We’re currently home, socially distancing, and our dear Governor Tim Walz has issued a Stay Home order.
A stay at home order directs Minnesotans to limit movements outside of their homes beyond essential needs. By limiting social interactions, we decrease the chance of transmission of COVID-19 and help our health care sector prepare for increased demands.
From https://mn.gov/governor/covid-19/faq.jsp
The order runs from March 27th (today) through April 10th, and I’m feeling a bit apprehensive that it will be long enough.
I would love it if more testing were available, it also wouldn’t hurt if our healthcare systems had access to enough Personal Protective Equipment, and so much more, but for the time being we’ll just be home. I’m doing lots of stress-relief-cooking and working remotely, while having kids practice instruments, rotate activities, and going on walks together. I’m really hoping there are some significant changes in time for me to spend Easter with family, but that’s really hard to predict at this point.
Monday we stayed home from Friends Dinner, but had an awesome Zoom video call with the whole crew. I missed seeing their faces so very much. We still had leftover shredded beef from last week’s dinner, so I made some gimbap and spring rolls for our crew.
Tuesday I made cheeseburgers, with apple slices on the side, and I had some broccoli slaw with ranch dressing too. I also started a third of a recipe of this tasty no-knead dough, but added dried rosemary, two grated cloves of garlic, and a glug of olive oil. The dough had to hang out in the fridge for a while, so I had to get it started for Thursday’s dinner.
Wednesday I made stir fry. It was Stir Fry Stwendnesday I guess? That doesn’t have the same ring to it, but it will have to do for now. I cooked the chicken and mixed veggies separately. The veggies were green beans, carrots, lots of green cabbage, and sweet onion slices, which I seasoned with salt and fresh grated ginger. I sauteed the chicken thighs, then made this sauce. I used water instead of broth, and instead of sugar and sriracha I added a few glugs of Sweet Chili Sauce. I also added more water after the sauce thickened up a bit too much and finished it off with plenty of black pepper.
Thursday I made stuffed shells, fresh bread with my Tuesday rosemary-garlic dough, and steamed broccoli. The bread was definitely the star of the show, and I’ll be sure to try more variations when I have fridge space to spare. We currently have too many beverages in the fridge and not enough room for baking projects.
Friday I made chicken wings, which I baked at 450F with McCormick® Perfect Pinch® Lemon & Pepper Seasoning, my very favorite lemon pepper seasoning. I never quite pay attention to how long these take, but I checked them for a light golden color, then flipped them and gave them more time. When the wings were done, I toss them around in the pan-juice-stuff with more lemon pepper and they were pretty darn tasty. We had an odd combo of leftovers, so in addition to the wings we had Brussels sprouts, reheated rice, and some baked shrimp. Is popcorn with a movie in our future?
CrustyBeth 