The What's for Dinner Thread - August 2014 (recipe index in OP)

Good morning friends,

I wasn't in yesterday - but had a very good excuse. The night before, around 12:45am, (which Doug and I COMPLETELY slept through) we had a massive storm. When we got up we noticed that it had rained and there were leaves EVERYWHERE. As we drove into town it was very obvious that is was more than a bit of rain and wind. There were huge trees uprooted, branches and things everywhere. It was hard even trying to drive the roads as they were littered with all sorts of things. I finally got to the Church and there were 4 bicycles, a trampoline and 6 trash cans in our parking lot and on the lawn. We have no idea whose they were or where they blew from. We had a lot of our trees damaged. We called the troops in and we worked most of the day getting things cleaned up. Then we went to the neighbors surrounding the church to help. WHAT A MESS!!

Alison ~ Oh sweetie, today is the day. Hopefully by now it's over or you are in lalala land. Take care of yourself today.

Brandi ~ I love veggies in my crockpot. I don't like to boil them and in the summertime it heats the kitchen up too much to bake, roast and steam them. Really any and all veggies work. Just play with it and the seasonings. I think you might just like them.

It has been really nice here and the humidity is really low. Even with all of the rain we have had. It is clouding up this morning with a 70% chance of rain. It's golf day - of course. Doug is going out in the early afternoon this year, instead of later in the evening. So far it works.

Today is Elizabeth's birthday so as soon as we get off work we are going in to her house to give her, her presents. She is busy tonight (Bible School) so we can't go for supper. But hopefully we can celebrate on Sunday.

WFDT ~ Grilled hamburgers, tomato cucumber salad and chips.

Make it a great day!
 
Good morning all

This working thing is just really getting in the way of my time on here. Dang it!! Pastor Anne is really shaking things up - in a GREAT way - around here. We are so busy and she is in the office every day getting things started. We already have had 3 small groups, 2 new bible studies and the kids have been very busy. It is so neat to see the church come alive again. It has been WAY too long that we did nothing. I am loving coming to work every day. Very exciting times - I can't wait!!

We have been working very hard on our bedroom. We got it completely primed over the weekend. Doug is going to "do" the ceiling tonight. Hopefully the week that I am home I want to paint. The new floor should be in this week also. Then I am going shopping for carpet. I am so ready for this to be finished.

The weather is HOT hot hot again!! Yesterday is was so miserable out. The temps were only around 95 but the humidity was unbearable. It was the kind that the minute you walked outside you were drenched in sweat and it made it hard to breath. Yuck!! Today is not to be as hot.

WFDT ~ Chicken and noodles (in the crockpot) fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.

Make it a great day!
 

Happy Friday!!

Well here I am all by myself again.

Brandi ~ I hope you and David are having a great time. That is something Doug would love.

PIO & Alison ~ I hope all is well with the two of you.

My weeks are so busy with Pastor Anne. She has such neat ideas that we are implementing and the kids and congregation are all very receptive and excited. You all have no idea how neat it is to see our church coming alive. There is an excitement that we haven't had in a LONG time. But it does keep me busy and I don't seem to have the time anymore to check in. I will really try to do better. But with that being said I am off next week. Pastor Anne has 5 day Academy and I just decided to take the week also. There is NOTHING at all scheduled so we are just going to close the church. I have never done that before but everyone is ok with it. I will hopefully get our bedroom back together. I can't wait. I also have 5 books on my list I want to read. Doug was not able to get the time off - he is STILL the only man here in town, so we aren't going anywhere, just me staying home. I really wish we were packing to go somewhere but oh well. I will try to cjeck in but if I don't please know I am thinking of you all.

WFDT ~ Tacos, with all the fixins'

Make it a good day and a great weekend.
 
I'm here and reading, I just don't seem to find the time to sit at my computer and post. It's almost always from my phone. Replying on my trip reports I'm even starting the replies on the computer, saving them, and then posting the actual replies from my phone.

Two days ago we did a big chunk of stuff at the old house and it wore us both out so bad, we got almost nothing done ywaterday! :faint:

Tonight we'll be having fajitas for dinner. I bought a bunch of Carne asada and chicken breasts on sale and need to wrap them up and freeze them individually.
 
Good morning ladies,

We are back from a busy couple of days in Ky.

Ellen, sounds like work is going very good for you and that is awesome.
Alison, I have been following on your TR's and that is an accomplishment for me lately. lol

PIO - hope you exchange student is going well, how long will she be with you?

Last night we had veggies lasagna and David really liked it. Yeah!
Tonight is Asparagus (grilled), fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, and grilled chicken for David
 
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Good morning ladies,

I am back after a very nice week off. I have decided that every 4 years - I will take this week off. I absolutely love the Olympics and was able to watch all day long. I didn't even plan it that way, but when I realized it, it was perfect. Monday I cooked and baked all day. My favorite thing to do. Then we were able to pick and choose the rest of the week. On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon I went to the pool with the boys. They were thrilled and I REALLY enjoyed it. But I got sun burned on my back and shoulders. I even had 50spf on but it was in the high 90's. The water felt glorious and we had so much fun. I even went down the huge slide with Liam. On Thursday I went and picked out new carpet for the bedroom. Friday I literally watched the Olympics all day. I even played hooky from church on Sunday - I was still on vacation.
icon_tongue.gif
We got the bedroom primed, ceiling done, inside of the closets painted white and the walls a putty color. We love it!! It is so hard to tell what it will actually look like from a 2" by 2" piece of paper. So all in all a great week, and I was ready to get back to work.

I have just a few days until I am off again. The girls and I are flying to Chicago on Sunday. Jay and a friend had gotten Pearl Jam tickets, flights and rooms but he is now at the Police Academy so he couldn't go. Elizabeth asked Stephanie and I if we wanted to go and we both jumped at the chance. They are trying to sell the tickets but since the room was already paid for we decided to make it a girls trip. I love Chicago and pretty much know my way around - at least on the El. It will be a nice little trip. We are getting very excited.

Alison ~ Oh how I wish I could have shared that bottle of wine with you. Was it good?
How is the cleaning out of the apartment going?

Brandi ~ I was jealously following you on your whisky vacation. That would be something Doug would absolutely love to do. Bucket list right there.

PIO ~ I know you are busy with your new student, but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your beautiful pictures. You really do have an eye.

WFDT ~ BBQ brisket sandwiches, tomatoes, cucumbers and onion salad (oh how I love summer) and corn on the cob.

Make it a great day!!
 
Good morning Ladies,

As soon as I get off of work tonight I am heading to Kearney as I need a pedicure and a haircut. Doug is golfing (of course) so it will be a fast up and down trip but I am looking forward to the pampering. I am almost packed except for the last minute things. I am really getting excited. I made reservation yesterday at RPM in downtown Chicago. We discovered this gem when we were there last trip and I think/hope the girls like it. I love Chicago - it is one of my very favorite cities. I want to take the girls to all of the usual sights - The Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, The Magnificent Mile, the Bean, Gino's for deep dish pizza, and I want to take them on an Architectural boat tour. A lot to pack into 3 days, but they are up for it. I know whatever we do we will have fun.

WFDT ~ someplace in Kearney!

Make it a great day!!
 
Ellen - It sounds like you ladies will have a great time and a big whirlwind weekend!

We went out for a wonderful dinner on Monday night. Fran had bought me a special bottle of wine about 10 years ago. I found it in the wine cabinet sometime last year and said that we should drink it as it was "ready". She told me that we should go out to drink it because if I made a meal fitting of the wine, I would be too tired to enjoy it. So I made us a reservation at one of our fantastic steak houses in town and we had a great meal. They didn't have any oysters that I would really like, so I skipped my normal vodka gibson and just went straight for the wine.



I got an Iceberg Wedge salad which I split with Fran and we ate the leftovers last night. And yes those brown chunks are bacon! :hyper:



Fran got the warm Feta Cheese with sourdough crostini. There's also roasted garlic and tomatoes to go with the Feta.



We split the French onion soup. It was really good, but I wish they had used 1 large bread crouton instead of "salad" croutons.



Then we split the 42oz. Tomohawk Ribeye Steak. It was huge, and we hardly ate any of it, but we also had that for dinner last night. I've never had it delivered sliced before. Normally they cut it tableside and not in so many slices. That's OK, it's easier to make sandwiches out of it!



We also got a baked potato to go on the side.



It came with a ton of fixins! I only ate a quarter of my half of the baked potato. Fran ate all the insides of her potato but we took all the leftovers home including her skin. I made potato skin appetizers out of hers and then I had the other quarter of baked potato with my steak and she had the half of my piece of baked potato.



One reason we took the steak home instead of fill up on that was dessert. I really wanted the butter cake when I checked out the menu a week before. So we ordered that. This was soooo good! It had a crunchy sugar exterior, but the cake inside was so moist and flavorful, it was such a delicious dessert!



But when we opened the menu, we saw that they had a chocolate souffle which I could not resist either! It was also delicious, but if I had to pick one, having tasted both, I would choose the butter cake.



Tonight WFD?

I'm making frozen pot pies. I've already done over 13,000 steps. My legs hurt and I'm dead tired. I was going to make homemade burgers, but standing up to cook sounds awful. Fran is going to have a sandwich made with more of the leftover steak to go with her chicken pot pie (it's the small version).

Have a great trip Ellen!

Brandi and PIO - hope everything is OK.
 
Good morning ladies,

I am back after a very nice week off. I have decided that every 4 years - I will take this week off. I absolutely love the Olympics and was able to watch all day long. I didn't even plan it that way, but when I realized it, it was perfect. Monday I cooked and baked all day. My favorite thing to do. Then we were able to pick and choose the rest of the week. On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon I went to the pool with the boys. They were thrilled and I REALLY enjoyed it. But I got sun burned on my back and shoulders. I even had 50spf on but it was in the high 90's. The water felt glorious and we had so much fun. I even went down the huge slide with Liam. On Thursday I went and picked out new carpet for the bedroom. Friday I literally watched the Olympics all day. I even played hooky from church on Sunday - I was still on vacation.
icon_tongue.gif
We got the bedroom primed, ceiling done, inside of the closets painted white and the walls a putty color. We love it!! It is so hard to tell what it will actually look like from a 2" by 2" piece of paper. So all in all a great week, and I was ready to get back to work.

I have just a few days until I am off again. The girls and I are flying to Chicago on Sunday. Jay and a friend had gotten Pearl Jam tickets, flights and rooms but he is now at the Police Academy so he couldn't go. Elizabeth asked Stephanie and I if we wanted to go and we both jumped at the chance. They are trying to sell the tickets but since the room was already paid for we decided to make it a girls trip. I love Chicago and pretty much know my way around - at least on the El. It will be a nice little trip. We are getting very excited.

Alison ~ Oh how I wish I could have shared that bottle of wine with you. Was it good?
How is the cleaning out of the apartment going?

Brandi ~ I was jealously following you on your whisky vacation. That would be something Doug would absolutely love to do. Bucket list right there.

PIO ~ I know you are busy with your new student, but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your beautiful pictures. You really do have an eye.

WFDT ~ BBQ brisket sandwiches, tomatoes, cucumbers and onion salad (oh how I love summer) and corn on the cob.

Make it a great day!!
Ellen,

We have been engrossed in the Olympics ourselves, we have been TiVo'ing them and watching them every evening, being able to cut out the commercials has really helped speed things along, and even kind of speed up some of the slower events, like crew.

I am so glad you have a rejuvenating vacation, those are the best kind, and a girls trip on top of that. That is going to be fun to go to Chicago.

We had a great time in Ky, and we will go back, David is already trying to fit it in somewhere in our schedule.
They have a festival every fall, and to me that would be amazing, but it is timed during our fall/anniversary get away time so we have given up on the idea for now.
 
Good morning Ladies,

As soon as I get off of work tonight I am heading to Kearney as I need a pedicure and a haircut. Doug is golfing (of course) so it will be a fast up and down trip but I am looking forward to the pampering. I am almost packed except for the last minute things. I am really getting excited. I made reservation yesterday at RPM in downtown Chicago. We discovered this gem when we were there last trip and I think/hope the girls like it. I love Chicago - it is one of my very favorite cities. I want to take the girls to all of the usual sights - The Navy Pier, Wrigley Field, The Magnificent Mile, the Bean, Gino's for deep dish pizza, and I want to take them on an Architectural boat tour. A lot to pack into 3 days, but they are up for it. I know whatever we do we will have fun.

WFDT ~ someplace in Kearney!

Make it a great day!!
Have a wonderful time and enjoy!
 
Ellen - It sounds like you ladies will have a great time and a big whirlwind weekend!

We went out for a wonderful dinner on Monday night. Fran had bought me a special bottle of wine about 10 years ago. I found it in the wine cabinet sometime last year and said that we should drink it as it was "ready". She told me that we should go out to drink it because if I made a meal fitting of the wine, I would be too tired to enjoy it. So I made us a reservation at one of our fantastic steak houses in town and we had a great meal. They didn't have any oysters that I would really like, so I skipped my normal vodka gibson and just went straight for the wine.



I got an Iceberg Wedge salad which I split with Fran and we ate the leftovers last night. And yes those brown chunks are bacon! :hyper:



Fran got the warm Feta Cheese with sourdough crostini. There's also roasted garlic and tomatoes to go with the Feta.



We split the French onion soup. It was really good, but I wish they had used 1 large bread crouton instead of "salad" croutons.



Then we split the 42oz. Tomohawk Ribeye Steak. It was huge, and we hardly ate any of it, but we also had that for dinner last night. I've never had it delivered sliced before. Normally they cut it tableside and not in so many slices. That's OK, it's easier to make sandwiches out of it!



We also got a baked potato to go on the side.



It came with a ton of fixins! I only ate a quarter of my half of the baked potato. Fran ate all the insides of her potato but we took all the leftovers home including her skin. I made potato skin appetizers out of hers and then I had the other quarter of baked potato with my steak and she had the half of my piece of baked potato.



One reason we took the steak home instead of fill up on that was dessert. I really wanted the butter cake when I checked out the menu a week before. So we ordered that. This was soooo good! It had a crunchy sugar exterior, but the cake inside was so moist and flavorful, it was such a delicious dessert!



But when we opened the menu, we saw that they had a chocolate souffle which I could not resist either! It was also delicious, but if I had to pick one, having tasted both, I would choose the butter cake.



Tonight WFD?

I'm making frozen pot pies. I've already done over 13,000 steps. My legs hurt and I'm dead tired. I was going to make homemade burgers, but standing up to cook sounds awful. Fran is going to have a sandwich made with more of the leftover steak to go with her chicken pot pie (it's the small version).

Have a great trip Ellen!

Brandi and PIO - hope everything is OK.
Oh Alison your meal sounds and looks amazing.... Did I tell you that I ate some bison last week? It was good but not as good as I remember.
I have been taking bites of David's food that has meat in it, to me it smells good and it looks good, but when I eat it, it just does not give me that same feel of satisfaction that I used to get, I have no idea if that makes sense but I don't really know how to say it.

It just does not effect me the same anymore.

We are doing great, just super busy in my personal life and my work life. Things are just gathering so much steam for that final push of the year.
 
I am heading out Labor day weekend for Texas, visiting family and going to the Texas A&M vs. UCLA football game.
Then less than 3 weeks later we head for France
Then one and have weeks after we get back we head to Alabama for the Texas A&M vs. Alabama foot game (Roll Tide).
Then November we are going back to Texas for a leadership conference, scholarship award and Texas A&M vs Mississippi
then holidays and then I have surgery scheduled for early January (I will be out of work 6 weeks)
I think I am taking vacation in February

So lots of planning has been going on.
 
Good Friday morning,

Alison ~ OH.MY.GOODNESS that meal looks and sounds AMAZING. I have never seen a 42oz ribeye, good grief that is larger than some roasts. It looks cooked perfectly. I am literally drooling!! YUM!! Again I say - you are so lucky!!

Brandi ~ Wow, lady you are busy. I am glad you are having the surgery in January. I believe you will feel so much better. Lot's and lot's to look forward to. We are also gearing up for football here in Husker country. We really do bleed RED!! I am thinking of trying to get everyone back to Chicago for the Northwester game. We had so much fun 2 years ago. We shall see!!

Last night was fun. Doug called me just about the time I was leaving and told me he only 3 holes of golf yet and could I wait. Of course I could, so he went with me and actually I was only 5 minutes late for my appointment. I had called and it actually worked out for her as she was running a bit late. We went to a local sports bar and watched the USA women win their Basket ball game. We were home by 8:30 and since there wasn't anything exciting on (well except for the Men's beach volleyball game at 11pm) the Olympics we were in bed at 9:30. I was pooped and feel much better today.

We are all going out to dinner tonight. Matthew & Katlin are driving in from Lincoln, Jay is meeting us from the Academy, Elizabeth and the boys and Stephanie and family are all coming. I am so excited. Doug's birthday was last Thursday and mine is today so the kids wanted to celebrate both together. Then tomorrow morning the girls and I leave for Chicago. I can't wait.

WFDT ~ Oh I already know what I am having and I am looking forward to it - Shrimp and Grits - YUM!! This place does them better than any other I have ever tried.

You all play nice and I will be back on Wednesday.
 
Good Friday morning,

Alison ~ OH.MY.GOODNESS that meal looks and sounds AMAZING. I have never seen a 42oz ribeye, good grief that is larger than some roasts. It looks cooked perfectly. I am literally drooling!! YUM!! Again I say - you are so lucky!!

Brandi ~ Wow, lady you are busy. I am glad you are having the surgery in January. I believe you will feel so much better. Lot's and lot's to look forward to. We are also gearing up for football here in Husker country. We really do bleed RED!! I am thinking of trying to get everyone back to Chicago for the Northwester game. We had so much fun 2 years ago. We shall see!!

Last night was fun. Doug called me just about the time I was leaving and told me he only 3 holes of golf yet and could I wait. Of course I could, so he went with me and actually I was only 5 minutes late for my appointment. I had called and it actually worked out for her as she was running a bit late. We went to a local sports bar and watched the USA women win their Basket ball game. We were home by 8:30 and since there wasn't anything exciting on (well except for the Men's beach volleyball game at 11pm) the Olympics we were in bed at 9:30. I was pooped and feel much better today.

We are all going out to dinner tonight. Matthew & Katlin are driving in from Lincoln, Jay is meeting us from the Academy, Elizabeth and the boys and Stephanie and family are all coming. I am so excited. Doug's birthday was last Thursday and mine is today so the kids wanted to celebrate both together. Then tomorrow morning the girls and I leave for Chicago. I can't wait.

WFDT ~ Oh I already know what I am having and I am looking forward to it - Shrimp and Grits - YUM!! This place does them better than any other I have ever tried.

You all play nice and I will be back on Wednesday.
And can you believe they want to work too... :)

Glad you and Doug got to spend last night together.

Happy Birthday

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oreo-birthday-cake-for-Doug.jpg
 
Oh Alison your meal sounds and looks amazing.... Did I tell you that I ate some bison last week? It was good but not as good as I remember.

It was a fantastic meal! That's interesting that you don't have the same taste for animal proteins. I have heard that after a time your body adapts and things yout used to like are no longer appealing.

It sounds like you are going to be very busy these next couple months.

Remind me again, what is the surgery for?

Alison ~ OH.MY.GOODNESS that meal looks and sounds AMAZING. I have never seen a 42oz ribeye, good grief that is larger than some roasts. It looks cooked perfectly. I am literally drooling!! YUM!! Again I say - you are so lucky!!

It was so good! This steak is a special cut, it's called a Tomohawk Ribeye due to the huge bone that is left attached. It's sort of trendy in fancy steak houses and upper end restaurants. So good! We still have some left for sandwiches.

Tonight I think I'll make us those burgers we were supposed to have last night.
 
Good morning ladies,

Oh the fun we had. We were able to sell the Pearl Jam tickets and then we stood in line for over 1 1/2 hours to get Jay a Tshirt. We did everything we wanted to do and had a GREAT time. It was a fast trip but really just the right time. We were all ready to get home. We made some wonderful memories and the giggles never stopped. Fun times!!

Brandi ~ Thank so much for the Birthday wishes. We all got together on Friday for a "birthday" dinner. It was a blast.

Alison ~ Hummmm .............I have never heard of such a thing. I even asked a few beef farmers around here and they were clueless also. Must be a West coast cut. But man, oh man, it looks amazing.

WFDT ~ Meatloaf, green beens and baked potatoes.

Make it a great day!
 
It was a fantastic meal! That's interesting that you don't have the same taste for animal proteins. I have heard that after a time your body adapts and things yout used to like are no longer appealing.

It sounds like you are going to be very busy these next couple months.

Remind me again, what is the surgery for?



It was so good! This steak is a special cut, it's called a Tomohawk Ribeye due to the huge bone that is left attached. It's sort of trendy in fancy steak houses and upper end restaurants. So good! We still have some left for sandwiches.

Tonight I think I'll make us those burgers we were supposed to have last night.
ALison, I am getting my girly parts removed.... I have a mass on my left ovary, and 3 on my cervix, the mass on my right ovary has gone away but an come back.
 
Good morning ladies,

Oh the fun we had. We were able to sell the Pearl Jam tickets and then we stood in line for over 1 1/2 hours to get Jay a Tshirt. We did everything we wanted to do and had a GREAT time. It was a fast trip but really just the right time. We were all ready to get home. We made some wonderful memories and the giggles never stopped. Fun times!!

Brandi ~ Thank so much for the Birthday wishes. We all got together on Friday for a "birthday" dinner. It was a blast.

Alison ~ Hummmm .............I have never heard of such a thing. I even asked a few beef farmers around here and they were clueless also. Must be a West coast cut. But man, oh man, it looks amazing.

WFDT ~ Meatloaf, green beens and baked potatoes.

Make it a great day!
That sounds like a wonderful time! Glad you had so much fun!

WFDT - Grilled pork for david, with Squash Gratin, cucumbers, bell peppers and dairy free chocolate ice cream.
 


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