What's for dinner in August?

[awakenedsoul]

I just realized we're well into August. The July meals sounded delicious. I made a chicken stock with part of the carcass I had in my freezer. Used it in albondigas soup. It was my first time making it. It's delicious! It's really clearing my sinuses, too. I'll pick all of the tiny bits of chicken off the bones for my dogs. I've heard you can reuse chicken bones for stock, so I'll re freeze them for next time. Am going to have more soup and homemade bread for dinner. Had an ice cream sandwich for dessert. (the skinny cow ones.)

What's everyone else making?

profnot, That sounds really good. Maybe I should get a slow cooker...

[Aroha]

Last night was sausages with some winter vegetables. It was not the most creative or tasty meal I have ever made but it filled our tummies. Today I will do something with some pork, probably a sweet and sour with ginger garlic and chilli.

[frugal-one]

Made black bean lasagna from Taste of Home.... was very good!

[Blackdog Lin]

Today was biscuits-n-gravy w/sliced garden tomatoes. DH was less than thrilled with my experimentation of using 1/2 whole wheat flour in the biscuits. Guests for lunch tomorrow, having a fish fry of a big mess of flathead that was given to us, with macaroni salad and a platter of sliced tomatoes. And zucchini chocolate cake.

[pinkytoe]

So hot today (102) that neither one of wanted to cook or heat up the kitchen much. So I made a large green salad and added chickpeas, toasted pumpkin seeds and cashews.

[awakenedsoul]

I made artichokes. I cooked them early this morning, before it got too hot. Simmered them a long time is water, homemade Italian salad dressing, and lemon juice. I love having them cold, dipped in mayo. I sliced up red peppers, avocado, tomatoes from the garden, and carrots. I dipped them in salad dressing. I also had some Smokehouse almonds for a little protein.

[iris lilies]

I'm going to make a batch of Shepard's pie and freeze it in dinner-size portions. It will all be made with these home grown items:

onions
potatoes
tomatoes
green beans
hamburger (yep, a family cow)

[Aroha]

I did a quick fish curry for lunch - hoki chunks dipped in flour and panfried in butter. Remove, brown some curry powder in the pan, add coconut cream and some frozen peas (wintertime here), also salt, simmer together then add the fish back in. Served in bowls with lime juice squeezed over the top. It was so good.

[Aroha]

I'm going to make a batch of Shepard's pie and freeze it in dinner-size portions. It will all be made with these home grown items:

onions
potatoes
tomatoes
green beans hamburger
(yep, a family cow)
Iris lilies, it must be so fulfilling not only to cook your own food but to have grown it as well. I'm so impressed and envious.

[iris lilies]

Iris lilies, it must be so fulfilling not only to cook your own food but to have grown it as well. I'm so impressed and envious.

Well, some of these ingredients are from DH's family farm 400 miles north of here. His sister was here visiting this week and she came with green beans and potatoes from my father-in-law's garden. She also brought onions, but we have our own garden onions.

Our own green beans are done, and DH hasn't found the right potato to grow in our hot weather so we didn't grow the potatoes.

[Aroha]

Ah, well some credit to your dh's family as well then. Still all homegrown though and I bet that shepherds pie tastes awesome.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Ok some sustainable Chilean sea bass served with zucchinis again (the same batch of zucchini I got a few weeks ago) with garlic olive oil and frozen pesto. Mom made broccoli beef again yesterday served on brown rice as per usual. I ate the clam sauce with white rice, it didn't quite work though I ate it. I also diluted some and made soup (sounds weird, but quite good although sure it's rich - small bowls). Very tiny amount left and joined some ratatouille sitting in the freezer. I recently cleaned out the freezer and started again as that had totally got out of hand and it's not that big a freezer, this time I'll try to remember.

Ok and this week I got a duck breast. I've never eaten duck before in my life I don't think. So this is new, I don't' even know if I like it. I'll marinate it first. Other than that alternating green salad and garbanzo/canned salmon salad for lunch in the next week. May make lentil soup with a very small (1/4 lb) amount of lamb and some kale.

I'd hate to think this menu sounded frugal :) chilean sea bass plus duck,yea if that's not the giveaway of not so frugal I don't know what is :)

[Aroha]

A few luxuries can go a long way, ApatheticNoMore, especially when there's a lot of frugality in other areas. I'm sure you enjoyed the sea bass (though you didn't actually say so) and I hope that duck turns out to be a wonderful treat as well. Let us know how it goes.

[Blackdog Lin]

Maybe not so frugal - but boy!, your menus are sounding good! :)

Monday leftovers from the fish fry along with a big salad plate each of garden cukes and tomatoes and peppers and onions. Today was the same salad plates and hamburger stroganoff over curly noodles. Chinese chicken salad tomorrow.

[CathyA]

I enjoy going out to eat on Saturday eve because I spend so much time in the kitchen all week. But DH works in the city all week and really enjoys coming home and staying home, so I'm cooking him a good meal.
We're having marinated chuck eye steaks (grilled) and grilled marinated veggies (zucchini and orange pepper from the garden, mushrooms, sweet onions), corn on the cob, cucumbers, and for desert I made a rustic blueberry tart, which we'll have with ice cream. YUM!

[awakenedsoul]

Boy, these meals sound delicious! I made tacos with ground turkey. I had the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions in my box from the local organic co op. Fresh watermelon, (also from the co op,) in blackberry sorbet for dessert. I've also got a batch of the NY Times No Knead Bread in the oven on a slow rise...that's become my latest staple.

[catherine]

I'm enjoying the fruits of the garden--we're having a super salad tonight with our lettuce and mizuna, green beans and tomatoes and chickpeas, hardboiled eggs and pignola nuts as protein and olives and basil for garnish.

[Blackdog Lin]

catherine: that sounded wondermous!

I am also still trying to plan menus to use up the garden produce. But also we went to "the city" Thursday to stock up, and stopped at Panera for a loaf of their sourdough (an indulgence of ours), so needed to use it up as well.

Yesterday was bacon-egg-n-cheese toastwiches, with garden tomatoes on the side. And last night I made a cheese dip using garden tomatoes and peppers. Today was sausage and French toast (and NO garden produce, for a break); tonight I'm deep-frying garden green pepper and zucchini strips. And tomorrow is oven-baked chicken tenders (which I've never made before, but how hard can this be?) :) with a spaghetti salad using up the rest of the zucchini and green peppers that were picked and in the kitchen. With some watermelon we picked up from a farmer's market when we were out Thursday.

Tuesday's menu MUST include okra, I just haven't come up with the details yet.

[Florence]

Monday: Baked cod fish, carrots/thyme, corn on the cob
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Homey Chicken Stew
Wednesday: Stuffed Wieners, corn
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pappasito's for TexMex

[awakenedsoul]

Made the chicken stock this morning while it was still cool. I'll use it for cream of cauliflower soup with ingredients from my stockpile, the organic co op box, and my garden. My dog is still helping me eat up the homegrown zucchini. I made snickerdoodle cookie dough last night, and baked one dozen cookies this morning at 7:00 a.m. That way the house is still cool. I'll keep the rest of the dough in the fridge. I'm still eating the leftover tacos.

[CathyA]

Tonight we're having salmon, green beans out of the garden, baked green tomato casserole (with fresh bread crumbs and cheddar cheese) and a spinach salad with strawberries and a balsamic vinaigrette. DH is going to love it! Oh.....and as usual....watermelon for desert!

Oh....last night I made a cucumber, onion, and watermelon salad with balsamic vinegar. It was actually very good! I'd never thought of using watermelon like that. I saw the recipe online and decided to try it out.
Very refreshing.

[JaneV2.0]

I made kung pao chicken for lunch yesterday, and a romaine, spinach/kale, sweet onion, tomato, and bacon salad for dinner. I haven't cooked much lately, but should step it up.

[Packy]

Well, I see where Arby's has a new sandwich out there, called "The Meat Mountain". The nearest Arby's to me is about 1 1/2 miles away, in a freestanding building "sandwiched" right between the Rent-To-Own Appliance Center, and a Title Loan company. The online ad for Arby's says its got ham, bacon, burger, two kinds of cheese, chicken & misc. random floor sweepings, piled high between the bun. It's priced at $10. Just joking about the floor sweepings. Ha. Given the proximity to the other businesses, the "Meat Monster" should also contain some Shark Meat, as well. The restaurant has been there as long as I remember, but cannot count me as a patron. Some of you kids would prolly love it--especially if the "Meat Monster" were dipped in egg batter and deep fried. Well, wouldn't you? Sorry. Just trying to be funny.

[Suzanne]

Last night: grilled peri-peri chicken, green beans dressed with olive oil and garlic, brown rice, humungous mixed salad.
Tonight: lasagne, salad
Tomorrow: meat-and-veggie loaf, brown rice, ajvar
Thursday: remainder of meat loaf, colcannon
Friday: spicy pork chops, humungous mixed stirfry, pear-topped yogurt cake

[Blackdog Lin]

Sunday was sausage patties w/brown rice and saute'd okra; Monday was a minor household emergency which necessitated eating out; today was beef fajitas with guacamole and all the fixin's; and tomorrow is plain ol' tacos.

Suzanne - tell me about peri-peri chicken. And ajvar.

[Suzanne]

Blackdog Lin: peri-peri is a spice that's heavy on the chili. Ajvar is a mixture of eggplant, bell peppers, paprika, and oil.

Links to recipes:
Ajvar: http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/vegetables/r/ajvar.htm
I confess that I buy this readymade, in large jars, and have been caught eating it out of the jar with a spoon...

Peri-peri sauce:
http://leitesculinaria.com/7745/recipes-portuguese-piri-piri-hot-sauce.html

Milder versions:
http://foodomania.com/piri-piri-spice-mix/
http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/peri-peri-sauce-recipe/

One can also use pure peri-peri pepper, dried or fresh - peri-peri are like bird's eye chilis, so treat with extreme caution!

[Gardenarian]

Ratatouille, and lots of it.
Basically, throw everything in the garden in the slow cooker. Yum.

[Blackdog Lin]

Thanks Suzanne. DH probably wouldn't go for Ajvar (though I would love to try it!), and I'm pretty sure anyway we're not going to find it within a 60-mile radius of our little rural spot in the middle of nowhere.....

But peri-peri sauce - now that's something I might be able to do something with, and DH would try. Thanks for the links.

[Blackdog Lin]

Back to meals.....Saturday was.....whoops, we ate out. Been car shopping. Today was food worthy of a 5-star restaurant: brunch chilaquiles. OMG, if you haven't tried making them you need to. They are nothing fancy or gourmet, but oh my the flavors just end up going together. In a sensuous gastronomic fantastic explosion in your mouth. (well, we really liked them this morning. ymmv.) :)

Tomorrow is grilled steaks (assuming DH gets his a** in gear and lights the mini-grill) and garlic-butter stir-fried Brussels sprouts and corn. A little holiday celebration for us.