BeeZee

Last night was pan seared tuna, fresh tomato salsa (tasteless tomato, vinegar/salt helped), oven roasted asparagus, and tri-color quinoa. I think I am due for cooking some kind of comfort food, we are eating entirely too healthy😉

Decided to freezer dive, wanted something warm...had a package of Wegmans appetizer size spanakopita, baked off a bunch for lunch. Lacking dill, I made no tzaditzki, they could have used it (pretty dry on the outside, although the filling was fine). Next time I'll make some kind of dipping sauce.

Cooked a bunch (around 2 lbs) boneless skinless chicken thighs on a sheet pan with slabs of red bell pepper and scallions. I had mixed up balsamic, dijon, minced garlic, and honey, tossed the chicken in that before roasting. The veg roasted in the chicken fat, which was good. I confirmed that I still don’t like chicken thighs, ate one tiny one and my husband played “human chipper” and probably ate over 1 lb himself, there are 2 left which I will freeze for his future lunch. Had some plain brown rice also.

thanks for the suggestion, @Darienne, I have made a version of African Peanut Stew in the past, I'll have to check the pantry. I know that I have neither yams nor sweet potatoes, but I bet I could improvise and use the dreaded c*rn as I have several cans...

Sent my husband out shopping with a detailed list, he got to the store just before it opened at 6am. A couple of mistakes despite reviewing the list with him the night before...mostly due to his inability to actually look at something before putting it in the cart - bananas with split skin, bell pepper with wrinkled spot, package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs rather than breasts. We both hate the thighs, now I'm going to have to figure out how to cook them to make them edible for us. At least we are set for a week now.

in a related manner...I decided to inventory all of my pantry ingredients...5 pages (one side), single item per line...so around 125 unique items. Kind of an interesting exercise. Some things are not "food" per se, but ingredients like capers in brine (2 jars), for example.

Made bran muffins from mix (Silver Palate) which were pretty good because they are not overly sweet. Majority are wrapped and in the freezer for future reheating.

Toasted a couple of slices of olive sourdough which were in the freezer, monterey jack cheese. Couple of nuts, juice box (apple).

Sorry, do not and last nights trash has been taken out...

The frozen spinach I had last night was one of those “steam in bag” types (one of the major brands, don’t recall) and tasted fine, much better than the frozen blocks. Not too far off from the taste/texture of fresh spinach that had been cooked thoroughly.

Shrimp in brothy tomato sauce...sauteed garlic and shallot in some butter/olive oil first...some leftover prepared sauce that I diluted and also added a glug of sherry vinegar to...simmered together a few minutes. Served with steamed spinach and brown rice.

@liamsaunt, love the use of breaded eggplant cutlets, we have a local pizza place that does an “eggplant parm” or “chicken parm” version with rough chopped cutlets on top, the edges get nice and crunchy.

as @dtremit notes above, many farms are offering options for fresh food...several in the Princeton area have been posting on social media, the variety ranges depending on what they normally offered (some are produce only, some have fresh breads and frozen prepared foods like pot pies). You have to do a little research, but if you are able to drive, you can probably find someone to get some fresh produce from with minimal contact. All of these people were ramping up for the Spring Farmers Markets so this will really help them, too.

Ordered takeout for the first time from a local pizza/Italian restaurant, we usually go there for pizza, as there are other places with better entrees...but wanted to support a local biz who always does things for the community. Shared an app of fried calamari with white balsamic, cherry peppers, and caper berries and an entree of chicken cutlet/breaded eggplant with vodka sauce and linguini. Boring iceberg salad and 2 pizza bread rolls came with it also. Plenty of food.

I understand the logic, however in my life before Covid19, I had no need and therefore no supply of any kind of sterile wipes. I only have the disposable gloves because I don’t like touching raw meatball mix...and I always assumed some level of contamination on the surfaces of produce, based on prior observation...

Went to our local Shop Rite just before noon. Hubs stopped by the pharmacy to say "hi" to his pharmacist buddy, he confirmed that they are out of the sanitizing wipes for the carts. Luckily, I had brought a pair of gloves for both of us, so we didn't touch anything. Saw a fair number of people wearing gloves and they had a couple of check out lines dedicated to shoppers 60+. Strange things out of stock, didn't run in to Shelby's issue - plenty of carrots, but no chicken, paper goods, Lysol wipes (still). This store has a somewhat separate section for "natural/healthy" foods and I got some organic canned beans...assuming, correctly, that many people don't hit that part of the store to even think to look there.

Made turkey chili last night, and found that I miscalculated my canned bean supply, only had one can of pintos. Lots of chickpeas, though...we are good for hummous.

Roasted salmon fillet, steamed asparagus, and reheated leftover seafood paella rice (just rice, had eaten the seafood...but it gave the rice such great flavor, I had taken it home and frozen it after a dinner out in Feb, which I normally wouldn’t do).

Braved the supermarket late this afternoon, it wasn’t too crowded and I was anticipating the empty paper goods aisle, and the lack of fresh poultry, so not as shocking. Plenty of fresh fish, so salmon for dinner tonight. There was a sign over the shelves were the poultry would have been to request shoppers limit the quantity, but that didn’t seem effective. Also saw that the frozen pizzas looked pretty sparse. Fresh fruit and veg were well stocked, pretty obvious that people are buying for “future use” since the canned veg were depleted. Got cat litter...so all is well.

Trader Joe's lentil and ancient grains soup (found in refrigerator case). Cool and rainy morning so I felt like soup was going to hit the spot. It is good, but looks like barf, so you'll not see me post a photo.

A couple of people in my office went to the nearby supermarkets at lunch time (Shop Rite, 1/4 mile away...Wegmans, 1/2 mile away) and both said they were like zoos, similar to pre-blizzard shopping conditions. It is like everyone thinks they are going to be quarantined in their home for 2 weeks. I might buy some canned tuna and frozen or canned fruit just in case I can't (or don't want to) go shopping, but I believe I have enough pantry goods for my husband and I to eat for a month. I hope everyone donates to their local food pantry when they realize how much extra they have.

I wrap my French Press glass carafe with a towel to insulate it a bit while it steeps, seems to help. Honestly use it infrequently because it is such a pain to clean (no garbage disposal, so I really work hard to keep the grinds out of the sink).

French press allows more of the coffee's natural oils to be retained in the beverage (instead of caught in the paper filter). I feel it is a more rounded flavor, I drink strong black coffee ("French Roast") and the difference is noticeable.

I'm with @Kim Shook, I like my brownies more well done and definitely will be the one to grab the corner piece. But the over baked ones make fine mix-ins (chopped small) for ice cream...if you let them sit a couple of minutes they soften a little. Not much help for "meeting friendly" snacks, tho'....

Hubby has a cold and wanted comfort food, which for him is anything Italian. Made turkey meatballs (green flecks are minced fresh spinach and parsley), sauteed spinach and mushrooms, and noodles. Jarred sauce, which was by Barilla and not bad. Only have photo of the “nekkid” meatballs.