I am getting away from restaurant food. I can make tacos that are better (and cheaper) than Taco Bell or the South Clubhouse. I use ground beef (drained), a couple packages of taco seasoning (prefer the kind that is extra spicy), a box of taco shells, and hot taco sauce. I end up with tacos for three or four big meals.

Today I made up a big batch of sloppy joes. Mine are really good. I made them with a lot of chopped onions, catsup, mustard, a little salt, a pinch of sugar, and about 1/8 tsp of ground cloves. I’ll be eating sloppy joes for quite a few meals but I’m not complaining.

I really have no desire to go out to a restaurant.

I do enjoy some commercially frozen meals: Marie Callender’s chicken pot pies, frozen lasagna, Kiev chicken breasts, Shepherd’s pie, and some Lean Cuisine meals. I have a favorite frozen onion ring (Alexia’s) but frozen french fries don’t impress me.

I can fix a great air fried steak and super baked potatoes with crunchy skins).

It’s been a while since I’ve made any pork chops, but I do like to make them with rice, onions, and tomatoes and I’ve been known to make some excellent breaded pork chops. My pot roast was also excellent but it’s been a while.

In the near future, I’d like to make some goulash with tomatoes, onions, and elbow macaroni, some spaghetti, and maybe a pot of chile. Chicken and noodles is also a favorite of mine. I know my dishes are limited. I really don’t like a lot of exotic stuff.

No, I’m not becoming a cook but do a few pretty good dishes. I need to experiment a bit and expand my list.

Let’s see what I can come up with. What stuff have I enjoyed in the past?

I remember Mom would make “stinky steak.” It was a marinated steak. I have the recipe. I also have a good recipe for country style spare ribs. I used to make fried chicken. Cube steaks with onions in the slow cooker or pressure cooker would be good.

I’m going to work on my “I-can-make” recipes. I’ll brush off those dishes I haven’t tried for a while and/or some I am sure I’d like.

I haven’t sworn off restaurants completely. I do like China Chen’s General Tso’s chicken, I like pizza from South Shore Pizza. I used to love Chinese style Mongolian beef or beef with green onions and green peppers, and on Fridays there’s nothing better here than Fiori’s all-you-can-eat fish. (In Saginaw, the Moose’s walleye is better, but I’m now a Florida girl.) Burgers from Beef O’Brady’s are really good and I like a few dishes from Palm Court’s carry-out (chicken stir-fry, French dip, and Philly cheese steak.) It’s been a while since I’ve gone to Denny’s but they have great burgers and their BLT’s are really good. When I go to a restaurant like Little Harbor I generally order a chicken Caesar salad.

I really need to expand the stuff I can make. I’ll work on it.