So...whats for dinner?
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NatureGrrl,
I checked out Diana's blog... Holy cow did that lentil soup look yummy! Funny but, I tend to come here for the discussion boards and tend to forget all of the other good information here! Thanks for the reminder..
LuvRVing,
I bookmarked the article to read when I can really take my time with it. What I read so far sounds very interesting. My Mom has been having trouble lately with her blood sugar and they have started having her test. Plus I definitely fall into the would like to loss weight category!
Thanks for passing it along!!
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Because of Sherrill talking about avocados, tonight I made a dish I usually only have in the summer. Chili chicken with avocado, cucumber and tomato salsa with rice. It is definatly better when the veggies come form the garden but it was till pretty darn good and low cal.
Naturgrl- I like you don't eat pasta very often sow hen I do it is usually the "real thing". Yet I keep whole wheat versions on hand as well if I feel like being healthier. Honestly the difference isn't too much. I try to do a lot of brown rice, it seems we are eating it all the time. Yet I seem to default to good ol home cooking more often than I should!
A tip for some of you, for something that I do. (You might think I am nuts!) I write on the calendar what I made for dinner every night so that when I need dinner ideas I can flip through and see what I haven't had in a while and give myself ideas. It's also handy when your husband asks "when did we have meatloaf?" because he wants to make a sandwich out of the leftovers. It actually helps me a lot. My mother did it and I always thought she was nuts.... yet here I am!
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Laurie, very cool way to track meals, I never thought of that! Great idea. I'm going to start doing that, too. I have one I track my exercise on, so I'll just add dinner to that as well.
I'm making a sweet potato, cannellini bean, and kale soup tomorrow night. Yum. Probably cornbread to go with.
Happy eating, everyone!
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seaside- The Barilla Plus pasta comes in every conceivable shape, elbows, rotini, penne. My 12 YO never even realized I switched from white pasta. To me, it tastes the same. It's nice that it is available in mainstream grocery stores too. Tonight, my son had a friend over for dinner and I made Barilla rotini with pesto. I poached some chicken breasts and chopped them up and topped the pasta. For DH and me I made huge salads with romaine, balsamic vinaigrette, fuji apples, chopped chicken breast, blue cheese and toasted almonds.
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Dessert tonight thanks to VDay and DH: Shari's Berries: assortment of white, milk, dark chocolate dipped strawberries covered with nuts, swirls of choclate and nuts. Oh my oh my.
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Barbara - now that is my idea of dessert! Love, love, love chocolate covered strawberries. Never thought about adding nuts - great idea!
Tonight we had a beef, peppers, snow peas, sesame seeds, ginger and garlic stir fry with brown rice. Hubby wanted Chinese food and we were going to go out, but I decided I'd just make it.
Michelle
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Tonight was a home-made roasted tomato soup (easy, if you have an immersion blender and sooo good) with grilled cheese sandwiches... Simple and good!
Today we almost hit 60 here!!! There IS hope for spring yet!!
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Ugh I have not planned a single meal this week...we have pretty much grazed and tried to clean out our freezer (unfortunately a lot of the meat, fish and chicken had horrible freezer burn and was not eatable??). Tomorrow is my 40th B-day so we are going out for sushi and then to our favorite ice cream shop. Oh well I can get back on the wagon next week...
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Michelle, happy birthday! 40!! Have a great day and a happy and healthy year! And yes, special days are for indulging, so do so and enjoy it and get back on track later.
seaside, roasted tomato soup, can you share the recipe? Sounds yummy and I hate to admit I've never made tomato soup and it has to be way better than canned!
I want to join y'all for dinner, everything everyone makes always sounds so good (especially since it's been one of those too-tired-to-care-about-cooking weeks. The fact that I'm posting in the middle of the night may give you an idea of why I've been tired
)Good night, everyone...
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ohtobehealthy- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! i love sushi and blackened ahi have fun!
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Michelle, Happy Birthday! Enjoy your day and your sushi
Laurie, the dish you posted sounds great! Right up my alley!
Last night was a grazing night for me as well. Hubby out at a work event, so that's my out not to cook! But what I did do, which I am so thankful for now, is I made dinner for tonight so all I need to do is pop it in the oven. Pretty easy, really. I cut up chicken breast into small pieces, dipped in egg and coated with seasoned bread crumbs mixed w/ more parm cheese and fresh parsley. Cooked chicken in olive oil and placed in a baking pan. Added chopped sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and sliced fresh mushrooms. I then poured a little Italian dressing on everything and mixed it and grated a little fresh parm cheese. Tonight all I need to do is bake it it the oven and maybe throw on some fresh chopped parsley.
I am usually scrambling for dinner, but when I actually plan ahead, I'm so proud of myself!
Happy Friday, everyone!
Sherrill
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Happy Birthday Michelle!
Sherrill- Your dinner that you made sounds really good, the only thing I don't have on hand is the sun dried tomatoes. I am definitely going to try that dish next week, thanks for sharing!
I am happy to say I won't be cooking dinner tonight. My boys are going to my in laws for the night and I am going out! My husband is meeting friends to go snowmobiling and I am going to go out with my girlfriends. Than we will all meet at our house for the end of the evening for a big group nightcap. Yay!!
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O2B,
A few weeks back I decided we really needed to use up stuff that I had in the freezer basically because there were some really good sales that I had to pass on because we had no room to put anything!
Don't know if you've ever seen the cooking show "Chopped" but each contestant gets a basket with several ingredients in it and they have to come up with a dish using all of the ingredients (some of which are unusual).
I decided to do my own version of it (Yes...I am easily amused..lol) and for 2 weeks whatever I made for dinner had to include at least one ingredient from the freezer! In the beginning it was easy but, as my choice of ingredients shrank the dinners became stranger! One thing in there was a marinated pork tenderloin that looked "iffy" on being in there too long but I thought I'd try it. We both took a bite and, after chewing for what seemed like forever (it was soooo tough), my husband looked at me and said, "First time I've ever had pork flavored gum!"
Enjoy your Birthday!!!
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Laurie,
Great idea on the meal tracking! I think I may try it. I tend to get into cycles where I make the same things over and over until everyone is sick of them mostly because I forget that I just made something a couple weeks ago.
ENJOY your night out!!! I remember vividly how precious those nights were when my kids were young and my parent's took them for the night. You almost didn't know what to do FIRST! Although sleeping in a bit the following morning was definitely on the short list!!
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From one Michelle to another...Happy Birthday and have a wonderful day!
Laurie - where are you from in NH? I am originally from Nashua.
Seaside - I watch Chopped, love that show. Did you notice that some of the judges and other Food Network chefs are going to compete starting March 6? Should be very interesting and fun to watch! I love your idea about using something from the freezer as a Chopped Challenge, and will give that a try when we get back from vacation. We are leaving for a week at Disney World next Tuesday with our daughter's family (3 grandkids). Now that will be quite an adventure - they are 7, 5 and 3.
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NatureGrrl,
Here's the recipe I used. It is soooooo much better than canned. The time is longer than opening a can but, most of it isn't spent actively doing anything.
Leftovers will be today's lunch!! Can't wait!
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Roasted Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes (mix of fresh heirlooms, cherry, vine and plum tomatoes) - I used about 6 romas and 1 1/2 pints of grape tomatoes that I had to use up
- 3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 Large yellow onion, sliced into thick (1/4 -1/2 inch or so) slices and NOT separated into rings
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 quart chicken stock (split use)
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, optional - I did not use but, have in the past
- 3/4 cup heavy cream, optional (I usually use 1/2 and 1/2 but, milk would work, too)
- Prepared Horseradish, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Wash and cut the larger tomatoes into halves. Any of the smaller tomatoes like, cherry or grape, can be left whole. Put the tomatoes in a large storage bag or bowl and add some the olive oil and toss to coat. Spread the tomatoes out onto a baking tray lined with foil. Repeat with the onion slices and garlic cloves taking care that the onions don't fall apart. You want to keep the slices whole and not individual rings, if you can, because they will burn if separated. I usually use a separate pan for the onions and garlic because they are usually done before the tomatoes and you don't want them to burn. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until caramelized.
Remove roasted tomatoes, garlic and onion from the oven and transfer to a large stock pot . Add 3/4 of the chicken stock, bay leaves, and butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until liquid has reduced by a third. (I don't worry about how much it has reduced, I just give it 20 minutes).
Wash and dry basil leaves, if using, and add to the pot. REMOVE the bay leaves (I forgot this step once). Use an immersion blender to puree the soup until smooth. Return soup to low heat, add cream and adjust consistency with remaining chicken stock, if necessary. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
If the soup still needs a little something, add a bit of the prepared horseradish. Not enough to make it spicy but, just enough to give it a little zing.
Edited: to add the part about the horseradish
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LuvRVing,
No, I didn't see that but that sounds like it will be fun to watch!!!
LOVE Disney World. That was THE best family vacation we ever took! My kids were 10 and 6 when we went and it was just magical to see it through their eyes!!
Hope you have a blast!
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Happy Birthday Michelle!
Click on the picture to get to your video
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Will be stealing that tomato soup recipe for sure.
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Barbara,
WOW... I took a peek at those strawberries... If they taste half as good as they look I'm sure they were heavenly!!
DesignerMom,
You gave me a great idea of what to have with my soup for lunch. I have everything except the chicken for that salad but, think it will be great even without!
tougherthanithought,
It really is such a great feeling to know that you have something all set to just pop in the oven!
Especially, for me anyway, at the end of the week. I feel the same way when I make something in the crockpot and at the end of the day all that's required is to plate it up and eat!!!
Hope you all have a great day!
I'm going to pick up my daughter from college this afternoon! She'll be home for a whole week!!!
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seaside the tomato soup recipe sounds delish! I was all gung ho to give it a try this weekend...until I saw you need an immersion blender....perhaps I can just pour the soup into a regular blender...
Michelle- I am from Pembroke- right outside Concord.
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Cool video, lago!!
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Laurie,
I don't see why you couldn't do it in batches in a regular blender! The key is that you want to blend it pretty good because the tomatoes are not peeled or seeded. The immersion blender just makes it a bit easier.
We first tried this recipe this past summer when I had tomatoes coming out my ears from my garden.. It's a bit better with fresh summer tomatoes but, definitely still good with store bought. I find it's a pretty good way to use up tomatoes that otherwise would have gone bad.
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seaside, thanks!! Can't wait to try it, although I love roasted tomatoes so much the trick will be getting them to the pot instead of my mouth first
Laurie, I wouldn't hesitate to use a regular blender or a food processor -- just watch the hot soup in the closed container. I'm going to have to use a processor so I'll probably make it ahead, let it cool, and then puree.
lago, best birthday song ever
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Trying to loose weight so have been cooking alot of fish and chicken lately.Tonight I will try a Barefoot Contessa recipe for ceaser salad fish.Basically you put all same ingredients of a ceaser on the fish and then bake or broil it.I am using a large shark fillet.
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One thing I do every week is poach some chicken breasts ahead of time. They are much juicier than roasted. Then I use the chicken all week long in pastas, omelets, salads. I use Emeril's recipe:
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3-4 cloves garlic smashed
2 bay leaves
Tbsp. whole peppercorns
tsp. dried oregano
some lemon or lime juice
some white wine (optional)
Put the skinless, boneless chicken breasts in, bring to a boil, lower and simmer uncovered for about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool in broth for about 30-40 minutes. I strain the broth and use it in soups later.
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I think I will try the poaching recipe I usually roast the chicken breasts.
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Thank you for the Birthday wishes!!!! We had our taxes done this morning and are getting a refund so we are going to celebrate
Lago, I'll have to check out the video tonight, my work computer has the link blocked
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I like whole wheat pasta with tomato based sauces.. with broth or olive oil I prefer non whole wheat. The tubular is heavy ... the angel hair is pretty good.
Tonite we are having company and hamburgers.. a rare treat any more. Hopefully it will be warm and calm enough for my son to grill them.
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apple,
If you all are having the same weather we have here in the Northeast today, burgers on the grill will be perfect!
We are approaching 60 degrees here today and after all the snow we have had this winter, it feels just glorious!!! I've even managed to crack open the windows for a little fresh air!
I know we're likely not out of the woods yet as far as winter but, it's so nice to have a hint of Spring!
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mumayan,
That fish sounds delicious! Please, let us know how it turns out!
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