29 April – Porketta roast (from Everett's Market 38th & Cedar), garlic mashed potatoes, baguette. Lou made chocolate pudding for dessert.

28 April – Pasta Carbonara with baby bella mushrooms, 
shallots & red peppers, (not pictured) salad

27 April – tacos & burritos

26 April – deli chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, baguette

25 April – Twice Cooked Beef, Rice, Edamame

24 April – (not pictured) leftover lasagna. it did not even make a good photo on day two, day three was not photogenic, still tasted great

23 April –  leftover lasagna, salad

22 April –  veggie lasagna, bread

21 April – spinach/cheese tortellini and salad, 
garlic bread

20 April – lost track of what was for dinner...

wow-many days have gone by, again. my Dad and I switched phones while he travels, so I am back to what feels like the old-fashioned technology of downloading photos from the digital camera, instead of emailing or bluetoothing them off my phone.

19 April – pasta and sauce on a bed of fresh spinach

18 April – hot dogs and asparagus

17 April – burgers on the grill, American fries

16 April – I am writing o n April 22. WOW, this is the longest I have gone without updating. Been a bit busy. Altering Prom dresses, tearing apart the backyard to redesign it, and daily life ramps up when the weather is as nice as it has been this Spring. 


MORE pasta with sausage sauce – added some zucchini

15 April – meatloaf and mashed potatoes

I used ground turkey in place of ground pork. 
I should have adjusted the baking time, as it was a bit dry. 
My son called it jerky meatloaf. We all ate it all.

14 April – pasta, sauce, "glop" 
– added sautéed zucchini and shallots to the leftover pork mixture

13 April – roast pork loin, sweet potatoes, braised greens


you can eat well on a Tuesday night.


arrived home at 5:15p ate at 7p. took 4 lb. pork loin out of refrigerator. preheated oven to 425˚. changed clothes. sliced shallots, placed shallots and pork roast in a 9 x 13 baking pan (no additional oil). made slits in roast and pushed slivers of garlic in slits. sprinkled with rosemary, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. baked (uncovered) for 30 minutes. peeled, cubed and tossed 3 sweet potatoes in olive oil. placed in pan around roast, returned to oven. baked an additional approx. 45 minutes, until roast measured 160˚ internal temperature. took out of oven, draped in aluminum foil and let rest while braised greens.

yum.

12 April  – Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, garlic, green pepper 
on top of pasta and jarred sauce

10 April – sort of Jambalaya reheat

wow, three days in a row!

9 April – left over sort of Jambalaya

8 April – sort of Jambalaya

7 April – Lou cooked – pasta, bread, Italian sausage

6 April – leftover brat, onion rings, Brenda's sweet potatoes; 
bean enchiladas

5 April – honey chicken drummies &/or hot dogs, Brenda's Sweet Potatoes


Brenda's Sweet Potatoes
I know I did not do them justice
peel & cube sweet potatoes, place in a lidded sauce pan with some butter and brown sugar. no water. cook until tender. drizzle with vanilla extract. YUM

!

4 April – Hot Cross Buns for Easter morning. (not pictured) ham and potatoes, too.


dinner was a fine example of what we like to call "what's in the fridge"
I was driving "the kids" back to college. The rest of the gang composed:
leftover Pastichio, shrimp, steamed bean buns, carrots, oranges

3 April – dinner at Pho 79

seafood soup

Pho Ga










1/2 sugar blueberry almond coffee cake (breakfast)

I regularly bake with 1/2 the sugar called for in recipes and
usually use at least 1/4 whole wheat flour

Simple Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

(listing my amounts of sugar and whole wheat flour, adding blueberries and almond extract)

TOPPING

1/4 C. light or dark brown sugar (just measure, don't pack brown sugar)

1/4 C. granulated sugar

1 T. cinnamon

1 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 C. sliced almonds

CAKE

1 C. whole wheat flour

2. C. unbleached flour

1 T. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1-3/4 C. buttermilk or plain yogurt

1 tsp. almond extract (optional)

1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. granulated sugar

3 large eggs

7 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 C. frozen blueberries (no neeed to thaw)

1. For the topping: Mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter together in a medium bowl until the mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in the almonds.

2. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a non-stick 9 by 13-inch baking pan.

3. For the cake: Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, melted butter and almond extract by hand with a wooden spoon. Do not over mix. Gently fold in the blueberries.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 40–45 minutes. Do not overbake. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy.

2 April – Grandma Jo invited us over for dinner. Wow!
Shrimp with lemon, Greek Pastichio, mocha ice cream dessert. Lou got his own special ice cream Sunday.

1 April – enchiladas, tacos, burritos