So...whats for dinner?
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I'm not a fan of alternate pastas either. In fact Carole & Nance - thanks for allowing me to consider throwing away what ever is still in my pantry. If I didn't like it the first or even the second time - why am I keeping the stuff? Oh well - out it will go.
The fried rice was wonderful. Organic brown rice w/quinoa, sauteed onion, water chestnuts, celery, fresh mushrooms, green peas, leftover turkey scraps - with just a touch of soy
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Just a reminder, for those who have a choice they may be alternative pastas but for those of us who need to avoid gluten, gluten free pastas are a wonderful way to expand our menus! However, all brands are definitely not equal.
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sorry Beaver. Great that there are options if you need to avoid gluten.
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The other alternative pasta in my pantry is chickpea and it's a different form. Really cute. I will try it but not for an evening meal. I remember the first time I tried whole wheat pasta. Its texture was similar to the red lentil but is now much better years later. I don't buy it because of dh's preference for the regular pasta.
Beaverntx, what brand/s do you recommend?
We voice our food biases without intending to slight anyone who doesn't share them. I use "light" sour cream and mayo and don't miss the regular but avoid fat free. It doesn't bother me that some people prefer the full fat.
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Carol, my major guideline in GF pastas is to avoid those made only with rice or corn. They tend to fall apart and to not reheat well. For some reason those made with rice and corn do better. Chickpea and quinoa do better going solo. Have a red lentil one to try.
I miss whole wheat pasta, it was my favorite! We too use light dairy products and mayo, including 1% milk. Couldn't get DH to go to skim milk even when his cholesterol levels were soaring (he cannot take statins or niacin, Dr finally found another approach that is working). We've been at the lower fat thing for over 30 years, gluten free is newer. Have seen and appreciated the increase in variety and availability of appropriate foods for both categories and do not think of them as alternatives but as chioces we have available. Not sure why the term alternative pasta rubs me the wrong way...
Enjoy your pasta, whatever it is made from and however it is shaped. A pasta free world would be a lot less interesting!!
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Carol, I love your reminder that commenting about a post is not a critique or judgment. I love this thread for all the food commentary and all the wonderful combinations that people choose. I learn by reading. If it doesn't suit me, I've still learned something.
Apologies if this has been mentioned, but for gluten free, rice noodles would be a good option too. Thai recipes abound for it.
I've got a pot of Gigante rancho gordo beans in the crockpot. I've seasoned and bagged the turkey thighs and we'll start cooking them sous vide around 11. Wish us luck. We've only made hard cooked eggs with it, so far, and I was not impressed. I'll roast cauliflower to go with everything.
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Rice noodles are "da BOMB!" Chow fun is my favorite Cantonese dish, but alas, it's verboten for me. I wish they made shiratake noodles that broad (the equivalent of tagliatelle or pappardelle), but the broadest I've found are fettucine. Shiratake is made from konjac root--almost zero-net-carb, extremely low-calorie and gluten-free. You drain & rinse the noodles before you briefly heat them in boiling water just until they're hot. They stay al dente.too, and like tofu pick up the flavor of whatever you put on them. (I've had the spaghetti & angel hair versions with pesto). Only drawbacks are that many brands need to be refrigerated, they're not available in smaller Western-style groceries, and the soluble fiber in them might not be suitable for those with IBS.
Brunch today was low carb/hi-fiber avocado toast with eggs. (I had a small one, Bob had two large). I'm out of avocados, but I do have a small container each of Whole Foods spicy guacamole and pico de gallo. Usually, I'll use the pico as a shortcut when making guac, but this guac had enough pico in it to need no additions whatsoever. Atop the guac I put a bed of baby arugula, and finally an over-easy olive oil egg, But I cheat the "over-easy" part (which I figured out long before ATK featured that tip). Once the olive oil starts to shimmer (over medium heat) I break however many eggs I need into a nonstick pan (up to 4 in a 10" and 6 in a 12"). I gently and partially spread out the whites, put a lid on, and turn off the heat, Once the yolks have begun to film over, they're done--still nice & gooey but intact. (I can never flip eggs without breaking the yolks).
Dinner tonight will be salmon burgers with sugar-snap peas and mesclun salad. I'm not comfy with dining out indoors right now--in spite of feeling more secure about the proof-of-vax mandate, you do have to remove your mask to eat & drink, and increasing numbers of people unknowingly have asymptomatic breakthrough infections. That fear, and not mandate resistance, is what's keeping people out of Chicago-area restaurants of late. There are a couple of Cook County suburbs--Elk Grove Village & Orland Park--that refuse to enforce either the vax card or even indoor-mask mandates. Bob's office manager, who was about to return to the office tomorrow, lives in Orland; and her husband--the GP whose office space he shared--just tested positive Friday night. So the office manager will be working from homw till her husband tests negative,
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I made my Mother's recipe for "Easy Quiche" for the first time in 25 years. The recipe makes it's own crust. Why had I forgotten this? Today I used bacon, broccoli, slivers of sweet onion, sliced fresh mushroom & Monterey Jack cheese. As you can see, it's easy to make alterations. Be sure to use a 10" pie plate and put a cookie sheet or foil on the shelf below if you don't want to clean up melted butter in the oven. Because I put in so many "extras", I did bake it 10+ minutes longer while testing with a tooth pick.
Put in a blender and mix:
3 eggs
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup melted butter
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
Pour into greased 9" pie pan
Sprinkle 1 cup grated cheese on top & push under
(I like Muenster)
Also add & push under as desired:
1/2 cup cooked chopped ham, bacon, leftover meats, green onion, 10 oz spinach,
onion & mushrooms - other veggies like broccoliCook 45 minutes at 350 degrees
Edited for typos
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How's this for ironic: I just received a pasta making machine ! Anybody know of a good source for gluten free pasta machine recipes?
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America's Test Kitchen has a gluten-free cookbook. I imagine the dough ingredients would be the same whether hand-rolled, extruded or in a crank-operated traditional pasta machine. I know Bob's Red Mill makes a gluten-free flour as well as a paleo (no grain, ergo no gluten) blend.
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Beaverntx, LOL at your gift! I own the pasta attachments to my stand mixer, all nicely stored in a cabinet. Evidence of my homemade pasta stage of cooking. Everything works beautifully. Years ago I was gifted a pasta maker with multiple parts to be cleaned after use. I gifted it to someone else.
Dinner last night was grilled loin lamb chops, baked sweet potatoes and romaine salad. I baked the sweet potatoes the way my mother did, unwrapped in a pan, until the skins loosen and the syrup oozes. They end up almost candied. Really delicious. I texted my sister while the potatoes were cooking. She replied that "some potatoes ooze and some refuse," depending on the quality of the potatoes.
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MinusTwo: Thanks for sharing the Easy Quiche recipe. I will give this a try since I love quiche and bisquick is a pantry staple. Costco has large bags of precooked bacon crumbles that I keep in the freezer so all I will need is some veggies to add and the cheese which will be added to the grocery list.
Carolehalston: Love the "some ooze or some refuse" description. Thanks for the feedback on my snow. I like it when it is pristine but now it has been subjected to some rain and a lot of wind so it looks rather spotty with tufts of grass peeking through. It is bitter cold here, in the 30's but the wind chill makes it feel like the low 20's, so what is left will be here for awhile.
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MinusTwo - thanks for the quiche recipe. Will def be making it soon.
Dinner last night was leftover lasagna soup, which was even better then it was on Saturday, and it was really good then.
Today's dinner will be simple; a baked sweet potato for me and a baked potato for my son with some air fried chicken (seasoned with evoo, adobo, oregano and garlic powder) and steamed garlic/evoo French green beans.
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I absolutely love baked sweet potatoes. DH, of course, won’t touch them. So it’s usually russet for him and sweet for me. Wish I had one for dinner.
I have a great pasta machine that doesn’t get used often because I have no place to store it in my kitchen. DH has to lug it upstairs when I want to use it. When I do use it, I make enough to dry some. It’s much easier to clean than my hand crank machine but takes up a lot of real estate.
Looking for dinner inspiration. Last night was corn and potato chowder. Whatever tonight is, it will involve some roasted golden beets
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Sandy, thanks for the suggestions. I have the ATK book and their recipe specifies a manual pasta machine. (At least it does not require their made-at-home flour blend which I made a while back and found it difficult to use up before it became stale).Until I've made pasta with the machine a time or two, so I have a better idea of what the dough is supposed to look and feel like, I plan to use recipes intended for machines. This is a whole new venture for me. I have made egg noodles/dumplings by hand mixing, rolling and cutting years ago but have not used a pasta machine! I do use flours from Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur.
Carol, I thought about getting the mixer attachments a good while ago but never did. Suspect they would have ended up in a drawer here too. Should the pasta machine prove not worth the bother there is also the possibility of donating to a thrift store. I also love the ooze or refuse; the phrase at our house has been that some potatoes are first cousins to rocks.
Minus, interesting. I used gluten free Bisquick to make cookies for Christmas and also made what used to be called a surprise pie because it made it's own crust.
Think I've been snarky about food because the low purine diet for gout has just added more restrictions to my low cholesterol, reduced salt, anti gi cancer, and gluten free regime. Had no idea how many products have high fructose corn syrup in them including my favorite pickles which were an occasional treat. Also really miss shrimp. I will get used to it but it will take time. Enough grouching, the sun is out, the wind has died down and it is time to get busy.
Have a good day!!
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Don't forget cellophane noodles (mung bean noodles; they may look like rice noodles but they are made from mung beans); also gluten free.
Our sous vide turkey thighs turned out amazingly well last night. SO tender and moist. We have one lone turkey thigh left. I will pick the meat and use the beans/broth, add in the shredded turkey, add in the leftover roasted cauliflower..maybe add feta cheese as a topping and turn it into a hearty stew/soup-y thing.
Has anyone ever made DIY bisquick copy-cat. I have never had it and will need to google the ingredients. When I make "quiche," I usually skip the crust, but that recipe looks good.
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Beaver, I don’t know what brand your machine is - mine is a Philips. For what it’s worth, through trial and error I’ve found that adding a little more liquid than the book calls for and a teaspoon of olive oil makes the dough more pliable and less crumbly. I also dust the noodles with semolina after they are extruded. Don’t know what the GF options would be but I’ll be interested in knowing your experiences with it as I might try some for my SIL.
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beaver - I'm with you on the restrictions - I don't like them, but they are necessary for us too. DH's oncology endocrinologist wants him gluten free, and it makes a huge difference - he has far less joint pain, has lost 10 lbs., and just feels better. I would prob like the corn/rice blend pasta better, but am restricted on corn, ugh! My solution is to only cook as much quantity as will be immediately consumed - I am fine with eating it immediately - it is just the leftover texture issue I struggle with. Label reading is eye opening, right? When I first started this way of eating several years ago finding products that did not have gluten, soy, dairy, corn, peanuts, eggs, or sugar was a challenge! I have now identified things I regularly use and it is easier, but I do miss some foods. I stopped eating this way and even though I was eating decently, weight crept up and I felt like crap. I used to be able to walk 5 miles a day and do a Mediterranean approach, but that no longer works. Cutting out the inflammatory foods is the only way I have been able to control my weight, help control my lymphedema, and feel ok.
I have a crustless quiche recipe if anyone would like it.
With the potato discussion - sweet and otherwise - I am thankful I can have those!!!
Edited to add - thanks for the sympathy on the MOHS debacle. In the grand scheme of things, it is really ok. Surprisingly the wrist hurts less now that I am out of the pressure bandage - maybe because my wrist is kind of bony. The other places I have had a pressure bandage usually have more flesh. I am still using a folded gauze pad and Coban, just not wrapping it as tight. Still being careful about downward pressure with a knife to slice, but have chosen foods for dinner so far that have not involved a lot of chopping. I have some cooked chicken breast to use tonight and it is already shredded. I also have an open jar of marinara, so maybe a deconstructed unbreaded chicken parm, made with DF mozzarella. DH smoked a brisket yesterday so there is that also if he doesn't want chicken, and he can slice it!
chisandy - have you tried the It's Skinny brand of konjak noodles? The one I have is in a shelf stable box with 4 packets of noodles, angel hair, but it is also available in fetticune apparently. Looks like you can get the individual packets on Amazon, or a multi pack.
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Nance, it is a Cusinart but I have found a Phillips recipe for gluten free. Will likely try the rice and tapoica flour recipe that came with the machine first. The recipe does say to dust with flour after extruded. Thanks for the tip on amount of liquid! Will let you know how it goes...
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Beaver - If you're willing to share, I'd like the recipes for the Bisquick 'suprise pie' and cookies. When Covid first started, I bought a bunch of Bisquick that I need to use. I've been looking for something besides pancakes or biscuits.
I got waylaid again this morning searching for Brussels Sprouts recipes like Eddie V's. I think I've cobbled together several recipes that might work. I'll just need to buy some Gochujang sauce - or maybe first try Thai sweet chili sauce that I already have.
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I've been wanting get a sous vide, but I'm afraid I won't used it often enough.
auntienance - I love sweet potatoes too. I put them in the air fryer, sliced with a tiny bit of EVOO and will eat just that and it fills me, so good. My son prefers a potato, but will eat as sweet potato if there's nothing else. Lucky for him I have a nice sized russet for today.
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Minus, I googled gluten free bisquick cookies and found recipes from Betty Crocker. Just checked and a search for bisquick recipes brings up loads of ideas beyond biscuits and pancakes or waffles. Happy baking.
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The way I like to make sweet potatoes is in the microwave, a riff on the Frugal Gourmet's method for quick-baking firm spuds like Yukon Golds. He would halve them lengthwise, sprinkle with a little salt & pepper, place a bay leaf on one half and then cover with the other half, and nuke till tender (about 3-6 min., depending on size of the potato. He used kitchen twine to hold the halves together. So for sweet potatoes (I like garnet better than jewel) I cut them the same way, sprinkle with salt & cinnamon, put the halves together and wrap loosely with a paper towel, then nuke for 5 minutes and rest in the microwave 1 minute before unwrapping & serving.
Special, I'd love the crustless quiche recipe. The self-created crust the Bisquick makes as it settles doesn't sound all that appealing--if I'm going to cheat and eat crust, I like the flaky, fluted-edge kind. I haven't had Bisquick in the house for years--I pretty much stopped baking when my FIL (who lived with us for the last two years of his life) passed awsy in 2010. He was addicted to my cornbread and popovers. I even used to use a bread machine, but no more. I do have some keto brownie mix--made a batch a few months ago (topped each with a pecan half as they cooled) and they were quite good. Might do that again soon.
Brunch was egg-in-the-hole with a couple thin strips of bacon. Earlier tonight I had instant low-sodium miso soup (hit the spot in my chilly front room). About to make a champagne choucroute garnie (inspired by a version I had in a Montreal brasserie)--I use an organic fresh-fermented sauerkraut (right now I have the garlic-flavored version), which I rinse and then cook in a skillet with bacon lardons. Gonna skip the bacon tonight, but maybe use some of the drippings. I add caraway seeds & juniper berries, some white wine (tonight it'll be very flat champagne left over from New Year's Eve), lay the sausages atop the kraut (tonight I'm cooking chicken bratwurst), cover and cook over medium-low heat till the wine evaporates, the juniper berries soften, and the sausages split. One of the few low-carb stick-to-your-ribs main dishes.
Writing about food is making my tummy rumble.
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We just got Paxlovid in our clinic. We are not prescribing it yet. You can still get a monoclonal antibody infusion if you qualify . Ask your PCP for a referral if you are + and over 65 or have other risk factors. It is hard to get in. It will be great when it is widely available, as we have 200 requests for infusions and can only take about 20/day. Unlike the infusions, the oral pill may not be appropriate, as it interacts with medications a person may be on. I wish you the best.
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We just got Paxlovid in our clinic. We are not prescribing it yet. You can still get a monoclonal antibody infusion if you qualify. Ask your PCP for a referral if you are + and over 65 or have other risk factors. It is hard to get in. It will be great when it is widely available, as we have 200 requests for infusions and can only take about 20/day. Unlike the infusions, the oral pill may not be appropriate, as it interacts with medications a person may be on. I wish you the best. Ithink from your posts that you're feeling better! :}
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chisandy - here is the crustless quiche recipe! It originally calls for crab and mushrooms, but I have never made that one, I usually do ham and cheddar, or bacon/artichoke/Monterey Jack varieties. Sun dried tomatoes and sauteed leafy greens like spinach are a good addition too. You can make one large quiche and adjust the cooking time, or make smaller ones in muffin tins. These also freeze well and you can microwave them to warm them after freezing and the texture is unchanged. The mini ones were always a party staple in my house because you can make them ahead.
The quiche is 4 eggs, 1 c. sour cream, 1 c. cottage cheese, 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, 4 T. all-purpose flour, 1/8 t. salt, 1 t. onion powder, several dashes of Tabasco or other hot sauce. Mix together very well and add whatever other fillings you like - the written recipe called for 1/2 lb. sauteed mushrooms, 2 c. of Monterey Jack cheese, and 6 oz. of crab. I would stick with the cheese measurement, but anything else is up for grabs. If you are concerned about the flour addition from a Keto standpoint you could try this omitting it - the mixture is pretty thick so it could work, or you could sub a nut flour since the amount is small compared to the other ingredients.
To bake, spoon the batter into very well greased pans (the instructions say to use mini muffin pans - but just adjust your cooking time if you make a single quiche) but they do puff a little so don't overfill, and bake until a knife comes out clean. They will turn a bit golden on top. If you do a single quiche it might be worth using parchment on the bottom of your pan or baking in a springform. Let cool slightly and run a knife or thin spatula around the edge before attempting to remove, they can be a bit hard to get out of the pan since there is no crust. I freeze these in a ziplock because they are fairly firmly textured and don't fall apart.
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All this discussion of pasta making will likely have me making some pasta! I had fun some years back with making whole wheat "little ears" by hand. Orichiette, I think is the hard-to-spell name. Probably misspelled. They were quite good in various dishes including soups. DH got drawn in and helped. I think one reason the enthusiasm for making pasta faded is deciding that we liked the commercial dried pasta just as well as the home-made. Several tv chefs have said the same. If you produce a lot of pasta, you end up drying it. I did that, too.
SK, I admire you and your dh for making drastic changes to your diet for health improvement. DH has a lot of leg pain from poor circulation. No doctor has ever suggested any diet modification. That's the only way he would consider something like gluten free. I happen to think gluten free has become a kind of food fad but so many people claim that they feel better not consuming foods with gluten. Who's to dispute their belief?
My sister who supplied the ooze or refuse wisdom is an expert at using leftovers for new dishes. With her as a role model, I turned leftover speckled butterbeans cooked with smoked ham hock into a sort of soup for dinner last night. I added Rotel, leftover canned tomatoes from the freezer, sauteed sliced leeks, chicken broth, and spinach. It was quite tasty but now I have leftover soup. I also warmed up leftover cornbread and did use it up.
Reviewing my cookbook collection is going slow because I lapse into reading the books as I did when I first bought them.
Tonight's menu will feature meatloaf, one of dh's favorite dishes. A side will probably be turnip roots, since I have them in the refrigerator. And a salad with romaine and avocado and additions.
Hello, Bedo. We miss you.
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All this pasta/noodle talk is making me want to try the Milk Street Japanese Udon noodles (Japanese Udon are wheat noodles vs semolina wheat for Italian). DH loves, loves, loves udon noodles.
Not that anyone asked, but the quiche recipe I used when DH would haul in lots of the Dungeness was Paula Dean's recipe minus the crust.
We may be seeing the vet today; our boy is not doing well. I hate this. I'll either make something with Udon (store bought) or make a frozen 'za.
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Carol, I too thought gluten free was a food fad! Until I found out my genetic profile indicates I am gluten sensitive (have one of two known markers) and, about the same time, learned the Arthritis Foundation suggests avoiding gluten to help decrease arthritis pain. I notice a big difference in my pain levels when I have some gluten. Of course, also have to factor in drug SEs, barometric changes, etc.
All that said, I do still believe that for some gluten free is their latest food fad. For others, such as myself and my celiac friend, the increased availability of gluten free products is much appreciated. For example, I no longer have to make my own gf bread since there are many of choices now.
As for dinner, last night was left overs and tonight is TBD!!!
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Wally - Dungeness Crab - oooooooo YES. I did look up that recipe. And I too love Udon noodles. Can I come eat at your house? Sorry to hear about the necessity for a Vet visit.
Special - thanks for the recipe & tips. I printed out your post. How are you liking that new fridge?
Carole - thanks for the meatloaf reminder. We've got the same cold weather you have there. And I expect Beaver & Mae are 'freezing' too. I actually hate the grey skies more than the cold but I don't believe I could live in snow country again.
Bedo - yup, we really do miss you.
Leftover quiche. Leftover fried rice. Both peas & broccoli crowns left over. I have a bag of shredded cabbage & carrots (technically cole slaw) that I'm going to saute w/onion and ? since something hot is preferable. Also up this week will be individual Naan pizzas. Oh, and 2 avocados that I need to turn into guac.
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