View Full Version : October cook at home / what's for dinner?
Tonight I made a curried cauliflower soup (this was very good) and a recipe for began bhartha, an eggplant dish. That latter recipe was disappointing since I consider the restaurant version of this dish to be utterly delectable. Plenty of it left to doctor up for tomorrow night, though - will have to try to figure out what was missing.
Lunch for me was roasted eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms with feta cheese. DH packed a salad and some peanuts for lunch, and DD took the last of the chili I made on Sunday.
Breakfast was a fruit salad with avocado for me, the last of the Plov our friend made for DD (she loved it!), and a sandwich for DH.
treehugger
10-2-12, 9:41pm
Sunday, I made chicken enchiladas with roasted chicken from the freezer, old corn tortillas from the freezer, and enchilada sauce made from some tomato juice left over from a pork ragu plus some V-8 that wasn't getting drunk, and some cheddar cheese (which is not my enchilada cheese of choice, but it was all I had). In spite of all it had to overcome, the enchiladas actually turned out yummy. And we are still eating the leftovers, along with a corn salad and refried beans. All hail leftovers!
Kara
Sunday, I made chicken enchiladas with roasted chicken from the freezer, old corn tortillas from the freezer, and enchilada sauce made from some tomato juice left over from a pork ragu plus some V-8 that wasn't getting drunk, and some cheddar cheese (which is not my enchilada cheese of choice, but it was all I had). In spite of all it had to overcome, the enchiladas actually turned out yummy. And we are still eating the leftovers, along with a corn salad and refried beans. All hail leftovers!
Kara
Made in the truest spirit!
Last night DD and DH had pasta with tomato-pepper-mushroom sauce and fresh mozzarella, and steamed broccoli.
I had sauteed peppers, mushrooms, and zucchini with a little of the cheese, and a salad.
Today DD had a pear-blueberry parfait for breakfast. She loved it. Amazing how excited kids can get about truly healthy foods when you dress them up a bit. I used a parfait glass that i got at a yard sale last month. Chopped up a pear and defrosted some frozen blueberries. Layered these with a sprinkling of unsweetened coconut and sliced almonds between layers.
I had my usual fruit salad with 1/2 avocado, and DH had a sandwich.
DD took dinner leftovers for lunch today, along with some pomegranate seeds and sliced veggies.
Dinner today was a chicken pot pie of sorts. Typical filling but with about double the veggies. The top, instead of a crust, was pureed butternut squash with a little Parmesan in it. I had roasted the squash yesterday, and the chicken I cooked about a month ago and had in the freezer. I made two dishes of this, one for tonight and one for tomorrow night when my parents are arriving for a visit and we will likely have a busy day.
Chicken pho, made from a rotisserie chicken carcass. It's finishing up in the pressure cooker as I type.
I made risotto last night. Given my daughter is not eating dairy and needs to avoid MSG and I had no homemade stock readily available (as if I ever do), I tried just sauteing a lot of onion in olive oil, cooked the dry rice in that until onions were caramelizing and rice was starting to brown, added a fair amount of salt and pepper since I was not using stock and started adding water instead. After 3 or 4 rounds water I cut up the asparagus I had grilled and added that. I thought with no stock or parmesan cheese it would be very bland but it was actually quite good.
Sonora Shepherd
10-5-12, 9:58pm
I am beginning to think that simpler is better. Tonight I made seafood lasagne (from Eating Light). It was complicated and time consuming and not all that good. The simpler food is, the better it tastes.
Chicken stir fry. Needed another quickie dinner so we could go to the monthly outdoor concert / street fair and avoid the food choices there. (This week's trend, actually)
Of course, as soon as we parked it began to rain.
SteveinMN
10-5-12, 10:26pm
I am beginning to think that simpler is better. Tonight I made seafood lasagne (from Eating Light). It was complicated and time consuming and not all that good.
I made an eggplant rollatini earlier this week that met the same fate. Wasn't very popular among people who hadn't eaten eggplant before, either, so that recipe will be consigned to the depths.
By the way, hello, Sonora -- I don't remember seeing you post before. Welcome to SLF!
Tomato soup and broiled open-faced cheese "sandwiches". I probably should have used a bunch of the hastily picked tomatoes but I just dumped some tomato powder, water, onion, basil and salt and pepper together and simmered it for a bit. Bread was from an ooops loaf DH made that sort of stuck in the pan and was deemed unfit to take to work to share, with a bit of melted cheddar on top. Was a nice meal for a chilly night!
try2bfrugal
10-6-12, 11:37am
I am beginning to think that simpler is better. Tonight I made seafood lasagne (from Eating Light). It was complicated and time consuming and not all that good. The simpler food is, the better it tastes.
If you like to cook I can see where it would be a great hobby for people. It is always fun to eat at someone's house who likes to cook.
But I am in the easy, simple food camp. I have a number of books on cooking without recipes or cooking with 3, 4 or 5 ingredient type books. Last night we had organic hot dogs with home made vegetable soup with apple slices.
Tonight with the pot pie, greens from the garden - chard and arugula - creamed with cashew milk.
If you like to cook I can see where it would be a great hobby for people. It is always fun to eat at someone's house who likes to cook.
But I am in the easy, simple food camp. I have a number of books on cooking without recipes or cooking with 3, 4 or 5 ingredient type books. Last night we had organic hot dogs with home made vegetable soup with apple slices.
I really don't enjoy cooking--or anything else I perceive as work--but I do like tasty food, and since I don't have staff it's up to me to make it. I rarely use recipes and don't much bother with complicated procedures or multiple layers of tasks, but I sling herbs and spices with enthusiasm and vary international influences at will. For the most part, I'm happy with what I produce. I haven't made a good mole for awhile, so that's next on the list along with another stab at homemade mayonnaise.
We are having bacon sandwiches and oven fries. We have this just about every Saturday evening.
Went to Trader Joes last night for some staples and bc Whole Foods is right there, bought 2# of the prohibitively-expensive General Tso's Chik'n. It is like $12 per pound and I'm going to make a barley salad tomorrow and some "Amy's" burritos (my version) as well as pizza for this week's (and beyond) food. I had some fresh raspberries going bad and so this morning made an almond/raspberry coffee cake. It's really good and will last a long time.
IshbelRobertson
10-7-12, 4:28am
It's typical autumn day here with 8 for Sunday lunch. Haunch of venison, with all the trimmings, with a red wine gravy and served with home-made Cumberland sauce. Tipsy laird for afters. I love autumn!
Today i had a wonderful vegetable pan my host mother in France used to prepare for me :)
It´s only (organig) zuccini, (self planted) potato and (organic) onion cooked in a pan with a really tiny bit of olive oil and some herbs, salt and pepper. I love this one :)
last night -mushroom lentil soup and salad. tonight, chicken pesto pasta with zucchini and green beans. homemade pesto from our garden basil.
winterberry
10-8-12, 9:36pm
It's typical autumn day here with 8 for Sunday lunch. Haunch of venison, with all the trimmings, with a red wine gravy and served with home-made Cumberland sauce. Tipsy laird for afters. I love autumn!
Wow! What is tipsy laird?
winterberry
10-8-12, 9:49pm
Saturday: A picnic! Hard boiled eggs, carrot and celery sticks, cheddar cheese and crackers, hot chocolate in thermoses and the best home made apple pie.
Yesterday: Noodles with broccoli and peanut sauce.
Today: Chicken with portabello mushrooms and asiago, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts
last night - oven "fried" cod and steamed green beans.
tonight - pork loin chops, wild rice stuffed homegrown pumpkin, and roasted cauliflower.
My parents are still visiting so there is more meat on the menu than usual. My dad likes his food plain and meat & potatoes - based. The wild rice (with orange, cranberries, and pecan) stuffed pumpkin is something my mom and I will enjoy and she would never make it at home.
Tussiemussies
10-10-12, 7:37pm
The pumpkin sounds wonderful! Glad your Mom can get to enjoy it...
I'm wondering how to wrangle an invite to Rosemary's!
Corned beef & cabbage here tonight. Brisket has been on sale lately so I had to break down and make a big corned beef. Been cooking low and slow for about 5 hours so it smells pretty good! Probably have to do Rubens tomorrow just to make sure the arteries are properly clogged.
Wow! What is tipsy laird?
The way my Grandma made it tipsy laird contained pound cake, custard, rasberries and a significant amount of whiskey. What's not to love about that!!! Curious to see if her version is anywhere near authentic.
treehugger
10-10-12, 8:10pm
Oh my goodness, we had too many meals out over the weekend. My parents were visiting, and one thing led to another. I did made adobo-style chicken drumsticks, rice, and sauteed chard for dinner one night. And we had pancakes with homemade lemon curd, bacon, and eggs at home twice (2nd time was leftover pancakes), but other than that, it was 3 days of eating out. We were only allowed to pay for one meal, so it was fine for the budget, but, oh, the calories!
Ahem, back to cooking. I never cook on Monday nights, so that was a leftover/scrounge meal. Yesterday was our CSA pickup day, so I roasted beets, cauliflower and carrots with garlic, and served that with some kielbasa from the freezer. Tonight I have school, so it's leftovers. Tomorrow, I think I will make some burgers to eat with the rye bread that I made last night. We have CSA lettuce to eat, so, need to make a salad. Oh, I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies last night, too, because my poor DH is having such a hard time with work and school right now.
Kara
Double cheeseburger sans bun (lots of melty sharp cheddar and chopped sweet onion), cottage cheese with chives and tomato, and a romaine and mixed greens salad with homemade green goddess dressing. I even made the mayo base. Successful mayonnaise--a first! Kudos to the Vita Mix. Iced passion fruit and green tea.
Shrimp tacos with coleslaw.
Yesterday was homemade chicken soup with coleslaw and grapes.
Our tomorrow's dinner will be almost the same as Jane's. No cheese, though.
winterberry
10-10-12, 9:58pm
The way my Grandma made it tipsy laird contained pound cake, custard, rasberries and a significant amount of whiskey. What's not to love about that!!! Curious to see if her version is anywhere near authentic.
I will have to run out tomorrow to get the ingredients!
The wild-rice stuffed pumpkin was definitely the star of the show for me. I started with a guideline recipe and then made it in a much simpler way. Here's how:
- roast a winter squash whole at 400 until cooked through. This will depend on how large it is. A medium pie pumpkin or butternut squash takes about an hour.
- meanwhile, cook 1 c wild rice in 2c orange juice with 1 tsp dried orange peel added
- halve and seed the squash and set seeds aside t roast later.
- spoon the wild rice into the squash halves, top with frozen or fresh cranberries, and brush with real maple syrup, about 1T per squash half and about 1/2 c cranberries total.
- bake until heated through, about 15 minutes
- sprinkle with chopped pecans and return to oven to toast nuts, just a few minutes.
YUM!!! Definitely going to have to give that a shot Rosemary. Thanks!
JaneV2.0
10-11-12, 10:51am
[QUOTE=lmerullo; ...
Our tomorrow's dinner will be almost the same as Jane's. No cheese, though.[/QUOTE]
Yeah--not exactly paleo here.
Tonight's fare: chicken mole (mole made yesterday) and some kind of cauliflower mash.
Today: once more my amazing veggie-pan and salted potatoes with sausages for the ones who prefer meat to vegetables ;) .
SteveinMN
10-11-12, 11:36am
Today: once more my amazing veggie-pan
Jana, which herbs do you put in that dish?
Gardenarian
10-11-12, 3:03pm
Made lasagna last night and substituted tofu for half the cheese - no one noticed! Healthier - and tofu is much cheaper than ricotta.
I used those no-boil noodles for the first time - fantastic!! Saves time, energy (for boiling) and water. I will be making lasagna a lot more often!
Another way to make lasagna easier, instead of no-boil noodles, which aren't always easy to locate, generally aren't available in whole grain, and can cost more, is to just pour boiling water into a pan and soak the noodles while you prep the filling and sauce. By the time I'm ready to put everything together, the noodles are softened, and will absorb enough extra liquid from the filling and sauce.
I knew the tofu filling was a winner when even my mother-in-law loved it. I make her a couple pans of lasagna for the freezer every time we visit, using tofu, spinach, and mozzarella in the filling, and soaking the noodles.
treehugger
10-11-12, 3:49pm
Re: lasagna with no-boil noodles. I go one step further (lazier) than Rosemary and use regular noodles (no-boil are too pricey for me) and don't even pre-soak them. I simply build my lasagna with raw noodles and make sure my sauce is extra saucy. If I feel that it doesn't look saucy enough after assembling, I add a little extr water around the edges before baking. Noodles always come out perfectly cooked.
Kara
Jane, we're no cheese because I have a dairy allergy.
And, hubby requested beef stew for dinner, so change of plans - stew today, burgers tomorrow.
RE: lasagna noodles - I tend to boil the life out of them, and then they tear when I assemble. I learned the pre-soak technique too. I soak mine in the 13 x 9 pan, so I don't have to move them around too much, as they are flat. I must be buying the cheap-o noodles, with all the troubles I used to have.
I do buy the cheapo noodles and cook lasagne the same way Kara does, just layer raw noodles into the pan. I cook it with foil on until everything is done then just take off the foil for 10 minutes or so to let the cheese on top brown a bit. The noodles are spot on every time and have great flavor from soaking up all the extra water in the sauce. The sauce is nice too, never any thin liquid running around on the plate. I always thought the foil on help steam the noodles to get them cooked, but after reading Kara's post that might just be an extra step that isn't needed.
treehugger
10-11-12, 7:22pm
I do buy the cheapo noodles and cook lasagne the same way Kara does, just layer raw noodles into the pan. I cook it with foil on until everything is done then just take off the foil for 10 minutes or so to let the cheese on top brown a bit. The noodles are spot on every time and have great flavor from soaking up all the extra water in the sauce. The sauce is nice too, never any thin liquid running around on the plate. I always thought the foil on help steam the noodles to get them cooked, but after reading Kara's post that might just be an extra step that isn't needed.
Gregg, keep on covering with foil. I do that too, and like you, take it off for the last 10 minutes or so to brown the top. I only didn't mention it because I didn't associate the foil with using uncooked noodles; I've always baked lasagna covered until the end, even before I started using uncooked noodles. Oh, and I agree that I love the way the noodles soak up flavor from the sauce this way.
My next step for lasagna is to make my own ricotta. I believe it's easy to do, I just haven't done it yet.
Kara
SteveinMN
10-11-12, 7:43pm
I thank you ladies and gentleman for the tips on lasagna.
I gave up many years ago on pre-cooking the noodles -- I always ended up with noodle shards. :( For years I was able to buy prepared already-frozen lasagna noodles; layer 'em on frozen and away I went. But those became hard to find and we've gotten away from pasta in general anyway. But the tofu tip is great (any way I can sneak it in is fine with me) and I might play with using layers of noodles and layers of, say, eggplant or zucchini to cut down on the carbs.
Gardenarian
10-11-12, 7:45pm
Aaagh, all this time I've been boiling the noodles and burning my fingers as they slip around and land on the floor and come apart, and I could have just chucked them in the pan??!
*headdesk*
treehugger
10-11-12, 8:08pm
Aaagh, all this time I've been boiling the noodles and burning my fingers as they slip around and land on the floor and come apart, and I could have just chucked them in the pan??!
*headdesk*
Yes, but don't get mad. Just enjoy the thought of all the time and aggravation you will save from here on out!
Kara
Personally I have tried not cooking the regular lasagna noodles but don't like the end result quite as much. Not bad, but just somehow not quite as good, at least to me. I get around the burned finger issue by pouring out a little of the hot water and putting cold water into the pan as soon as the boil is done, thus cooling down the water/noodles to a touchable temperature.
Speaking of pasta, tonight is spaghetti night in our house. Last week and this week we got a huge bag of regular tomatoes from our CSA plus some basil. Perfect for making a big pot of sauce! And to go with it I'll make a nice caprese salad since we also got a big batch of little heirloom tomatoes. Yum!
Mushroom-barley soup; a salad with spring mix, spinach, roasted beets, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, green onions, and celery; and fruit salad with apple, pear, black grapes, plum, and (thawed,frozen) cherries. Yum, my favorite kind of meal - all very fresh, colorful, and flavorful.
ApatheticNoMore
10-13-12, 12:12am
Well I've been making simple tomato soup all week, other days I ate it with a potato with some dairy. Today I made the a deluxe version tomato soup: one applegate organics chicken sausage (yea did buy those), small amount of rice, small amount of lentils, onions, garlic, olive oil, tomatoes, a few sprigs basil, small amount of chard, some old homemade veggie broth (I freeze veggie broth and thaw it) plus some water, little bit of saffron dissolved in hot water.
I've never made a homemade tomato soup! I should try!
Pho tonight. Finally got our recipe down a couple weeks ago and its supposed to be a rainy (!!!) night so perfect for spicy soup.
JaneV2.0
10-13-12, 10:10am
Eggplant something. strata or stuffed or casserole with ground beef, peppers, and tomatoes. A nightshade festival.
SteveinMN
10-13-12, 1:02pm
Leftovers last night. Choice of an Asian Stuffed Chicken (whole fryer stuffed inside and under skin with a mixture of pork sausage, onion, soy sauce, and ginger); Seinfeld Soup N4zi's Chicken Chili (more a soup than a chili because it was cooked in the pressure cooker, not in a pot for 5 hours); a beef stew made with carrots and parsnips, or a cassoulet my mom brought over when she visited the other night.
Much as I enjoy cooking, I do love leftover nights. :)
Blackdog Lin
10-13-12, 7:55pm
Wow, Steve.....your leftovers put mine to shame. Kudos. I too would adore leftover nights if my fridge contained the gourmet offerings yours does. :)
I'm with Gregg tonight - it's stormy and rainy (not cold, but still, it IS October), so a good homemade soup will be perfect. The broth from the 10 lbs. of chicken parts we cooked and cleaned yesterday, some celery carrots and onions, and a small batch of homemade noodles. Vou-la! Homemade chicken noodle soup. Will have here in a little bit with crackers and there's homemade pumpkin bread if anyone has any room left to fill.
Florence
10-13-12, 10:04pm
If it is Saturday evening, it must be bacon sandwiches and oven fries. :)
We did pretty well this weekend -- went out for lunch at our favorite barbeque place yesterday (their chopped beef brisket sandwich is my favorite!) but then I cooked dinner last night and both lunch and dinner tonight. Last night was my baked chicken legs for DD (I make enough to last her most of the week, so that we don't have to deal with her fussing about not liking what else is available) plus baked salmon with pesto sauce for me/DH/DS. Sides were roasted sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus. Also broke open a bottle of red wine for me and DH. Not exactly the cheapest meal, but it was really great and cost 1/4 of what it would cost to get something comparable at a restaurant. I get the salmon fillets at Ikea, which keeps the cost managable (about $6 for three 100g filets).
Today we had tacos for lunch and homemade pizza for dinner. Both were very much enjoyed by everyone.
We wouldn't typically eat out for every meal, but I figured that based on the comparable cost of those three meals at local restaurants, we probably saved $100 at least by eating at home. So that goes to offset the cost of the new satellite service we got installed today. We used to have very limited access to a couple of international channels (Discover, CNN), but that stopped working a few weeks ago. Now we'll have Food Network Asia -- whoo hoo! And several other useful channels (many incarnations of discovery, National Geo, etc.). Happy to cook more at home for the next few months to make up for that splurge.
We also had assorted leftovers last night, and I made some baked apples (stuffed with ground pecans, raisins, cinnamon, and a touch of maple syrup). I also steamed some fresh wax beans from the farmers market, along with some carrots.
Today, continuing with the meat and potatoes theme for my dad, I'm making meat (roast pork) and potatoes, and the rest of the wax beans & carrots.
JaneV2.0
10-14-12, 10:28am
Corned beef and cabbage with carrots and onions are on today's menu.
Simpler at Fifty
10-14-12, 1:32pm
DH is making beef barley vegetable soup. It will smell good all afternoon while it simmers.
treehugger
10-14-12, 6:00pm
Chili is simmering on the stove right now, in it are the last of the garden's cherry tomatoes and some (crumbled) hamburgers my inlaws gave us a couple of months ago and have been languishing in the freezer ever since. .
Kara
1/2 Morningstar Farms riblet, spinach with garlic, olive oil and lemon and sweet potato fries. Going to put the remainder of the spinach on the pizza when I make it tomorrow (or Tuesday.) If I don't do it tomorrow (who am I kidding, anyway?) I'll have the same tomorrow with the remainder of that riblet.
Also made a cherry/blueberry cobbler with frozen fruit and too much sugar. But it's ok, even if it is a little sweet.
try2bfrugal
10-14-12, 7:40pm
Today barbeque chicken breasts roasted in the roaster oven, organic potatoes and onions roasted with drizzled olive oil, with peas and carrots for the veg. The chicken was on sale for $1.99 a pound at Fresh and Easy and most of the veggies were weekly specials on organic produce from Sprouts so it will be a fairly frugal meal at about 75 cents per person.
Best of all we made it in the morning so we would have the rest of the day free for projects and fun stuff.
Guess I am a little late, but this is good accountability for me!
Made sloppy joes with scalloped corn and oatmeal scotchies for dessert.
I made a dessert today, a yeasted sweet potato braid filled with sour cherry-strawberry jam that I made last summer.
Dinner tomorrow is lentil soup with latkes and applesauce and salad. The latkes won't be homemade, disclaimer. I bought a small box of them at TJ's. Ingredient list looks same as homemade and they will save my dad from grating his knuckles. They are a favorite food of his that he rarely eats.
ApatheticNoMore
10-14-12, 11:10pm
Salmon with cajun spice, salt, olive oil. Kale with garlic, olive oil, raisins. Yesterday was plain salted salmon with baked potato with butter. Yes it's possible tommorow might be salmon too as I still have some uncooked, but then I'm moving on, time for something else.
Ground beef on sale, two pounds, crumbled, cooked and frozen in small bags, for chili and spaghetti sauce. Another 1.5 pounds, vegetables, soup, with a pho sachet for seasoning. I had a bowl tonight and I will spoon off the fat and finish the rest with canned tomatoes and jalapenos, and it will be lunch for the rest of the week.
Yesterday I roasted one of our garden pumpkins and made pumpkin custard, and used the rest of the pumpkin & the strained pumpkin juice in the lentil soup, which was fabulous. I also cooked some kale with raisins and sunflower seeds.
Tonight I'm making a pizza at my dad's request. No one else will be disappointed. I'll have a salad as I avoid wheat, which seems to trigger my allergies. Dough is rising in the garage so it goes slowly (cooler out there). We'll have the rest of the kale with it.
Tonight is pork roast, spaetzle and baked squash. I've been, and continue to be on, a soup kick, so if their are leftovers I may make some pozole.
Garlic-turkey meat balls and romaine/mixed greens salad with tomatoes and avocado.
Biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs last night. Tonight is pasta fagioli with homemade Italian bread.
SteveinMN
10-16-12, 9:51pm
Leftovers tonight.
Tomorrow will be Savoy cabbage with sausage. Mmm ....
Rosemary
10-16-12, 11:22pm
SteveinMN, please share how you cook the savoy cabbage with sausage. I have a savoy cabbage in the fridge right now that I was planning to cook later this week!
My pizza was spectacularly perfect, probably the best one I've ever made. I used 1/2 c rye flour to add flavor to the dough and let it rise all day in the garage (cooler). Rolled it out fairly thinly, topped with sauce, herbs, fresh mozzarella, and parmesan, and baked at 550 for about 10 minutes.
Tomorrow night everyone else will have some pork ribs in bbq sauce and cole slaw. I'll have salad again. Can't eat rich food like that with my reflux issue.
Blackdog Lin
10-17-12, 8:05am
I so enjoy reading everyone's menus. It gives me new ideas we could try, along with reminding me of old favorites.
Yesterday: baked tilapia sandwiches w/lettuce, pickles and onions, along with my first try at sweet potato fries. The fries were good, and DH ate them, but he said it wasn't a keeper, not something he'd like to have again. I'll have to try something else to try to incorporate some healthy sweet potatoes into his diet.
Today: grilled weinies (already in the freezer) on buns with some gifted homemade relish, and pasta salad as a way to use the Juliet tomatoes that have come back on on the patio plants.
Tomorrow: Easy Red Beans and Rice (with smoked sausage in it), as a way to use the green and red peppers that have also come back on, in the garden.
This week was a good cook and eat at home run, pun intended.
Grilled pork chops with peas and carrots.
Meatloaf with mashed cauliflower and tossed spring mix salad.
Spaghetti with organic no salt added sauce... (how do you replace the flavor when on a low salt diet?)
Beef stew in the crockpot
Going to make tacos for tonight, but need to stop and buy tomatoes first - I thought the three I bought on Sunday were enough but it's only Weds. and they are gone.
Tomorrow will be shredded BBQ pork (crockpot) in the soft taco wraps from yesterday, with tossed salad.
At some point we also had our old standby of chicken stir fry, but can't remember when.
SteveinMN
10-17-12, 11:26am
Rosemary, the recipe originally is from about.com. Serves 4.
Savoy Cabbage with Sausage (Verze e Luganega)
large head Savoy cabbage
1/2 cup olive oil
a little chicken/vegetable broth/bouillon (maybe 1/2-2/3 cup)
1 pound bulk Italian (sweet) sausage, crumbled (or Luganega sausage if you can find it)
2 cups dry white wine (could use more chicken/vegetable broth if you don't cook with alcohol)
Salt and pepper to taste
Quarter the cabbage, removing the core. Coarsely shred the leaves. Heat the oil in a large-ish pot. When the oil is hot, add the cabbage, sprinkle the broth over it, cover it, and simmer it for an hour. Then add the crumbled sausage and the wine (or broth), season to taste with salt and pepper, and continue simmering for another three hours. Add a little more liquid if you think you need to.
The original recipe suggested serving this over polenta. For the sake of time, I'm using the pre-made polenta that comes in a tube. But fresh probably would be better.
ApatheticNoMore
10-18-12, 1:21am
Variant of baba ghanouj with greek yogurt and jalepanos. I've made it before many times and it's usually come out well, but this time it was HOT HOT HOT (remember to rinse jalepenos after roasting), almost inedible, I'll try adding more yogurt and olive oil I guess to salvage it, I don't even have more eggplant. Ate with rice and olive oil. The theme is meditarranianish, tommorow hope to add lamb patties (the joy of cooking version, it's good, it's been a long time since I've had lamb but some is thawing now). Yesterday my dinner was 3 cookies :~) and they weren't even cook at home they were the TJ cookie dough.
decemberlov
10-18-12, 10:28am
Last night was one of our favorites and super easy, penne with chicken & asparagus.
I cook the chicken in a little bit of olive oil, add some adobo seasoning. Remove from pan add chicken broth and steam the asparagus.
When thats done I mix it all up in the pasta add a little more chicken broth if it's a little dry and fresh parmesan cheese. Yum :)
Last night was leftovers--biscuits and gravy for DH and sloppy joes for me. Tonight will be Salisbury steaks, roasted potatoes, and broccoli.
Somehow, last night was meatloaf - finally, and tonight is the tacos round 2. The BBQ pork got stuffed into the fridge and will feed us another night.
We've finally begun to feel some mild temperatures, in our very warm region. It's a far stretch from the Autumn that I recall, at our prior duty station. However, there's a breeze .. and we're not sweating profusely.
With that, I've really enjoyed making chili with macaroni this week, as well as a pot of chicken and dumplings.
I also had a crisper day with the windows open, a nice cool(er) for our area breeze. And enjoyed that while baking apple spice and banana nut bread.
We also used the smoker and made hamburgers, which we didn't realize you could smoke, along with corn on the cob. And portabello mushrooms with olive oil drizzled, garlic powder, and Swiss cheese. That was really good! We use hickory wood chips.
Thanks for the recipe, SteveinMN. I'm going to cook the savoy cabbage tonight. We took my dad out to an Italian deli that he really likes for lunch so I am in serious need of some veggies for dinner!
That cabbage sounds yummy, SteveinMN! :-)
Well, my plans to cook fell through BUT rather than ordering out, we had cold sandwiches along with chips and fruit and milk to drink. So at least we were able to still eat at home. I'll try again tonight for the Salisbusry steak, the roasted potatoes, and the broccoli. :-) Then for this weekend, I am considering making sticky chicken from a whole chicken in the freezer. We could eat off it for a few days, and I could make wild chicken and rice casserole next week.
I love savoy cabbage! Yum, so tender and leafy and green. Too bad it's so difficult to locate. I will have to get another one from the farmers market before it gets really cold.
Tonight's dinner is going to be leftover cabbage and a simple pizza again - to use up the ingredients that I have.
SteveinMN
10-19-12, 11:52am
Thanks! I'm glad to hear people are looking for cabbage recipes!
I will say, after serving this one for dinner, that I'm going to keep looking. It was tasty enough. I may try it again. But I had problems with the cabbage burning onto the pot despite a setting somewhere south of "2" on the burner and the half-cup of oil; I would brown the sausage first to get rid of some of its grease (and buy a better sausage next time. I bought J0hns0nville because I didn't want to make another stop for groceries); and everything darkened to the color of caramelized onions, which is not unattractive, but not what I expect from cabbage dishes. I want to see some green! :laff:
So ... if you made it and weren't crazy about it, 1) my apologies; and 2) I won't be at all offended if you say so. If you didn't make it, you certainly can go ahead and try it -- or consider yourself warned. If you made it and liked it, please tell me how you adapted the recipe. I'm game to try, but not as the recipe is written.
We have a very similar recipe that we do in a crock pot Steve. The main difference is browning the sausage first (as you said) to reduce grease. We don't use any oil, only stock and white wine. Canned broth would be fine and wine is optional. We toss in an onion sliced fairly thinly and salt and pepper. If you want to take it in an Irish direction you can add potatoes and caraway seed to the mix. If you add the potatoes toss in a little extra salt. If you want to go full blown Irish cook a corned beef in the crock pot for a few hours before you add everything else (eliminate the sausage if you do this), but I think it works great as a veggie dish.
I've actually eliminated oil from just about all of my cooking, aside from brushing it onto dishes or pans lightly. Even stir-fries, I now make without oil. If things are wanting to stick, I add a little water and let it cook away.
What I made with the savoy cabbage was in a similar vein; my dad wanted it cooked with bacon. I added 2 cooked, minced pieces of bacon to a huge pot of cabbage, put about 1/4c water in the bottom of the pot to help it steam, and when it was just about done left the lid off to cook off the remaining water. I had a couple pieces of leftover sausage that I buried in the cabbage for additional flavor; they had been pretty much degreased in their first cooking. FYI, when I cook sausage, I always poach it first to get rid of excess salt and fat.
Blackdog Lin
10-19-12, 8:25pm
Tonight, and terribly unhealthy, but it is Friday night and it's gonna be oh so good: baked potato skins. The bacon is cooked and the 'tators are in the oven. Crispy skins with cheese and bacon and green onions. Haven't ever done it before, but I don't see how I can mess it up. Gonna use the scooped-out 'tator innards tomorrow morning for breakfast burritos, to be non-wasteful and thrifty.
SteveinMN
10-19-12, 10:40pm
Thanks, Gregg and Rosemary! I always prefer to first cook a recipe as written (unless there's something obviously off) and this one just was not worth repeating, IMHO. My wife and I like cabbage, though, and it's cheap and healthful (when it's not bathing in grease), so I'm sure we'll try both recipes over time. Maybe Gregg's first because it's so much more different than what I cooked (onion and all). I thought about a slow cooker, too, and would rather have had that going rather than three hours on the stove. But when I sliced up the cabbage, it filled our slow-cooker before I added any of the other ingredients. I know the cabbage would cook down, but, well, anyway, now I have a couple more good recipes to try!
We have a very similar recipe that we do in a crock pot Steve. The main difference is browning the sausage first (as you said) to reduce grease. We don't use any oil, only stock and white wine. Canned broth would be fine and wine is optional. We toss in an onion sliced fairly thinly and salt and pepper. If you want to take it in an Irish direction you can add potatoes and caraway seed to the mix. If you add the potatoes toss in a little extra salt. If you want to go full blown Irish cook a corned beef in the crock pot for a few hours before you add everything else (eliminate the sausage if you do this), but I think it works great as a veggie dish.
I didn't think the Irish really did corned beef? Sorry, just thinking out loud. It sounds lovely.
I didn't think the Irish really did corned beef? Sorry, just thinking out loud. It sounds lovely.
Lol...they might not! We always have it on St. Patrick's Day, but for us that's just an excuse because we like it. We're Norwegian. :)
DD and I had our usual fruit salad (hers with sliced almonds and coconut, mine with avocado) for breakfast. I made her favorite chicken spaetzle stew for her to take for lunch this week, and I just had some steamed arugula with roasted zucchini and feta cheese. Delicious, and all that's in it is those 3 ingredients.
Last night, roast pork and steamed brussels sprouts.
Tonight, Chinese broccoli (kai lan) stir-fry.
Gardenarian
10-22-12, 3:37pm
DH made this fritatta last night for dinner. It was excellent - dd and her friend came back for thirds! He used leeks instead of onion, and a combination of cheddar and feta instead of the goat cheese. It worked very well in a 12" cast iron skillet:
Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
kosher salt and black pepper
5 ounces baby spinach (about 6 cups)
10 large eggs, beaten
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)
Directions
1.Heat oven to 400° F. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes.
2.Add the spinach and cook, tossing, until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the eggs and sprinkle with the goat cheese. Cook until the mixture begins to set around the edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the skillet to oven and bake until set, 10 to 12 minutes.
Nice frittata recipe, Garden. We brought a dozen eggs from the homestead. A few are Easter Eggers, and I was going to make something special with them this week. This fits the bill!
Husband is off work today, so he's already added wood chips to the smoker. So, I only have some sides to make to go with it!
Last night was chicken curry soup with shirataki noodles. Tonight will be pastrami, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut with a Reuben-style dressing and a mixed greens salad with guacamole dressing. I guess you could call it fusion.
ApatheticNoMore
10-22-12, 8:18pm
Hallibut that has marinated in a mix of lime juice, cilantro, a jalepeno, salt and peper (not frugal but I had the other ingredients already and so bought the fish, can't live on salmon alone). Probably eat with tomato and cucumber salad I made. Have a few chunks of mango as well. If I'm still hungry I'll eat some coconut rice I made (from Joy of Cooking, rice cooked in coconut milk and water, with fresh ginger). I'm coming off a 24 hour fast, if I make it. And despite saying I would cut down on cooking time, I became overly ambitious with all these dishes yesterday (rice freezes and I had to use up some coconut milk).
SteveinMN
10-22-12, 10:28pm
Desperation dinner here. It was supposed to be a Cincinnati Chili, but step 2 of the recipe was "Simmer for three hours". Oops....
So I added a little mustard, mayo, salt, and pepper to a pound of ground pork, made patties out of it, broiled, and served them in (thawed) pita pockets with lettuce and tomato. They disappeared pretty quickly, so I guess I did alright. :)
A friend's dad passed away yesterday (long battle) so I made a big pot of corn chowder to take some to them and for our dinner. Soup just seems like the most comforting kind of food to me. We're right at the end of the sweet corn season, but what is left is VERY sweet. In addition to the corn this batch had all the usual mirapois, potatoes, some red pepper, veggie stock, cream, lots of thyme, rosemary, tumric for color, cayenne just because, S&P and a little chopped parsley and crumbled bacon for garnish. Its the second batch of corn chowder I've made in about 10 days, but no one seems to be getting tired of it.
Good save, SteveinMN! :-)
Gregg--how thoughtful of you to offer a meal to your friends in their time of grief. The consideration of others (as well as not having to think about preparing a meal) truly is a comfort. May you be richly blessed for your kindness! (Side note: that chowder sounds delicious!).
I made an egg and sausage casserole to be heated up for breakfasts this week. Still trying to decide about dinner tonight. I think it will be the free ham we got along with some roasted cauliflower and some corn.
Tonight, I'm making blackeyed peas and rice with the ham bone that husband saved from last night's smoker/grill.
And cornbread. I do purchase a mix by Chi Chi's that you add cream corn to. Then, you can scoop it - love that.
Tomorrow night, I have turkey meatballs splitting between Italian Wedding Soup with spinach and if I can make some bread tomorrow, that would be a bonus. And other half for ziti with meatballs and pasta sauce. Husband won't eat soup alone.. otherwise, I'd just make that, bread, and a salad. :)
treehugger
10-23-12, 12:28pm
Pizza tonight. I made the dough last night after dinner (which was leftovers: braised chicken and mushrooms for DH; salad, beans and cornbread for me). We are getting spinach in our CSA box today, and that will go beautifully with the goat cheese and Italian cured meats (sliced so thinly that a mere 6 oz. covers 3 pizzas - hooray for more leftovers) that I bought at Trader Joe's on Saturday. I have some pizza sauce in the freezer, too. So I am all set for Tuesday night pizza.
Kara
ApatheticNoMore
10-23-12, 1:43pm
I have too much food! Too much food, too much food, too much food! I dont' mean I ate too much, I just mean the refrigerator ate too much :) In addition to all that other stuff I have I made a 1/2 faux potato soup (people talked here about faux potato soup with califlower, I made soup with 1 potato, equal amounts of cauliflower, 1/2 onion, 1 carrot, still seems rather carby though, blended potatos probably digest in 1 second, maybe will add some heavy cream, maybe next time all cauliflower). Ok some of the rice and some of the soup will probably go into freezing, other than that I have so much food from this week and last I still don't know what's for dinner. No more cooking this week except making salsa which freezes easy and *maybe* warming up some meat. No more than that, I have to stop cooking! The refrigerator is bursting out of it's seams.
All I know is I won't have to resort to having this for dinner: :spam:
SteveinMN
10-23-12, 6:35pm
Gregg, that chowder sounds great! My experience is that people can eat something pretty frequently if it's really good.
The Cincinnati Chili was served tonight, four-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese, onions. It was a hit, which makes me feel better about how long it took to cook and the cost of two pounds of ground beef -- when you buy the kind where they can tell you the individual cow's name, the price is -- umm, memorable). There will be plenty for more meals and some lunches, too.
Tomorrow -- green beans decorated with some ham. Some grain of some kind. Squash maybe.
Blackdog Lin
10-23-12, 8:06pm
Steve - Cincinnati Chili: is that basically chili served atop spaghetti? Or a special recipe? Need to try it!
Tonight: meatball stroganoff over noodles w/green beans on the side. Trying a new (Syrian) green bean recipe off AllRecipes, using our homegrown frozen beans from the summer garden. It's looking good so far. Using pre-homemade meatballs out of the freezer. Note to self: have a plan to make more meatballs to have ready in the freezer. They work in so many recipes, the work is already done, and they thaw so much quicker than say a pound of hamburger.
Tomorrow: salmon patties, creamed corn (looking forward to trying this, as I haven't ever. Gonna use up one of the precious few bags of homegrown frozen corn), and fresh pineapple chunks which didn't get finished yesterday.
I have a confession. Bought a bundle of fresh asparagus at the store last Friday ($2.99/lb.!!! - A rare delicacy around here). Had a plan for it, plan got sidetracked to next day, then next one, then new plan, then okay tonight will have with our stroganoff. And got it out and it was slimy unusable bad. I am (1) sick about it; and (2) resolved to never let this happen again. For pete's sake, I'm retired now and have time to plan and cook meals! How in the world can I justify letting fresh produce go to waste?!!!
Maybe I need these little life lessons once in awhile to help remind me of my wanting to work daily on my frugal simple life. Ya' think? (I'm just justifying here.....)
SteveinMN--I always forget about eating chili that way, and DH loves it! Thanks for the reminder. Oh, and we buy our meat from a local grass-fed farmer. He believes in true animal husbandry and takes wonderful care of his animals. It is a family business with god values, and the meat is very good also. But oh my--the price! It is very expensive. We place a huge order for our freezer twice a year, and I try not to think about how much it costs while I am eating it. LOL
I didn't get the ham in in time yesterday, so I made pasta instead. It was very good. Everyone (including DD) had seconds. I was planning to make a crock pot meal today but forgot that DH has my crockpot for "dip day" at work. So...I will have to simmer on the stove instead or get that ham in!
SteveinMN
10-24-12, 10:07am
Steve - Cincinnati Chili: is that basically chili served atop spaghetti? Or a special recipe?
It's actually a different recipe. Rather than just being "hot" like a Texas or Southwest chili and having a flour or masa/cornmeal base, Cincinnati Chili is flavored primarily with tomato, chili powder, cinnamon, allspice, and a bit of unsweetened chocolate. I got the recipe from an Internet cooking group in which I take part; I can provide it here if people want (or PM me). The recipe is a bit putzy (requires sitting overnight at one point), but, the way it's made, it actually works out almost fat-free.
we buy our meat from a local grass-fed farmer. He believes in true animal husbandry and takes wonderful care of his animals. It is a family business with god values, and the meat is very good also. But oh my--the price! It is very expensive. We place a huge order for our freezer twice a year, and I try not to think about how much it costs while I am eating it.
That's the meat we buy, as well, though our vendor is a cooperative of farms. It is expensive, but I look at it as the price of proper food (and, fortunately, I still can afford to buy it; we just buy less of it). While I was at Target yesterday I saw that Target charges the same amount as the coop for the same brand of ground beef -- and that I could buy twice as much ground beef for about two-thirds the price if I was willing to subsidize factory farmers, undocumented workers, and the use of "pink slime". Again, I am grateful I have the choice.
Last night - salmon cakes and steamed green beans. Quick dinner after late dental appointments.
Tonight - clean-out-the-fridge leftover night, a.k.a. I need a night off from cooking night.
Blackdog Lin
10-24-12, 7:13pm
Cold front moving into the Midwest (at least my area) tomorrow. 70's today, 50's later tomorrow. And frost warnings for Friday night - bwaaa, we still have garden stuff growing. :(
Who else is thinking chili - or some other warming comforting soup to herald colder weather? For me, I'm gonna check the pantry in the morning for chili fixin's. Haven't had any since last spring.
ETA: Steve: thanks for the Cincinnati Chili explanation. Don't think it's something I'll try - never could get my brain/taste buds around ingredients like cinnamon and chocolate in anything but deserts. Provincial, I know - I'm probably missing out on some awesome taste sensations.....
Tonight: Broccacheese potatoes: Baked (homegrown) potato with steamed broccoli, homemade cheddar cheese sauce, small amount to bacon bits on top. Leftover cabbage ramen salad, leftover corn muffins, homemade low fat brownies for dessert.
Last night: leftover smorgas (sp?) board of the last couple of days: Choice of homemade, home grown cream of tomato soup or Polenta/tamale pie concoction, leftover cabbage ramen salad, fresh baked homemade corn muffins, leftover roasted baby veggies (carrots, potatoes, onions, beets, garlic) from the garden.
Tomorrow night: Egg drop soup with all the veggies in it. We'll eat this 2 nights with maybe a fresh picked spinach salad the 2nd night.
Saturday night (guests coming over): Turkey and veggie casserole with biscuits on top, leftover brownies with vanilla ice cream on top for dessert.
Blackdog Lin--I am in the Midwest, too. Yesterday was 80--today is 50! Soup might be just the ticket!
We've been eating either egg casserole for breakfast or vanilla yogurt with granola. Lunches and dinners have been mostly leftovers, but I do really need to cook that ham, so I think I will bite the bullet and do that today. I have a head of cauliflower to use up, too, so I'll roast it and hope DD will eat it! :-)
Black bean enchiladas for this cold, rainy day. I have a bit of chicken that I'll use up in them too. With zucchini, arugula, and mushrooms.
Yesterday afternoon I made a brown sugar glaze for the ham and baked it. Oh, my! So good! So we'll be eating ham the next several days. I'm thinking about making scalloped potatoes and ham as well as bean soup down the line! Not bad for a free ham that was given to us!
Breakfast was roasted sweet potatoes, with some almonds and coconut for DD and 1/2 avocado for me. Yum. Can't understand why there are so many recipes for sweetened sweet potatoes when they are incredibly sweet on their own.
DD took the remaining enchiladas in her food thermos for lunch.
Dinner will be a broccoli and tofu stir-fry with black bean sauce.
JaneV2.0
10-26-12, 10:25am
Beef Stroganoff, Chinese-style sweet and sour spareribs (this might be a disaster in the making), and gluten-free pizza are in the pipeline.
ETA: the Stroganoff seems to be morphing into tomato beef curry (shirataki) noodles, leaving me with fresh mushrooms. Maybe I'll make hamburger Stroganoff too, and freeze for later.
We had Cuban roast pork, rice & black beans and kale cooked with bitter orange juice last night. I love Cuban flavors. Tonight is also pork at a football tailgate. This time its a smoked pork butt that I injected with apple juice and dry rubbed on Thursday. I smoked it yesterday for a couple hours to get just a little flavor, but then put it in the oven to braise with more apple juice, hard cider, apple cider vinegar, onions and S&P. It's now all pulled and ready to serve on sliders with apple/habenero/bourbon bbq sauce and a really crunchy, vinegar based slaw.
Rosemary
10-27-12, 11:30am
We're hosting a small church social gathering tonight. I'm making spanakopita (blend of spinach and kale) with a sliced potato crust instead of a wheat-based crust and pumpkin soup. The others are bringing sides and dessert.
Maxamillion
10-27-12, 4:07pm
I made some beef stew (actually turned out more like soup) yesterday. I didn't have any potatoes though but I did add some snap beans and some carrots and onion, fresh garlic, a little gravy mix and lots of spices (bay leaf, paprika, onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper).
Today I'm going to make some chili and bread.
Right now in my crockpot I am making a ham and bean soup with a hambone my dad gave me last weekend. I don't have any white beans so am using a mix of red and dragon's tongue. I didn't follow a recipe, so hopefully it turns out. I put in onions, garlic powder, celery, carrots, and chicken stock,too.
My 9 year old DD wants to have a tea party, so I think I will make some apple bread from the 80 lbs of apples I picked a few weeks ago. Also, this weekend I am canning my second batch of apple butter from said apples. I have about 10 lbs to go. Hmmm so maybe I'll make a double batch of apple bread, and perhaps an apple crisp for dinner.
I'm in quite a bit of pain today. So, husband insisted on skipping out on dinner plans to cook and picked up from the grocer's deli, rolls. Much cheaper than going out to eat or fast food. Hopefully, tomorrow is a better day and I can do my baking (beer bread, apple spice cake) tomorrow (and roast chicken which is what I had planned today). Kids are doing dishes and will have to be a help tomorrow, as dad is working.
Anne - yay for all of those pounds of apples! That is fantastic!
I made bubble and squeak this week for the first time. It was ok. Also made chili mac and this apple crisp stuff. Ate all 3 all week. They were all ok.
This weekend (provided the electricity doesn't go out) I plan on making dog food, pizza, pumpkin pecan bread and French onion soup. I'm hoping the storm is bad enough that school is cancelled on Monday but not bad enough to lose power or a tree. (Keeping my fingers xed for the tree--but that should be ok.)
I kind of winged making chicken vindaloo (there are so many recipes out there, I expect mine was close to one of them) over rice tonight. It actually came out pretty well.
A few days back I made a samosa filling and used it like a burrito filling (flour tortillas) and that turned out pretty good as well.
Had a "cook everything at home" weekend.
Made mini-fritattas in a large muffin tin pan for breakfast yesterday, which turned out really well. 11 eggs, some cream, some milk, some ham, some pepper jack, green onions and red and yellow peppers. DH, DS and I had four between the three of us, and I had another one this morning. Last one will be my breakfast tomorrow.
Lunch was chicken, sweet potatoes and roasted asparagus.
Dinner was a pizza party with friends. Did cheat on dessert and pull out a pre-made blueberry cheesecake thing I had in the freezer, but the rest of dinner was homemade. Friends brought lots of wine -- we finished off three bottles between the six of us, but that was over about 5 hours so not too bad.
Lunch was pasta and leftover salad from last night.
Dinner is curry, dal and greens with the leftover smoked tofu that didn't go on pizzas last night.
Even with the extra we spent on dinner supplies for last night we probably saved $20 or so by not eating out this weekend. And I managed to squeak in just a LITTLE over my $200/month eating out budget -- was a little higher than normal because I have had lunch out with several grantees the past few weeks (technically part of work, but we don't have a budget to cover it so I usually pay out of pocket).
lhamo
I'm doing my regular carcass in the pressure cooker thing to eventually end up with turkey soup (onions, garlic, celery, carrots, ground turkey). At the same time, I'm working on tomato beef curry, and making a couple of kinds of salad dressing. I bought a rack of ribs a few days ago, and now I feel like Wilma Flintstone. My plan is to cut them into small riblets and make sweet and sour spareribs. I have a recipe. Usually not a good start...
ApatheticNoMore
10-28-12, 7:39pm
Last week ended up eating my potato/califlower soup most of the week for dinner (I added cream and topped generously with cheese). Lamb patties on friday. Saturday my mommy cooked for me :~). Although I finally got around to it and made the salsa yesterday. Today I don't know, I might not be that hungry. I'm trying to get in a habit of not shopping on weekdays, which means I start the week off with a couple of days of fish (because it's super perishable), then lately I've been eating soup most days, and usually have some frozen meat/chicken if I wish.
I made bubble and squeak this week for the first time.
I make that all the time. The first time was just because I knew the kids would get a kick out of the name. Turns out they really liked it, too.
Blackdog Lin
10-28-12, 8:56pm
We were forced to pick the garden in anticipation of heavy frost for 3 nights (covered most of the broccoli and lettuce - fingers crossed); so the kitchen has been awash in green tomatoes, bell peppers and a few hot peppers.
Sunday breakfast this morning was what I'm gonna call "Western Breakfast Skillet": a cast-iron skillet of fried 'tators w/lots of onions and green peppers, then I cracked 6 eggs to cook over it, and sprinkled cheese over all. I was just playing around with it, but it is now a DH-approved recipe - he says I must make it again.
Simmering on the stove right now is a monster pot of chow chow (green tomato relish) which after cooking down we'll put in the fridge ready to reheat and get in the canner Tuesday. We're too wore out with all the chopping and dicing to get it finished tonight.
It's all I can do to finally fix the Creamy Pasta-n-Sausage that I've planned to have all week. But it's easy - the sauce is just tomatoes and half-n-half and seasonings. It's scarily good considering how few ingredients it needs.
And working on a menu plan incorporating fried green tomatoes this week - we didn't get them all used! What else can one do with green tomatoes?
I love fried green tomatoes on my BLT, in addition to the red ones.
Blackdog Lin--isn't it a little sad when the garden is done for the year? If you have a lot of green tomatoes, you can make relish, salsa, or chutney. I think you can pickle them, too. But just friend green tomatoes are yummy! :-)
We have a lot of prepared food and have been eating a lot of leftovers. I am trying to use up what we have--egg casserole, ham, a large container of yogurt, etc. I think this afternoon I will prepare a sticky chicken (has to marinate overnight) and chop up what is left of the ham for scalloped potatoes and ham. Then I will freeze the bone for later use. I want to make ham and bean soup.
treehugger
10-30-12, 10:28pm
Tonight's dinner (it's still simmering) is Japanese-style braised chicken, sweet potatoes and bok choy. The vegetables are from the CSA box. The chicken is organic chicken legs from Trader Joe's (the legs are the best deal there - $1.99 per pound). I will serve with rice (cooking right now in the rice cooker) to soak up the broth (chicken broth, soy sauce, mirin).
Stomach is growling,
Kara
Blackdog Lin
10-31-12, 8:02am
Well Kara, you've now made my tummy growl too.
:)
Blackdog Lin
10-31-12, 8:21pm
Last post for the month! New recipe today: green beans-n-tomatoes. Turned out really good - basically steamed green beans tossed with a butter/garlic/basil/warmed Juliet-tomato-halves sauce. It's a keeper for us. Had it with SOS (beef gravy on toast), as I'm working on using up a loaf of really good Panera sourdough that we splurged on Monday when we were in the city.
Things to use up this week: garden tomatoes, Panera bread (bacon and tomato sandwiches tomorrow), garden Juliet tomatoes, all kinds of garden peppers (pico de gallo Friday - maybe on taco salad?) and I bought 6 apples on sale that I have got to get fried or otherwise fixed. Thinking spaghetti for later to use up more tomatoes.....nope, realize I've been craving simple goulash - THAT'S what we'll do with more of the fresh tomatoes.....
domestic goddess
11-1-12, 11:23am
Now that it is the first of November, it is time to hunker down with some warm, filling comfort food. I'm making chicken and corn chowder today, and probably tacos for dinner. And a chocolate sour cream cake for dessert. I think that is probably all my knees will allow me to do today, as they are really sore. Took some ibuprofen Tuesday (against MD's suggestion) and got much better pain relief than I am getting now, so will probably do it again today. But will limit the standing (and therefore the cooking) a bit today.
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