[Hoot Gibson]

Covid and apartment living have changed my dining habits. I love to cook but I have a small kitchen that makes cooking more challenging and less fun than it was when I had more room. Thanks, to DoorDash, I have expanded the variety of food that I eat. So, what is on your table and did the pandemic change the way that you eat?

Recently, I have been on a Hawaiian food kick. Last night, I had DoorDash deliver a musubi, with a slice of Spam and Japanese fried chicken sandwiched between sushi rice and wrapped in toasted seaweed. Musubis are a type of sandwich where sushi rice replaces the bread. They are widely available in Hawaii, including gas stations on the islands.

As I type this, a DoorDash driver is on the way with tonight's dinner, a poke bowl with teriyaki steak and shrimp. Traditional poke is made with raw tuna or octopus but I have not developed a taste for raw sushi.

So, what has been on your table and has the pandemic changed your dining habits?

[Westside]

I don't eat dinner\supper regularly anymore. I went about four years or so without eating meat as I was experiencing major stomach issues which led me to limit my diet to a handful of foods and very gradually reintroduce them through trial and error. I know this is a bit off topic, but I usually have frozen blue berries and maybe an orange, if I have them, for breakfast. About four hours later i will have a couple turkey burgers or grilled chicken breast with cheese on light bread, a plain baked potato, and sometimes a few green beans for lunch. The green beans are frozen which doesn't have great taste, but I eat them so I can say I ate some green vegetables. If I have dinner, it's usually a protein bar or two with a table spoon or so of natural peanut butter.

To answer your question, no the pandemic really hasn't changed my eating habits. The answer to your second question can obviously be found above. I must say that the rising cost of groceries has me second guessing some of my food choices.

I haven't eaten out or had take about in at least five years. Outside of the Japanese steakhouse in Pikeville, which I have never eaten at, I really doubt anything close to the type of food you're eating can be found around my area.

[Hoot Gibson]

I don't eat dinner\supper regularly anymore.  I went about four years or so without eating meat as I was experiencing major stomach issues which led me to limit my diet to a handful of foods and very gradually reintroduce them through trial and error. I know this is a bit off topic, but I usually have frozen blue berries and maybe an orange, if I have them, for breakfast.  About four hours later i will have a couple turkey burgers or grilled chicken breast with cheese on light bread, a plain baked potato, and sometimes a few green beans for lunch.  The green beans are frozen which doesn't have great taste, but I eat them so I can say I ate some green vegetables.  If I have dinner, it's usually a protein bar or two with a table spoon or so of natural peanut butter. 

To answer your question, no the pandemic really hasn't changed my eating habits.  The answer to your second question can obviously be found above.  I must say that the rising cost of groceries has me second guessing some of my food choices.

I haven't eaten out or had take about in at least five years.  Outside of the Japanese steakhouse in Pikeville, which I have never eaten at, I really doubt anything close to the type of food you're eating can be found around my area.

It sounds like you are eating a very healthy diet. I would probably be better off if I wasn't using DoorDash so much. I counted over 700 restaurants and stores that are within my DoorDash delivery range.

Yesterday, I had three shrimp tacos with slices of avocado for lunch, along with a fresh mango. I have cut back some on my delivery orders because prices have been rising and I feel guilty if I don't tip generously to help pay for the drivers' gas.

[Spud6]

Tonight is Fajiata chicken with Mexican cheese.

[Jarons]

I smoked Boston Butt for the first time. I also made homemade stove top macaroni and cheese and homemade barbecue sauce. All turned out really good except the Mac and cheese.

[Westside]

I don't eat dinner\supper regularly anymore.  I went about four years or so without eating meat as I was experiencing major stomach issues which led me to limit my diet to a handful of foods and very gradually reintroduce them through trial and error. I know this is a bit off topic, but I usually have frozen blue berries and maybe an orange, if I have them, for breakfast.  About four hours later i will have a couple turkey burgers or grilled chicken breast with cheese on light bread, a plain baked potato, and sometimes a few green beans for lunch.  The green beans are frozen which doesn't have great taste, but I eat them so I can say I ate some green vegetables.  If I have dinner, it's usually a protein bar or two with a table spoon or so of natural peanut butter. 

To answer your question, no the pandemic really hasn't changed my eating habits.  The answer to your second question can obviously be found above.  I must say that the rising cost of groceries has me second guessing some of my food choices.

I haven't eaten out or had take about in at least five years.  Outside of the Japanese steakhouse in Pikeville, which I have never eaten at, I really doubt anything close to the type of food you're eating can be found around my area.

It sounds like you are eating a very healthy diet. I would probably be better off if I wasn't using DoorDash so much. I counted over 700 restaurants and stores that are within my DoorDash delivery range.

Yesterday, I had three shrimp tacos with slices of avocado for lunch, along with a fresh mango. I have cut back some on my delivery orders because prices have been rising and I feel guilty if I don't tip generously to help pay for the drivers' gas.

I'm trying to make up for past indiscretions.

[Granny Bear]

I smoked Boston Butt for the first time. I also made homemade stove top macaroni and cheese and homemade barbecue sauce. All turned out really good except the Mac and cheese.

I have a great recipe for mac and cheese if you want it. 

My eating habits aren't great or bad, and they haven't changed at all during and since the pandemic.
In summer time, I cook straight out of the garden.  My daughter and I split a beef earlier this year, so dairy products, chicken and pork are my main items to buy from the grocery store.

Today, I finished putting fresh corn in the freezer.  I remember paying $1/dozen for peaches n cream corn years ago.  This weekend, I paid $9/dozen BUT it was already shucked.  My arthritic hands were so grateful I paid the extra $1/dozen for corn already shucked and silked.

[Hoot Gibson]

I skipped breakfast this morning, so I'm compensating with a big lunch, two shrimp tacos with avocado slices and a chorizo sope (a thick corn tortilla with chorizo, lettuce, tomato, cheese, etc.). Dessert is a fresh sliced mango. The shrimp tacos are the best that I have ever eaten and the restaurant is within a mile of my home.

[Hoot Gibson]

Breakfast this morning (takeout from a biscuit restaurant) consisted of biscuits and sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, ham, sausage, and bacon. It reminded me of the Sunday morning breakfasts that I ate growing up in Kentucky.

[Granny Bear]

When the grandchildren were younger, my brother and I used to rent a house on the beach. There were normally about 20 of us, most were football aged boys. I would cook like that every single morning. There was never a crumb left over. :)

[Hoot Gibson]

When the grandchildren were younger, my brother and I used to rent a house on the beach.  There were normally about 20 of us, most were football aged boys.  I would cook like that every single morning.  There was never a crumb left over. 

I love a big breakfast but I usually eat a small one or skip it. 

I am keeping things light this evening after having a big breakfast this morning. My wife is picking up a couple of appetizers from a local Turkish restaurant - stuffed grape leaves and falafel, with baked rice pudding for dessert. I have been spoiled by the variety of food available in northern Virginia but I haven't tried much Turkish food.

The first ethnic restaurant in Paintsville that I remember was a tiny Mexican restaurant near the courthouse. The local women who owned the store served some of the best burritos that I have ever eaten. I was in 7th or 8th grade but sadly, the restaurant did not remain open long because it was in a bad location. The first Chinese restaurant in Paintsville opened a few years later and it also closed not long after it opened but not because of its location. The restaurant was owned by a Chinese man but I doubt that he had ever cooked before. I have never eaten such bad Chinese food since.

[Hoot Gibson]

For dinner tonight, I am having a Chicken Shawerma platter with peach tea. Chicken Shawerma is marinated chicken breast sliced, stacked, and grilled on a vertical rotissorie, then sliced as the outer layer roasts. The platter includes a fresh grilled onion and tomato, served over seasoned rice with garlic sauce. I love chicken and rice dishes and most cultures around the world have their own version of the combination.

[Westside]

I had a turkey burger with cheese and avocado mayo and plain rice for my main meal today.  For a little over two years, I have eliminated  salt, pepper, and almost all seasonings. My food is pretty bland but after  years of pouring salt over my meals, I am starting to get adjusted to it.  I do miss my salt shaker, though.  I also had a couple bottles of water to go along with my meal.  I think your meal sounded much better, Hoot.

[Granny Bear]

My grand daughter entered the hospital an hour ago, in labor with my great grandson. Since I can't be at the hospital, I'm going down to start cooking. I plan on having food for them for a week before I come back home. Making all their favorites!! Chicken n dumplings, pork chops, a ton of various vegetables (all fresh from Farmer's Market) and their favorite deserts. That will include, caramel apple pie, ho-ho cake and mandarin orange cake. Looking forward to the celebration. Also looking forward to coming back home to rest!! :)

[Hoot Gibson]

My grand daughter entered the hospital an hour ago, in labor with my great grandson.  Since I can't be at the hospital, I'm going down to start cooking.  I plan on having food for them for a week before I come back home.  Making all their favorites!!  Chicken n dumplings, pork chops, a ton of various vegetables (all fresh from Farmer's Market) and their favorite deserts.  That will include, caramel apple pie, ho-ho cake and mandarin orange cake.  Looking forward to the celebration.  Also looking forward to coming back home to rest!!   

That sounds, great, Granny. I don't think that I have had chicken and dumplings since I left Mississippi about a dozen years ago. I am assuming that the Ho Ho cake was inspired by Hostess Ho Hos before bankruptcy forced the company's sell to a Mexican group that has destroyed the flavor of Ho Hos, Twinkies, and my favorites, Suzy-Qs.

There was a small drive-through restaurant in Jackson named Tony's Tamales that served chicken and dumplings and other dishes like tamales, pot roast, meatloaf, red beans and rice, gumbo, and pulled pork. The restaurant was located in a very dangerous part of town, so we limited our runs to Tony's to daylight hours.

Tony's real name is Robert Mosley, and he is an African-American whose business has thrived since we left Jackson. Mosley has closed his original restaurant and opened two restaurants in Jackson suburbs. He also wholesales tamales to Mexican restaurants across Mississippi. His Jackson restaurant was a small shack with a window like you would find in an old wooden house. The number of items on his menu was amazing and the quality of the food was as good as I have found anywhere.

Your post reminded me of Tony's and got me wondering if he was still around. I always thought that a restaurant like his would do a booming business in any town in eastern Kentucky. Unfortunately, Tony's menu no longer includes a long list of dishes and is more focused on their great tamales. (Tamales are very popular in Mississippi and not just in Mexican restaurants.) The tiny restaurant that I remember was larger than two earlier locations that he operated before I moved to Jackson.

Thinking about chicken and dumplings made me hungry but I am too lazy to fix them from scratch, so I settled for my version of an Egg McMuffin, which is two scrambled eggs, ham, and melted cheese (Gouda this morning), served on a toasted English muffin.

[Jarons]

I have been learning how to smoke meats and experimenting with marinades. So far this summer, I have smoked a Boston Butt and ribs so far. I have been cooking eye round roast on the grill about a year, last time I rubbed the seasons in instead of just sprinkling it on. It was the best eye round I have made. I've been soaking my steaks in marinade and trying a marinade for my pork chops today, I currently have them in a marinade right now. My father in law has been bragging to anyone who will listen about my grill cooking.

[Hoot Gibson]

I had pineapple fried rice from a local Thai restaurant last night for dinner and today's lunch was a Chipotle Philly Cheese Steak sandwich from Jersey Mike's.

[Hoot Gibson]

Tonight, I had pork egg rolls with grilled pork and rice vermicelli from one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the DC metro area. Vietnamese egg rolls generally have a generous amount of meat compared to other egg rolls or spring rolls. They are served with a sweet fish sauce and fresh mint on a bed of lettuce.

[Westside]

Hoot, I am not sure I would know how to go about eating some of the stuff you eat.

[Hoot Gibson]

Hoot, I am not sure I would know how to go about eating some of the stuff you eat.

When I was a young boy, my family was poor and my favorite breakfast besides pancakes and syrup, was a bowl of rice with milk and sugar - so I have always liked rice. As I got older and was introduced to Mexican foods, I started making tacos and chili at home. So, I liked the spicy rice dishes of India, Thailand, Vietnam, and other Asian countries as soon as I first tried them.

When I moved to northern Virginia, my office was located along a Washington Metro train/subway route, and it was just good luck that the most convenient place for me to make home is in the middle of one of the largest Asian population centers in the country.

Aside from the spices, most Asian dishes are not that much different than what I ate growing up in eastern Kentucky - lots of chicken, pork, beef, rice, and beans. The best healthy restaurants in this area are mom-and-pop Asian restaurants.

Last night's dinner was a shrimp burrito and a sope with chorizo (a spicy Mexican sausage) and a bottle of Jarrito's Mandarin Orange pop.

[Old School Hound]

The other night, for the first time in a long time, I had a biscuit left over from supper. I heated it up, added some butter, and poured some sorghum(molasses) over it. Reminded me of when my granny was alive. She loved her sorghum. Has anyone ever watched sorghum being made?

[Hoot Gibson]

The other night, for the first time in a long time,  I had a biscuit left over from supper. I heated it up, added some butter, and poured some sorghum(molasses) over it.  Reminded me of when my granny was alive. She loved her sorghum.  Has anyone ever watched  sorghum being made?

I have watched sorghum being made during West Liberty's Sorghum Festival but it was a long time ago. Sorghum with butter and a biscuit does bring back some nice memories.

I watch a lot of Youtube channels - mostly tech and cooking channels. One of the best cooking channels, IMO, is Glen and Friends Cooking. Glen lives in Toronto but he uses sorghum sometimes as a substitute for molasses. He also makes his own maple syrup each year from maple trees in his yard. I have probably learned more about cooking by watching his channel than from anybody else. On Sundays, he features "The Old Cookbook Show," when he prepares a recipe from his extensive collection of cookbooks, which date back to the 1600s. A lot of the old recipes that he features are from the early to mid-20th century, especially the time around the Great Depression.

[Granny Bear]

I have seen this process, too. My grandmother used to make something she called egg butter. It was scrambled eggs and somehow or another, she incorporated sorghum molasses. I don't remember how she fixed this, but it was really really good!!

My house smells amazing tonight. I'll be spending tomorrow and Friday at my daughter's and grand daughter's homes. We will eat well and have a big time!!!

Looking forward to this!

[Hoot Gibson]

That sounds great, Granny. My daughter is working today and tomorrow. (She works as a department manager at a large grocery store in Maryland.) I stayed home to keep her company while my wife visits one of our sons and our grandson in Kentucky. Our Thanksgiving meal will probably be biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and ham. I love to cook but we have a very small kitchen, which makes it difficult to prepare big meals.

[Old School Hound]

I have seen this process, too.  My grandmother used to make something she called egg butter.  It was scrambled eggs and somehow or another, she incorporated sorghum molasses.  I don't remember how she fixed this, but it was really really good!!

My house smells amazing tonight.  I'll be spending tomorrow and Friday at my daughter's and grand daughter's homes.  We will eat well and have a big time!!!

Looking forward to this!

Have a wonderful time with your family, granny.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

---

That sounds great, Granny. My daughter is working today and tomorrow. (She works as a department manager at a large grocery store in Maryland.) I stayed home to keep her company while my wife visits one of our sons and our grandson in Kentucky. Our Thanksgiving meal will probably be biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and ham. I love to cook but we have a very small kitchen, which makes it difficult to prepare big meals.

I love COUNTRY ham but it does not love my blood pressure. My mouth waters just thinking about a slice of country ham. My dad, stepmom and I had had buscuits, gravy, eggs, and ham one night last week. It hit the spot!!!

[Granny Bear]

I used to fix breakfast for dinner all the time!!  It rarely disappoints!

My daughter used a new recipe for sweet potato casserole this year.  It incorporated apricot marmalade and it was delicious!!  Perfect with the ham!!

Everybody was gathering leftovers to take home, and there were plenty to go around!!  I grabbed the ham bone.  LOL  Gonna be some great northern beans cooking today at my house.

[Old School Hound]

I used to fix breakfast for dinner all the time!!  It rarely disappoints!

My daughter used a new recipe for sweet potato casserole this year.  It incorporated apricot marmalade and it was delicious!!  Perfect with the ham!!

Everybody was gathering leftovers to take home, and there were plenty to go around!!  I grabbed the ham bone.  LOL  Gonna be some great northern beans cooking today at my house.

Honestly,  can't hardly beat great northern beans cooked with a big ol' ham hock. Might be my request for last meal if I was on death row. lol    Oh, and fry up some sweet taters with those beans. I love fried sweet taters. My granny liked to make them with her white beans.

[Granny Bear]

So did mine!!! Simple recipe, actually. Sliced about 1/4" thick and fried in butter. Some folks add brown sugar and spices, but she never added anything. They were so good!!!

[Hoot Gibson]

Dinner tonight is one of my favorite take out meals - thinly sliced ribeye steak over seasoned rice with a couple of Middle Eastern sauces drizzled on top and a great side salad. It is a spicy dish that includes a freshly made red sauce that includes jalepeno peppers. 

I don't think that I would ever get tired of the dish. The restaurant keeps some very odd hours, so I am hoping that my Door Dash order does not get canceled tonight. I think that they were closed last Friday, so I was given a credit and had to order from another restaurant. They have a limited menu and their food is similar to what I have eaten from Middle Eastern food carts.

[Granny Bear]

Well I've never eaten from a Middle Eastern food cart, but I sure would love to try it!!