Sharon, I'm sorry your kitties are not doing well. It's so hard to watch our furbabies be sick. I'd love your take out meal, on your patio of course. Here's what our freezer fiasco led me to make for dinner (and I lost very little from the freezer - just a few things on the narrow top shelf of the side by side fridge/freezer in the garage.) Thirty three minutes in the PC for the lamb shanks and the white beans and a Tuscan influenced dinner emerged. The cooking and natural cool down allowed plenty of time for me to shape and bake two rolls from my refrigerated dough in the TO and make a simple salad. Dinner was good. We had a Spanish red wine, Reyla garnacha-merlot single estate with the lamb. There is one lamb shank left over and enough beans that I can cut up the meat and add a few veggies and make soup for tomorrows lunch. Lee

Susan, any time I make burgers and add lentils or black beans to them, they don't hold together well. I Iike to add a bit of legumes for more fiber. We love chipotle and adobo. I should look that recipe up, just for the flavour. Raven, you've been feeling crappy for a few days, I sure hope you get back on your feet and feeling chipper again. Shirley soup and sandwich always goes down good at our house. Angela, you've been holding true with getting more vegetables into your husband's diet. Your dinner sounds good, as all stir-fries do. Prairie_rose....what, feeding the calves and doing chores isn't enough exercise for you?? I like making baked ziti instead of lasagna, the flavour is there, but it's easier to make. :-) Rhizo, pulled chicken sandwiches sound good!

Sue you are always so busy, running around. You must have a great time with the girls. Mary, I haven't had chicken and dumplings since my Nan died, decades ago. She made the lightest fluffiest, dumplings. I just bought a another second-hand slow-cooker on the weekend and we used it for chicken as well. I'm thrilled with it. GM, I love meat and cheese with salads. Rhizo, we like breaded and fried eggplant. Zucchini would be just as good!

Great meals while I’ve been away : ) Ann_t, amazing you made gravy from a rotisserie chicken (bones) and I’m noting that! Thanks for explaining how you accomplished it! Standouts for me: Ann_T’s grilled pork chops – I’ve yet to grill chops, but that’s on my grill list next, chops in freezer await! Hope they taste half as good as yours look! Neely, everything on your lamb plate looks delicious to me. Annie, your Salisbury steak (I know what it tastes like!) makes my mouth water, and again with the cauliflower rice – I need to make some as I love it (clearly, more so than you!). Sleevendog, wish you’d posted your London broils, but the I’m thinking baked cod over white beans is a perfect flavor match – again something I’ve never tried. I’m incredibly envious of your outdoor oven! How wonderful that must be to use! Relying on the grill quite a bit now when I have time to cook: Thursday night was Ann_t’s Greek ribs again… so tender and we love the flavor. Friday night’s meal: I’ve never grilled salmon, and though I left it on a bit too long (DH’s was perfect but larger) this was the best-tasting salmon we’ve both had. Marinated for a couple hours in sesame oil, fresh grated ginger, soy, minced garlic, and a smidge of dark brown sugar, seasoned with lemon pepper before grilling. Could eat this every night I think. DH requested grilled corn again, and the potatoes were also grilled in a grilling basket. Easy meal. Enjoyed a sunset margarita before dinner just because it was Friday : ) Yep, resorting still to plastic cups. Made myself another half drink as it was so refreshing and the weather lovely. Saturday was awful to-go pizza… long week, hard day. Sunday finally tried the pellet tube as a smoker substitute, and other than initially not grilling the chicken long enough due to poor temp probe placement, it was wonderfully smoky! ETA: The not-clear juices running from the chicken should have been my first clue it wasn't to 165 F! Needed to cut back my mint as it was crowding the rosemary, so made glazed carrots with mint. Potatoes in the electric skillet this time, and more time consuming than on the grill, not nearly as good.