View Full Version : January cook at home challenge
After being on the road for 3 1/2 weeks I am sooooo excited to get back in my kitchen. I am really sick of eating out.
Tonight I am making chicken and dumplings. Everyone in the family loves it and it snowed yesterday, so I am in the mood for something warm and comforting.
Other upcoming meals are pork enchiladas with jicama salad, chicken taco salad, chili and cornbread, vegetable udon soup, stir fried chicken and vegetables, clam chowder and homemade biscuits and chicken, spinach and gnocchi soup with no knead bread, vegetable fried rice, chicken and pea risotto, pancakes with homemade raspberry sauce, homemade mac and cheese, bacon dutch pancakes, hoisin chicken lettuce wraps and stuffed shells with marinara sauce.
Chicken and dumplings sounds yummy!
DH and I are planning a trip at the end of the week to New Orleans and we plan to eat out and eat too much! Aside from the trip we've made a commitment to eat at home as much as possible this month. We're doing an easy "breakfast for dinner" tonight...omelets with grilled mushrooms and onions, and biscuits.
We were traveling, visiting relatives, but I ended up doing a lot of cooking while we were there - both for us to eat and to stock my in-laws' freezer. They were grateful!
We arrived home late yesterday afternoon. Luckily I had put some leftovers in the freezer the night before we left, and I reheated those for dinner last night, and steamed some frozen green beans.
Tonight is roasted chicken pieces, roasted potatoes, and a big salad.
Monday, stir-fry with pork that I cut up and froze last month, and mixed vegetables.
I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow so I haven't planned much else, but I'm thawing a turkey breast that we'll roast later in the week.
After being on the road for 3 1/2 weeks I am sooooo excited to get back in my kitchen. I am really sick of eating out.
Tonight I am making chicken and dumplings. Everyone in the family loves it and it snowed yesterday, so I am in the mood for something warm and comforting.
Other upcoming meals are pork enchiladas with jicama salad, chicken taco salad, chili and cornbread, vegetable udon soup, stir fried chicken and vegetables, clam chowder and homemade biscuits and chicken, spinach and gnocchi soup with no knead bread, vegetable fried rice, chicken and pea risotto, pancakes with homemade raspberry sauce, homemade mac and cheese, bacon dutch pancakes, hoisin chicken lettuce wraps and stuffed shells with marinara sauce.
Doesn't eating out get so old!
I don't find I eat out too much. Not because I wouldn't like to. And not because I really can't afford it, but, because, I don't think restaurant food tastes very good, except for the best restaurants, or very good ethnic places. Of course a good hamburger is hard to beat, but, since in my town most of the hamburger joints are franchises, I don't bother. In fact my town is franchise heavy. Red Robin's, Applebees, Farmhouse, Shari's, Denny's...very few places that make things that don't come from a can or frozen bag. I really, really just don't care for the taste of the foods. In fact, Subway is just bleh. I can't understand why people love it so. It is the most flavorless food I can think of.Old timers say food doesn't taste the way it used to, and I believe it.
Tiam, I agree...eating out isn't such a treat because so many chain restaurants dominate and the food is depressingly the same. I am always happier if I decide to spend my money at local place. I made a big pot of lentil and barley stew (which I added curry to because it was a little bland.) I froze some and had some for dinner and then lunch. I also made veggie soup with the leftovers of the crudite we had at Christmas. I simmered carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and celery until soft in diluted chicken stock and then mashed. I finished with some table cream...and yummy! I am definitely in a comfort food mode. Hope the inspiration sticks with me once school starts again ( I am a teacher, and cooking gets harder once school is in session!)
I held back from posting on this thread this morning, because I wasn't sure I was going to make it out to shop for stuff to make lunch at home. Also feeling very jetlaggy and the kids were jonesing for pizza. But thankfully our helper came by for a bit so that I could make it out to shop -- she won't be able to come in this afternoon because her other employer is out with one of her clients (she's a doula, so schedule is pretty erratic). She brought the other family's little boy and the dog, which my kids enjoyed. And I was able to buy stuff to make both lunch (french bread pizzas -- needed something fast!) and dinner (our standard baked chicken with roasted cauliflower and roasted sweet potatoes). I'm also going to make a batch of that red lentil and sweet potato soup from the latest O magazine -- recipe here:
http://www.oprah.com/food/Sweet-Potato-and-Red-Lentil-Bisque-Recipe
And may just go whole hog and make a feta fritatta, too -- we'll see how much energy I have later this afternoon.
I do have visiting more new restaurants on my goal list for the year, but also trying more new recipes. I'm thinking if we have our helper switch to coming in on Friday evening rather than Saturday afternoon, that will give us more time/meal space to play with on the weekends so we can mix it up more on both fronts.
lhamo
Maxamillion
1-2-12, 2:05am
I'm going to try cooking more this month. I've gotten to where I don't like cooking much, so have been thinking about taking a day or two where I cook up homemade "convenience food" to keep in the freezer, as well as trying to figure out some recipes that wouldn't require a lot of cooking.
I bought a 10 lb bag of potatoes (which oddly, was the same price as the 5 lb.). So I'm thinking potato salad, mashed potatoes, french fries, homemade potato chips, baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, and roasted potatoes. I saw a picture of a baked potato where it was cut in slices, but not sliced all the way through, all the slices were still connected at the bottom; I'm wanting to try doing that with the regular potatoes. I tried it with a sweet potato last month and it worked really well.
I've got a steak in the freezer that I got on sale. I want to chop it up, and mix about half and half with some cooked lentils, to make a mixture similar to ground beef, to make taco filling, meatballs, burgers, chili, and meatloaf. I'd also like to use some of the meatballs in stew. I need to keep an eye out for more steak on sale. I'd do this (mixing in lentils) with ground beef if I could, but it never goes on sale around here. To make the chili go further, I'd serve it over rice or corn bread.
I also want to make three or four loaves of home made bread, freezer biscuits (raw biscuits kept in the freezer), personal size semi-raw pizza crusts that I would keep in the freezer (maybe with some homemade pizza sauce already on them), and carrot cake muffins.
Tiam, I agree...eating out isn't such a treat because so many chain restaurants dominate and the food is depressingly the same. I am always happier if I decide to spend my money at local place. I made a big pot of lentil and barley stew (which I added curry to because it was a little bland.) I froze some and had some for dinner and then lunch. I also made veggie soup with the leftovers of the crudite we had at Christmas. I simmered carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and celery until soft in diluted chicken stock and then mashed. I finished with some table cream...and yummy! I am definitely in a comfort food mode. Hope the inspiration sticks with me once school starts again ( I am a teacher, and cooking gets harder once school is in session!)
RV, I too am a teacher. A preschool teacher. With much less salary than a teacher, and an entirely different ball of wax so to say, but cooking can be much harder when we have drained all our creativity and energy towards others. Funny thing about creative/yet regimented jobs, they kind of take their own special toll, don't they? My children at home are grown, and my cooking has gone very basic and kind of lacking in creativity, but still tastes better than what I can get from take out. I usually make my own foods. I get stuck in ruts of 'what to make' for sure, but no matter what, it tastes better than I would get for the same thing going out, and much less for the same price, so it's an excellent challenge!
I'm with maxamillian as far as cooking goes, "I've gotten to where I don't like cooking much, so have been thinking about taking a day or two where I cook up homemade "convenience food" to keep in the freezer, as well as trying to figure out some recipes that wouldn't require a lot of cooking."
Still need to home cook to make healthy affordable meals but I also need to find a way to make meals more convenient. Work smarter in the kitchen, not just harder :)
DH made us mac n cheese and hot dogs yesterday. We ate eggs and bacon for breakfast. He packed a lunch today, and I'll eat leftovers. I am thinking about making Australian goulash for supper tonight.
I definitely will keep peeking into this thread this month. I need more creativity in the kitchen. I've already taken note of Stella's chicken and dumplings, and will make that this week. Why does my brain not recall anything good when I am thinking "what's for dinner"? Even the basics elude me.
Last night was steak on the grill with mashed potatoes, steamed green peas, grilled onions and gravy. We told our granddaughter that peas are round green beans (her favorite) and she ate them. Picky eater - refer to another thread - and it's all about the words... she has eaten steak, pork and SALMON, if she decides it's chicken. Our family joke is that everything tastes like chicken!
I'm in.
Meals this week will be:
Chicken and noodles w/ steamed brocolli
Homemade pepperoni pizza
Lentil tacos
Quiche and steamed green beans
Chicken and cheese quesdillas
The kids are gone this weekend and I will take the leftovers to lunch
I'd like to join this thread too. I feel like food is the biggest place I can still reduce cost in my household. Well, the place we can reduce and still keep our quality of life. I'm the most guilty party anyways with my love of expensive snack items like Ben and Jerry's ice cream and nice quality chocolates and cookies as well as being the one who is most likely to purchase something at a quick stop kind of market.
A big part of this for me will be eating up leftovers from work that might otherwise go to waste. This is a big deal because I'm not much of a fan of leftovers in general.
Inspired by Stella, I am making chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight. Dh has taken some baked chicken out of the freezer at work. This is leftover from a dinner party that didn't pan out too well. I have a large container of organic chicken broth in my cupboard that has been there since before the move. Its outdated but I'm sure its fine. I have some evaporated milk that was given to me. I will dilute it and use it in the dumplings.
Sweet! That will help use up three things that might otherwise go to waste!
I look forward to finding some interesting new foods based on what the rest of you enjoy eating.
Bke, what kind of leftovers are there from work? Or if your place has a website I could go look there to get an idea. When I cooked/ate with a group of roommates and friends, I had the interesting and sometimes challenging job of creating a tasty meal out any leftovers plus the excess in packages(pasta, potatoes, carrots, frozen veg, etc) from all the previous days of the week. Some of the combos became group favorites. Would be happy to think up new and varied combos for your items.
Bastelmutti
1-2-12, 12:07pm
Happy new year!
I made up my menu for the week the other day:
Sun - pizza bread & salad
Mon - lettuce wraps with chicken/tofu
Tue - spaghetti & meatballs, veggies
Wed - rice & chickpea curry, veggies (something else for DD2, who doesn't like spicy food)
Thu - chili-lime tofu & rice, edamame
Fri - something with quinoa and red lentils or dinner @ a friend's
Sat - taco bar w/ 3 other families - pulled pork, black beans, rice, corn tortillas & toppings
Amaranth
Leftovers typically include the soup of the day, mashed potatoes, (there are always mashed potatoes!) pancake batter that is too thin/old to serve to customers, cooked bacon that is crispy and crumbly, daily specials like goulash. Mostly just stuff that needs to be eaten and not necessarily re-created.
I have a ton of whole wheat pasta and evaporated milk sitting around to be used up as well as a bag of dry milk and a big box of instant potatoes. I keep thinking that I have seen recipes for potato rolls that might be good. Pecans and old fashioned oats are two more things that I have a ton of. There is a big rebate for yogurt going on at the moment. I was thinking that maybe I should try to make granola and eat it with free yogurt.
Something that I'd like to find a use for is lemon wedges that are kind of getting dried out. We cut them for friday night fish fry and its not uncommon to throw several away especially this time of year when we don't sell much iced tea during the week. When I say several, I mean around one lemon worth-2 at the most.
I think the biggest challenge is simply to be diligent in using this stuff. Its too easy to decide I want say, an omlette or a grilled chicken sandwich instead of eating up the leftovers. Especially when, after a while, you come to accept the fact that no matter what, there is a certain amount of waste in this business.
That being said, I'm always looking for new interesting meals both for the family and things that might be used for daily specials at work!
Soup was a disappointment -- too sweet (I shouldn't have put in the dried apricots) and not savory enough for my tastes. It is ok, and I'll have the leftovers for lunch, but not something I'll make again.
Experimented with putting some green zataar on the cauliflower before roasting, but wasn't thrilled with that either. DS didn't like it at all. There are plenty of leftovers, so I think I'll use those and the feta in a fritatta tonight after all.
Well, at least I checked two new recipes off my goal list of 12 for the year. That is a positive start even if the food didn't turn out to be as good as I expected!
lhamo
I made a gigantic chicken, bean sprout and broccoli stir fry tonight. I had 9 people here for dinner and I needed something easy, but tasty. It was a hit.
Ideas for typical BKE leftovers:
***Mashed potatoes***
--Baked potato soup, topped with bacon and shredded cheese
--Mashed potato cakes(can flavor them)—basically a fried mashed potato patty usually incorporating an egg among 4-8 patties. May be dipped in bread crumbs.
--Flavored mashed potatoes such as garlic or sundried tomato
--Potato bread
--Moravian sugar cake
--Stuffed potatoes if you baked them and scooped them out of the skins and saved the skins when you made the mashed potatoes
--Stuffed potato skins
--“creamed” soups—if you have another leftover vegetable, blenderize it with a bit of milk and combine with potatoes to soup consistency. Works with most any vegetable or pasta sauce or pesto. Avoid combining two colors of vegetables that will produce an unappetizing color.
--Shepherds pie using the meat and vegetables strained from the soup of the day with mashed potatoes on top
--gnocchi
--pierogies with onion, or bacon&cheese
***Pancake batter***
--Crepes—cook in a 6-9 inch nonstick pan. Fill with other leftovers or cooked fruit.
--Vegetable or fruit fritter
--Quick bread or muffin batter—good way to use up bananas or grated zucchini too.
***Bacon***
--Baked potato soup; use bacon drippings to sautéed onions for the soup
--Bacon corn chowder
--Topping for squash soup
--Use drippings as bread spread for some bruschetta flavors
--Use drippings as the fat in potato bread
--Bacon potato pull-apart bread (savory version of monkey bread)
--Use drippings and crumbled bacon in corn bread
--Use drippings as the fat in dumplings
--Use drippings as the fat in the crust of savory pies such as shepherd’s pie
--Baked potato bar
--Potato bacon pancakes
--Mashed potato cakes with bacon
--Bacon chicken salad sandwiches
--Bacon omelets
--Bacon deviled eggs
--On salads
--Stirred into potato salad just before serving
--On green beans
--On a turkey club sandwich
--In the summer on BLTs
--Scrambled egg and bacon sandwich
--In a waldorf salad
--In an alfredo style pasta sauce
--In a quiche
--In the dough of bacon cheddar biscuits
--Bacon gravy on plain biscuits
--Bacon onion dip
--Bacon horseradish dip or cream cheese spread
--Added to stuffing just before serving
--Bean and bacon soup—if you can get something that tastes similar to the Campbells recipe, add half and half as the liquid
--Bacon and spinach salad
--Hot bacon dressing for spinach salad or dandelion greens
--On mac and cheese
--Salad of mixed greens, blue cheese, sliced pears or apples, candied pecans, crumbled bacon
***Soup of the day or Goulash***
(what are the most usual soups of the day?)
--If the chunky ingredients would be good in a crepe, take out some. Then take some of the liquid and thicken it. Recombine inside crepe.
--Chunky ingredients over leftover rice or pasta.
--Blenderize soup portion and then add another serving of a leftover vegetable that would be an appetizing color/taste addition to the pureed broth.
--Combine a creamy soup and a chopped leftover vegetable:
Cream of tomato and green beans or broccoli
Seafood bisque and corn
--Over potatoes, toast, rice, or pasta
--Chunky ingredients in a pasty or turnover
--Add dumplings
***Whole wheat pasta***
What shapes do you have?
***Evaporated milk***
--Mashed potatoes
--White sauce based cream soups
--White sauce based alfredo like pasta sauces
--White sauced based mac and cheese
***Pecans***
--Pecan pie
--Salad of mixed greens, blue cheese, sliced pears or apples, candied pecans
--Pecan granola with the oats
--Pecan granola bars
--Savory spiced pecans
--Chex type party mix with pecans
--Chocolate chip pecan cookies
--Other drop or bar cookies with pecans such as oatmeal raisin or oatmeal cranberry
--Cheeseball with pecan crust
--Toasted pecans added to cold or hot breakfast cereals
--Pecan pancakes
--Butter pecan ice cream
--Pecans as the main ingredient in pie crusts such as for cheesecake
***Oats***
--Granola
--Granola bars
--Oatmeal cookies
--Oatmeal fruit/nut cookies
--Oatmeal bread
--Oatmeal with interesting addins—see other thread here for ideas
***Lemons***
--Lemon curd
--Marmalade
--Zest peel, squeeze out and freeze juice until you have enough to make something
--Zest is good in hot tea, breads, tossed with rice, in biscotti
--Lemonade
--Frozen lemonade
--Hot honey lemonade
--Lemon meringue pie/chess/cheesecake
--Lemon bars
--In place of some of the vinegar in salad dressing
--Lemon-olive oil dressing for potato salad
--In lemon sauce for chicken
--Herbed lemon chicken
--In fish soups
--In hot tea
--Hot or chilled lemon water
--Avgolemono
--In a quick bread or muffin such as lemon blueberry
--Squeezed into a Coke or Pepsi or Ginger-ale, Sprite, or Mello Yello
--Lemon pudding or homemade jello
--Lemon butter for vegetables such as broccoli or asparagus
--Lemon sauce for cakes or gingerbread
--In a smoothie
--In meat marinades such as teriyaki
***Tea and Coffee***
--Freeze in 4 different color ice cube trays to keep flavors and caffeine levels separated. Save in labeled bags. Make frozen coffee and tea drinks.
--Tea noodle dishes
Update: The soup was better as leftovers! Or maybe I was just really hungry. But I often find the flavors of soup improve when they are reheated. Anyway, glad I can now look forward to the remaining two servings rather than feeling I have to eat them so as not to waste food.
Amaranth, that is some list -- you are amazing!
lhamo
Bastelmutti
1-3-12, 3:08pm
lhamo, I have been looking for something to do with a bag of red lentils, too & found this recipe today. Sounds good and easy:
Red Lentil Coconut Soup (http://amoderngal.com/2012/01/03/red-lentil-coconut-soup/)
I'm also trying to cook at home more this year, as we are saving up for an adventure in 2013, going to live in Berlin for three months.
So far I've not cooked anything interesting at home - we are using up horrible leftovers from us both being ill all Christmas - but I cooked a wonderful meal for my voluntary job cooking for a night shelter for some destitute refugees - a vegetable and red kidney bean stew flavoured with Caribbean spice mix (says on the package it's for spicing up chicken), some Reggae Reggae sauce (like a spicy BBQ sauce) and a tin of coconut milk. Anyone vegetarian or halal got that and rice but others got a piece of chicken too. The bill was £8.50 for 8 people, but without the chicken it would have been half that. The previous volunteer cook spent £70 on ingredients - and expected the charity to foot the bill. Obviously needs to get down to this forum...
You're all so inspiring - I don't post much but I love reading.
I cooked a wonderful meal for my voluntary job cooking for a night shelter for some destitute refugees - a vegetable and red kidney bean stew flavoured with Caribbean spice mix (says on the package it's for spicing up chicken), some Reggae Reggae sauce (like a spicy BBQ sauce) and a tin of coconut milk.
More details on the recipe, please! I'm thinking this year is going to be my "experiment with coconut milk" year, among other things, and this sounds great!
lhamo
Amaranth - amazing lists. I am in awe! My brain just doesn't think that way.
Last night, already we fell off the wagon. My mom is legally blind. She said there were extra charges on her credit card bill, could I stop by after work and take a look...Well, an extra $1000 on a cc bill is an emergency! So dh and I stopped in. You know - the statement is printed on 8 x 11 paper, but the important stuff is only in the middle 4 inches? Well, page two contained ONE LINE that had to carry over from the first page. It got lost in the jumble of legaleze and advertising that is printed on these things. Her homeowner's insurance was on the second page - she wasn't expecting it until after the first of the year. After that visit, both dh and I were too tired to cook. We pass a pizza place that has $5 ready to go pies, so dh got one. I had leftover salad from the weekend. Oh, and eating out Monday has already turned my whole meal plan upside down... while we were at mom's I baked some boneless country ribs. They were supposed to be dinner Tuesday, but since we did not eat the spaghetti that should have been Monday, I had to cook the ribs as they would not keep long enough... so Tuesday is spaghetti, and Wednesday will be ribs. At least I know what we are going to eat the rest of the week. For me, that's half the battle.
Thanks for sharing the great ideas!
I haven't had anything amazing, but we have been eating at home. Almost slipped this evening to go to trivia with some friends at a pizza place but schedules didn't match up - I would not have been strong enough to resist! Last night DH got out in the cold because he wanted to grill, fine with me - pork chops and broccoli and green beans...frozen, not fresh :( Tonight was black beans and rice with turkey sausage, with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch.
Tonight we had chicken taco salad. Cheyenne, Zach and I loved it. James and Bella were not as into it, but they ate some.
Bastelmutti
1-4-12, 8:50am
Tonight we're eating at a friend's, but I need to make a side dish, so I am making an orzo - pesto - tomato - olive salad out of stuff I already have at home. Doing well with food spending this week: I'm at about 1/2 my usual expenditure so far.
I made goulash, french onion soup and grilled cheese, and bacon and eggs. I have some chicken marinating in the fridge for dinner tonight (homemade marinade with on-hand ingredients). Not sure what to serve with it, but I'll find something. Future meals include breaded pork sandwiches and pork stir fry.
treehugger
1-4-12, 11:40am
I haven't done a lot of cooking yet this month, since we have been away. I did make dinner last night though (lentils & kielbasa, with rice added because I was lower on lentils than I thought).
I still have those two bags of wormy apples (free!) waiting for me in the garage fridge, destined for applesauce...maybe I will finally tackle that this weekend.
My DH's uncle gifted me with some lovely organic bread, rye, and pumpernickel (whole grain rye) flours before Christmas and I really need to look through my recipe books and make my first-ever rye bread. Soon.
New year's eve was a home-cooking triumph. My family (dad, step-mom, step-sister, half-sister, husbands, kids) stayed in and had a game night. I convinced my sister (we were at her house) that making our own pizza would be totally doable, delicious and fun. And it was. :)
Before we went on our trip, I made a couple quarts of roasted tomato sauce for the freezer. We needed one last meal before leaving home so I made pasta for one of the containers of sauce and then froze that. So, I now have some already-made pasta in sauce in the freezer for a quick meal.
Happy home cooking in 2012, everyone!
Kara
Tonight is pork enchiladas and jicama salad.
Bastelmutti
1-4-12, 3:47pm
Today I made the Red Lentil Coconut Soup I posted above. Easy and delicious. I subbed chili-garlic paste for the tomato paste & added some curry powder and a squeeze of lime juice. Yum! Plus it made enough for one more lunch and a container for the freezer.
I roasted the turkey breast that I was thawing last night, but it must have still been frozen in the middle because when I checked the temp at 6pm, it was clear that it was not going to be done in time for dinner. So I made a quick dinner of pasta, chicken sausages, and green beans; I skipped the pasta for myself. When the turkey breast was done I sliced it, put the bones into the crockpot with some water, and put 3 containers of turkey in the freezer, one in the fridge for tonight. This morning I made a crockpot full of soup using the overnight stock, black-eyed peas, red bell pepper, zucchini, and spinach. We had that for lunch at my weekly Wednesday soup & craft gathering, and I put the rest away in the fridge & freezer.
I got really tired this afternoon so I changed the plans. We are having baked bbq chicken, squash and rice for dinner. Tomorrow we'll have the enchiladas. I was thinking this weekend I will roast a whole chicken with some Penzey's Parisien herb mix I have. That sounds good to me.
Blackdog Lin
1-4-12, 7:31pm
I'm loving this thread. The cooking at home challenge doesn't speak to me, as that's what we do all the time (we eat brunch/lunch out about twice a month is all); but reading about all of y'all's creative and delicious-sounding menus is too cool.
And Amaranth: I always thought of myself as a kind of queen of recycling usable food, but your ideas.....I feel I must bow down to a master. I am in awe. :)
I'm loving this thread. The cooking at home challenge doesn't speak to me, as that's what we do all the time (we eat brunch/lunch out about twice a month is all); but reading about all of y'all's creative and delicious-sounding menus is too cool.
I felt that way for the longest time and avoided these threads. We never eat out (out of budget necessity), so it's not something I have to challenge myself to do. But, hey, I love food and cooking and love to talk about food and cooking. So once I joined in, I was glad I did.
I have some past-its-prime arugula at home that I need to use in a cooked application. I haven't decided what to do with it yet. Any ideas, anyone?
Kara
Bastelmutti
1-4-12, 10:35pm
Kara,
Could you wilt the arugula over pasta with some olive-oil-sauteed garlic, red pepper flakes, squeeze of lemon?
You could use the arugula in just about anything. Indian-type food (sub for spinach in palak paneer, which I usually make with tofu). Mexican (black bean enchiladas with arugula and other veggies, add cheese if desired). Frittata or quiche. On pizza. Sauteed and served over a salad. Sauteed with a little sesame oil and salt, as spinach is served in Japanese restaurants.
I boiled up a bunch of garbanzo beans. I want to make a sandwich spread. I could just make hummous, or a strange one with pickle relish in it (so says a recipe.) Any other ideas? These would be sandwich s preads for work lunches.
dado potato
1-5-12, 12:53am
The stock pot is going. Have made the third soup thus far.
Beef stock & barley & pinto beans
Chicken stock & split pea
Beef stock and lentils.
(The stock is either beef or chicken, based on which bones I roast and simmer with veggie discards.)
Last night was the baked bbq ribs, mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.
Tonight - Lasagna with tossed salad. Homemade cookies for dessert, since the oven will be on anyway.
treehugger
1-5-12, 11:25am
Kara,
Could you wilt the arugula over pasta with some olive-oil-sauteed garlic, red pepper flakes, squeeze of lemon?
Yes, I think I will do something like this tonight, only without the pasta because I will also be baking bread. I made up a batch of Artisan Bread in 5 minutes dough last night, the European peasant recipe, since I now have rye flour. Looking forward to trying it. I will also roast the butternut squash I have sitting around, since the oven will be hot.
Kara
treehugger
1-5-12, 11:26am
I boiled up a bunch of garbanzo beans. I want to make a sandwich spread. I could just make hummous, or a strange one with pickle relish in it (so says a recipe.) Any other ideas? These would be sandwich s preads for work lunches.
I would divide up those garbanzos and make a few different flavored spreads. If you feel like you have too many beans to use up at once, don't forget they freeze well.
I love hummus, but also really like beans with rosemary and garlic, or chili powder, or zatar.
Kara
I boiled up a bunch of garbanzo beans. I want to make a sandwich spread. I could just make hummous, or a strange one with pickle relish in it (so says a recipe.) Any other ideas? These would be sandwich s preads for work lunches.
This is what I learned about bean spread.....I made a pot of boiled garbanzos. I roasted a head of garlic and a couple of table spoons of tahini seeds that I ground. I chopped the cooked garbanzos rough...added the sesame seeds, added smoked paprika, kosher salt and ground pepper, and it still was lacking. I think the adding of a fat, oil or something is a necessary part of a fabulous bean spread....how about you?
Yes, I think I will do something like this tonight, only without the pasta because I will also be baking bread. I made up a batch of Artisan Bread in 5 minutes dough last night, the European peasant recipe, since I now have rye flour. Looking forward to trying it. I will also roast the butternut squash I have sitting around, since the oven will be hot.
Kara
What do you think of the Artisan Breads in 5 Min book? I found a plain dough receipe of theirs and am just starting to make simple loaves of bread & pizza crusts. So I've been curious if purchasing the book would be worth it? What do you think of it?
If you or anyone may have any 13" pizza stone recommendations that would be great, mine exploded into 3 pieces last night while baking a loaf of the artisan bread =(
Dhiana
Chicken turned out good. I made some rice and a side salad to go with it. Last night I made a batch of Cheeseburger soup. It was a new recipe and only okay. But it'll feed us for a few days!
Amaranth- thank you so much for all the suggestions. I've kind of be away from things the last couple of days but wanted you to know I saw the list. I'm going to go over it carefully and possibly ask a few questions down the road...
treehugger
1-6-12, 11:29am
What do you think of the Artisan Breads in 5 Min book? I found a plain dough receipe of theirs and am just starting to make simple loaves of bread & pizza crusts. So I've been curious if purchasing the book would be worth it? What do you think of it?
If you or anyone may have any 13" pizza stone recommendations that would be great, mine exploded into 3 pieces last night while baking a loaf of the artisan bread =(
Dhiana
I love love love this book. It completely got me over my fear of yeast (I was just totally unfamiliar with it) and led me to explore much more difficult recipes, and yet, I still make the 5 minute bread regularly. It's my go-to pizza dough (the olive oil dough recipe from the original book). I first got it from the library and instantly fell in love. Then my husband found me a used copy on Amazon for around $10. I have definitely gotten my money's worth, since I bake all our bread.
Re: the pizza stone. Compare prices with them against the cast iron pizza pan (http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Logic-Cast-Pizza-Black/dp/B0000E2V3X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325867365&sr=8-1)from Lodge. It serves the same purpose but is unbreakable. And in many cases, it's cheaper than a quality stone. That's what I switched to after breaking our (wedding present) stone, and I love it.
By the way, we loved the European peasant bread recipe that I made last night for the first time. I think we like it better than the (all white flour) master recipe. Also really like their broa (yeasted corn bread), pita, focaccia, and other recipes. I haven't made any of the brioche ones, because they seem too expensive for my budget. Some day!
Dinner last night was sauteed arugula (needed to be used up) and roasted butternut squash tossed with cheese ravioli and sage browned butter.
Kara
Well, leftovers still count - so we did eat at home last night. Tonight will be grilled chicken breast sandwiches with tator tots and green beans. Need something fast, as there is a Music on Main Street event downtown we want to go to.
Well, leftovers still count - so we did eat at home last night.
Leftovers absolutely count. Planned leftovers are a huge part of my strategy for never eating out. I don't have the time, energy, or desire to cook something new every night, so I don't.
Tonight's dinner is a combo of leftovers from Tuesday and from last night.
Kara
More details on the recipe, please! I'm thinking this year is going to be my "experiment with coconut milk" year, among other things, and this sounds great!
lhamo
I really just made it up as I was going along, but it was something like this:
I fried sliced onion until it was golden brown and almost caramelised, then added in some chopped red peppers and mushrooms and fried those for a few more minutes. I then threw in lots of chunks of peeled sweet potatoes and carrots and quite a lot of Caribbean chicken seasoning - I finished the tub making this meal so I'm not sure of the exact ingredients, I'm afraid. I gave it a good stir then poured in a tin of coconut milk, tinned red kidney beans, a tin of sweetcorn and a big glug of Reggae Reggae sauce (like a spicy BBQ sauce). I cooked it for about half an hour then added chopped courgettes and cooked for a further fifteen minutes or so.
The sauce was really delicious, and I imagine that if you're low carbing (which I remember reading that you were) I think it would be really delicious with any meat added, perhaps instead of the carbier veg.
I love to read so many of these ideas...I pop in and out, mostly lurking. I have freezers and pantry full of food and need to stay home and eat it.....I am trying to really cut back on groceries..... Have so much here to use up.
Big sunday lunch made oven baked chicken pieces, applesauce, roasted butternut squash and a gigantic green salad. Dh is on his first of the year "i need salads" kick ;). It gets expensve to eat so out of season but I'm glad he's making a veggie effort. He bought a huge container of spinach for his salad base so I'm glad about that. Tonight will be wedding soup and fresh butternut squash rolls, frozen fruit for desert.
I have cooking in the oven a corned beef out of the freezer, I will slice it up for the kids to make sandwiches this week and a pot of sauce simmering on the stove for dinner tomorrow night. There are some butternut squash rolls rising by the fireplace with the leftover squash from lunch. I am a happy happy girl.
Bastelmutti
1-8-12, 5:54pm
We had fun entertaining this weekend. Saturday night was taco night with four families. Hit the Mex market for corn tortillas and fresh salsa. I made black beans and DH made a pork shoulder in the crockpot and some chicken & we served it up with the tortillas and toppings. Great way to serve a crowd.
This morning we had a brunch, also with four families. I made my new favorite recipe, adapted from one on the Kalyn's Kitchen blog:
Spinach, Leek and Goat Cheese Egg Bake
for 8-10 people
Ingredients: 18 eggs, 5-6 oz. log of goat cheese (or sub some other cheese), bag of spinach, 2 leeks, seasonings
* Mix eggs in a bowl with 2-3 t. seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash)
* Saute sliced leeks in olive oil for 3-4 minutes, then add washed spinach. Cook down.
* Put leek/spinach mixture in pan (10x14?) and crumble goat cheese over.
* Pour eggs over leek/spinach mixture & goat cheese. Bake about 40 min. @ 375.
Bastelmutti
1-8-12, 9:32pm
Plan for the week:
* Leftover taco meat and beans w/ rice and tostada shells
* Red lentil coconut soup from freezer
* Tamarind soup packet w/ tofu and leftover veg, rice, edamame from freezer
* Pinto beans from freezer, sausages from freezer, broccoli, mac & cheese
* Pasta, pesto or sauce, cheese, salad or cut-up veg
* Salmon patties (need eggs), grilled cheese sandwiches, veg?
- Make veg broth from leftover veg and white onion for black bean soup
Things I love about being allowed to work from home #862: Made a fritatta for my lunch with leftover broccoli from last night's dinner, onions and feta. Ate a hearty serving and have two more hearty servings to take to work later this week. Enough leftovers in the freezer to make up the difference.
I wish I could work from home all the time. I got so much done today in the peace and quiet. And I got to take my kids to school, go in for my DD's birthday celebration at the end of the day, and come home with her. Yes, I worked from 5-7am, but I'm usually up at that time of day anyway.
lhamo
DH and I are having fun simultaneously learning about the foods available here in Israel, AND being limited to one pot, one frypan, one electric hotplate, and a microwave!
Yesterday we fried up some Israeli "hamburger" patties that weren't really hamburger. They were kosher, but all the ingredient label said was that they contained "meats" and "vegetable products." We had those with some spicy ketchup on them, and a hot side dish of peas. We rounded it out with a the remains of an Israeli salad (lettuce, parsley, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes) with cubes of fried haloumi cheese, which we'd gotten from the restaurant where we'd originally ordered it from.
I'm not sure what's on the menu tonight. We can't afford to eat out more than one meal a week, so I'll be raiding the refrigerator and cupboard. We found some gluten-free pasta at the grocery store, though, so it might be simple spaghetti with sides of hummous, olives and babaganoush.
Weekend was totally eat in! Win for me. We had spicy breaded chicken breasts with broccoli and noodles Saturday - Sunday was baked chicken breasts with green beans, stuffing and the last of the salad fixins.
Went to the farmer's' market this weekend and stocked up, only to find I didn't have much lettuce when I got home. The veggies I bought for salads are all gone, too, because we just chopped them and ate with dip. I really need a mid-week farmer's market, too. If we eat up what I buy in two days, I either need to buy more or shop twice a week. But, if we had more lettuce, the other veggies would have stretched. I am not complaining - at least we are eating tons of fresh produce!
Bastelmutti
1-9-12, 11:08am
Mmmm, Selah, sounds delish. We have a place nearby, Lebanese, I think, that bakes the most amazing pita and makes awesome babaganoush. I have really gotten spoiled by their $2 stacks of soft, warm pita - can't eat the supermarket kind anymore! Tell us more about your food adventures. Do you get a lot of fish there? I don't know how close to the sea you are, but from the photos on your blog it looked close.
I keep falling off the wagon and after last week's vacation where we ate out for every single meal, I'm ready to recommit.
So for today:
Breakfast: Apple, oatmeal with frozen raspberries from the summer.
Lunch: Chard soup (http://dianasaurdishes.com/06/vegetarian-night-creamy-swiss-chard-soup-with-goat-cheese/), with homemade whole wheat bread (currently being baked)
Dinner: Leftover soup, Stir fried rice with eggs, veggies and sausages
treehugger
1-9-12, 11:37am
I had the first productive cooking weekend in a long time, probably since before Thanksgiving. Wow, I missed spending the better part of 2 days in the kitchen, with a lot to show for it afterwards.
I finally got around to making applesauce out of 2 bags of apples from a friend of a friend. Applesauce is soooo easy with a food mill, since you don't have to peel or core. Then, I made apple butter out of about 1/3 of the applesauce. The sauce went into pint jars for the freezer. The butter went into smaller jars to use on muffins, toast, pancakes, yogurt, etc., and also to give as gifts.
I did my bimonthly grocery shopping Saturday morning and pork shoulder was on sale, so I bought a big one and then slow-cooked it in salsa verde (previously made, in the freezer). Shredded, that was dinner in corn tortillas with rice and black beans. There is plenty for more meals during the week, and some will go into the freezer as well.
Plans for the week: tortilla chicken soup, sauteed cabbage, broccoli beef stir fry, some type of muffins to bring Saturday morning to a greyhound rescue event. DH's 41st birthday is Sunday, so we are having friends over for homemade pizza, and I need to make his standard birthday cake request of Thunder & Lightning cake (a sort of yellow cake + merengue tort put together with whipped cream and jam).
Kara
Bastelmutti
1-9-12, 12:42pm
Saved a couple of black bananas today & made banana-walnut muffins. Ran out of eggs, but had flax, so I tried "flax eggs" for the first time. It worked! Mix 1 T. flax with 3 T. water = 1 egg.
I recently read about a book from Australia called The $21 Challenge where you challenge yourself to learn to spend only $21 for a week's worth of food (striving to use up anything and everything you already have and counting only food - no toiletries or other supplies). I know there are people here who have crazy low food budgets, but my rock-bottom is about $150/wk. for our family of four plus GF snacks for after-school kids (including healthy food, some snacky things for school lunches, some organics, fairly expensive area, no extra freezer/little pantry space in our apt., no gardening/foraging, etc.), so this is a great challenge for me. It's not meant to be a solution for every week, but just during crunch times - kicking yourself to exercise creativity, essentially. This is a good week for me to try this because we just spent some extra $$$ for an orthodontist appointment. I can already see that I have nearly enough for dinners and lunches just from what I bought last week, leftovers and my small pantry. I do need eggs and fruit, so that will likely be most of the $21. If I can shop extra carefully for meat on sale and stock-ups like dried beans during the other 3 wks., I would like to try this 1 wk. per month once we are paying for braces. I might up the amount to $25, though. Has anyone read this book?
TMC I get on salad kicks this time of year too. Maybe it's a holiday detox.
Tonight is chili. Nothing fancy, but Zach has a Knights meeting tonight and Dad is working late so it's just me and the kiddos.
Dad has requested spaghetti and meatballs next week, which, on reflection, I don't think I've ever actually made together. Not that I'm incapable of it, just that it surprises me that I've never made those at the same time.
Bastelmutti
1-10-12, 8:16pm
Trying out muffin recipes this week, and I found a winner - Buttermilk-Oatmeal muffins from Allrecipes.com. Of course, adding chocolate chips made them extra good! Hopefully, muffins can be something I can make easily and add to school lunches.
Stella, I had chili tonight, too. I had some people over for dinner and a meeting. Chili is easy to do in the crockpot and almost everyone likes it. It helps that I made up the beans on Sat. and browned the ground beef last night so this morning was just assembling.
Last night I made Shepherd's Pie. Tomorrow will be... I dunno. Tortellini maybe. I have chicken and black beans in the freezer but Thursday night we are going for Mexican food for my son's 18th birthday and Friday night is Taco night. I think I want something that doesn't have cumin in it tomorrow.
I would love it if you posted links to specific recipes you plan on making.
Today oatmeal, leftovers, and butternut squash soup with homemade ww bread
We've been eating leftovers from DH's family Christmas on the 7th. Tonight I am planning on making creamed cabbage soup and some jalapeno popper sandwiches for DH. Never made those before--we'll see how it goes!
Yesterday I cooked a pound of whole wheat pasta. I then portioned it into single servings and froze it. This way I can take it out on the spur of the moment and garni**** with whatever I'm in the mood for. I plan on having this for dinner.
I just took a batch of vegan cinnamon crunch muffins from the oven. I haven't sampled them yet but they smell wonderful.
treehugger
1-11-12, 11:43am
bke, trying to figure out what dirty word you typed. Did you type "garnish" and "it" as one word? Gotta love our bot-censor.
nordette, for me personally, most recipes I use either come from books I have or my head, so no links available.
Since Sunday we have been eating leftover chile verde (made with pork shoulder), beans, and rice. Last night, I made a burrito with leftover roasted butternut squash and black beans. I love that combo!
Today, I have a new employee starting, so we get to take her out to lunch. Yay, I love "free" lunches! I'm the supervisor, so I get to pick. Japanese (assuming the newbie likes Japanese), yum!
I need to cook something tonight (leftovers are running out), but I don't know yet what that will be. I have half a cabbage and some broccoli that needs cooking, so, maybe stir fry with chicken.
Kara
Kara
Yes, it seems as though my choice of garnishes is inappropriate!
I got some dried porcini mushrooms for Christmas (smelly things, never used them before) - made a mushroom risotto last night and served it with salad. Good stuff.
Friday is payday and I'm out of grocery money so I'm trying to use up what I have already.
Monday - gr. beef chilaquiles & corn
Tuesday - tilapia, broccoli gratin & baked potato
Wed - savory cabbage & pork soup in the crockpot, fresh baked bread
Thurs - probably? a fettuccine with chicken pieces, garlic bread with the left over bread, brussels sprouts
Today, oatmeal for breakfast for me (homemade yogurt for husband), leftover soup and homemade WW bread for lunch.
Evening we're hosting a gathering with friends potluck style and I will be making egg curry, lentil curry to be served with rice.
I am thinking either ham and rice soup or ham and spinach quiche for dinner. Not sure which.
Today was soup & craft day. I made a garlicky roasted cauliflower soup with goat cheese and roasted carrot "croutons." It was delicious.
Dinners - turkey tacos the past two nights. Turkey was leftovers that I froze a week or two ago; along with black beans, cabbage, various chopped vegetables.
Tonight is a potato, pepper, & tomato frittata and roasted brussels sprouts.
Tomorrow I'm making a veggie lasagna with spinach and zucchini, and salad.
Friday will be leftovers.
treehugger
1-11-12, 7:14pm
Yes, it seems as though my choice of garnishes is inappropriate!
Please make sure you only use appropriate garnishes in the future. Big Brother is definitely watching. ;)
Kara
Zach totally saved me on the eat at home challenge today. I threw my back out just as he was getting home and I was not able to cook tonight. Zach is not much for cooking. He doesn't mind it, but he doesn't have much experience at it.
I was thinking we'd get Chinese take-out, but we rethought it and changed our minds. Since we had to go out grocery shopping today I sent him to the butcher shop and had him get some pork chops. He bought shake-and-bake, which I wouldn't usually buy, but is way cheaper than take-out, so we had pork chops, green beans and noodles for dinner. It tasted just as good as take-out would have and was a lot less money. Probably under $15 versus about $40. Travis loved it. He practically ate his weight in pork chops and green beans.
Stella,
I haven't tried it with pork chops, but we regularly do this cheap "shake and bake on a dime" coating for chicken -- probably costs a few cents. I adapted off a recipe I found on all recipes.com:
2-3 lbs chicken drumettes (my kids prefer these to chicken legs, somehow)
1/3-1/2 cup flour (can err on the low side if you are trying to keep carb count low. Can use whole wheat)
1 tsp salt, or a bit more if you like things salty
1 tsp garlic poweder
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chilli pepper (omit if your kids don't like spicy -- this amount doesn't make it that spicy, but it has a tiny kick)
1 tsp sage
To keep things simple, I mix up the flour and seasonings in a gallon size ziplock bag, then throw in the chicken and toss it all around until coated. Remove to a roasting pan with a wire rack in it to keep the chicken elevated and out of the drippings. bake at 450 F for roughly one hour, turning about 35-40 minutes in (once the top of the chicken has gotten nice and crusty. My kids like this best when it is very well done -- much of the fat drips off to the bottom of the pan (my DH has a fat aversion so I don't generally save this, but could be added to stock) and the skin becomes really nice and crispy. It's like fried chicken without the extra oil.
I make this every Sunday now -- one of my favorite go-to meals.
lhamo
Weather turned cold yesterday afternoon. After I tucked her in last night, I made a batch of daughter's favorite chicken-veg-spaetzle stew so she'd have it for a nice hot lunch for the rest of the week.
Thanks for the recipe Lhamo. That sounds delicious! I have some chicken pieces in the freezer. I will have to give that a try.
Rosemary-that roasted cauliflower soup sounds delicious!
I ate a bowl of old-fashioned oats for breakfast. I love all the empty space that is showing up in the cupboards these days from using htings that have been around for too long!
Last night I had a bowl of whole wheat pasta with frozen spinach, a vegan chicken cutlet and a bit of italian dressing. Simple, filling and fairly tasty.
Made creamed cabbage soup last night. It was awesome. Made enough for our lunches for the rest of the week, too.
Ugh, I have failed... my husband and son went out to dinner Tuesday night. I work with an accountant to get our end-of-year financials sewn up so we can submit for review. Well, the guy showed up at 3:40 for a 2:00 appointment. We were still in the office at 7:30 pm. My hubby called at 6:30 and said they were too hungry to wait for me, they would grab something. Oy! I didn't really tell them I wanted to be successful in this challenge, and honestly, if the call didn't happen right when the boss was talking balance sheet with the accountant, I could have given dh the rundown of quick meal options. However, that would have been less professional than my saying, "OK, dear, I'll call when I'm on my way home."
Back on the bandwagon, though... We are having roasted chicken tonight. I will pair it with warm potato salad and pea/carrot mix.
We ended up having our leftover chili for lunch and I made hoisin beef lettuce wraps for dinner. I went to the grocery store this afternoon so I wanted something quick and easy for dinner. I actually got James to eat lettuce! That is a minor miracle. I guess he was actually hungry today.
I tried out a Massaman Curry recipe tonight. The 13-year-old *loves* Massaman, but he loves it from one restaurant in particular, so I was a little impressed with myself when he declared mine to be "about the same." :o)
treehugger
1-12-12, 8:45pm
I tried out a Massaman Curry recipe tonight. The 13-year-old *loves* Massaman, but he loves it from one restaurant in particular, so I was a little impressed with myself when he declared mine to be "about the same." :o)
High praise indeed. Good for you!
Last night I made pasta puttanesca with some roasted tomato sauce I made over the weekend, sauteed cabbage on the side. My father-in-law totally randomly brought over half of a large pepperoni pizza, so DH ate that and cabbage, and I had the pasta. Leftovers for dinner tonight and tomorrow.
Saturday I need to make my DH's birthday cake (his yearly request: Thunder & Lightning Cake, a sort of merengue and yellow cake torte). We are having friends over for dinner to celebrate and I was going to make pizza, but he decided he wants to go out for Korean food. Going out is very rare for us, but birthdays count as special occasions. :) Looking forward to it!
Sunday we are going to other friends' house for dinner, and they always cook for us.
Don't know what my weekend cooking projects will be. Probably lemon curd at least, since our lemons look ripe (we have a Meyer). Then I want to make some sort of soup or stew or chili for the freezer.
Kara
Bastelmutti
1-13-12, 11:49am
Kara, great choice by your DH! Korean is one of my favorites. Quite easy to make at home, too, if you have access to a good Asian store, but on the other hand soooo nice to have all those little banchan laid out in front of you! Have a great dinner!
I made my list for next week (days TBD):
* French bread pizzas
* Pasta with red sauce & parmesan
* Rice and tofu/broccoli stir-fry
* Salmon patties & potatoes
* Black bean soup & tostadas or quesadillas
* Possibly a veggie lasagna w/ goat cheese
I am trying for a mostly vegetarian week.
Spinach quiche, muffins and fruit tonight. We generally keep Fridays meatless. The kids made bruschetta for lunch. Really, they did the bulk of the work for it. I did do the parts that involved a hot oven, but they even did the cutting. James even got in on the action, painting the bread with olive oil (and eating several pieces).
Did good today -- was REALLY tempted to go out for lunch, but decided to make clam chowder and cornbread instead. First time making the latter -- used the recipe in How To Cook Everything and my cast iron skillet and it turned out FAB! I was a little doubtful when I saw how much butter there was in the pan after melting 2tbsp, but it all absorbed into the outside edge and made a wonderful golden, crunchy crust. And there were like 8 pieces of bread and no other oil (I used yogurt as the main liquid, plus a little milk) so 2tbsp spread out over that many servings doesn't seem too bad. Kids didn't want the clam chowder, and I thought I would have tons left over, but DH got home JUST as I was putting stuff on the table and he had two bowls. I still have two servings left for lunches for me next week. Kids had a grilled cheese sandwich (DS) and a quesadilla, both with sliced veggies on the side. Pretty wholesome, healthy meal for all of us, though I know the cornbread had more carbs than I should probably have. Did a good workout this afternoon to make up for it somewhat.
Tomorrow we will probably go out for lunch and maybe an iceskate somewhere. I'll do our good old baked chicken and roasted vegetable standby for Sunday dinner.
lhamo
We're going out for a planned dinner tonight, for DH's birthday which is actually over the winter holidays when we were too tired of food to have a big restaurant dinner. I got a groupon for a restaurant in Mpls that buys from local, sustainable farms.
Meals in the coming week -
tofu/broccoli stir-fry with cashews
salmon cakes, roasted potatoes, salad
pork roast, steamed broccoli (2 nights)
roast turkey from the freezer, roasted cauliflower/carrot soup, salad
LOL. I had a dream last night that I had ordered a pizza and posted about it on this thread and some new person came on and crabbed at me about being a weenie. Maybe my subconscious is trying to keep me on track. :)
I think I will make lhamo's chicken tonight. I'll probably serve it with a salad and either rice or spaetzle.
I'm thinking of making these (http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/baked-snowballs-684561/) little mini baked Alaskas for a fun dessert either today or tomorrow. It would be a good science lesson too, since it's the insulation the meringue provides helps keep the ice cream frozen. They are taking a winter survival class this week and one of the things they are talking about is insulation for the retention of heat. This is kind of the opposite, insulation for the retention of cold.
Made chana massala and lentil tagine last night. Had both over brown rice. Lots of leftovers for this weekend. :o)
lhamo that chicken was great! I will definitely make that more often.
Great! All's fair now -- can you post your spaetzle recipe? I haven't had good spaetzle since I was an exchange student in Sindelfingen over 20 years ago.... Not low carb by any means, but I'll cheat for good spaetzle!
lhamo
I have my grandmother's spaetzle recipe, which is the consistency for cutting into the water from a cutting board, if you'd like it. Note that since spaetzle has a fair number of eggs in it, it should have a significantly lower glycemic index than bread or regular pasta.
We changed our dinner plans for today since the roads were likely to be messy, and I made an impromptu Eintopf ("one-pot," German-style peasant fare) of cabbage, potatoes, and chicken sausage. So simple, so warming, and so tasty.
liver from an organic side of beef.
I have my grandmother's spaetzle recipe, which is the consistency for cutting into the water from a cutting board, if you'd like it. Note that since spaetzle has a fair number of eggs in it, it should have a significantly lower glycemic index than bread or regular pasta.
Oooh -- even better! Something made with flour that I can feel not too guilty eating...
Went out for lunch -- hot pot, which was pretty good, but pricey (about $50 for the four of us -- we did bring home quite a bit of leftover veggies, though...). DH actually got an electric hotpot with some of his Air China frequent flyer miles, so we decided next time we have a jonesing for hotpot we'll try making it at home instead. Should be pretty easy -- just need some chicken stock for the base, and thin cut lamb and beef (which I can get all prepared at the local butcher for 1/2 what we paid for it in the restaurant) and some vegetables.
Dinner was baked chicken with roasted cauliflower and baked sweet potatoes. I also grilled some chicken breasts -- DH and DS prefer those, actually, and I wanted to make some extra food because DH will be home with the kids this week. I figure if I have some stuff ready that they can work into a meal or a sandwich easily, the chances he will order takeout for them are lessened. It won't be a huge disaster if they do order in -- we're saving a ton of money/vacation time for later in the year by having him be able to stay home with them this week.
lhamo
I did the typical weekend meal with grandkids - baked chicken, green beans and mashed pots/gravy. Then, meatloaf the next night. Dgd doesn't like to try much, so it was a huge victory when she ate about four bites. I'll take what I can get with that one!
Then, lunch at McD's... really made my weight loss weigh in results fail. I think it's the sodium. My body is really not used to it anymore, so I retained a bunch of water weight for this am's weigh in. Ergh!
treehugger
1-16-12, 11:54am
First time making the latter -- used the recipe in How To Cook Everything and my cast iron skillet and it turned out FAB! I was a little doubtful when I saw how much butter there was in the pan after melting 2tbsp, but it all absorbed into the outside edge and made a wonderful golden, crunchy crust.
lhamo, that is my absolute favorite cornbread recipe! I had tried so many and never found the one. Now I have written in that book, "The one!" on that recipe. I make it with half stoneground organic cornmeal that we get from a local historic mill, and half regular, grocery store cornmeal. It has such excellent flavor and texture (I do not care for sweet, cakey cornbread) and goes with so many things.
Saturday night's Korean dinner was fabulous and very reasonably priced for the great variety and quality of food. I have never cooked Korean food, but maybe I need to start. I did earmark a recipe for vegetable (rice flour) pancake in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. I guess I should start there.
Yesterday I made 3 dozen muffins (chocolate chocolate chip, made with ww flour, applesauce and yogurt and very few chips) and dinner was avgolemono soup with chicken, roasted cauliflour, and cucumber yogurt salad. Nice amount of leftovers for a few more meals.
Kara
lhamo, I'd be happy to post my recipe, but you might want to go with Rosemary's if you don't have a spaetzle making contraption. Mine is a softer batter and can't be cut up. I put it through a spaetzle maker, but you could probably do it through a colander too. Let me know and I'll try to post it.
Oh, and I made the spaghetti and meatballs tonight. We had people over and I went a little nuts. I made two pounds of spaghetti, two pounds of meatballs, two loaves of garlic bread and a large salad. Guess what we're having for lunch tomorrow. :)
Well, Sunday was a fail in the cook at home arena. We were out of town and late heading home so we stopped and ate on the way home. I had put a pork roast in the crockpot before we left so tonight we had shredded pork sandwiches & corn for dinner after Tyler's track meet.
Tomorrow I will cook a chicken & shred the meat and make some stock. I'm thinking of making chicken & biscuits for children.
Bastelmutti
1-17-12, 8:47am
Kara, if you are interested in trying to make Korean food at home, this is a great site with videos and recipes:
http://www.maangchi.com/
Two sites no longer kept up, but containing good recipes:
http://koreancooking.xanga.com/ and
http://mykoreankitchen.com/
This book also has great recipes (and interesting stories about the Korean immigrant experience):
http://www.amazon.com/Eating-Korean-Barbecue-Kimchi-Recipes/dp/0764540785/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_4
I am not Korean, but like to make Korean food. It seems to me that if you have soy sauce, sesame oil, green onions, red pepper powder and paste and a source of good kimchi, you can make just about anything. It's actually pretty simple food, but very tasty & endless variety.
treehugger
1-17-12, 11:57am
Bastelmutti, thanks so much for the suggestions and links. I will make that my next learning experience. We have a giant pan-Asian megamart (Ranch 99) in our area that I haven't been to yet. The small Asian market close to my house that I used to frequent closed (boohoo), and I haven't made the trek to Ranch 99 yet, but this weekend seems like a good time to make a field trip.
I do have soy sauce, etc., but no kimchi.
Kara
Bastelmutti
1-17-12, 12:00pm
We love kimchi, even one of my kids - other people don't like it at all. Most recipes don't actually contain it, but it seems to always be served on the side.
treehugger
1-17-12, 12:07pm
I like it in small amounts. In general, I am not a huge fan of fermented things. Or, "fermentated" as our adorable tween waiter said on Saturday.
Kara
Kara, I search out older cookbooks and more current ones where they mostly use real ingredients. One I really like is The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon, 1976 edition, ISBN 0-07-059636-0. She has recipes from 15+ Asian countries in the book. Every recipe I've tried trom the Korean chapter (or any other) has turned out great.
It's easy to make your own basic kimchi, but if you don't really like it, tseukemono quick pickles which are often more like a salad in a vinaigrette go well with Korean food. Japanese cookbooks usually have a chapter on those.
I think I'm going to try making this "Tuna" Mushroom Casserole (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=17782.0) from VegWeb tonight. After reading some of the reviews, I'll probably throw in some peas and a bit of nutritional yeast. Looks nummy, but I've never actually had tuna casserole before, so I won't really have anything to compare it to. Still, it just seems like a comfort food kind of night, and this uses up some of the many mushrooms I bought over the weekend.
Blackdog Lin
1-17-12, 7:08pm
I know nothing about Korean food, but I have a Japanese stepmom and a killer tsukemono pickle recipe (from her), if anyone would like to try making them. We make them every summer, and have even successfully canned them.
treehugger
1-17-12, 7:41pm
Sure, Blackdog, I'd love to see that recipe.
On a totally different subject from Korean food and Japanese pickles, my caraway seeds just arrived from Penzeys, so I can now try making my first-ever rye bread with the rye and pumpernickel flours DH's uncle gave me. I am planning on using this recipe (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/sandwich-rye-bread-recipe). But I will substitute some leftover caper brine, plus water, I have on hand for the dill pickle juice (I don't like dill pickles).
Kara
Well, success again last night. I had a late day at work, and needed to meet my cousin at the airport. Flights were delayed yesterday due to weather, so I was on alert for a two hour window. When we finally knew the time, it just allowed me enough time to call DS and have him start dinner. Crisis averted! The old me would have grabbed drive through, so this is a small step in the bigger picture.
Tonight, easy pork chops and sides. I am intrigued by all the asian mentions, though, and will spend some time browsing the mentioned websites and make an addition or two to our next week's menus.
Helper had a medical appointment again yesterday afternoon, so I pulled dinner duty. Bought a loaf of french bread on the way home to make french bread pizza for the kids. Knew DH wouldn't be thrilled with that option, so I pulled out a box of frozen salmon fillets I had in the freezer to make for us. Veggies were sliced carrot and cucumber sticks for the kids, and leftover stir fried greens and purple cabbage asian-style slaw for me and DH. Everything turned out good (the slaw went really well with the salmon, actually) and the meal was filling and enjoyed by all. I had everything cooked, served and cleaned up within an hour of getting home, and then took the kids swimming.
lhamo
DH is on a health kick--fantastic because it makes me more motivated to make the things that I like (he's a meat eater, I'm a near-vegetarian.) So he said he was going to make himself a turkey burger with cottage cheese and salad.
I made, for the first time, a cabbage/white bean stew, and I really like it! Took about 15 minutes to prepare and 45 minutes to simmer, but Dean Ornish has a faster version in his book The Spectrum.
treehugger
1-18-12, 8:07pm
OK, done a little poking around at Korean recipes, and it seems that the only specialty ingredient I really need to buy is Korean hot pepper paste, which is good because I prefer not to make recipes that require a lot of extra spending. I am going to try spicy pork (http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/doejibulgogi)first, with pork shoulder, because I can always get that for a good price. This won't happen until the weekend though, when I can go shopping at Ranch 99.
Tonight: pizza, with olive oil dough that I made on Sunday, sauce from the freezer, and whatever toppings the fridge tells me I need to use up.
Kara
It's our anniversary tonight, and hubby asked me to think about where I'd like to go eat. Come to think of it, though, I'd rather stay right here. Think we'll do burritos....
Catherine, your cabbage/white bean stew sounds yummy!
Bastelmutti
1-19-12, 6:51pm
Blackdog Lin, Japanese pickle recipe, yes please!
Kara, I am making Korean chicken stew (I think the recipe I have is a little simpler):
http://mykoreankitchen.com/2006/10/11/spicy-chicken-vegetable-stew-dak-doritang-in-korean/
Currently trying to make black bean soup, but the beans aren't soft yet. Hope this works.
Blackdog Lin
1-19-12, 8:03pm
Cucumber Tsukemono recipe will be posted in 30 minutes in food forum.
And serendipity! Buddy of DH stopped by this evening with cleaned rabbits! Rabbits to eat! I haven't eaten fried rabbit since 1971!
Not only is it free food, but looking forward to a traditional Sunday meal (I threw them in the freezer to hold till Sunday) of fried rabbit and mashed potatoes and rabbit gravy. Will invite said Buddy to partake with us. Hoping I don't mess it up, but really, how can you mess up frying meat and making gravy out of the leavings? I am so looking forward to this meal.
Tsukemono recipe coming.....
treehugger
1-19-12, 8:12pm
Thanks for the (imminent) pickle recipe, Blackdog. Good luck cooking your rabbit meal. I am sure you will do fine. Personally, I can't eat rabbit, since I have had a pet houserabbit, but I won't hold that against you. I also won't tell my greyhounds, since they would be jealous. ;)
Dinner tonight: leftover avgolemono soup (which turned into lemony risotto in the fridge overnight, but it's still tasty) and peas.
Kara
Bastelmutti
1-19-12, 8:35pm
Blerg. Black beans were old & did not soften enough. I ate some anyway, but gave the family something else.
treehugger
1-19-12, 8:53pm
Blerg. Black beans were old & did not soften enough. I ate some anyway, but gave the family something else.
Bummer. I have had that happen. They can be rescued with "refrying" and pureeing, in my experience.
Kara
I made stuffed eggplant today (ground beef, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, herbs and spices). It was sublime.
Tonight, tofu/egg/broccoli/carrot stir-fry. For lunch I have some great leftover black bean soup.
Beans that won't soften can also be rescued by freezing and then finishing the cooking, in my experience.
Bastelmutti
1-20-12, 8:59am
Thx for the bean tips!
mmmm yummy - Korean food! I just love the smell of sesame oil. I don't make much of it though because I don't like to do all that chopping & stuff. I mostly stick to bulgogi & chopchae. Though I have made a good short rib soup & dumpling soup.
Tonight I'm trying a new pizza crust recipe. Pizza for dinner! Yeah!
Last night I made a frittata that used up small amounts of grated cheddar and goat cheese, as well as some egg whites. Spinach-tomato-pepper. I also experimented with rutabaga "fries" - which DD said were better than "regular fries" - not fries at all of course, in either case, but oven-roasted veggies cut into batons. The entire large rutabaga disappeared! Now I have leftover frittata for a couple days' lunch.
last night dh and i cooked up a big batch of roasted veggies which needed to be used up; tasted great and a good feeling to use up what we have
earthshepherd
1-22-12, 7:39am
A friend gave us 50 lbs of potatoes, so after canning some (diced), my husband decided to make a huge pot of mashed potatoes. Last night we made mashed potato cakes with the leftovers, and tonight will probably be shepherd's pie. I could use some of those roasted veggies from babr for the shepherd's pie!
Blackdog Lin
1-22-12, 7:06pm
Well, today (Sunday) it was either get the laundry all done and thoroughly clean DH's bathroom, which included bringing in a ladder to de-cobweb and wipe down/clean all the paneling, or plan a nice rabbit and gravy dinner for DH and buddy. The cleaning won out. But only 'cause we have contractor workmen in the house doing a full re-do of my bathroom and some replacing/refurbishing in DH's bathroom, and I was worried that they were about to call the health dept. on me if I didn't get something done in there. :)
So while we initially were thinking about a take-out pizza, I realized it was easier to throw together some homemade spaghetti sauce than to go pick up a pizza, which is simmering as I type. I even earlier threw together some banana-oatmeal muffins (black bananas needed to be used) to go in the freezer for DH for a somewhat healthy treat for him this week. I don't know what got into me today! Wish it would happen more often.....
breakfast, roasted sweet potatoes with cinnamon and hazelnuts. I roasted the sweet potatoes last night, so this was a really easy breakfast.
lunch, leftover frittata and sauteed cabbage
dinner, DH and DD had fried rice with peanuts, heavy on the veggies; I had leftover tofu & broccoli with black bean sauce, no rice. Cleaning out the fridge (the rice was leftover from Friday's stir-fry, too).
tomorrow - the last of the sweet potatoes for breakfast; DD is taking chicken-spaetzle-veg stew for lunch; DH and I will have salads, which I just finished prepping for morning packing. I'm making a cashew-based ranch-style dressing right now. Dinner is a spinach-zucchini lasagna that I froze a couple of weeks ago; I have a late afternoon meeting and will just have to put it in the oven and prepare some brussels sprouts for roasting.
treehugger
1-23-12, 1:16pm
I had a productive weekend, even with not feeling well on Saturday and pretty much only getting the shopping/errands done on that day and nothing else.
On Saturday, I sold some books at Half Price Books and while I was waiting for them to process, I happened across a Korean cookbook. Fate! ;) OK, so not really, but I did buy it, which turned out to be lucky since I would not have been able to find the proper red pepper paste with the description from the book. After the bookstore (my cookbook was "free" since I sold some books first), I went to a horrendously crowded Ranch 99 (hello, Saturday before Chinese New Year, ugh) and found my Korean ingredients.
Sunday, I made kimchi with napa cabbage. It now has to sit at room temp for 40 hours to begin fermenting. I will make spicy pork and vegetable pancake to serve with the kimchi later in the week.
I also made my first-ever loaf of rye bread (haven't tasted it yet, but it rose very well and smells and looks good), a crock-pot full of white beans, and some focaccia that I took over to my inlaws for dinner last night.
Kara
Found some vegan naan at the grocery store and am thinking of making chana masala and something else to go with it tonight. Hmm.... Of course, I've also been transcribing some yummy-looking soup recipes from a library book, so maybe....
I'm thinking of trying a recipe for Peking Duck I found this week. I'm not sure if I really will or not, but it seems like a fun thing to try and we could tie it in with Chinese New Year. It didn't look nearly as complicated as the Julia Child duck recipe my dad and I always used to make when I was a kid.
I have this week's menu planned out, but I might make a few adjustments. Next week Bella wants to start working on learning to make sauces. I found a series of videos on How to Make the 5 French Mother Sauces. That would be a good starting point. They really are mostly pretty simple. Next week's menu will be planned somewhat around that project.
Next week Bella wants to start working on learning to make sauces. I found a series of videos on How to Make the 5 French Mother Sauces. That would be a good starting point.
Stella, for the Hollandaise sauce, see if you can find the eggs in your area that are pasteurized in the shell. That way Bella could do an authentic version without the health risks.
I bet she will be really fascinated about how many interesting soups can be made using the white sauce base or gourmet Mac & Cheese etc,
That's a good idea Amaranth. I was also considering seeing if my cousin who has chickens has any eggs available for sale so they would at least be very fresh.
I think Bella will definitely enjoy seeing all the ways the sauces can be used. It's a good basic cooking skill, I think. Plus it's good for your confidence. I don't make hollendaise sauce very often, for example, but I like knowing that when I want to, I can. I'm going to see if I can interest Cheyenne in the lesson also.
It amazes me how many adults I know who can't make a white sauce. On the plus side, seeing Cheyenne and Bella learn to cook is inspiring some of my friends. If a 6 1/2 year old and an almost 8 year old can do it, so can they.
Oh, my gosh. For my something else to go along with naan and chana masala, I made dal shorva (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=30042.0), a creamy lentil soup. Wow. I am totally impressed. I think next time, I'll saute the onions in just a bit of coconut oil and cut down on the fat, but other than that, it was fabulous! :o) Of course, I forgot (!) to cook rice for the chana masala, so had to make quinoa at the last minute, but it was still a nice dinner.
dado potato
1-24-12, 11:10am
Stella:
Happy New Year. I understand that it takes days to make Peking duck.
On the other hand, if you have a braised fish, prepared with the the head still on, you could partially cover the fish eye with a leaf of parsley. Then you could call it "Peeking" fish.
folkypoet
1-24-12, 11:14am
if you have a braised fish, prepared with the the head still on, you could partially cover the fish eye with a leaf of parsley. Then you could call it "Peeking" fish.
:laff:
treehugger
1-24-12, 5:20pm
I'm so pleased with my first loaf of rye bread (recipe from King Arthur Flour). I made it Sunday and tasted it last night. I'm not generally a huge rye bread fan, but my tastes are changing and I had never had homemade rye bread before. It made a really delicious sandwich with dry salami and mustard. I used a combination of light rye, pumpernickel, and bread flour, plus caraway seeds (which I did not like the smell of, so I was kinda worried) and caper brine (instead of the pickle juice called for in the recipe) for flavor.
And I just got a text from DH, who is working at home today so just made his lunch, that said, "Awesome rye bread. Best ever!" And he is a big rye bread fan.
It's so nice to add one more thing to the list titled, "Why buy it when I can make it?"
Kara
treehugger
1-25-12, 4:54pm
Dinner last night was panko crusted chicken, mashed potatoes (using up some I had baked the week before), and steamed artichokes that were getting a tad past their prime in the fridge. It all tasted better than that description sounds. I just had leftovers for lunch, and there's one more portion at home for another meal.
The kimchi I made and started fermenting on Sunday was moved to the fridge this morning, per my cookbook's instructions. I opened the crock to smell it and it smelled pretty good, spicy and earthy (even though I didn't bury it in the ground! ;)). I didn't taste it because I had just brushed my teeth, but I will tonight. I have no idea how to tell if it's ready, but I guess tasting it is a start.
I will probably do a Korean dinner on Thursday or Friday, with spicy pork and vegetable pancake. Oh, and some sort of quick pickles (like Blackdog Lin's) to use up a cucumber and a half that need to be eaten. And, hopefully, the kimchi will be good eats by then.
Kara
Kara, the joke around here is - how can you tell when kimchi has gone [I]bad[I] ?
treehugger
1-25-12, 8:08pm
Kara, the joke around here is - how can you tell when kimchi has gone [I]bad[I] ?
Yes, that's exactly what I was wondering. Kinda like, how can you tell when bagpipes are out of tune? ;)
Kara
P.S. I love bagpipe music.
my family and i have been pretty good about eating at home more. we made some home made soup earlier this week and it came out great. we try and pack our own lunches when we go to the local ski mountain on the weekend for the kids' skiing lessons. we haven't had take out food or eaten out in a restaurant for a while now. hopefully we can continue the trend.
I made a large pot of kidney bean & butternut squash chili for Wednesday soup and craft time. Unfortunately, it had incendiary heat from the new dried peppers I used! I was able to tame it with the additions of some cooked oatmeal I had in the fridge and a little applesauce. In fact, it was just perfect and received rave reviews. We had that for dinner as well last night, with some salad, and will probably have it again tonight since the whole family likes it.
We had our first lesson in sauces last night. Bella loves my mom's chicken casserole and I had some chicken to use up from the night before, so we made bechamel sauce for the casserole. Cheyenne helped too.
Tonight I'm making Lhamo's chicken again and tomorrow we're having ginger soy salmon with sesame broccoli and carrots. I am feeling soooo much better eating low carb. Last night I could really feel the difference. I was much less energetic after dinner even though my blood sugar was technically OK. I am hoping the four months I have left of pregnancy can establish this as a habit.
Made a beef roast and veggies last night. Seasoned and seared both with salt, pepper, and garlic. Deglazed the pan with a little red wine, added some beef broth, covered and roasted for four hours. Sooooooo good!
Tonight is udon noodles with peanut sauce, avocado sushi and, for desert, coffee cake (yeah, that's how I roll). Husband scored a job interview, and I think that calls for a little celebration. :o)
I made chicken cutlets using Mark Bittman's recipe. Excellent!
iris lily
1-26-12, 11:32pm
I cut up mushrooms and onions and sauteed them, intended to make a soup, but somehow the mix looked better for small steaks. so I threw them in and it was good!
Made myself a steak last night. That was a nice treat.
Just cooking up a big pot of chicken curry. I threw in potatoes and carrots, and will eat it with brown rice, so not exactly low carb, but it is cold and I was craving something hot, spicy and savory so there it is. I'll grill some chicken breasts and roast a big pan of vegetables tomorrow to make up for my sins.
lhamo
Bastelmutti
1-28-12, 7:33pm
We just had mushrooms and onions, too - on homemade hamburgers with frozen fries. I love mushrooms!
Lemon-dill tilapia, and roasted potatoes and cauliflower. Inadvertently, a very white meal. Had a huge, colorful salad at lunch, though!
cooking at home is never a challenge for me. Till this weekend. A take and bake pizza and take out sandwiches the next day!!! I just felt too tired to cook anything. I think the challenge for me, is what to make when I feel tired and the idea of cooking is just abhorrent.
Tofu tacos last night with black beans and fresh vegetables.
Today's lunch soup, for the weekly gathering, is navy bean - just got it started and put into the slow cooker.
Tonight we'll clean out the leftovers in the fridge. Tomorrow I'm roasting an organic turkey that I bought around Thanksgiving and kept in the freezer, so on Friday we'll have turkey-veg soup.
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