So...whats for dinner?
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I agree - I love meatloaf sandwiches even better they the original meatloaf dinner.
My supper was boiled new potatoes tossed in butter & garlic salt, spaghetti squash, and a Royal Rivera pear. It's not what I'd planned but things have to be eaten before they go bad. Anyway, it was delicious if eclectic.
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Meatloaf yum! I need to make some.
Tonight was pork barbecue from a favorite place in the Shenandoah valley, from the freezer, homemade "boating slaw" ("will keep in a cooler for a 9 day sail" according to the recipe - kind of a summer slaw, vinegar-based) and Persian cucumber mint yogurt and lavash (from dinner out last night).
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I thawed ground pork and turkey yesterday with the thought of making stuffed colored bell peppers but I lost incentive during the day. Dinner was warmed up chicken enchiladas and a large chopped lettuce salad that was a replica of the one we had the night before.
Today I'll make the stuffed peppers and put the surplus in the freezer for future quick meals.
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Need to go to the grocery but am thinking dinner will be layered enchilada casserole to use leftover rotisserie chicken with green salad. Once the chicken is shredded a fairly quick meal to make!
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Tonight:
Turnip greens with two boiled eggs. An apple. Unsweetened coconutmilk yogurt.
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Cero, do you slice the boiled eggs on top of the greens? Sounds like a good combination.
I made a huge mess in the kitchen today. First I made stuffing for the colored bell peppers, sliced lengthwise. Along with the ground pork and turkey, I used up leftover cooked brown rice. Another ingredient was diced compari tomatoes, skins removed. Also shredded cheese.
We will have two of the pepper halves for dinner. Veggie will be cauliflower either mash or steamed. Possibly a salad.
Another messy job was dealing with the boiled turkey carcass. I ended up with a large bowl of turkey broth after discarding the meat, bones and veggies.
Something wonderful happened today. A friend/former neighbor visited and mentioned that she had taken on a few housecleaning jobs. I seized on this information and begged her to add my house to her schedule. She cleaned for me some years ago when she had a business. She agreed
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Congratulations Carole - good cleaners are hard to find.
I find my large dough bucket indispensable for dealing with batches of stock and bones and such. The colander fits perfectly on top and I can easily strain and dispense with the residue afterwards.
Peppers and brown rice combo for us too tonight in the form of unstuffed peppers.
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Told my hubby since it was going to be cold tomorrow night I was thinking we could have a soup, sandwich and salad night.
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I made runs to Costco, Kroger & WalMart today for misc things that had been on my list since before Christmas to make 3 new recipes I clipped. No way I was going to the stores during the rush weeks. You'd think finally having the ingredients I would be cooking a big dinner. Wrong. Too tired to stand up & chop. I had easy & delicious French Toast made from some of the sourdough bread from San Francisco. I'll likely have a pear later.
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Yum Minus, French toast sounds awesome!
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Sat. night I sous-vided the sockeye fillets with butter & tarragon. They were done just as Bob got home--but Fri. night's dinner did not agree with him (either it was too rich or too much wine) and he had no appetite for anything but water. So I refrigerated the fillets (still in the bag) and had a little chicken soup instead. Yesterday for brunch I tried to sous-vide poach eggs in the shell, per ATK's recipe--and once again, a disaster. The whites were runny--but partly still stuck to the inside of the shell. Will have to kick it old school from now on--though even with nonstick pans the eggs tend to fall to the bottom and stick unless the yolks harden.
Last night I reheated the fish, and crisped up the skin on the stovetop--served with blistered shishito peppers and cauliflower "rice" medley. Tonight I made a "Hangtown fry" (a container of oysters needed to be cooked before expiry date) acc. to Mark Bittman's recipe, with bacon, shiitakes, parsley, a drizzle of black truffle oil (at the end) and two jumbo soft-scrambled eggs. I prefer the eggs a bit firmer for this dish--they got a tad "weepy," but everything was still delicious.
I ordered a bag sealer and bags, because I can't quite get all the air out of a Ziploc no matter how hard I try.
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Sandy I have a vacuum sealer for food. I love mine!
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Vacuum sealers are a great idea but I don't have room to store one.
The stuffed peppers last night were tasty. The side of cauliflower mash was silky and delicious. I use the food processor.
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I bought a vacuum sealer when I got the sous vide. I love it. I especially like the heavy zipper bags that you can suck the air out of with an attachment that came with mine (Food Saver), they are useful for cooking things with liquid, like potatoes for mashed. It's been worth the real estate it occupies.
A trip to the city today. No idea about dinner.
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I still have the occasional problem of floating bags. I haven't found a satisfactory solution for weighing them down. I've used binder clips with a spoon and an adjustable mini locking pliers, but they both tend to rust. Any suggestions?
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Dinner was a variation on one of the recipes I clipped over the holidays. I made some changes. I couldn't find red or swiss chard at my grocery store except some extremely looking anemic, overpriced organic specimens so I used spinach. Also cooked with out the pancetta since i rarely eat cured meats. And I added leftover cubed petite potatoes. Easy one dish meal but could have used more "zing". It likely would have been better with pancetta or bacon or maybe a can of chopped green chilies.
Skillet Greens with Runny Eggs, Peas & Pancetta
Cook pancetta to crisp & remove to paper towel. Add 2 TBL EVO and cook ramp or scallion whites and chard stems 7 min. Add garlic, S&P & red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 more minutes until fragrant. Add chard leaves and chicken or veg broth & cook on med low until greens are soft & silky (20 minutes). Add peas the last 5 minutes. Crack eggs into the greens, season then cover pan completely & cook until eggs are cooked to taste. Sprinkle with pancetta and serve w/toast. (NY Times)
Eric - I forget - are you doing vegan or do you eat eggs & cheese?
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Well, sorry for the long hiatus. Lots going on and I am glad that things have slowed down a bit here. But I'm lucky my busy holidays didn't include house and car shopping! Special, you are an energizer bunny...and loved the pic of your Christmas brunch. Good luck with the house purchase, and .... enjoy Hawaii....well earned!
I just re read the last few pages that were posted here starting just before Christmas.
Bedo, so good to “hear" from you and see your sweet grandchild!
We thought our holidays would be quiet since we were not going to be seeing our docvegan family, and DS2 and tiny crew were headed South to visit DDIL2’s family, after celebrating an early Christmas here. The good news is that we were too busy to feel any emptiness in our minimally decorated living room.
Carole, your DH's tree ornaments are lovely! What a talented woodworker he is. I'm so glad you shared those pix! I'm also glad for you that you “scored" a great price on the Rao's sauces. I'm still puzzled as to how they are so frequently on sale here, now, when they were always firmly hovering around the ten dollar mark over a year ago. Maybe the competition of so many new brands. Yay for your signing up with the house cleaner!
Chi, I am also impressed with your weight loss success, and I share Carole's doubt about owning enough motivation to get seriously back on the diet regimen and exercise routine as I had been five years ago when I lost 30 lbs. My eating style is not unhealthy at all except for my sweet tooth urges swaying me to enjoy chocolate in the evening...a definite no no!
I was really busy in the kitchen for Christmas Day prep. We were scheduled to have dinner with the friends we always see on that day. The hostess often has salmon for the main course, and I usually bring a big salad and a side and pizzelles for one of the desserts. Others fill in with additional sides, apps, etc. Well, last year, DH wanted to make his paella dish, so he did, and for this year we were thinking we'd do something a little different and have beef braciole over couscous. we rarely eat beef, and braciole is one of my old faves. Well, somehow, I was the "braciole maker", sauce maker, and huge salad maker. I tried to make most of it the day before...for convenience, and because the braciole tastes better after relaxing in the sauce for a day! I was happy to make the braciole tho I had not for many years, and I had not ever made it with guest restrictions of no pork or no cheese. I also had not expected to have a visit from DGD before her family flew off to see her other grands. 🥴 But I did, and after much effort, and two different ingrediented batches, it got done. Next time I make braciole, it will probably be with chicken breasts, and will not be for ten people with several diet restrictions! I was tired after that.
Moving on to NYE, we'd planned to have a nice dinner at a local Farm to Table type restaurant in our town, but the day before, we got our second Shingrix vaccine, (the first shot was a breeze) and both of us reacted with a "faux flu" for several days. So, DH cancelled the reservation (even though I thought I could try to “tough out" a dinner
. Instead, DH picked up some salmon, green beans, and butternut squash (which he helped me peel and cut up to make a mash). I had lots of veggies, so made my typical garden salad.and we called it New Year's Eve with a nice white wine. By midnight, neither of us felt like imbibing in champagne, so it remains in the refridge for another occasion.This week, I've been making cod mains, and chicken stir fry mains, and yesterday cooked up a big batch of turkey chili, which I decided had a bitter taste, and wonder if my chili seasoning was too old. Not a bad idea to refresh my spices in the new year!
Minus, I am impressed with your “clearing out" effort. I keep thinking about doing it. 🥴 It's actually fun to unearth pieces of history in the process, but then, for me, that really also slows down the process. I should probably hire an organizer person to do it by my side! It would be sad for my kids to be stuck with everything in this house. I've thought more about this issue (and needed task!) having seen what happens when one of us is out of commission. Fortunately, DH is doing well, abandoned his cane for walking, and will find out later this week if his blood count shows that he is finished with the anemia.
I enjoyed reading about the doggie house protection efforts on NYE, and it reminded me of our last little schnauzer, who was less protective, and more terrified, hovering next to the bathtub upstairs, from the first loud bang. Even her trusty “thunder cape" didn't help her feel brave.
So, I wish a belated Happy, Healthy 2020 to all at our kitchen table! Sorry for the long catch up!
Here's a pic of our NYE at home dinner, and one of DGD who DS2 dropped off for an hour just as I was in the midst of making braciole on Christmas Eve Day. I tried to keep her amused (next to the table where I was working) with the Celtics taggie I made for her, but she really wanted to be down on the floor trying to crawl. 😉 So the braciole assembling waited!
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Lacey - HOORAY - now I won't have to haunt you this week.
I ended up polishing 27 silver plate serving pieces - many ornate & intricate. Ouch. It's hard to find an outlet. Kids don't want to bother polishing. Consignment shops don't even want these dishes & trays & pitchers. But I discovered much to my surprise that the coin & jewelry dealer who buys sterling silver for the price of the metal now buys silver plate. Not for the value of the thin silver plate coating, but the base metal underneath now has value - copper or brass or whatever. I'm headed to see him tomorrow. I don't really expect to make any money to speak of. Maybe enough for a good dinner. This project is so my son won't have to deal with all the stuff when I eventually croak. Or just in case someone I don't know yet dies and leaves me a cottage on an ocean, I'll be ready for a quick move.
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Nancy, I've been using gallon Ziploc freezer bags even though they're way oversized. I do that on purpose so that I can clip the bag to the side of the plastic container, which has straight sides. I've heard too many horror stories regarding using stockpots or Dutch ovens: the latter have to be deep enough to fill up past the circulator's "minimum" mark, but at the cost of...well, cost, not to mention weight. The problem with both is that they're round, so clips can't get a firm enough purchase to keep bags from falling into the water. What I do is use those wide "chip clips," sold for re-closing potato and tortilla chip bags. They wouldn't work on a round pot--but they're perfect with the container's straight edges. I guess that when the sealer comes I'll likely cut the bags over-length so that the vacuumed-flat part is long enough to fold over the edge and be clipped, with the food end still fully submerged.
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Sandy, I have an 8 qt square cambro container that I use, as well as a larger one for roasts. I clip mine to the side with a large metal binder clip. That usually works fine, but occasionally one will still float. It's usually one that's been frozen then thawed (like a chicken breast.) What I probably should do is rebag it before the bath as obviously, some air has gotten into the bag.
Off to the store today, hoping for some dinner inspiration. Last night was two fried eggs and a piece of Canadian bacon on a toasted English muffin. DH had a pork burger which he grilled himself.
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Enjoyed your catch up post, Lacey. The granddaughter is beautiful.
Dinner last night was warmed up black eyed peas and freshly cooked brown rice. Our salad was very good with iceberg lettuce (a head lasts a long time!), canned artichoke hearts, avocado and kalamata olives. Creamy Caesar dressing and Parmesan cheese.
Tonight will be a version of “spaghetti pie” made with leftover linguine with red sauce. Another salad similar to last night’s.
My friend/house cleaner was here four hours today! She hadn’t believed me when I told her my house needed cleaning despite its orderly appearance
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Lacey, I share your cooking pain with folks who have different dietary needs! Tonight's main dish( for the two of us) was scrambled eggs to use the leftover egg whites from cooking for granddaughter who can only have yolks! Also had mixed begs (nuked) and Alexis sweet potato puffs fixed in the air fryer.
Still in early stages of learning to use the air fryer but having fun with it. Have only used the fry function so far but am looking into recipes for other functions. Anyone have favorites to suggest?
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Preparing to be out of town for more than two weeks, so trying not to shop and trying to make dinner out of what is left in the fridge and freezer. Tonight was penne with turkey meatballs and marinara, which I stretched with an additional can of diced tomatoes and some parm shavings on top. Also had three slices of garlic bread left and made a wedge salad with some Gorgonzola crumbled on top. The next couple of days may produce some interesting meals as I get down to the last of the supplies!
lacey - good to “see” you,and your precious DGD is adorable, I am envious! Not sure I will get to grandmahood, so I live vicariously.
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Special - not sure exactly when you're leaving, but I am SOOOOO jealous. Have a wonderful time & please report back on your favorite 5 locations/activities - in addition to any exciting meals.
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minus - wish I could take you in my pocket! December was crazy (more so than usual with travel/guests/new car/house shopping on top of the holidays) so we need this trip for sure! We are leaving super early Sun morning, breaking the trip initially in L/A and Santa Barbara for a couple of nights, then on to the North Shore of Oahu for five nights for some relaxing, Waikiki for two nights to visit some friends, on to Maui for six nights and likely more adventure activities, back to LA for a night, then home. We have mapped out some places to eat, so will report in for sure! We will definitely be eating some malasadas.
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I had taken two beef filets out of the freezer yesterday morning for dinner last night, but I was at a loss for a veggie side or salad. When I suggested a pizza, dh agreed without hesitation. We ate in the living room using paper plates while watching the Jeopardy champions competition.
This morning my wedding ring is tight. The price of enjoying pizza!
It's a dark, menacing day but I need to venture out to the supermarket.
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I want to thank everyone who has ever posted on this thread. I was always a "by the book" cook. If it wasn't in the recipe, I didn't add it. If I didn't have an exact ingredients, I didn't start cooking. You all have taught me to be much more adventurous. I'm still more comfortable starting with a recipe, but I'm no longer afraid to experiment with changes - even the first time.
Eric - this new recipe is in your honor as a vegetarian. The pre-washed, peeled baby carrots were on sale so I used a pound of those & just cut them in half. I didn't have chiles de arbol, so I added 1/2 a can of hot chopped Hatch Green chilies. And I didn't see the "or" so I also added red pepper flakes. And I just mixed some pure sesame oil w/a bit of water for the tahini taste. It was delicious if a bit "fiery". I will make it again.
Sticky Roasted Carrots with Citrus & Tahini
1 small red onion peeled & cut in 1/2" wedges; 2 TBLs lemon or lime juice plus more for seasoning; kosher salt & black pepper; 1 lb small carrots, scrubbed & quartered lengthwise; 1 small unpeeled blood orange, tangerine or lemon thinly sliced, seeds removed; 4 chilies de arbol lightly crushed or 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes; 2 TBLs pure maple syrup or honey; 1/4 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup tahini.
Preheat oven to 425. Toss onion & lemon together in a bowl & season with S&P. Let sit 8-10 minutes to lightly pickle. Drain onion, discarding the liquid.
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss onion w/ carrots, oranges, chilies, syrup & olive oil.
Roast, tossing occasionally until carrots & citrus slices are totally tender & caramelized at the ends - 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine tahini with three TBLs water in a bowl, Season with S&P.
Spoon some sauce on the bottom of a large serving patter. Top with carrots/onions. Provide extra tahini sauce on the side.
Serves 4-6
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Dinner tonight was fettuccine with light Alfedo sauce from a jar to which I added sauteed green onions, green and red pepper and chicken chunks. Tasted as good as it looked!BTW, can highly recommend the Alexis sweet potato puffs!
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Last night's dinner was outstanding. The beef filet steaks were cooked perfectly, using the cast iron grill skillet. The steamed broccoli was also exactly as we like it, not too raw and not too cooked, with a little butter and fresh lemon juice for added flavor. The salad was a throwback to Betty Crocker days. Canned pineapple on a crisp lettuce bed with mayo, grated cheddar and roasted walnut pieces.
It's rare that every component of a meal cooked at home is totally satisfying. An added plus was how easily the meal came together. DH assembled the salad while I kept an eye on the broccoli and cooked the steaks.
Tonight will be small catfish fillets. I will probably bread them with seasoned cornmeal or Louisiana fish breading and cook them in a hot oven or the air fryer until they're crisp.
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Carole, when you cook your catfish in the oven, do you add oil? On a baking sheet or in a dish?
Chicken cacciatore tonight. Waiting for 2-4 inches of snow. Ugh. This after 4 inches of rain.
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