Last Week, This Week: Hey Good Lookin’, April 19-25

Whatcha got cookin’ … how about cookin’ something up with me? One of the interests that I’d been wanting to spend more time on after retiring is cooking. So far I hadn’t done so, one loaf of banana bread aside. While I was still working, it was The Husband who would typically make dinner. Most nights in the last year I was “eating my dinner” in the car during my nearly 2 hour commute home from work anyway. He’d been the chief dinner chef even as I was WFH, as well as the first week of my retirement.

This series, Last Week This Week, started as a Monday thru Friday look back at what I’d worn to work in the past week. With that part of my life now at an end, these posts have expanded to a full Sunday thru Saturday, something like a diary. As such, for each day there is a brief description of my outfit or the photo as well as a detail or two about what happened.

Being two weeks out now into retirement, our original plans for last week would have had us traveling from Utah into Colorado. Instead, the extent of our travels were much less exciting. In thinking ahead on this post, I’d decided that I would make dinner every last week. While The Husband is a grilling kind of guy, I’m a stovetop/baking type of cook and typically by recipe. So along with the daily recaps, I’ll be sharing a photo and the recipe(s) of that evening’s dinner.

Sunday

The Husband and I headed over to a local farmers’ market to stock up on some produce. In compliance with State and County guidelines for social distancing, there were no non-food vendors. There was an attendant at the only entrance who controlled the flow of persons entering and to ensure that all who entered were wearing masks. Chalk marked 6′ distances for those waiting in line to enter as well as spaces to wait at the vendors’ stalls. Among the items we bought were brussels sprouts, green beans, strawberries, avocados, and sprouted peanuts.

After we got home, I spent some time getting items ready for listing in my Poshmark closet. This involved steaming out some wrinkles and testing the new photo location set-up. When it came time to start dinner, I didn’t yet have a gameplan. We’d taken some chicken fillets out of the freezer to thaw earlier but now I had to figure out how I was going to prepare them and with what.

The idea of chicken parmesan popped into my head so I went looking online for a recipe. Originally posted on a website called skinnytaste, the one I settled on was this one. Since we didn’t have any bread crumbs, I made my own with stale bread, seasoning, and my food processor. We also didn’t have mozzarella cheese so I used provolone instead. Along with the chicken, I steamed some of the green beans and reheated leftover spaghetti. The meal got a “four-thumps up” rating (two guys, two thumbs each).

Monday

My day started with a video conference with a few of my former staff to go over some lingering questions.  Our conversation lasted for nearly two hours but it was nice to chat with them and to provide some guidance to them.  After that, I spent some time doing internet research on a few topics for upcoming blog posts.  I also may have done a bit of online shopping as well.  It was really doing more looking than buying.

When it came time to make dinner, I used a recipe as just a guide as I some times will do. The original recipe called for chicken thighs but we’d had chicken the night before and I had already taken salmon fillets out of the freezer to thaw.  Fish was marinated in mustard/lemon sauce and I added them to the roasting brussels sprouts about halfway into the cooking time.  The salmon and veggies were garnished with bacon served with a steam-in-pouch type rice from Trader Joe’s.

Tuesday

For the first time in over a month, I traveled more than 2 miles from my home. And I went shopping! With mask in place, of course. While I was still working, The Husband would go out on his own every week or two for our provisions shopping. Today, I made the trip to Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Vons with him. So I got dressed … belt, necklace, the works.

In planning for a few of the dinners for this week, I’d asked my guys if they’d be ok with a meatless meal. Both were agreeable so that’s what was on the menu for this night. The recipe/inspiration for the main item comes courtesy of Francine, a dear friend who will be featured in a future AWIK post. She’s really good at what I call “easy cooking”. A friend of Francine’s works/worked at her local Trader Joe’s sample station and together, the two of them put together several dishes based solely on combining products sold at the store. This dish is basically pre-cooked pasta mixed with marinara sauce, whipped cream cheese, zucchini, and vegan meatballs that I cut into quarters. 20 minutes in the oven at 350. Easy peasy.

Alright, I know that baking our own bread is what we do now. However, for those who want the aroma in their kitchen but not the work, I’ve got an awesome option. We found these bake-at-home baguettes at Costco.  6 to a pack (we’d eaten one already before I took the photo) and it was $4.  They’re the perfect size for 3 or 4 people to share as opposed to the much longer ones sold as singles.  The freshness dating on the label is July so they’ll last a while (if they don’t get eaten first).  We’ve only got two left so they’re on the list for the next shopping trip.

Wednesday

While eating breakfast, I saw a post on Facebook that the country-western music festival Stagecoach which was to occur this coming weekend was postponed until October and that for the upcoming weekend, The Highway on SiriusXM would be hosting Stagecouch. Well, I’m all in on that! All of the music with none of the heat, dirt, and crowds. I’ve been there, I know. That bit of news prompted me to through together this boot-stompin’ worthy ‘fit.

One of the highlights of my day included explaining the term “going postal” to my son as we were eating dinner. I’d asked him if he hears much noise when the washer and/or dryer are in use since his bedroom is directly above the laundry room. He said that heard them going only if it was really quiet at our place. “That’s good”, I told him, “just wanted to make sure that it didn’t bother you and that you wouldn’t be going postal because of it”. He’s a very mellow guy so I was saying that in jest. However, I could tell by the confused look on his face that he had no clue as to what I was talking about.

Besides that, I enjoyed a lovely time at the beach in the afternoon. Just me, myself, and several dozen other sand and sun lovers. It took me several tries to get the angle for this photo right plus adjusting the umbrella once or twice. You’re welcome.

Dinner required no recipe as salads rarely do. I’ve been making some variation of this crispy chicken salad for many years. For this version, I tapped onto CPK’s BBQ Chicken Chopped Salad for inspiration. I tossed a mix of romaine and green cabbage with ranch dressing, added diced tomatoes, corn, black beans, and shredded carrots. For some crunch, pieces of garlic pita chips were sprinkled on top. The salad was finished off with bite-size pieces of baked crispy chicken strips that had been coated with BBQ sauce. It was just our son and me tonight (two thumbs up from him) and we dined alfresco.

Thursday

As I was editing this post while The Husband and I were having our breakfast, it occurred to me that I still needed to figure out what the feature image would be. Looking across the breakfast bar into the kitchen, it struck me that the range and the expanse of cabinets on either side would make a good backdrop. I was standing by said range describing my idea to my in-house photographer and he snapped off a few photos. No staging of the countertops, no makeup, no bra (bathing suit, though, as we’d be heading to the beach after we ate). I originally thought to do a “real” (aka posed) photo but, heck, this is real.

For dinner, I gave cauliflower rice a whirl for the first time. The recipe for Steak Fried Cauliflower Rice was torn from the pages of the April 2019 edition of Eating Well. Along with it, I made Broccoli and Snow Pea Stir Fry courtesy of The Produce Moms and Chicken and Vegetable Pot Stickers that we’d bought at Trader Joe’s. Directions for the potstickers include both fried and steamed; I opted for fried and the guys raved about them. They said they were better than the ones we get from a favorite local restaurant. Another four thumbs-up rating.

Friday

I’m starting to lose track of what day of the week it is. Last night, I found myself checking the 11:30pm offerings to see if SNL was showing a new episode and then was puzzled that the weeknight shows were playing instead. DUH! It wasn’t Saturday night. And then today I had to remind myself again that it wasn’t yet Saturday. LOL. Good thing that it wasn’t Saturday because we still needed to take photos for this post.

I had made a quick trip to the market the night before and bought some shrimp to base this evening’s dinner around. My plan was to look for a recipe or inspiration for the shrimp that included polenta but instead, the idea of tacos popped into my head. We only had larger flour tortillas so that idea morphed into shrimp burritos.  I found a marinade online for the shrimp which I pan sauteed.  The rest of the fixings included Spanish styled rice using cauliflower rice, leftover black beans from Wednesday’s salad, and salsa as well as a cabbage and carrot slaw.  The ingredients were set out for everyone to assemble their own burrito and I chose to have mine deconstructed (without the tortilla).  The guys said it was very good.

Saturday

Of all the things we’re missing due to social distancing, our daughter is at the top of the list. So The Husband starting talking about driving to her place (about 30 minutes away) thinking that we could visit while sitting out in their front yard. That plan changed to her and her boyfriend driving to our place since we live near the beach. Up until this past weekend, public use of the beaches governed by the city I live in had been without restriction other than guidelines for social distancing. However, in coordination with the county, activities on the beach are now limited to recreation like walking or surfing but sunbathing or extended stays involving chairs, blankets, etc are not allowed. Even so, the weather was cooler at our place and after a nice stroll on the beach, we sat on the patio to chat all the while maintaining social distance. And even though we did not hug (insert sad face emoji), it was still really nice to see them in person.

The Husband and I had decided earlier in the day to take chicken fillets out of the freezer to defrost for dinner. I wanted to use the polenta log we had so I went looking for ideas online. A recipe for pan sauteed polenta with oven roast mushrooms and wilted spinach caught my eye. It was so easy to make that I just jotted a couple of notes and didn’t print out the instructions. The meal was a collaborative effort as The Husband graciously agreed to grill the chicken. This had been the first time trying polenta and it was a winner.

And there you have it, a look back on what I wore and/or did last week.  What’s your weekly routine? How do you decide what you wear every day?  No matter the other circumstances in life, it’s important to let your personal style shine in all that you’re doing or where that may happen.

If you’ve read this post through to the end, thank you. I know it was quite lengthy. I hope that it didn’t start out with the impression that I cannot cook because I can, it’s just that I hadn’t been doing much of it lately. And as such, I’m quite pleased with my culinary efforts of the last week. Next week’s post will return to its more usual content although I may share a recipe or two in the future. And in signing off, I thought I’d shared this photo that I took as we entered Trader Joe’s on Tuesday.

Be well and let’s connect! Subscribe, tweet, follow, friend, love, pin … all options are available and waiting for you. I look forward to hearing from you.

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