December Cook-at-Home Challenge

[treehugger]

Happy December, everyone!

We've been existing on leftovers and bean burritos this week since I've had such a long to-do list to get ready for this weekend. My brother and his girlfriend (I haven't met her yet; excited!) are arriving today to spend the night. Tomorrow I have a catering gig. Sunday is my all-day baking marathon with friends (yearly tradition for at least 10 years), so I have been making my cookie dough for that.

So, tonight is pizza. I made the dough Sunday, but I need to run to the store at some point to get a few "pizza" veggies. All I have at home is cabbage and broccoli, love them, but not on pizza. I also need some tomato paste for the sauce.

Wednesday, I made toasted coconut shortbread dough. Yesterday it was Mexican wedding cakes dough. And today, I need to make the dark chocolate sour cherry cookie dough. Then, once I gather all the tools I bring, I will be ready for Sunday. I need to be ready ahead of time since I have to leave my house at 8:30 that morning and will be tired and groggy from having worked late the night before. I don't want to rely on my sleep-deprived brain to remember all the cooling racks, cookie scoops, sprinkles, etc.

Dinners and lunches for the next few days will be more bean burritos (made bit pot of pinto beans on Wednesday), chili (from the freezer), frozen vegetables, eggs, etc.

I took Monday off work to rest and recuperate. :) So, I might do a little cooking again then.

Kara

[leslieann]

A baking marathon with friends sounds like so much fun! I would love to figure out how to create that kind of community. I guess the first thing is to be in the same place for ten years....I'm working on that!

[treehugger]

A baking marathon with friends sounds like so much fun! I would love to figure out how to create that kind of community. I guess the first thing is to be in the same place for ten years....I'm working on that!

Well, you certainly don't have to wait until you're in the same place for 10 years before you start. :) This came about because I started making cookie/candy gift baskets for xmas presents way back when my husband and I first got married. I quickly realized that there was no way to afford buying presents for everyone, so baking to the rescue. Well, after I had done it by myself for a few years, 3 friends (one is my first boss, one is her daugher, and one is a former coworker) proposed getting together to do it as a group.

So, we've been doing it together ever since. To be perfectly honest, I still sometimes would rather just bake by myself (and not have to settle on the cookie list democratically :)), but it is good to have this tradition carried on, and we have fun together for sure, and accomplish way more than any of us could do alone. We are lucky in that one of us (not me!) has a great kitchen perfect for 4 people to work in.

I've only skipped one year (and others have skipped a year along the way, too). My excuse? Donating a kidney on December 17, 2008. And yes, they gave me a good natured hard time for my crappy excuse. The other 3 still got together that year and brought cookies to the hospital for the nurses.

Kara

[Anne Lee]

Well my chicken was still partially frozen. SO I won't be roasting it tonight. Instead, we will have frittatas tonight and the roasted chicken tomorrow night. Spaghetti, pork chops w/ pan roasted apples, fajitas and tacos.

[reader99]

Winn Dixie had London Broil buy one get one, so I bought two yesterday. Today I cooked one in the crockpot with potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic and onion. I just now parcelled it out into 8 containers and froze 6 of them. The other broil I will slice very thin and freeze raw in individual portions, to cook later in the broiler nice and rare.

[babr]

well i also made pizza dough this week and we only needed to buy a can of tomatoes as dh doesn't need alot on his pizza; i quartered the dough so he could have a mini pizza; he works hard during the week so it was nice to see that he had something to make that was a treat

i am working on keeping food waste to a minimum as i probably have said before; so remind dh of things in the fridge that can be eaten; we cook simple; so there was chicken to eat and left over broccli and potatoes; i am supposed to be on a special diet; supposed; as i fall off it when it comes to sweets; but have to buy bagged potatoes which i then have to peel; and i can only eat broccli with a potato always feels good when we are eating at home

[studentofecology]

My goal for December is to follow a meal plan for the whole month, and to use up all of the delicata squash by the new year. I have deviated a couple times from the meal plan so far, but both times used food from the pantry so I think that's ok.

We had delicata squash, kale and rice for dinner, and this morning's breakfast was breakfast rice. Right now I'm making a green chicken curry- which is also one of two meat meals this week.

[Rosemary]

Tonight and tomorrow night we'll have chicken burritos. I'll have fillings only as I prefer not to eat the tortilla. I've been cleaning out the freezer and will have to restock soon. Today I bought a lot of fresh vegetables so will now plan the rest of the week.

[shieLazz79]

Alright! Good luck in making pizza! I wish I can taste it! uhm?! :)



Pizza Franchises (http://pizzafranchise.co/)

[Float On]

I wrote a list of 35 meals I can make based on what we normally eat and what is usually in the freezer or that I can easily add to the weekly grocery list. I'm hoping this will keep me from saying "nothing is thawed - let's go out to eat".

I need to return to making our Friday night pizza. We got in the habit of picking up a few pizzas when the local pizza place was running a large/$7 deal (and that was easy) but I know it only costs a few dollars to make several pizzas at home.

[Amaranth]

Float On, if I use sourdough starter to make the pizza dough, and use sale ingredients, I can usually make a large pizza for .50 to $1 depending on the toppings.

The 5 minute bread authors have their new pizza and flatbread book out: Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5 Minutes a Day and the website has a number of recipes and pictures from it for inspiration:
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

[Rosemary]

In the past week it's been tempting to go out to eat several times... each time I've reminded myself that in the end, it is faster and easier, not to mention a LOT cheaper, to eat at home, and that we did.
Sunday was a leftover fest.
Monday, curried chicken and rice, stuffed mushrooms (with a black bean salsa that needed to be used up, very tasty), steamed broccoli.
Tuesday, busy afternoon. Pot roast with roasted carrots, sauteed cabbage. Leftovers for Wednesday.

[jennipurrr]

We've been really struggling with getting back into eating at home. Its something I know we need to do for the budget. So we started with renewed intensity on 12/4 and have eaten out one meal since then. Progress!

Last night I made tuna steaks with steamed broccoli and some rice a roni. I really like these tuna steaks, I have bought them a couple of times. They go on sale often at Publix and Winn Dixie in case anyone cares. They are frozen, but you just thaw them in cold water for about 30 min and they are ready to go. We pan sear them and they taste just like fresh. Its nice to have something healthy that I can just pop out of the freezer on occasion.

[Bastelmutti]

Ate out a couple of times last week due to sheer busy-ness. This week is better, but I haven't been posting much due to my boring meals! DH is still avoiding (cow) dairy and DD1 is still going strong with being vegetarian, so we are sticking with standard meals that work for everyone. Last night was pizza bread - a hit around here. Easily made for about $5 for 4 people. A little more this time, because I used goat cheese for DH's. Tonight it's just me and DH, so we're having chicken lettuce wraps with noodles and Vietnamese dipping sauce. Mmmmmm! My mom dropped off lots of veggies, so we'll otherwise be eating lots of lettuce and potatoes this week. Next up will be spaghetti and meatballs (another frequently requested meal lately) or the meatballs with crockpot baked potatoes (with cheese, sour cream, etc.)

[treehugger]

My weekends (well, weekdays, too) have been so busy that I have not been able to do my customary cooking and baking sprees for the past 3 weeks, and, consequently, our diet is suffering. We haven't eaten out though (simply not possible), so we are just making do with repetitive things (bean burritos, chili, pasta), and, frankly, a dearth of fresh vegetables (because I haven't been able to get to the store). Sigh.

I did make bread last night though, and I declare that I shall make parmesan risotto with turkey and peas tonight (roasted a turkey that my FIL had given us a week ago).

I'm working at my 2nd job Friday and Saturday nights, so I know I don't want to plan any cooking for Saturday day (need to conserve my energy), but by Sunday I might be able to muster up the desire to do something with the 2 bags of apples a friend gave me the day before Thanksgiving. Plus, I desperately need more marinara sauce and chili and soup for the freezer. We have eaten all the reserves.

This too shall pass.

Kara

[Bastelmutti]

Yeah, Kara, same here. I think the kids are made of pasta at this point!

[treehugger]

Yeah, Kara, same here. I think the kids are made of pasta at this point!

I doubt it will do us any lasting damage. :) I did manage to make risotto with turkey, peas, and parmesan last night. That's more cooking than I have done in weeks, except for things I needed to make to bring elsewhere.

I now plan to go grocery shopping Saturday morning, relax for the rest of the day until I have to go to work, and then do some big-batch cooking on Sunday.

Kara

[Bastelmutti]

Speaking of batches, thx for reminding me to pull pintos out of the freezer and put some chickpeas on to soak! Have a good one!