January Cook at Home

[Rosemary]

I made a spanakopita-like dish last night, but with thinly-sliced potatoes for the top and bottom crust instead of a wheat-based crust. It worked out really well. Oh, and the filling used kale, not spinach. Last time I was at TJ's I bought a bag of their new chopped lacinato kale. I did not like this product - they included with the kale all the very thick stems, so I had to pick through it and pull out the pieces that would be too tough to eat. And the whole point of buying it in the bag was that it was supposedly ready for salad. Anyway, the spanakopita: DD and I each had a slice for breakfast this morning, and there is enough for us to all have for dinner tomorrow night.

Tonight is veg chili from the freezer and spinach salad. Quick and minimal-cleanup meal because DD has a choir concert and we have to leave the house at 6:15.

[Kat]

Followed through with the mac n cheese, hot dogs, and pudding pops yesterday. Leftovers for lunch today. Tonight I am planning to make mini Mexican pizzas with Spanish rice and refried beans. DD LOVES rice and beans. Sometimes she asks for it for breakfast! I should probably take something out of the freezer now for dinner tomorrow, too. Thursday is my heavy work day, so I am thinking French dips made in the crock pot.

[Rosemary]

Made a big batch of chicken-barley-veg stew for DD's lunches and an easy dinner one night next week. Put it outside to cool off in the free freezer, and will portion it into freezer containers in a couple of hours.
Yesterday I turned the rest of the veggies in the fridge into a mung bean curried soup (fennel, carrots, celery, etc... plus juice from a lime that was hanging out in the fridge as well). That is my lunch today and will be dinner for all of us tomorrow night.

[Kat]

I am really enjoying this thread. It keeps me accountable, and there are so many good ideas for meals!

DD and I will have the rest of the mac n cheese and hot dogs for lunch. DH took some of the leftover Mexican I made last night. I plan to get the roast for French dips in the crock pot while DD is eating breakfast. I will take the rolls out of the freezer to defrost then also. We'll have sandwiches tonight for dinner along with some baked chips. That should be easy enough.

Now I just need to look ahead to the weekend!

[SteveinMN]

Today I'm making a braised beef dish from a Piedmontese (Italian) recipe. We didn't have enough red wine for the recipe, so I (OBFrugal) walked to the liquor store three blocks away. I asked for direction to where I would find the variety of wine I needed and the woman behind the counter led me to that shelf. Several bottles of wine, maybe $8-12 each. But when I mentioned I was using it for cooking, she led me to an endcap display and handed me a bottle that cost all of $3.49. Sold!

[treehugger]

Last night was stromboli and it was easy and delicious and used ingredients I had on hand. Winner! The leftovers will be my lunch today, so tonight's dinner will be some sort of chicken (from the freezer), potato (from the CSA), mushroom (CSA), and onion (CSA) dish. I'm working at home today, so I will put some dried beans on to soak and then cook later, too, for a future meal.

Kara

[Kat]

The French dips last night were a success. DH took one for his lunch today; DD and I will probably have other leftovers (hot dogs, lasagna, etc.). I stayed up late last night working, and my back is really hurting, so I think I will do something easy for dinner tonight. Maybe eggs and pancakes? I am also thinking of making some apple oatmeal in the crock pot tonight for breakfast tomorrow.

[Bootsie]

Last night before bed I set up rice pudding in the crockpot for a hot breakfast this morning. Now, I'm tossing ingredients in the crockpot for a lentil stew for dinner. I'll be making date nut bread to go along with it.

[Rosemary]

An Indian friend of mine is showing me how to cook some simple dishes. Now, I can follow any kind of recipe easily and make Indian-style food at home at least monthly... but it is always missing something. When she cooks I can smell the aroma of the different spices as they hit the pan and identify those things that are missing when I cook at home. Now I know that a couple of things I thought I could skip, that aren't available at my usual shopping places that have a huge assortment of herbs/spices, are actually essential even though used in very small quantities.

[Kat]

DH really wanted pizza and beer Friday night, so we went out. We met up with his parents, though, and had a really nice time, so I am glad we did it. We took home some leftovers.

Yesterday was "EMG" at our house--Everything Must Go. Between the three of us, we ate up almost all of the leftovers over breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We will do the same for breakfast and lunch today, and then I will probably cook something for dinner tonight. Maybe chili cheesedog casserole.