enough for lunch the next day.

 

We have decided to bake an army of artisan no knead breads we found on Youtube! I'm adding things to my doughs- like cheddar & jalepeños, olives & sundried tomatoes, etc. And we are going to make a batch of soft pretzels to give to DS and his family.

 

I did a grocery run this morning and we were limited to one pkg each of chicken, beef and pork, so I'm revising the meal plan I had before I left.

Tonight will be veggie chili with fresh bread then,
Fish with asparagus risotto
Ribs, scalloped potatoes and asparagus
Jambalaya
Chicken noodle soup
Spinach pesto fusilli with goat cheese and peppers
Chicken and veggie orzo