Topic: What are you eating / What did you eat.

[6pairsofshoes]

That sounds rich.  I use egg yolks in the dressing for my potato salad.  It's pretty good.

I haven't been cooking much lately.  We had fish sticks, cocktail sauce and frozen peas for dinner yesterday.  Tonight:  grilled cheese sandwiches.  How's that for Valentine's Day fare?

I'll probably bake scones tomorrow as we are running out of options, although we have plenty of cereal.

[8ullfrog]

I wish I could get a grilled cheese like my grandma used to make, but I'd need to make the bread so it's like 4x the size of regular bread, like a giant's bread.

Depending on what you like to eat, a grilled cheese can be the real deal. And it can definitely signify love.

I never thought I'd say this, but I'm over stroganoff.

[6pairsofshoes]

Dave's killer bread + dijon mustard + Kerrygold Mild Cheddar slices.  butter on the outside to assist in browning in the pan.  I can make GC sandwiches, but generally leave this to my husband.  He does it the way he likes.  I'd probably leave them in the pan longer as I like the cheese really melty, but it was enough to eat and a quick cleanup.

God, I'm tired today.  Just doing some picking up around the house with little energy to do much else.

[8ullfrog]

My roommate was buying, so I got the new seasonal item at Jbox, the "loaded" tiny tacos.

They weren't very loaded, they put some hot sauce and some stadium grade cheese sauce on the very top of the container, but it does not reach past the first layer of tacos.

Other than that, just bite sized, dry AF mini tacos. I liked the size of them, makes for decent snackage, like if I went to a movie I could see this being a good choice if they actually loaded them up with the hot sauce and cheese,

But they were very dry. Other than that, your standard Jbox tacos, filling that may or may not be cat food, a taste that is surprisingly addictive, but nothing here was particularly impressive.

I'd say save yourself a dollar and just load them up with your own hot sauce, or raid the packet bin if your Jbox still has those.

Mine has continued the MARCH TO PROGRESS by putting straws, plastic silverware, and napkins behind the counter. Like I have to ask my state legislature if it's okay if I have a napkin.

They also turned off the customer side coke mixer machine so you have to ask them for the soda you want. I confused the golly out of the counter lady when I asked for a strawberry Barqs. RIP SODA MACHINE, YOU WERE A BEAUTIFUL scallywag, TAKEN BEFORE YOUR TIME!

Like with the single use plastic bans, I wish it was more consumer side, and less big brother telling you what to do. I don't give a flying golly about my carbon footprint, let Lenoardo DiCaprio subsidize me or something.

[6pairsofshoes]

One of the local coffee shop chains was ceasing operations temporarily so they were giving away lots of heavy cream.  I got a couple half gallons, one for a neighbor.  I am getting ready to have the cream scones I made yesterday.  They reheat well, and even freeze well.

[8ullfrog]

My Jack-in-the box is being demolished, whoever came up with the timeframe is a bless'ed wizard.

Mom bought "Chicken chips" and actually cracked a smile and laughed when I pointed out they're just triangle chicken nuggets. Been waiting to post that one for a bit, I try not to double post too much.

Tonight we had a knorr chicken pasta thing, and it went wrong at some point, so mom had me come in and fix it. I used some close to expy sour cream and some tabasco sauce and it firmed it up just fine.

Mom had already stockpiled ground beef and chicken before the pandemic were declared, so we've got options. Oddly enough, we can't find packets of white gravy anywhere.

I know how to make it myself, but two cups of milk feels a bit wasteful when all you need for those packets is two cups of water and some margarine.

Tomorrow, I'm thinking some kind of egg dish with breakfast sausage, perhaps we'll do breakfast for dinner.

[6pairsofshoes]

I've found that sour cream will last for several months past its best by date, same with yogurt.  We had eggs for dinner and fried potatoes a couple days ago.  My husband decided to "oven fry" a package of bacon.  He forgot that our oven runs hot and burned the lot of it.  That was a less than wonderful dinner.  Some nights things are just off.  I haven't had much time to cook lately, although at least we have lots of food put by so we won't have trouble whipping something up.

[8ullfrog]

Bacon is also unpredictable, as much as I subscribe to the "KEEP THE DAMN OVEN SHUT UNTIL IT'S DONE"! method, I'd probably make exception for bacon.

I am so sorry about the ruined meal, that's a morale burster beyond compare, and right now "golly it, we'll go out for dinner" isn't exactly an option.

We had foreman cheeseburgers tonight, they were unimpressive. I did like the provolone, it got nice and gooey. Highlight of the night.

The crescent roll sausages, I call em giant pigs in blankets, are a hit, and will probably remain on the family menu in future.

Still no sour cream. I wonder, with the restrictions stores are doing now, do you think they'd let you buy milk AND sour cream?

I am craving pizza like crazy, but I don't want to risk it. Home made pizza is mostly poo by my reckoning, one of those foods it's best to leave to the professionals.

[6pairsofshoes]

We had tuna melts.  Toasted english muffins with tuna salad grilled to melt cheese over it.  It was easy and satisfying.  When shopping regularly is no longer an option, one gets creative with what's in the pantry.

[6pairsofshoes]

We have a dwindling supply of English muffins.  Safeway can't keep them in stock for some reason.  If I had more flour, I'd try to make some.  Flour is also dwindling.

I'm making another Quorn veggie burger on a toasted english muffin with barbeque sauce.  Sweet Baby Rays.  It's ok.  It doesn't take much effort.   Thrown in the oven for a little less than 20 minutes and, bam.  Lunch.  Quorn uses mushroom protein for its basic guts.  I like to think it's what they'd eat in outer space.  They're always talking about fungus curries in The Expanse.

[6pairsofshoes]

Something to do with toilet rolls, maybe?

It's funny, but "toilet rolls" is not a common way to refer to "bath tissue" or "toilet paper" over here.  I was wondering what you guys call "English Muffins" since they're clearly not called that there.  I was in France and found that "French poodles" were simply "caniche."  Who can explain these oddities.  We struggle with a chief executive who insists on racializing the current epidemic as the "Chinese" or "Wuhan" virus.  He's gotten a good deal of pushback on that.  One feels deep despair when the guy in charge behaves in ways that would have gotten one punished as a child, and he simply encourages the less enlightened among the populace to follow his example.  But I digress...

[smokester]

We also call them "English Muffins" but whether that's to do with the recipe or elitism, is open to debate.

I also blame the Chinese for this outbreak but that's because I believe they had a chance to contain it, not particularly for the evolution of the virus. I also hate the fact that they torture and eat 20 million dogs a year and torture thousands of bears so they can extract bile, so I am a little prejudiced, I'll admit.

Last 3 days we have eaten dal. This is mainly because it's my favourite meal and I always make enough for 3 days, and also because we have shedloads of it in the "if the zombies attack" bag.

[6pairsofshoes]

I love dal.  It's like the Indian equivalent of chicken soup.  I make a version from Madhur Jaffrey.  We often eat homemade Indian food that I've learned to make from the many useful youtube instructional videos.

I'm working on another batch of mint jelly.  I had to stop last night and put it in jars.  I'll cook it again this afternoon until it gels.  It has a promising taste.  I'll probably add a little rosemary to it near the end as it gives it a more subtle sweetness.  We don't really eat it, but my sister likes to put it on meats, so I send it to her and give it to any of my friends who have an interest.  I did dry some of the mint so I can use it in cooking if necessary.

Right now I'm eating warmed over canned soup.  Not particularly gourmet of me, but it was easy and quick.

[6pairsofshoes]

I know - I was resident over there: you seem to have a thing about not saying "toilet": I was really tickled at the concept of a "half-bath" or "three-quarter" bath.

They used to be called "muffins" when I were a lad. Since you exported the name "muffin" for (roughly) what we called "cup cake", we have been forced to rebrand.

Not all of you struggle, apparently: as I understand it he has never been more popular than he is right now.

I know - I was resident over there: you seem to have a thing about not saying "toilet": I was really tickled at the concept of a "half-bath" or "three-quarter" bath.

They used to be called "muffins" when I were a lad. Since you exported the name "muffin" for (roughly) what we called "cup cake", we have been forced to rebrand.

Not all of you struggle, apparently: as I understand it he has never been more popular than he is right now.

American is an odd branch of English.  There are cupcakes and there are muffins.  They are identical in form, except that you eat cupcakes as a dessert and muffins, usually for breakfast.  And "English" muffins are kind of like crumpets, basically disc shaped savory breakfast items (although Thomases has managed to produce some with raisins that are sweet). 

As for the "toilet paper," vs "Bath Tissue" usage, you are also correct in surmising that Americans think the former is vulgar while the other is more polite.

I'm really unable to explain how Donald Trump is popular at all.  He's a cruel sociopath.  And he's probably going to end up being responsible for many deaths.  I just found out that a colleague died from complications of the virus today so it's kind of hard to muster up much of my usual sense of humor regarding the current occupant of the White House.

[6pairsofshoes]

I was on a cooking binge yesterday and made tuna salad & garbanzo bean salad.

The garbanzo bean salad was so good that it's what I ate for lunch.  Here's the simple recipe:

2 16oz cans of garbanzo beans, drained
1 red bell pepper, cut into small dice.
¼ c shallots minced
½ c small dice celery
¼ c good quality olive oil
¼ c minced fresh parsley (although I expect that dried will also work if you give it enough time to rehydrate, like overnight in the fridge)
¼ c fresh lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste (I used ½ tsp of salt to begin with and added more to individual servings)

This doesn't take long to prepare, makes a decent amount, keeps well in the fridge, and it's nourishing/tasty.  It has few ingredients and can often be made with whatever you have in the fridge and pantry.  I expect you might be able to substitute mild vinegar for the lemon juice in a pinch.