August 2021 - what’s cooking in the dog days of summer

OH NO! Dental work always hurts twice. First in the chair, then in the wallet!

From Lore:

"I think I’ll be eating this for three days. There’s Brie and blue cheese, smoked salmon, shrimp, lettuce, avocado and apple slices, olives, tomatoes, strawberries, parsley. I will just have some fabulous balsamic to drizzle on it. I don’t remember what kind of dressing I had for the original.

The first picture is of the one I had in Morocco ~ the second picture is the one I made at home."

Cookin Lore wrote:OH NO!  Dental work always hurts twice.  First in the chair, then in the wallet!

Yes, he never took the time when he was working to get much dental work done. After we retired and moved to Florida he had lots of time ~ an a bunch of 'put-off-until-later' dental work done. The first dental practice he went to ended up being one of the 'group' practices and they charged him more than our first house cost ~ and he still needed corrections done. Then he started going to the dentist I found for me and spent a lot of money but at least they did good work.

As we were eating our soup he wanted to explain to me what they did today. I stuck my fingers in my ears and hummed to myself until his lips stopped moving..........


Hahahahahaha!

Zita macaroni and sausage....

We have some friends in from Chicago and I know they love pierogi so when I made some before I knew I had to save some for them. So today it was pierogi and smoked sausage. Yum

I made leftover Salisbury Steak ~ had to make additional mashed potatoes because Dane ate half of what I had planned to use. I just steamed some broccoli for a side.

No pic ~ you've seen it just a couple days ago....

No pic from me either, cause I was just about to put dinner in the oven and son called "Mom, we're ordering in pizza, wan to come"? It's a 7 minute drive, so, of course I went. London Broil and baked potato for tomorrow!

I sliced & browned some Johnsonville Beef Brats and then heated them with a small can of sauerkraut with half an apple grated in to 'soften' the tart sauerkraut. I had the last of the mashed potatoes with it.

Pea and ham soup.
Chocolate / pudding with sliced banana cream pie.

Lyn & I went to the local Farmers' Market this morning. I didn't find a lot I wanted but they did have some fresh looking pea pods. So tonight will be beef & pea pods....and I'll use the last of the bok choy I had in the refrigerator.

People around here are not the most knowledgeable about farming. 90% of the stalls are simply bulk produce brokers that all buy at the same wholesale market. The product is the same but is displayed differently and priced very close to the same as the next. There are only a couple that are local farms with locally grown produce. And many people won't go to them because the produce isn't 'picture perfect', but with blemishes or misshapen in the way it grew. The lady I picked up the pea pods from has them placed in small baskets (they dump the produce into a bag and keep the basket to re-use) and purchased at the Asian Market I go to in Orlando. She buys a bag of baby bok choy, probably 25 or 30 small plants, for $2 - $3. Then she puts them in rubber bands of groups of 3 and sells them for $1 each. Pretty good mark up but she is making the trip to get them, keeping them refrigerated and then displays them nicely for the shoppers. I don't mind paying the price for the convenience once in a while but it's definitely not a real 'deal' as others think.

There was a local orchard that was selling 'local' peaches for $4/basket. In each basket was 1 softball sized peach and one baseball sized peach. $4 for two peaches is TOO expensive for me! LOL

I went to our local farmers' market too. So many wonderful vegetables and fruit. All locally grown. Our area is truly amazing. I didn't need much, bought some eggs, bread, pimiento peppers, onions and potatoes. Oh, and grapes. Two kinds of seedless. Yumm!

Sons are golfing today, Michael who lives about 40miles away is staying with his brother tonight as they are golfing. Daughter-in-law has gone home to Sieuex Falls for the first time in almost two years, so Michael is staying overnight. Both sons are coming for brunch tomorrow. Fresh Ontario potatoes to make home fries, and fresh free range eggs to go with them. There will be chicken schnitzels actually which are topped by an egg. Breaded schnitzel with an egg on top is the must have for brunch when my kids come!

I used the last two small pieces of beef tenderloin for the beef & pea pod stir fry tonight. As usual, there are leftovers.....and I'm happy because it was really good!

From Lore:

"Dinner Tonight London broil, a bit of sausage, baked potatoes and green beans."

I tried a very different version of Orange Chicken that I have been making since Charlie was young. It was pretty good.

NormM wrote:I tried a very different version of Orange Chicken that I have been making since Charlie was young.  It was pretty good.

That looks good, Norm.


We went to a local country club and, happy coincidence, Darlene ordered their orange chicken tonight as well. Neighbor Tom and Dane ended up with the fish & chips and I had the chicken/strawberry/avocado salad that I started thinking about mid morning and couldn't get out of my head......

Everyone was a happy camper with our selections for supper.

I made some extra chicken schnitzel pieces yesterday for brunch, always nice to have a piece as a snack, right? So two pieces of that, and a yummy piece of sourdough multigrain bread topped with peanut butter was my dinner. Nothing green in sight! LOL But, I have been munching on the grapes I got at the market too! Lots of sugar in it all. LOL

Tina made stuffed bell peppers, and baked a chocolate iced white cake.

Whoops! Forgot to post last night......don't know where my head was.


I used the last of the chicken I had poached to make creamed chicken & vegetables over noodles.

Zero thoughts for what to make today....

I made a breaded chicken breast with a mustardy sauce and a salad. I made a salad dressing that Charlie liked. It was used in all the teriyaki restaurants when he was living in Seattle.

DD made cheeseburgers on the grill.
Had that with a side of ziti macaroni and cheese.