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cdttmm
3-1-13, 2:47pm
A new thread for a new month! What will *you* cook at home this month?

cdttmm
3-1-13, 2:47pm
Tonight is going to be a frittata with sweet peppers and onions. Yum!

treehugger
3-1-13, 3:16pm
No cooking tonight (leftovers for dinner), but I always cook on the weekends, so I need to formulate my plan.

I have had a turkey carcass in the freezer for awhile. It needs to become broth (along with vegetable scraps that are also in the freezer). This will force me to finally figure out my pressure canner. I have always frozen homemade broth before, but I am looking forward to having some in jars in the pantry instead.

Got artichokes, bok choy and fennel in the produce box this week, so I will definitely be cooking/using those. Don't know in what ways yet. Like I said, I need a plan.

Kara

Rosemary
3-1-13, 5:12pm
We're having leftovers from the past couple of nights, tonight. I made a pot of dal maharani that we'll have for lunch tomorrow. Dinner will be at a friend's.
Sunday is soup day at our church and I'll be making a big pot of soup for that, which will be our lunch. I'm thinking it'll be a soup with Mexican flavors - pinto beans, corn, green chiles, some tomato, cumin, oregano. Maybe I'll do a mix of beans, and add some kidney and black beans as well.

JaneV2.0
3-1-13, 5:19pm
Ground beef keema with peas and garam masala over cauliflower mash with garlic and kalonji seeds, chased with kefir.

Jilly
3-1-13, 6:49pm
Today I baked a bunch of chicken legs and thighs, mostly for curry and salad later. I breaded the pieces, something I am sure I must have done sometime, although I usually cook things pretty naked. I just had a piece and think that I will go back to crumbless.

A small roast of beef is just finishing. Frankly, I do not know what I will do beyond sandwiches or strips dipped in horseradish mayo. It was on sale and I need to eat more meat, so I bought it without any plans. I will browse for recipes to use it up or slice it and put it in the freezer or something.

After I dropped off some paperwork at my attorney's office I went to the health food store and stocked up on spices. That should help.

SteveinMN
3-1-13, 10:19pm
Cuban chicken -- from an eight-piece bird, so it should last us for several meals if we don't get sick of it first and freeze some. :) We'll be coasting on leftovers this weekend, I think.

happystuff
3-2-13, 7:27am
Friday night is pretty much always homemade pizza night. Tonight... I think I need to see what leftover there are in the fridge and figure out something to do with them.

cdttmm
3-2-13, 8:56am
Frittata turned out AWESOME! Why did I wait so long to try making one?!? We'll eat the leftovers for lunch today. For some reason the enjoyment I've gotten from cooking at home in the evenings has gone up considerably. So we're planning another night of cooking at home for tonight, just not sure what we're making!

Rosemary
3-2-13, 9:45am
Frittata is one of my "emergency" meals - it can be made from start to finish in an hour, and everyone in our house likes it. It also freezes well.

Blackdog Lin
3-2-13, 10:00am
We're off on our big trip a week from tomorrow, so the goal this week will be to get all the fresh-type foods used up. I didn't buy much at the grocery store yesterday with that thought in mind. So, tonight is a new recipe of cheese/burger/broccoli soup, to use up the fresh broccoli (and some of the celery and carrots) that are on hand. Tomorrow taco pizza, to use the rest of this week's big green salad. Monday I'm thinking the leftover soup will work atop the leftover chicken spaghetti casserole in the freezer (which was a little dry). After that I have a container of leftover chili in the freezer, and thinking either egg foo yung or a quichy thing to use up eggs. Maybe egg salad for sandwiches too. That ought to come close to covering the week and getting the fridge emptied out.

cdttmm
3-2-13, 10:55am
Decided on tonight's dinner. We're going to try a new recipe, Mixed Rice Noodles. The name is not very descriptive. It's a rice noodle dish with peas, spinach, and fresh grated ginger, in a sauce made with garlic, soy sauce, peanut butter, and tahini, and then it's garnished with avocado, chopped peanuts, and prawns. We're making it as a vegetarian dish so we're not adding the prawns. We have everything on hand except for peanuts -- I ate the last of them yesterday without thinking that we might make this recipe today. But we have everything else on hand and the avocado needs to be eaten today so this is a good plan!

dogmom
3-2-13, 11:22am
I am making stock - I have some calves' feet gently simmering away. I find my nails and hair grow much better when I cook with proper stock.

cdttmm
3-3-13, 7:17am
Mixed Rice Noodles = SUCCESS! With the exception of grating the ginger, this was quite easy to make. We both loved it so I think this will stay in the menu planning rotation. I do need to make it in a different pan, though. The recipe calls for a wok, but some of you might remember that I decluttered our wok about a year ago after debating for some time whether to keep it, so I had to use another pan instead. It wasn't quite big enough so it made it hard to incorporate the sauce into the noodle/spinach/pea mixture at the end. But if this is my biggest cooking challenge, I should consider myself lucky!

Rosemary
3-3-13, 7:55am
Changed the soup for today. It's a Spanish-style yellow split pea, because I had 2 bags of yellow split peas that were needing to be used in the pantry. It has spinach, tomatoes, and a lot of onions in it.

Stella
3-3-13, 5:33pm
Tonight we are having steak sandwiches to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

Rosemary
3-3-13, 5:40pm
Soup was a big hit. Dinner will be a broccoli/tofu stir fry.
I'm cooking a couple of meals to take to a housebound church member - an asparagus/mushroom frittata and some roasted eggplant/mozzarella stacks with marinara. Also cooking some pasta and green beans for a couple of DD's lunches this week (with some of the marinara).

cdttmm
3-4-13, 6:00pm
Continuing out streak of cooking at home -- woo-hoo! We're having nachos tonight, which means I can use up some onion and a sweet pepper. Tomorrow will be leftover Mixed Rice Noodles for lunch for me since I'll be the only one here. Have to figure out what I can leave as leftovers for my beloved to eat while I'm away for a few days. I always eat pretty simple stuff while he is gone: peanut butter on rice cakes, apples and cheese, oatmeal, etc. He likes to eat things that more closely resemble an actual meal. :D

treehugger
3-4-13, 6:35pm
Made avgolemono soup for dinner last night, and served it with salad of romaine lettuce, croutons (made from a getting-old loaf of whole wheat bread), chopped kalamata olives, feta, and pepperoncini.

The soup will feed us for a few lunches and dinners. Next up is a miso-glazed chicken recipe I have been meaning to try for a while (from a magazine clipping).

At some point this week, I need to find time to make cookies to take with us to the Celtic fair we are going to this weekend. Long standing tradition of bringing baked goods to share with our friends in the band we go to see. Don't know what kind of cookies yet. Also want to make bread to give to the couple who will be watching our dogs while we are away.

Kara

Kat
3-5-13, 10:00am
My mouth is watering reading all your yummy dinners! I am not very adventurous in terms of trying cuisines from other cultures. We are pretty much boring meat and potatoes people! :-)

We had a death in the family last week, so I've not done well in terms of cooking at home. I am trying to get back on track, though. I made some sour cream chicken enchiladas last night with some Spanish rice and will make biscuits with sausage gravy and eggs tonight. I took some meat out of the freezer for tomorrow's meal and will start planning my next two-week menu based around what is in my freezer/pantry along with what is on sale at the grocery store this week.

Kat
3-6-13, 9:41am
DH took the leftover biscuits and gravy in his lunch today; DD and I will finish up the enchiladas and rice.

I think tonight I will make mini meat loaves, roasted potatoes, and some veggies.

SteveinMN
3-6-13, 11:04pm
I made a batch of beans with a garlic/rosemary sauce that I will enjoy for a few lunches to come. All the ingredients were "leftovers" from ingredients already purchased for other recipes, so there was no additional expense involved. I'm really liking beans cooked from dried (rather than canned). And I haven't found all the shortcuts yet!

Jilly
3-6-13, 11:10pm
I took the last of the leftovers to work for lunch. Thank goodness all that lot is gone.

I was invited out for dinner, but was too tired from work, so a quick stop at the market and I have enough food to last for a couple of weeks. Roast Angus beef was on sale in the deli for less than fresh meat, yum, and I do not have to cook it!

cdttmm
3-7-13, 6:41am
Made a frittata last night -- definitely becoming my go-to dish for a quick-and-easy dinner! I used up the remaining sweet pepper, some mushrooms, and the last of the open package of mozzarella cheese. The frittata came out great and there are leftovers for my partner to consume over the next few days while I am away. I'm off to Texas today for 6 days, so no cooking at home for me during that time. I'll be eagerly reading about everyone else cooking at home, though, as I would much rather have a home-cooked meal than day-after-day restaurant meals.

Rosemary
3-7-13, 8:17am
On the weekend I roasted 2 acorn squash. I've been eating that for breakfast with 1/2 avocado each day.
Last night I took a small amount of pork goulash out of the freezer. It was made with a mushroom gravy, and it happened that I found another container of mushroom gravy in the freezer. I combined them and slowly cooked some potatoes with them. It was very good, and more than enough for the 3 of us. DD had some of the leftovers for breakfast today.

We had roasted cauliflower with the goulash last night. Once upon a time, it was DD's favorite vegetable, but that was more than 2 years ago. In the past year I've tried all manners of preparing it but she wasn't too excited about any of them. Last night I was prepping the cauliflower and called her into the kitchen to decide on the seasonings for it. I had her sniff a few spices, herbs, and blends. She chose herbes de Provence. The cauliflower was very good and she ate a fair amount without commenting, other than agreeing it was good.

Tonight I'm making a lentil soup with some scraps of uncured ham that are in the freezer from a holiday meal. We'll have salad with it.

Lunches - DD's been taking green beans, pasta, and sauce this week with fruit. DH, salad. A friend came over for lunch yesterday and we had the rest of the dal makhani I made and froze last week, along with a salad topped with roasted asparagus, sauteed mushrooms, and strawberries, with homemade honey-mustard dressing.

Kat
3-7-13, 2:04pm
Rosemary--I LOVE acorn squash and avocados. Yummy!

Well, DH got home too late last night for me to make dinner, and we were really tempted to eat out. BUT I managed to convince him to eat at home instead. We had BBQ pork from the freezer along with some mac and cheese and veggies. He will be home late again tonight, so I have something easy (fish sticks and fries) planned. Not the healthiest, I know, but at least they are baked and a little better than fast food!

JaneV2.0
3-7-13, 2:23pm
Turkey garlic burgers, fauxtato salad, chicken gumbo soup from the carcass. I'm finally getting around to starting kim chee today, I think, and I'm contemplating bacon-wrapped roasted poppers for dinner.

Kat
3-8-13, 8:31am
Tonight I am going to try to make the meat loaf and potatoes I couldn't get to earlier in the week. JaneV2.0--just curious...what is "fauxtato" salad?

JaneV2.0
3-8-13, 10:54am
Tonight I am going to try to make the meat loaf and potatoes I couldn't get to earlier in the week. JaneV2.0--just curious...what is "fauxtato" salad?

Take your favorite potato salad and substitute al dente cooked cauliflower for the potatoes. Et voila'.

treehugger
3-8-13, 11:37am
Going out of town for the weekend (leaving tonight after work), so no cooking at home for the next 2 days! :D This is a big deal since I usually work overtime and cook things at home to bring with us. But not this time. I am actually going to relax and just eat out.

On a related note, we have successfully eaten up all the perishables this week. Yay us!

Kara

Rosemary
3-9-13, 8:42pm
I cut my thumb pretty severely in the kitchen yesterday, so will have a few days of less-than-usual food prep and cooking to make things easier on myself and keep it dry. Last night we had split pea soup, and leftovers for lunch today. Tonight DD and her friends had pasta with green beans and then tofu-based chocolate pudding for dessert (one of them said, "this is so good I can hardly eat it!"). I had some soup out of the freezer. I'm hoping that I have at least one more fully prepped meal in the freezer to take out for tomorrow night's dinner.

Sagewoman
3-9-13, 9:04pm
Great thread! I will try the rice noodle dish sometime. It sounds awesome.

Today I made some chili with the intent of using up some frozen items. The other goal is that it be as low salt as I can make it. So I used two cans of beans, one salt free and the other one rinsed several times to remove as much salt as possible. One can of low sodium tomatoes and the other a jar of frozen tomatoes from my garden, with no salt. This will be a reason to freeze rather than canning tomatoes in the future, since my sodium is now restricted. I just did it last year because it was not a good crop. I also used frozen peppers from my garden. Plus some onions and garlic that needed to be used. I didn't have any frozen tofu, so I used some ground beef. Luckily, I have access to local beef that is humanely raised. Chili powder, cumin, and some fresh cilantro. No additional salt. it turned out pretty well. I'll freeze some of it for next month.

Rosemary
3-10-13, 10:08pm
I managed to fit some food-safe waterproof gloves over my bandaged hand and tackled a bunch of food prep today. Next few days are really busy so it will be good to have some prepped raw and cooked veggies on hand. Chopped lettuce, chopped and cooked a huge costco container of mushrooms, and roasted 2 pounds of asparagus.

I also cooked some quinoa for DD's lunches, and packaged it in pyrex containers with green beans in some and peas in the others. She'll take that hot in her food jar, with some grated cheddar to mix in at lunch time.

Also went 'shopping' in the freezer and took out some roasted winter squash, which will be 3 days of breakfast for me, and a container of beans that I cooked last week. I made mushroom-bean-spinach burritos for dinner. They had a little cottage cheese in the filling which made them quite creamy. I just ate the filling without the tortilla.

Dinners for the rest of the week:
Monday - leftovers from tonight. It's DD's science fair and I won't have time to cook/clean.
Tuesday - potato/asparagus/mushroom frittata and salad
Wednesday - chicken tacos, with raw cabbage and sauteed peppers/onions
Thursday - tacos again.
Friday - i'm thinking some kind of soup with salad. it'll depend on what's left in the fridge.

Fawn
3-10-13, 10:48pm
rosemary--sorry that your thumb is hurt. Carry on...that is the frugal way....

my plan for the week...universal energy forgiving....

Monday:Turkey Meatball sandwiches (sauce made Sunday from srcatch, Meatballs pre-made from store) Bread and green pepper from store.


Tuesday: chicken pizza...homemade crust, shredded chicken (cooked from scratch) sauce and cheese, spices from the pantry.

Wednesday: Kids gone. Have adult night w/friend. She will bring wine. I will provide Kalamara olives, carrots and hummus, oranges. I will also provide fire in fireplace. Wood.

Thursday: Ham steak, couscous, sauteed vegetables

Friday: Friatta. All the leftover meat and vegetables in the friatta. Yeah.

cdttmm
3-14-13, 10:17am
Nothing too elaborate on the cooking front here, but we are cooking and eating at home so that's a plus. I made nachos and had them for an early dinner on Tuesday. My partner had leftover goulash later that evening. Yesterday for lunch I threw together some rice noodles with a quick cheese sauce made from some heavy cream and some sharp cheddar. Not a fantastic meal, but it was edible and satisfied a craving for mac-and-cheese. I'll eat the leftovers for lunch today. Last night we made a huge batch of popcorn on the stove top and called it dinner. :~)

cdttmm
3-15-13, 2:45pm
Continuing to eat at home! My partner's been lunching on fried eggs and toast, using eggs from the chickens at the farm where he works and homemade bread for toast. I ate the leftover pasta with cheese sauce yesterday and had oatmeal with raisins for lunch today. Last night we had veggie chili (from the freezer) with cheese and tortilla chips. Tonight will be corn chowder (from the freezer) with tortilla chips. Eventually I'm going to have to go grocery shopping, but I'd like to put that off for a few more days at least. I noticed that there is a container of lentil/carrot soup in the freezer as well as a large container of wild rice so we're good for a least a few more meals!

Kat
3-15-13, 3:15pm
Jane--yummy! I love cauliflower! :-)
Rosemary--hope your thumb heals quickly. Severe cuts like that really hurt!

I haven't felt like cooking lately, which is odd for me because I usually love being in the kitchen. I guess I am kind of in a funk! I did manage to make some scalloped potatoes with ham and peas, and last night I made tuna and noodles with Normandy style veggies. These dishes allowed me to use up some things I bought on sale. Oh, and I gave Mongolian beef a try. I had a flank steak sitting around in the freezer, and it turned out really good!

DH is bringing home supper from a deli tonight. I have been craving a sandwich from there for weeks! Tomorrow I am going to make our traditional St. Patty's meal--corned beef and cabbage--with a brisket I had in the freezer. I'll make some horseradish sauce to go with, and then I will make DH some homemade corned beef hash with the leftovers. He loves that! :-)

kitten
3-15-13, 3:20pm
This sounds amazing, I'm trying it! Thanks!


Decided on tonight's dinner. We're going to try a new recipe, Mixed Rice Noodles. The name is not very descriptive. It's a rice noodle dish with peas, spinach, and fresh grated ginger, in a sauce made with garlic, soy sauce, peanut butter, and tahini, and then it's garnished with avocado, chopped peanuts, and prawns. We're making it as a vegetarian dish so we're not adding the prawns. We have everything on hand except for peanuts -- I ate the last of them yesterday without thinking that we might make this recipe today. But we have everything else on hand and the avocado needs to be eaten today so this is a good plan!

JaneV2.0
3-15-13, 3:40pm
More bone broth from the weekly rotisserie chicken carcass which will turn into an Asian-like soup with shirataki noodles. Ground beef Stroganoff over cauliflower mash and something involving eggplant (fried in parmesan with pizza topping, maybe), roast turkey breast followed by roast turkey soup...Soon there will be corned beef and cabbage with extra slabs stored in the freezer to take advantage of St. Patrick's prices, and lots of cabbage in soup and sauteed in butter. I made some jalapeno flat bread from almond flour, oat bran, eggs, and flax seed that wasn't bad, but I want to adjust the recipe some.

Rosemary
3-15-13, 4:04pm
Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone. My thumb is healing well but I still have to keep it out of the water.

Meals got shifted a little this week and some leftovers went to lunches.
Last night was a tofu/broccoli/carrot/pepper stir-fry with an orange-based sauce. Not the syrupy-sweet sauce that is common in restaurants, of course. It was very good.

I made a big batch of granola today. DD makes trail mix with it and sometimes has it with yogurt. I used to eat more of it than I do now... just prefer my fruits and veggies now. I also made two different flourless and sugarless (sweetened with prunes and dates only) desserts. I will freeze them in small batches.

Tonight I'm making a chicken dish that was my grandmother's. Everyone who's ever tasted this has really liked it, so I'll post it here. It has a lot of flavor for a very easy dish. I'll make some steamed cabbage on the side. I bought an enormous cabbage for 77 cents at Aldi this week, but we enjoy it so many ways that it won't be a task to use it up.

Oma's Chicken
3 lb. chicken -- separated in parts
1 tbsp. oil
1 small onion -- minced
4 tbsp. catsup
8 tbsp. sherry
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 med. green pepper -- chopped
2 cups broth
parsley, salt, pepper, thyme

Sprinkle spices over chicken (except parsley). Brown chicken in oil, on all sides. Add onion and 1/2 c water. Bring to a boil and lower heat.
Mix sherry and catsup; stir into pan juices and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Add mushrooms, green pepper and broth. Simmer 1hr. or until chicken is tender.
Defat pan juices and thicken for sauce. Sprinkle parsley over top for garnish.

ApatheticNoMore
3-15-13, 4:06pm
Last two days was cauliflower in homemade tomato sauce with cheese with 1/2 potato each day. Day before that was salmon with fresh dill on top and brocollli rabe on the side (which was incredibly bitter, I choked it down) and rice with olive oil, day before that salad with lettuce, ground beef, avocados, dressing was sour cream mixed with salsa, also some rice with olive oil on the side. Lunch has been garbanzo-tuna salad, garbanzos soaked to the point of mild fermentation though I caught them before they got sourish. Boring here and eat a lot of the same things, though sometimes get inspired. Tonight I think fish.

ApatheticNoMore
3-16-13, 12:43am
Fish it was, small piece of Hallibut marinated in lime juice, crumbled over bed of lettuce, salsa and sour cream dressing.

SteveinMN
3-16-13, 10:26am
salsa and sour cream dressing.
ANM, do you just cut the salsa with sour cream? Suggested proportions?

leslieann
3-16-13, 1:21pm
Eggplants....I had a small package of ground lamb so I bought two eggplants to make the moussake from Nourishing Traditions. I ran out of time and ended up turning the lamb into Becker's lamb patties (from Joy of Cooking). But now, what to do with those two lovely eggplants? I can't do dairy or wheat; moussaka might still have to be the solution. I have ground beef, though....could I figure out some sort of eggplant lasagne (without cheese? Doesn't sound too great).

Anyway, I am open to suggestions.

Last night was our usual homemade pizza. I broiled up some chicken breasts for my supper and for leftovers. Put some of DH's delicious pizza veggie topping on my chicken (peppers, green onions, mushrooms, garlic and kalamata olives sauteed in olive oil). That was great. Today we'll do soft tacos unless a brainstorm hits about the eggplant. I bought pork to make pulled pork in the crock pot for Sunday. I just ran out of chicken broth, so it is time for the crock pot to make a batch of stock using bones and veggie trimmings in the freezer. Hmm, maybe I could get that started now....

We almost always cook at home but reading your posts makes me realize that I get bored with the same old things. Too bad we can't all share our extras and leftovers; we'd really have varied diets that way!

Happy anniversary, Stella. And best wishes on the thumb, Rosemary.

JaneV2.0
3-16-13, 2:27pm
Eggplants....I had a small package of ground lamb so I bought two eggplants to make the moussake from Nourishing Traditions. I ran out of time and ended up turning the lamb into Becker's lamb patties (from Joy of Cooking). But now, what to do with those two lovely eggplants? I can't do dairy or wheat; moussaka might still have to be the solution. I have ground beef, though....could I figure out some sort of eggplant lasagne (without cheese? Doesn't sound too great). ...

...

I used to make stuffed eggplant with ground beef. Scoop out most of the eggplant, cube and cook with ground beef, onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, whatever seasonings, put back in shells, bake.

Rosemary
3-16-13, 6:05pm
I love eggplant simply roasted... it's so versatile. I slice it (about 1/4 inch thick), place it on an oiled baking sheet, and cover with another baking sheet for about 15 minutes @ 400... then uncover and let it roast for another 20 minutes or so. You could season it, but I don't.

Then, I use it on salads, as a base for sauces, toss it into other dishes just as they are finishing cooking, etc.
Last week I had roasted eggplant and asparagus, heated, then topped with 1/2 avocado, for breakfast on several days.

Eggplant is also really good with a spicy and slightly sweet sauce in stir-fry.

Rosemary
3-16-13, 6:08pm
Everyone loved Oma's chicken and there is enough left for another meal. I skipped browning the chicken and eliminated the oil and, as is usually the case, did not miss it. Instead of cooking it as noted in the original recipe, I poached the chicken in the broth with the onions, and added the other veggies as I got them sliced and ready.

DH requested corned beef. I've never cooked it before but I went to the local natural foods store this morning and they had some minus the sodium nitrite and other preservatives, plus all their meats were 10% off today. So we'll have cabbage and potatoes with that, and there should be enough for 2 meals.

Made yogurt today and sliced up lots of raw vegetables to be ready for salads.

cdttmm
3-16-13, 6:30pm
Had some sage in olive oil in the freezer so thawed that and made sage pesto by adding garlic, walnuts, parmasean, salt and pepper. Ate it with some of the Pad Thai noodles that we had since they are gluten free. Not great, but edible. I made regular pasta for my partner and he ate a huge bowl of pasta with pesto so it must have been pretty good with regular pasta!

ApatheticNoMore
3-16-13, 6:46pm
ANM, do you just cut the salsa with sour cream? Suggested proportions?

It was about 50-50 with TJ jarred salsa, I'm sure the sour cream could be reduced some for a lower fat version and it would still be good on slightly mexican influenced salads.


I ran out of time and ended up turning the lamb into Becker's lamb patties (from Joy of Cooking).

Oh those are great, tasty and not too difficult. As for the eggplant: baba ghanouj made with roasted eggplants is good (wheat and dairy free). If you still have patties: baba ghanouj, lamb patties, maybe rice, drizzle of olive oil, and you've got a not-entirely authentic middle east feast. The only other recipes I've made with eggplant are ratatoutille (but of course) - it's diary and wheat free, and eggplant parmesian (I've used rice flour for the breading but yea not dairy free though you could omit the cheese - just dip eggplants in eggs, then rice flour, fry in olive oil, top with tomato sauce and bake). I can't wait until eggplants are in season.

SteveinMN
3-16-13, 9:43pm
Thanks, ANM. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow and we really should eat more fish. I'll give that a whirl.

ApatheticNoMore
3-16-13, 10:25pm
Thanks, ANM. I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow and we really should eat more fish. I'll give that a whirl.

The full lime marinade is: lime juice, diced hot peppers (jalepeno or serrano - probably want to remove seeds and membranes), salt, black pepper (quite a bit), cilantro. Cillantro works well there but didn't use it this time because I wasn't going to buy a whole cillantro just for that. It's a marinate for fish tacos, but anything that can be a taco can be a salad IMO. The salad dressing is my own invention (though I have read recipes for more complex dressings with salsa).

ApatheticNoMore
3-17-13, 7:34pm
Yesterday scallop potatoes, they were shared, I contributed the scallop pototoes and was given salmon in return and such was dinner - the trade most definitely was not fair trade certified as the potatoes were much more labor :). Potatoes really were a bit excessively starchy for me (not just potatoes but potatoes cooked an hour and a half, plus milk and some rice flour for thickening!), and I think I will lay off them for awhile (I last made them thanksgiving so it's not a labor I often take on anyway).

Today made a veggie soup by the recipe book: onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, 1 potato, parsley, water, chicken broth. I don't know, I've tried to like chicken and other broths Weston Price style but they are just not appealing to me, nonetheless the soup came out decent since the broth was mostly hidden by veggies. However it was also too sweet, it had a rather shocking amount of celery that I think is to blame for the sweetness or else the carrots but I think it's the celery (it's not like it has actual sugar in it or anything). I'll probably eat it but not a recipe I'm adding to my favorites anytime soon. Maybe adding some garlic would help. I also lost a head of cabage that was meant to go in the soup, dont' ask me how, I really have no idea where it went, perhaps it is not the only head I have lost.

This is probably why I eat a lot of the same recipes in regular rotation, it's hard to find stuff that's 1) tasty and appealing to me 2) physically agrees with me 3) filling (only really a problem at lunch, when I'm stuck in the food desert).

SteveinMN
3-17-13, 8:33pm
Dining solo tonight so it's clean-out-the-fridge night. I'm finishing a half piece of an eighth of a red-cooked chicken (fryer cooked in black soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, garlic, and star anise) and the rest of our Oysters Mushroom Rockefeller (Oysters Rockefeller with oyster mushrooms instead of the shellfish), some brown & wild rice, and some steamed cauliflower. Eatin' good here.... :)

treehugger
3-18-13, 11:44am
Thursday and Friday dinners were some Japanese-style chicken and sweet potatoes that I had in the freezer, with chard. It defrosted sorta mushy (the sweet potatoes) but tasted better than it looked. And I didn't have time to cook, so freezer food was better than no food. :) I will make a note on that recipe not to freeze leftovers again.

Saturday, I steamed artichokes, baked sweet potatoes, and grilled some steak. The artichokes and potatoes were served with garlic butter, and the steak was marinated in some Penzey's Forward seasoning and balsamic vinegar. I also baked 2 loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread (one went straight into the freezer).

Sunday: blueberry pancakes with homemade lemon curd (canned in the fall). Lunch was egg salad with diced celery, on toast. For dinner, I cooked some bone-in chicken thighs in the crockpot with some southwest seasonings and cider vinegar. Shredded, that became burrito bowls with cilantro-lime rice, guacamole, black beans, and shredded lettuce.

The weekend meals made use of avocados, cilantro, artichokes, sweet potatoes, celery, and lettuce from the produce box. I still have collards (not my favorite green, but are fine in soup), sugar snap peas, and a few carrots left to use this week. The apples and tangerines that were in the box get eaten throughout the week as snacks at work. I really enjoy being "forced" to cook seasonally by planning meals around what arrives in the delivery. I only very rarely buy produce from other sources these days. I did buy leeks at the store yesterday, since I have been craving potato-leek soup all winter and no leeks ever showed up.

Kara

JaneV2.0
3-18-13, 1:05pm
...

I also lost a head of cabage that was meant to go in the soup, dont' ask me how, I really have no idea where it went, perhaps it is not the only head I have lost. ...

http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/standart/grin.gif

Rosemary
3-18-13, 1:14pm
It was snowing furiously for a while this morning and I decided it was a good morning to cook. I made some date/oat "cookies" (not at all like flour-based ones, but they work for our sweet tooth fix), some quinoa-based "brownies" (ditto), a big pile of roasted carrots (great snack plus I like them on salads - DD and DH devoured more than half of them already), some wild rice to use in other recipes (cooked a cup, left 1/3 in the fridge and froze the rest in 2 containers), and a big pot of aloo mattar, potato/pea curry. Left some of that in the fridge for lunches this week and froze the rest - I've been wanting to try making dosas and it will be a good filling when I get around to that.

Tonight we'll have the rest of the corned beef/potatoes/cabbage for dinner... since I feel like I've had my quota of cooking for today.

ApatheticNoMore
3-18-13, 2:11pm
Got ambitious on cooking, had too much food around (yea that again, why do I do it? >8)). Roasted an old getting wrinkly red pepper from the fridge, figured I might make salad dressing with it, also had some old butter around I figured I should make herb butter and freeze but didn't have the right herbs, saw a recipe roasted red pepper butter and it was solved, added parsley, made the butter and froze. It is true sometimes things get lost in my freezer and not eaten, but I neither buy nor use a lot of butter (more partial to it's liquid and sour cousins - cream), and so figure having gourmet flavored frozen butter around is the most likely way for the rest of that butter to get eaten here and there. It did smell absolutely fantastic while I mashed it. Also made a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, vinegarette - just some lunches for the week.

Kat
3-19-13, 10:06am
We've been eating leftover brisket and veggies. We went to my in-law's for supper on Sunday night, and they sent us home with some goulash and blueberries, so we've been eating that, too. DH accidentally broke the freezer container holding the pizza casserole I froze, so we put that in the fridge to use up, too.

In the next couple of days, I need to use up the beef, so I'll make the hash for DH, and we'll have that with eggs. I also have a pound of turkey that needs to be used, so I'll make some turkey nachos with some chips and cheese we got on sale.

Florence
3-19-13, 12:46pm
Leftovers tonight. Plus THE FIRST ASPARAGUS OF THE SEASON!! Yea!!! Olive oil, sea salt, and fresh asparagus oven roasted. Oh my, oh my!!

Rosemary
3-19-13, 3:45pm
$17 at the big Asian market and my refrigerator is refreshed with eggplant, napa cabbage, portobello mushrooms (they were out of shiitakes), fresh parsley, cilantro, and green onions, red bell peppers, broccoli, sugar snap peas, and baby bok choy. Stir-fry and miso soup tonight.

Mrs-M
3-19-13, 3:52pm
This past Saturday's feast! Ginger/garlic pork chow-mien/stir-fry!

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1193&d=1363722616

Stir-fry dishes are always a hit in our house! So healthy and delicious! So easy to put together!

P.S. Just to put things into perspective (size wise), The black element you see to the far right of the bowl is a large element, not small. The stainless bowl you see is an industrial/commercial sized-bowl that is roughly 2/3 the size of the top of the stove! A dozen pork chops (julienned) went into the dish!

SteveinMN
3-19-13, 10:45pm
Wow, Mrs-M! I hope you got several meals out of that. It looks great!

Tonight's dinner: chili (homemade, no beans) on spaghetti squash. There will be leftovers, consumed happily.

ApatheticNoMore
3-20-13, 1:36am
Piece of salmon, rice with olive oil, some pure cranberry juice with stevia - ok not going to win too many culinary awards. My soup is growing on me a little, was part of dinner yesterday.

Mrs-M
3-21-13, 4:53pm
Originally posted by SteveinMN.
I hope you got several meals out of that.LOL! Unfortunately, even super-large dishes don't go very far in our home. There was a small single serving leftover from the night. We ate (almost ate) the whole thing! http://www.palyne.com/talk/Smileys/palyne/eating.gif

SteveinMN
3-21-13, 9:53pm
Last night I soaked some pinto beans and this morning I put them in a slow cooker with a jar of salsa and a salsa jar full of water and walked away. Came home to the wonderful aroma of beans & salsa. I think I will "refry" some and freeze some.

Owing to a change of plans that caught me in rush-hour traffic, dinner tonight was the "emergency" frozen entree (lasagna) and a side salad. I cook better. :~)

cdttmm
3-21-13, 10:07pm
Made mixed rice noodles for dinner last night. Mmmmm...so good! Ate leftover wild rice plus some frozen peas for lunch today. Got home late from the gym so just had oatmeal with raisins for dinner. :D We'll have the rest of the mixed rice noodles for lunch tomorrow. I made black beans in the crock pot today, so I'll make a big pot of vegetarian chili this weekend.

Rosemary
3-21-13, 10:48pm
This afternoon I cooked a Szechuan eggplant stir-fry and also a baby bok choy stir-fry. Poached a couple of chicken breast halves and then sliced the chicken and sauteed it briefly in a sauce from a General Tso's chicken recipe. Used the poaching water, a little of the chicken, some barley, mushrooms, and parsley to make some soup. The fridge is full of ready food for the weekend and tonight we had a medley of Chinese food.

treehugger
3-22-13, 11:45am
Last night I ground two chuck roasts to have ground beef on hand in the freezer. Froze 4, 1-pound portions and 6, 4-ounce hamburgers. Cooked one pound to go with marinara sauce (from the freezer) and spaghetti for dinner last night. I still have those collards to cook and they will become soup (with some white beans from the freezer) this weekend.

Kara

JaneV2.0
3-22-13, 12:21pm
I haven't done a stir-fry for--good grief, I can't remember. Yours looks wonderful, MrsM! I still haven't got around to using up my eggplant...

SteveinMN
3-22-13, 1:39pm
Epic fail this morning, as the kids say. Black beans I had soaked were combined with (what turned out to be entirely too much) chopped onion, a jalapeno, and some garlic, and cooked. It's finally done (well after the recipe said it would be) and it tastes just ... raw. The beans have the proper texture and all, but the onion flavor comes through in spades. I'm going to have to decide if this is eaten anyway (by me; DW won't be interested) or composted. It is that bad.... :confused:

JaneV2.0
3-22-13, 1:50pm
Too much onion? Hard to imagine...Could you spread out the flavor by serving it over cauliflower mash? That's my go-to meal stretcher.

treehugger
3-22-13, 2:06pm
Epic fail this morning, as the kids say. Black beans I had soaked were combined with (what turned out to be entirely too much) chopped onion, a jalapeno, and some garlic, and cooked. It's finally done (well after the recipe said it would be) and it tastes just ... raw. The beans have the proper texture and all, but the onion flavor comes through in spades. I'm going to have to decide if this is eaten anyway (by me; DW won't be interested) or composted. It is that bad.... :confused:

Before giving up, I would try frying and mashing the beans (making them into "refried" beans). That might mellow out and blend in the onion flavor.

Kara

JaneV2.0
3-22-13, 2:57pm
I had a cheeseburger with tomatoes and sweet onion on homemade almond/flax jalapeno flatbread for brunch. That should hold me for awhile...

SteveinMN
3-22-13, 10:25pm
Thanks, Jane and Kara. I stashed the beans in the 'fridge until I decided what to do. I love onions, but I think these should have browned longer than the recipe stated. Needs more chili pepper, too, but I can fix that. I like refried beans, so I think I'll give that a try first.

cdttmm
3-23-13, 3:44pm
I'm making a huge pot of vegetarian chili as I type. I don't follow a set recipe, but rather I make it up as I go along based on what we have on hand and what needs to be used up. This pot allowed me to use up some mushrooms that needed to be consumed, a partial jar of pasta sauce that was hanging out in the fridge, and the cannellini beans that I overcooked in the crock pot this morning -- oops! We'll have chili for dinner tonight and I will freeze the rest for future quick dinners. I also made a batch of raw, vegan chocolate macaroons. Even though I had never made these and I had a recipe, I just couldn't follow it (my rebellious nature, I guess). They are in the refrigerator chilling -- the "batter" tasted good so I'm assuming they will be quite tasty once they have set up.

Rosemary
3-23-13, 10:48pm
DD requested waffles for her birthday breakfast. Made them with spelt and coarsely ground oats, and cooked up some apple + frozen cherries for an optional fruit topping - I liked the fruit much more than maple syrup, actually (and we use real syrup). Leftover waffles in the freezer for her to have for breakfast later in the week.

Chicken/mushroom/barley soup for lunch, that I cooked a couple days ago.

DD's birthday dinner was chicken tacos.

I spent most of the day making food, despite the easy meals above. DD opted to have her birthday cake at church tomorrow so I made a triple recipe and then made a small gluten-free cake also. She requested strawberry cake with chocolate frosting. I found a muffin recipe that used strawberry puree, and modified that. Used frozen strawberries, cooked briefly and pureed. Made chocolate ganache glaze. The cake smelled fabulous - our house still smells like strawberries, hours later. I put the cakes in DH's car to stay chilled overnight. His car will smell like a jam factory and bakery for the next week, I'm guessing.

Also for church snacks, chopped a huge pile of veggies and made some ranch-style dip, and also made a huge bowl of a salad with napa cabbage, wild rice, red bell pepper, celery, pear, diced prunes, sunflower seeds, fresh parsley, and a lemon/olive oil dressing.

Rosemary
3-26-13, 10:00pm
I cleaned out the kitchen freezer a few days ago and planned this week's meals to use up some things that I found in there.

Wednesday: mixed bean chili. Using up some frozen bell peppers, frozen roasted green chiles, and a single piece of bacon left from my dad's visit in the fall.
Tonight: spanakopita. Used up some kale that I froze a few months ago, as well as some potatoes that were starting to sprout (I make spanakopita with potatoes on top and bottom rather than a wheat flour - based crust). Also used up some cottage cheese.
Monday: moo shu pork.

The mixed veg/wild rice salad was a big hit at church on Sunday. I received many compliments on taking a different course for the after-program snacks.

ApatheticNoMore
3-26-13, 10:56pm
Trying the simple experiment: fried potatoes in butter with wild foraged black sage. Disappointing, sage was not near as strong as I had hoped (or as it smelled! it smelled super potent) and I would have had to use a lot more (a ton of sage) for flavor. Next time I guess, or maybe I should make sage butter :). Still fried potatoes in quite a bit of butter, it's not bad. Was meant to go with eggs but it turns out the eggs I had were months old and I thought twice lest I poison myself. Might eat a small something else though.

Yesterday was some lentil soup with a bit of ground beef in it, a single portion made previously that I thawed from the freezer.

ApatheticNoMore
3-28-13, 12:22am
piece of hallibut grilled under the broiler with decent amount olive oil, salt and pepper for 4 minutes on each side, highly recommended way to fix hallibut. Salsa to go with it: marinating since last night: 1 tomato, 1 jalepeno (demembraned and deseeded), 10 basil leaves, 1/4 sweet onion, 2 TB balsamic vinegar (only had white balsamic so used that), 1 TB olive oil. Very good with the hallibut. Gourmet quality and really simple.

Also had some super spicy homemade (ie baked) sweet potato fries, not gourmet at all. Did get to try the Japanese purple outside white inside sweet potato I've been eyeing for awhile though, very hard to slice raw but very good in fries, will have to try it prepared otherwise.

JaneV2.0
3-28-13, 12:46am
Country ribs, probably with tomatoes, pineapple, onion, and peppers. Meat loaf made with shredded vegetables for later in the week.

Blackdog Lin
3-28-13, 6:18am
Sunday: spaghetti w/meatballs (using up the last of my large batch of frozen meatballs - need to made another batch) and garlic toast. Monday: bbq pork ribs (leftovers in the freezer) w/squash medley. Tuesday: tacos. Wednesday: lunch out while doing the shopping. Thursday (today): bacon/pork and mexican rice chili burritos (mine own concoction to use up the small container of leftover chili in the freezer and the few slices of bacon that needs used and there was no ground beef in the freezer, only ground pork. guess we'll see.....) w/little relish plate. Friday: fish sandwiches and fried okra. Need to work on finishing up the garden okra from last year still in the freezer.

cdttmm
3-28-13, 6:02pm
Last night: nachos made with homemade vegetarian chili with leftover chili for lunch today

Tonight: red pepper and onion frittata and there should be enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow

I've decided to make oatmeal with raisins my go-to breakfast for the time being. When I measured out all the ingredients and calculated the cost it came to ~$1.00, which is probably one of the cheapest meals we eat around here (we tend to eat mostly organic stuff and gluten-free, so those two factors drive up the cost). A rough estimate on the cost per serving for the fritatta is about $2.00. I don't even want to start calculating the cost of making nachos....cheese is my weakness and it can drive the cost per serving up very quickly!

But, on the bright side, this is still far less expensive (and far better for our health) than eating out!!!

Rosemary
3-31-13, 7:28am
Friday dinner: chana dal with napa cabbage, salad
Saturday: chicken sausage, steamed broccoli/carrots, sauteed onions, peppers, and mushrooms
Tonight: probably the rest of the chicken sausage with roasted cauliflower. Maybe just salad. It will depend on how we feel by evening. We have a big meal mid-day at church, but that's unpredictable in content.