BeeZee

I agree with you! I like having an equal number of snacky things to entree-type things. So for your 3 entrees (I'll set pakoras into a bridge category), if someone brings chip/dip/salsa, you need something like hummus or spinach dip with veggies. How about some pickled things (olives, mushrooms and such) that you can spear with a toothpick? Cookies, mini brownie squares. Done!

Got some (bought 2 of the aged balsamic samplers as gifts)

Having a hard time mustering the enthusiasm to eat, as I have a cold that has affected my sense of taste. I only seem to taste salt. Lunch from Whole Foods (carrot/ginger soup and veggie salads) I more or less just picked for nutrition/texture.

Perhaps a new topic...Drinking while eGulleting

Have a cold an my sense of taste is a bit dulled. Working at home, seemed like a good day for sardines. Mashed a tin of drained oil packed fishies (skinless/boneless, I'm a wimp) with a squirt of dijon and a dash of onion powder and piled it on top of a lightly toasted whole wheat pocketless pita/flatbread. Go Omega 3's!

I keep the clean dish towels in the linen closet (upstairs). Two reside in the kitchen: a terry one hangs on the handle of the (bottom pull out drawer) freezer, a flat weave cotton one goes thru the handle of a drawer in the cabinet near the sink. The terry one is usually pulled out when I wash fruit/veg to drain/dry them. The other one is for hand drying. But I'm not obsessive about that, can do either. I also use the dishwasher primarily as a drying rack so the towels just clean any leftover water caught in creases or dimples. I probably have around 10 towels total. They definitely get better with age, more absorbent.

@ElsieD, I had always heard that also. I had roasted these little guys (whole, skin on) and just threw them in a freezer zip bag. Defrosted and crushed a bit with a fork, a bit of oil on the baking sheet. They came out perfectly fine, crispy edges, soft interior, no sense of being a "leftover". I'm wondering if the frozen potato texture thing is different with a russet type vs a waxy type. Or maybe because they were whole it helped.

Considerable space freed up, cooked the 8 lb turkey breast which had been residing in the freezer since Thanksgiving, as one of my husband’s friends came for dinner. Forgot what an appetite he has, we probably ate half of the bird. Also did smashed potatoes, had some little yukon golds that I cooked a couple of weeks ago, they defrosted and re-roasted well. Having some of the turkey again tomorrow, then I’m sure there will be some left to freeze, along with the stock I plan to make.

I did once buy boxed snickerdoodles, I don’t recall the brand (it wasn’t one of the big companies) but I remember they were disappointing.

Snow day and I had not been to the market since Saturday, so it was a freezer dive. Leftover grilled chicken breasts and grilled ratatouille. Birds Eye steam in bag lentil pasta w/tomato sauce, which wasn’t bad, it was similar to whole wheat pasta texture.

Green salad with avocado, tangerine, and leftover cooked chicken breast. Some white balsamic/tangerine juice for dressing. Much needed respite from carbs.

Last night made eggplant rollatini with ricotta/spinach filling, also a quick sauteed thin cut chicken cutlet. We wound up spooning some of the extra sauce from the pan over the chicken. Keeping it a bit healthier by par baking the eggplant planks instead of battered/fried. I also did the salt/drain step before, which I usually skip, and I think that contributed to an overall “sweetness” which was very nice. Have enough leftover for another dinner, bonus.

My husband used to work for Breyers, they had a facility in West Philadelphia. Needless to say, we love ice cream too.

Christmas cookies. And an apple.

@Anna N, those look like very fine cannoli!

that's pretty cool. My husband and I have vacationed in Tucson twice, will keep this in mind next time we return. It seems we wind up there every 5 years so I'm feeling that we are due soon...

Question, and I hope to not have to deal with it, but how does the hospital accommodate dietary preferences of the patient. For example, if I smell eggs it makes me want to vomit. I remember when my Mom had cardiac surgery they gave her a menu to choose from for her meals, but I have a feeling that isn’t the case in most facilities? I know that when my in-laws were in a nursing home the food looked atrocious. My MIL kept some snacks in her room.

@HungryChris, I used to go to Mohegan Sun once a year for a regional company meeting and I was always pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food.

@Shelby, haha, I like how the string of mozz looks like a noose laying over the lasagne on your plate!

@catdaddy...relish the victory (couldn’t resist)!

@Anna N, we have 5 diners, maybe 6 within 20 minutes of our house (NJ is the diner state). DH and I have a favorite "low brow" and "high brow" diner, and you are correct, sometimes nothing beats a good diner for a hearty basic meal.

I eat roasted chickpeas or favas for high protein, savory snack. Biena is a brand of chickpeas with various flavorings available in my supermarket, they have small pouches for single serve. Also dry roasted edamame (Seapoint Farms).

I had an avocado mishap that forced me to deal with very ripe flesh of one immediately, I squished it into a freezer ziploc bag, forced as much air out as I could, and threw in the freezer immediately. It did not turn brown. However, after defrosting 2 days later, it seemed that it started to oxidize much faster than one freshly cut (I'm thinking the mushed texture contributed to that). Stirred a little lemon juice in to arrest that. It was fine used as blobs on top of a bowl of chili, but I vote for freshly cut for guacamole.

Non-traditional, kitchen sink "chili" with chicken. Frankly it's pretty far-fetched to call it chili, it has beans and many of the spices you'd associate with chili, but I also include diced yam (I like the sweet offsetting the spicy), lentils, and brown rice. Served with some avocado and pickled jalapenos on the side for DH.

Cauliflower “fried rice” style with chicken and sugar snap peas. I boosted the flavor by dicing mushrooms and sauteeing them in a separate pan with onion powder until they gave up all of their liquid and dried out, they were more or less the same size as the grains of cauliflower. Kind of a brown dish, glad I had the snap peas for the color and sweetness.