What's for Dinner, Thurs., Mar. 10, 2016

[NJCher]

First, a big salad, which I already made. It has raw veggies in it, but the one I'm most excited about is the asparagus tips, which are so deliciously sweet. I had to adapt a srirachi ranch salad dressing, which didn't quite suit my taste. That's the dressing.

Next up is Chinese orange chicken, which I'm squeezing fresh orange juice for. I'm making double the sauce, and will use the other half in some stir fry broccoli at the end of this week.

I stopped at an open-air market and bought more melons because the ones I bought late last week are now gone. That was honeydew and watermelon. I picked up a cantalope and another honeydew today. I'll chop those into pieces and have cold melon for dessert. I think I'll cut some strawberries and put blueberries in there, too.

Today was much better. My school gave the students I had a hard time with a talk, so the behavior improvement made for smooth sailing today. Team work is great! I work with good people.


Cher

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Breakfast.

Big old rainy day here, just got my federal and state taxes done for 2015 (using tax software). Found that what was chopping my owed tax in half was not the self-employment deduction, but the earned income credit. So that makes me feel better that I actually wasn't screwing up the self-employ worksheet earlier. I'll still have to do the city taxes, and then get on to doing estimated quarterly payments starting by April 15 for this year.

[woodsprite]

2. That sounds sooo good!

I have PT for my shoulder tonight so my husband is in charge of cooking while my daughter drives me to/from the appt. I left him a pretty easy recipe for Dijon shrimp and an equally easy recipe for sauteed broccoli w/ red peppers and chick peas.

We'll also have a salad, rolls and potatoes. Gotta have the rolls and potatoes to fill out dinner since we have a 15-yo growing boy who can easily eat enough for 2 people! I made 42 teriyaki turkey meatballs the other night, thinking I had plenty to take for my lunch the next day. Found out that my son finished them off as a bedtime snack. Maybe I'll start taking out my lunch portion before I serve dinner instead of counting on leftovers

[NJCher]

5. Wow

What did you do for lunch? It's always such a rush thing to get out the door in the morning. And teriyaki meatballs sure sound like something I'd be looking forward to.

Well, I didn't get my chicken made because it was so much work to chop up all those melons and make the fresh OJ. Now that I have most of the prep done, though, it should be a breeze to make it tomorrow night.


Cher

[woodsprite]

11. I have been totally addicted to Cobb salads lately.

I guess it could be a lot worse! I went to the basement picked some fresh romaine lettuce (hubby grows hydroponic greens and basil down there), threw in some peppered turkey breast, shredded mozzarella, grape tomatoes, green pepper and cucumber.

I should have probably thrown in some chia, flax or chickpeas just to up the fiber levels, but I forgot.

[NJCher]

12. That's my "go to" lunch, also

I absolutely love them. Right now I am having one with Swiss cheese, and chicken breast with parsley pesto on top. Also turkey bacon pieces. These salads are so light and easy to carry to work. I pack my dressing right in with the salad and put it on fresh when I have the salad. Today mine has chopped Poblanos, plus a spicy dressing.

I'm going to check out chia seeds for additional fiber. I understand fiber helps with cholesterol. I've been using raw asparagus, chopped, for additional fiber, and also raw broccoli and celery sticks. I keep them cold in the refrigerator and if I have them prepared, will almost always opt for that as a snack instead of something less healthy.

Sounds like you had a super alternative, what with hydroponic lettuce and basil right in your basement! Lucky you!



Cher

[woodsprite]

13. Yeah. He's had no luck growing cherry tomatoes or eggplant.

Another green he grows in spinach. He found out that you have to put them in the fridge to germinate, then once planted under the grow lights, you have to put a fan on them to encourage their stems to be strong enough to support the leaves.

I've been going to the diabetic nutritionist who's in with my dr. She's the one that suggested I add flax or chia into my meals somehow. I normally get about 10-12 grams/fiber per day and she said that you should aim for a minimum of 25 grams to reap the health benefits. I was researching recipes last night and found a chocolate mouse made with ground chia, and a almond 'tapioca' made with whole chia. They suggested serving the almond tapioca with a topping of fresh fruit.

[japple]

9. It never ceases to amaze me how much food and milk goes into

raising teenagers, esp. boys. 2 of my grandsons are in high school and 1 in college and those boys eat like there's no tomorrow. I wish they would eat a larger variety of things, like beans, peas, greens! Oh well, at least they're healthy.

[woodsprite]

10. At 15, mine just started eating fresh tomatoes, but only if they're sliced thin.

and he absolutely hates salad. I made a caprese salad a few nights ago figuring he liked all the ingredients. Put them together, and he turned his nose up. I've been trying to lose weight since last year and was diagnosed diabetic this January (45 lbs down so far ), so I have changed what we're eating most days. We'll have 2-3 veggies at each dinner, so I can get variety and try something new, and my son can at least have one veggie he'll eat.

Thankfully my daughter isn't so picky!

I don't know how my SIL keeps up. She has 4 teenage boys at home.

[japple]

14. Congrats to you on losing all that weight! Sounds like you and your family are

into something good--growing your own and trying to encourage your kids to eat better. Maybe your husband should team up with Craig LeHoullier, DU's (NRaleighliberal) own resident expert on growing tomatoes!

[Galileo126]

3. No cooking day

Not in the mood today. I'll probably go grab a sub for tonight, and hopefully will be in the mood tomorrow.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. A smothered pork chop with lots of onions.

Green beans.

[Liberal Jesus Freak]

6. Baked chicken.

Smashed potatoes. Movie night for us...watched Mockingjay 2 while we ate. Watching the repub debate for dessert. Need. Antacid. Now.

[hibbing]

7. Chicken and black bean hard shell tacos

With sides of veggies and brown rice.


Peace

[azurnoir]

8. My son made dinner tonight an amazing chicken mango red curry w/jasmine rice