June, 2016 * * Dinners We Fixed

I split a chicken breast to make a couple cutlets ~ didn't bother pounding them out any thinner than they were, just seasoned & dusted in flour to saute in butter. Made a sauce of white wine, chicken stock, lemon zest and kalmata olives (I used some of the leftover flour from dusting and, obviously, used a bit too much).....it tasted OK, just had a texture that was a bit too thick and gloopy.

Rice-a-Roni (That San Francisco Treat!) and broccoli/carrot side dishes.

My take out .He called it chow main chicken velvet ?

Also won ton soup and 2 awesome egg rolls..Pic on my iphone and I cant get it on here.

I know there is chinese restaurants in every block here ,Have not liked any of the food.yuck..so I make my own..

However this was very good..

what's NOT to like?........chicken, vegetables & NOODLES! Woo Hoo ~ all wrapped in a velvet sauce.

I've made egg rolls and they were excellent...but such a huge undertaking and mess. It's really difficult to find a restaurant-made or store-bought that is any good.

I liked them, not at all greasy. Yeah I'm not going to make them any more either. To much work.

UNCLE JIMMY wrote:Tonight, Ms. Tina made beef stroganoff with mushrooms all over wide noodles.

It was great....

Entenmanns doughnuts for dessert with KK coffee.

I haven't made stroganoff in years....at least it seems that long. It use to be on my regular menu rotation. I think I'll make it when our grandson comes next month.

Thanks for the idea!

I made it just the other week and I was moving the bag of noodles around the cabinet and said to myself ( talk to myself all the time) humm guess I should make stroganoff again soon. lol

I made a big pan of Chicken Enchiladas and a colorful tasty bean salad on the side. I had planned to make some chicken flautas, too, but I ran out of steam.

It was the second time I made the enchiladas, a recipe from Emeril, and they came out even better this time. Last time, I'd paid a lot of attention to the reviews and doubled the amount of sauce in the recipe, which was smart and necessary, and not to let the amount of chili powder used to scare me. This time, I used some Hot Mexican Chili Powder by McCormick that Brian picked up for me and the sauce was even better. The sauce still had a kick but the resulting chili powder-heavy sauce was a lot smoother than the last batch. It was "my bad" the first time as I used what I had on hand.

A few other variations I made last time, I did again (I'd made notes all over the first copy of my recipe and revised it afterwards before I forgot what I did). I've been craving Mexican food lately and Brian is not really a fan of it. But he loved these last time and like me, liked them even more last night. He's looking forward to the flautas, as he likes crispy stuff -- I have a good deal of shredded chicken left so if I'm not too tired after my appointment with my pain management doctor this afternoon, I'm going to have a go at making them. Thunderstorms are expected this afternoon so if I come back looking like a drowned rat, all bets are off! Might actually break down and take my raincoat with me, something I rarely think of doing. I don't know about you guys, but an umbrella just seems to keep the top of my head dry!

We are going to have something Katie and Joe bought at Trader Joe's. One bag is orange chicken and the other bag is kung pao chicken. They are probably loaded with some kind of heat so I guess I will have a bland egg for dinner.

I am having a problem with condiments. My fridge is full of them and taking up precious room. I have cleaned them out but there are still too many. I wish I had a garage fridge.

Wish I had a garage lol

Seems to me I heard that is good. Don't know, I make my own.

Well, we will find out if it is edible tonight. Experience has taught me that most frozen meals are marginal at best.

I got a bag of frozen tamales and steamed them last night. We thought they were better than Cassie's mom made.

Norm what brand. I would love some.

Bugs, I am not a fan of frozen dinners etc However I had a couple Marie Callender chicken pot pies in the freezer and surprise surprise they were good lol

Here is a picture of the bag. I served them with some canned enchilada sauce. I just ate the last of them for lunch today.

Here is a picture of the back of the bag.

Thanks. Going to see if I could get some around here.

NormM wrote:I got a bag of frozen tamales and steamed them last night.  We thought they were better than Cassie's mom made.

I think I remember the first Christmas you had those tamales you mentioned they weren't very good. LOL

Marie Callendar's pot pies aren't bad at all.

There is a brand of tamales out here called XLNT that aren't half bad.

Cassie made some here last Christmas. They tasted like her mom's.

The problem I would have with tamales is that I couldn't tell a good one from a bad one. Oh, I would know if I didn't like them, but I think I've only tasted a tamale once in my life and, as I recall, I had one too many margaritas to discern what anything tasted like.

I would need my friend who grew up in a Mexican restaurant family to tutor me and teach me what is good and what isn't.

Same with some Chinese foods ~ it's much better to go to Chinatown in San Francisco with someone from China. Then they can explain what to order and how to eat the food to get the best idea of 'good vs: evil'.

When I was small, my apt. bedroom overlooked two bars across the street and a guy with a push cart would go around the area where there were two of three other bars yelling TAmaLEEES and guys would come outside and buy some. Dad would go across the street once in a while and get a few for us. That was my basis for deciding if they were good or not.

In Junction City, there was a Chinese restaurant where Chinese exchange students from K-State would come to eat. They had a menu in English and one in Chinese. The Chinese one was completely different from the one they offered to non Chinese people. We would ask for a Chinese menu then ask the waitress what everything was and order whatever sounded good. It was very different from anything we have ever seen in any other Chinese restaurant.

I have 4 more meatloafs in the freezer.....and I'll have to deal with all of them the same as I did with the one I cooked tonight. When I mixed them up I left out the eggs. The first one I cooked was without the realization of no eggs and when I ate it, well, 'firm' is as mildly as I can describe it. Nasty.

So, when I thawed this one out....took 2 days in the refrigerator....I emptied it into a big bowl and added a couple eggs and then reshaped and put it into the oven. What a difference that makes in the texture.

The native Chinese and Mexican foods are quite different from what you get in a restaurant. I have watched enough Andrew Zimmern Bizarre Foods to know. Some Chinese eat dog. Some Mexicans eat crickets. Whatever rocks your world.

teriyaki mix up on inside grilled thighs.