Giant Meatballs

After spending a fun surprise overnight getaway with Mark at the beach Sunday night, we got home around noon and I had to be at work shortly after. On the way home from work I stopped at Petty's Meat Market and bought six fist-sized meatballs, already cooked and soaking in spaghetti sauce. A pot of noodles, a jar of sauce, some garlic bread in the oven, and we had dinner! Yumm-o!
Present were David, Audrey, Mark and me. Nothing left over.

Chicken Kiev

After hurrying off to a doctor's appointment this morning, followed by work, I didn't have anything for dinner, so I stopped by Petty's Meat Market in Longwood on my way home. Only David and Audrey and Mark would be eating (I'm eating diet food) and I got two ready to bake chicken kievs (chicken breast with herb butter inside, then rolled in breading). They cooked in 40 minutes and smelled wonderful. They LOVED it. Served with salad and leftover corn.

Mexico Night

I bought some beef strips, with some tasty red seasoning, onion and bell pepper from a local Mexican grocery store, run by folks that don't speak English. My high school language skills are weak, but I knew enough to recognize the word for beef and "fajita". Quatro pounds of this went into the crock pot this morning, and once cooked, the size reduced quite a bit, which I expected. Served with yellow rice, canned seasoned black beans, and frozen yellow and white corn. Fresh mango for dessert.

Chicken Fettucini Alfredo

Chicken fettucini alfredo from Costco, a meal ready dish that just begs to be baked. The regular crew is David, Audrey, Robert, Mark and me. Not a noodle left over. Good shopping, Mark!

Grilled Sausage

Grilled sweet Italian sausages
Ziti noodles, coated with basil pesto sauce
Spinach
Present were Mark, Robert and me.
Leftovers saved for Audrey and David.
Nearly burned the sausage, it cooks really fast on the grill.
It was real good.

Banana Cake

There were three nearly black bananas on the counter just begging to be revived into something yummy. I went online and found this easy banana cake recipe. I only had two teaspoons of sour cream, so I added a slosh of milk and a little squirt of lemon juice. Instead of cooking the cake in a loaf pan, I used a pretty bundt pan. It had to cook for a total of 45 minutes instead of the recommended 35 because of the pan. There was some long-forgotten chocolate icing I made and tossed in the back of the fridge for future snacking reference, which I microwaved for thirty seconds to make it runny and I poured it over the still-warm cake. FYI...It looks small here, but the cake is sitting on a large dinner plate.

Cake Update: One day later and the cake is GONE! I tasted one bite, it tasted terrific, Robert isn't much of a sweet eater, but between David, Audrey, and Mark, they couldn't get enough!

Ewwwwww...Leftovers

The fridge was full and I needed room for the watermelon we just bought, so it was Choose It and Nuke It night. I put all the containers in a row on the container and my spoiled family turned their noses up. I am on a diet, and I had special food from a box with a big salad. Robert ate at home - a leftover hamburger patty and a salad. David and Audrey went to Taco Bell, and Mark met his friend Alan for dinner at Scampi's Italian Restaurant. I feel bad throwing good food away, but I can't seem to get them to eat yesterday's meals.

Pork Roast

I put a 3-pound pork roast in the crock pot with a packet of dry onion soup mix and let it cook on low all day.
Couscous with pine nuts and some of the pork drippings stirred in
French cut green beans from a can
Pina coladas for dessert
The whole crew was here and there were only enough leftovers for Robert's lunch.

I started NutriSystem diet today. Big Lots has a huge supply of NutriSystem meals for cheap. Yes, I ate this yummy dinner, but a small portion and the rest of the day I had the special diet food.

All-American Grill Day

Hamburgers and Hotdogs on the grill with buns and all the fixings, including lettuce, tomato, pickles, and for the doggies - saurkraut.
Potato salad
Fresh chocolate chip cookies for dessert
Present were - the whole gang!

Cheesy Brocolli Soup

Brocolli cheese soup in the crockpot. (Check out the recipes in that website link. She's terrific!) The cheeses I used were sharp cheddar, brick (tastes like nutty swiss cheese to me), and monterey jack. I threw in a handful of mozzerella, because I had it, but it didn't melt well and I wish I hadn't.
Baked chicken breasts, soaked in Mojo marinade. I cheat and buy the bottled marinade in the store.
Present was the whole gang, all six of us. Yum Yum.

Dinner at Perkin's

Mark and I had to run errands yesterday evening, so we stopped for dinner at the new Perkin's restaurant in Apopka. Mark and I chose to eat from the senior menu, for over age 55, although we're both 51. It's a smaller portion and we weren't terribly hungry.
Mark had turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, a little cranberry sauce (a tablespoon maybe), and a salad. For dessert Mark chose a warm blueberry muffin.
I had thinly sliced roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy and cooked carrots. I had a slice of lemon meringue pie for dessert.
Perkins isn't that wonderful of a restaurant, open from early morning till late at night. They're more of a breakfast place. I chose it because they're new, clean, and fast.

Steak

Sirloin steak, marinated in Uncle RP's sauce and cooked on the grill.
Baked sweet potatoes
Steamed mixed vegetables- brocolli, cauliflour, & carrots.
Pina Colada's for dessert.
Present were David, Robert, Mark and me, plus my friend and her little girl.

Smoked Beef Sausages

I put smoked beef sausages in the crock pot on low all day, and they got so plump and stayed soooo juicy.
Cabbage, cooked with onion, salt, pepper, water, and butter on the stove top.
Boiled red new potatoes.
Present were David, Robert, Mark and me, plus a friend and her little girl.

Chicken Pot Pie

Mark went to Costco today and bought a huge 3-pound chicken pot pie. I asked picky David if he was planning to eat dinner at home tonight and I got his usual answer: "Depends on what's for dinner!" I told him Chicken Pot Pie and he said, "Yes! I LOVE your chicken pot pie!" Then I pulled the huge pie from the fridge to pop in the oven and he told me he doesn't like that pie as much as mine. Top compliment from David. I made banana pudding - homemade - for dessert. He loves that too. David was right, the Costco Chicken Pot Pie was really salty and lacking...something.

Del Frisco's Dinner Out

We went to a friend's birthday party at Del Frisco's in Winter Park, FL.
Mark had a beer, a salad, and a ribeye steak.
I had water, a glass of red wine, and petite sirloin tips with grilled bell peppers (I got one tiny strip) and thin spaghetti noodles with butter and way too much garlic. I gave the noodles to Mark and another table mate.

Pot Roast, Delicious!

I seared a five pound pot roast in a cast iron dutch oven, then added in onion soup mix, a quartered a large onion, several carrots, a few stalks of celery, and four peeled and quartered baking potatoes. I added celery seed, some crushed garlic, oregano, parsley, pepper, and a mix of dried herbs. With enough water to cover the meat, I popped the lidded pot in the oven for an hour. Once it was cooked, I drained the juice into a frying pan and made gravy, ladled all the vegetables into the gravy and sliced the meat. I pushed the meat to the sides of the pot, then poured all the gravy and vegetables into the center. It looked and smelled so good!

In a large skillet I put slender asparagus spears, butter, olive oil, crushed garlic and a slosh of white wine. Let that cook for a bit, then got to show off my special "toss in air" frying pan skill as I flipped the asparagus over and over until it was yummy-tender.

Served with big pop-open "buttery" refrigerator biscuits from the paper can.

Chicken

Boneless chicken thighs, baked in the oven with a bunch of spices and herbs shaken on it.
Steamed white rice
Large yellow lima beans, spooned over the rice with some hot sauce.
Green beans
Biscuits