What Are You Having For Dinner

[joel]

Sunday leftover & fresh from the oven fruitcake.

 

[teeceetx]

Tonight, chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy.

 

[Weedygarden]

Daughter has been really sick, been to urgent care. We are going to have pho for dinner tonight. That bone broth should give her a boost.

 

[Haertig]

I'm the cook in the family these days. My daughter is far better, but she's in Hawaii. And the remainder of my family will never give me any ideas what they want me to cook.

So for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day my meal plan is "no plan". I just got back from the store and bought everything I didn't already have on hand, and I'll choose what to make once people have gathered and say "What's for dinner?, I'm hungry!" At that time, I will list off what I have to use. If they don't leave me enough time, I will only list ingredients I have that can be cooked on the Blackstone so I can cook it all together in a short amount of time (but rice cooker and air fryer could be used along with the Blackstone if required).

Honey Baked Ham Store roast turkey breast. Ribeye steaks. Chicken breasts. Shrimp. Ham. Ground beef. Andouille sausage. Salmon. Tilalpia. Center cut bone-in pork chops. Eggs.

Green beans. Asparagus. Yellow Squash. Zuchinni. Mushrooms. Bell peppers. Golden potatoes. Red potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Corn. Stuffing. A variety of different beans. Flavored noodles. Mac & Cheese. Jasmine rice. Just about everything you can think of to put into a salad concoction. Cottage cheese. Fruit cocktail. Refrigerator biscuits. Sourdough bread.

Cherry pie. Ice cream. A variety of cookies. Everything needed to make fruit smoothies.

For breakfast tomorrow I can do a traditional big breakfast - eggs, hashbrowns, bacon/sausage/ham, pancakes/waffles - of some Mexican Huevos Rancheros - eggs, chili, beans, tortillas, cheese, avocado, grilled chicken, sour creme.

It is kind of free'ing to realize that all the bases are covered. I can make anything they would most likely ask for (I do have other staples for making common things like spaghetti laying around as well).

Tonight, my vote would go for the grilled pork chops with grilled asparagus and roasted potatoes. Cherry pie for dessert. But I'll let everybody else choose and only make what I want if nobody has any preferences/suggestions. The cherry pie is a cheater - it's a frozen Marie Callender's concoction. Those are pretty good for frozen pies though. A pie from scratch would take too long when started at the last minute. Ditto for the beans - those are canned cheaters. No time to soak dried beans. I can't imagine anyone in my family asking for beans though, except for the huevos rancheros. We usually have those with burgers or other BBQ stuff, not with the things I listed above.

Tomorrow, I'd pick the huevos rancheros for breakfast and turkey breast, stuffing, green beans, salad, biscuits and ice cream for the later meal. We'll see if I win the lotto or if the others pick something different.

Of course, I picked up a wide variety of my favorite beers and those are chilling now. Two friends dropped off some Christmas cookie assortments they just baked, and one of them brought a quart of his homemade eggnog as well.

We're set! I am totally stress free at the moment. And I'm set for dinners for the next week almost.

 

[Magus]

Spaghetti.

 

[Ekatarina]

My dinner tonight ...was good
For once I took the time to relax --- I fed the gang before I sat

Chicken - cranberries- coleslaw- 2 green onions - gouda cheese pieces

Dessert : cheesecake