liamsaunt

My husband hates going to the grocery store for me also. He claims he cannot find anything on the list. He will happily accompany me if I ask him to, but then he wanders off and I have to go looking for him. He usually turns up in the cheese section or the wine section 🙂 It's OK, he does all of the laundry, which I hate to do, so the chore breakdown works out perfectly.

I have made Ina Garten's pan fried onion dip and it was very good. Here is a link: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/pan-fried-onion-dip-recipe-1940693 I baked a batch of pita bread this evening without knowing what I wanted to do with it. After some dithering around I made a chipotle-sun dried tomato tuna salad from the Half Baked Harvest cookbook, piled it on a pita with some avocado, arugula and red onion and a little sharp cheddar and stuck it under the broiler. The salad uses mashed avocado instead of mayonnaise to bind the oil packed tuna with the chipotles and sun dried tomatoes. I liked it, but it was a bit rich for what I was in the mood for, I probably should have skipped the cheese.

My brother gave me a Vitamix for Christmas so I used it yesterday to make a breakfast smoothie. 2 cups spinach, 1 cup green grapes, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1/2 banana, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup ice. Pretty tasty, but I am looking for other recipes that have more vegetables and less fruit (I don't have a sweet tooth). I found a spicy vegetable one with tomato, carrot and jalapeño that I am going to try next. This morning, breakfast taco made with one egg scrambled with leftover garlicky collard greens from last night's dinner, avocado, goat cheese, and leftover aji sauce (also made in the Vitamix)

I hope you have a successful surgery and a full and fast recovery! Dinner was another bowl meal. I'm trying to up my veggie intake to make up for a very indulgent rich food holiday period of eating. Between this for dinner and a smoothie with two cups of spinach in it for breakfast I did OK today. This bowl is brown rice, black beans, garlic sautéed collard greens, and smoked paprika roasted acorn squash with aji sauce and jalapeños.

roasted broccoli, brown rice and avocado bowl with shichimi togarashi, spicy chili crisp condiment and ponzu

My stomach is blown out from all of the rich holiday foods, and my husband had to fly a red eye to London tonight, so I went simple and vegetarian with soups. I made two kinds as different folks like different things. Both are from the cookbook Half Baked Harvest Super Simple. Butternut squash with pumpkin seeds and sage. I accidentally focused more on the bowl than the soup with my camera, I think because I have not used these bowls in a while and I like them. Roasted tomato with lemon-basil pesto Not shown because I forgot to take a picture, but I made popovers to go with the soups. There was also a salad.

fish and chips, onion rings, slaw and tartar sauce

Spinach lasagna. This one held together better than the sausage and mushroom one I made recently. The only problem with lasagna is that it makes enough to feed a small army. I think I have eight more servings in the freezer.

I am making homemade American-style Chinese food. My nephew loves this style of food but cannot usually have it since he has an anaphylactic allergy to crustaceans and the restaurants serving this style of food just cannot accommodate that. I let him pick the menu: sesame soy chicken wings, chicken and vegetable potstickers, crabless rangoons (the filling is just cream cheese, sriracha and scallions), General Tso's chicken, fried rice, scallion pancakes. He wanted egg rolls too but I could not find the right kind of wrappers. Champagne for the grownups is already chilling.

leftover roast beef sandwich with arugula parmesan and truffle butter, on homemade pane francese

I baked a loaf of oatmeal raisin bread to have toasted for breakfast this morning

Thai fish cakes

I already put everything away so no pictures, but I did receive some food gifts again this year. From my niece, a tin of homemade cookies (this is an annual thing) From my brother, a Joule, a carrying case for the Joule, a Victorinox bread knife, a Vitamix, and a Star Wars cookbook which was more of a joke than a serious gift From my parents, a gift card to the same cheese shop as last year, and a gift card for dinner and drinks for two at one of our favorite restaurants on an island in the Caribbean that we visit each year.

I did not take picture of our Christmas dinner, but here is Christmas Eve's. I made Indian food. Corinder chicken curry, paneer butter masala, rice and naan. The curry and paneer were Meera Sodha's recipes, and they were both delicious

bagels and smoked salmon

Some of my holiday bakes. Kolaches Cinnamon bun Christmas tree Bagels for the ones without a sweet tooth (me)

Pizza night. Sausage, pepper and onion Mushroom Not pictured, the usual margharita and carbonara.

spaghetti with seared scallops and an herbed lemon cream sauce

This looks awesome and I am stealing your menu for my dinner tonight. Last night, glazed salmon with rice and miso soup with bok choy

spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce, crab, and toasted breadcrumbs

chicken, mushroom and red bell pepper stir fry

egg and turkey sausage on leftover focaccia

I am hosting Christmas dinner. The menu: prime standing rib roast with au jus (ordered from Heritage Foods), butternut squash and mushroom wellington for my sister and me as we do not eat red meat, twice baked potatoes, spinach gratin, roasted cauliflower, whiskey glazed carrots, homemade rolls. My mother is bringing a pecan pie for dessert. Christmas eve is unsettled. We typically go to my in-laws, but my father in law is in the hospital presently as he had a bad fall two weeks ago and suffered a TBI. My mother in law indicated yesterday that she wants to wait to get together until after he is out of the hospital/rehab, and given that he is scheduled for a second surgery today, the odds of him being home by Christmas are very remote. So, I'll probably end up cooking that day too. I also host on New Year's Day. The only thing I know for certain so far is that I am roasting a large bone in ham as that is the preferred NY main for my parents, husband, niece and nephew. I'll need a second main for this meal too as my sister and I don't eat ham either. Neither does my husband's brother and he comes to New Year's dinner. Last year I roasted a side of salmon and that went over well.

Rosemary focaccia and creamy chicken soup

Pizza last night, margharita and carbonara