December Cook at Home

[Florence]

This evening we are having bacon sandwiches and oven fries. (This is pretty much our usual Saturday evening meal. )

What's cooking at your house?

[Jilly]

I tried going vegan again and my diabetes took a beating, so I am back eating animal protein. I bought turkey wings from the cheap market...no judgment, it really is economical...so, anyway, I bought turkey wings from the economical market (yeah, liking that much better) and roasted them.

I ate the tips first, my favorite part, and they were really tough. Same thing for the other sections. I could cut through the skin with a sharp knife, but the meat was unchewable. Tossed them in the refrigerator and had a pear and some popcorn for dinner. Today I tossed them into the slow cooker with vegetables and the soup is wonderful. There will be enough for tomorrow along with leftover rice.

But, bacon sandwiches!!!!! That sounds so good. I will bet the economical market has bacon. Yep.

[bunnys]

Sauteed chik'n sandwich w/pepper relish, mayo and lettuce and Tostitos Artisan chips.

This was the same thing I had for lunch.

Tomorrow I'm making spaghetti sauce. I was going to do it tonight but so tired after doing the leaves in the front today...

[bunnys]

Made the spaghetti sauce, garlic bread and spinach for dinner tonight--and many nights stretching far out into the week.

Also made a blueberry/cherry cobbler to eat this week as well. And yesterday I made a chocolate/chocolate chip "bread" for the same reason.

I think I'm ready for the week.

[Rosemary]

Turkey wings make very flavorful soup. I buy them sometimes just for that purpose.

Tonight, turkey from the freezer, steamed broccoli, homemade cranberry sauce. Homemade chocolate pudding for dessert.
Tomorrow, turkey/black bean chili and salad.
Tuesday, crockpot roasted pork loin, steamed carrots and broccoli.
Wednesday, leftovers.

[treehugger]

Friday night I made risotto with the last of the Thanksgiving turkey, and mushrooms. Saturday was my company holiday party (good catered food!), and yesterday was my annual marathon Christmas cookie baking day with friends. So, dinner last night was pork ragu from the freezer, pasta, and salad. Leftovers of that for tonight, too.

Kara

[domestic goddess]

This month has started pretty well for me. I made a breakfast casserole, which dsil loves and made a pot roast, which he says is another of his favorites. I don't usually do so well at picking his favorites. Have had some leftovers for a quick breakfast when I get home from work. Tacos tomorrow night. I really want some chicken, but I am the only one who eats it. Need to get started on Christmas baking but have been too tired after working all night.

[Rosemary]

I was at Trader Joe's today and they had uncured hams, so I got a small one -- DH and DD love ham. I cut all the meat off the bone and froze several meals' worth (it's a small ham, but we eat small portions of meat) and we had some tonight with some roasted brussels sprouts & carrots and salad.
Friday - using the ham bone for some split pea soup.. first of the season. Will have salad too.
Saturday - kid night at our house, watching a friends' boys. So pasta will be on the menu since one of them hardly eats anything else (sensory issues). I'll skip the pasta and have some of the leftover zucchini/potato/pesto soup I made for my craft luncheon yesterday.
Sunday - we're staying late at church for DD's violin lesson, so will bring our lunch - leftover split pea soup. DH and I will go out for dinner while our friend watches DD (date night swap this weekend). We do, of course, have a substantial discount certificate for the restaurant we're going to.

[treehugger]

Ugh, have not had time or energy to cook this week (since Sunday). Been subsisting on leftovers (which are now all gone), bean burritos (always have fixing for those in the house), and PB&J. Got lovely chard, beets, and sweet potatoes in the produce box on Tuesday, but I don't know when I will be cooking those. *sigh* Stressful work and school work is sapping my everything. Haven't eaten out though...

Kara

[Florence]

Made a humongous pot of pinto beans and kielbasa sausage. I should have made a pan of cornbread to go with it but i didnt. I will divide it up and freeze most of it. Good eating on a cold winter night. The problem is, though, it is 82 degrees outside right now...

[ApatheticNoMore]

Had cream of potato and salmon soup the last two days: chopped up chunks of 2 potatoes, 1/3 pound of salmon, white part of a leek, bunch of dill, some cream, water, salt, pepper. Got ambitious yeseterday and made a bunch of veggie broth for future use mostly of old veggies and some wine that were going to waste.

[Rosemary]

DH and I postponed our date night on Sunday because of the snow storm. We cleaned out the fridge for dinner.
Last night, broccoli-carrot-tofu stir fry with orange sauce
Tonight, DD has an orchestra concert so it will be something with easy clean-up as we need to leave immediately after dinner. I haven't decided yet - might cook something early in the day so we can just reheat it later. Or I might make some lentil soup and serve it with salad. Since it's only 12 degrees outside now, it is highly likely to be a soup sort of day. That pretty much applies to any day between Thanksgiving and the spring equinox when you live in Minnesota.

My breakfast this morning is leftover stir-fry with some leftover roasted butternut squash and a sprinkling of sliced almonds. Very tasty!

[bunnys]

Made Kung Pao Tofu yesterday for dinners this week.

Also, made apple butter on Sunday.

[treehugger]

Another week that makes me thankful for past cook-at-home-marathons to stock my freezer. It's a beautiful thing having dinner only be a defrost and reheat away, when there simply isn't time to cook between work, school, other commitments.

This week's mostly from the freezer menu: white bean & kielbasa stew, with Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes (even I have have 5 minutes!) peasant bread; chili mac, with chard salad (even I have time to make a salad); chicken adobo (frozen raw, in the marinade, but it can cook while I am studying for my final on Wednesday) and rice.

Kara

[lucas]

I need to be taking some inspiration from this thread! I'm amidst the chaos of moving house, and as a result I've fallen back into eating convenience food and ordering in the past few days... expensive and unhealthy! yuk! I feel a vegetable stirfry coming on tomorrow... :~)

[Rosemary]

Yesterday's lunches were various leftovers from the fridge and freezer.
Dinner was a red bean/pork/green chile chili that was quite good, and salad.
Today I'm roasting a couple of chickens that I had in the freezer (less oven time and less total mess to do both at once). Will make stock as well.
Right now I'm cooking the last 2 winter squash that I purchased at the farmers' market. Will have some for breakfast and will freeze the rest.

[treehugger]

My brother and his girlfriend are coming over for dinner tomorrow. Friday snuck up on me, so I didn't a plan. Luckily my brother texted me while I was walking to my car to leave work, and all the way home I thought about what I have on hand and what sounds good and what works for vegetarians and meat eaters. I settled on red beans and rice (Cajun seasoning), kielbasa on the side, and sauteed beet greens. I'm working at home tomorrow, so a perfect day to have something simmering on the stove. I will also probably bake broa (Portuguese yeasted corn bread), to round out the meal (Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes recipe).

The beet greens, carrots and celery are all from last week's produce box and need to be used. Beans and rice are always in the pantry (just put the beans on to soak) and there's kielbasa in the freezer. We even have cookies already baked for dessert.

Rosemary, I always roast 2 chickens at a time, too. So efficient, and it's great having cooked chicken in the freezer for quick meals later.

Kara

[Rosemary]

Dinner last night was roasted chicken with gravy, roasted potatoes, and steamed broccoli/carrots.
Tonight, cauliflower gratin, salad, and leftover pork/chile stew and roasted potatoes. Cleaned out the fridge.
Tomorrow night we'll have Asian-style noodle soup using some of the stock I made yesterday. Instead of rice noodles, I use bean thread noodles, and I lightly steam various veggies to add to it. This soup smells fabulous when cooking - the star anise scents the whole house.

[Rosemary]

I made veg enchiladas last night. These are a family favorite, and though they are a little time-consuming due to the rolling process, they are really tasty - and a way to get a lot of vegetables into one meal.
Today's lunch, homemade chicken noodle soup for everyone but me - I'll have salad (nothing against chicken soup but I am not eating wheat).
Today's dinner, stir-fry with broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, celery, and some of the chicken that I poached to make the stock for the soup. This is planned because it's quick cooking and quick clean-up, and we are opening gifts with MIL tonight.

[SteveinMN]

Tonight is taken care of (DW's family) but Christmas with my family is at our house. We're cooking roasted turkey, celery stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, a white-wine-based gravy, and an apple-cranberry confit/relish. The other dishes will be brought by the family. For some reason, my interest in cooking has been a bit low these past few weeks (crazy schedules, I think). It'll be nice to get back behind the apron!

[treehugger]

My poor DH got food poisoning on Thursday (not at home), so he has been pretty much eating rice, plain chicken, bananas. I have red Russian kale, beets and beet greens, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes that need to be cooked this week (all from the produce box) before we go out of town on Friday night. But since it will pretty much only be me eating those things, I need to make things that can be frozen.

Last night I made chicken chowder (using past their prime potatoes, and some roasted chicken that was on hand) and it turned out well. I will have that for a few lunches/dinners and freeze the remainder.

Tonight there were tentative plans to go to FIL's for dinner, but I don't think DH is up to that yet. Tomorrow, we are going to MIL's and bringing vegetable sticks (carrots, celery) with hummus, and cookies.

Kara

[Tradd]

Going to a friend's for Christmas dinner tomorrow. I was asked to bring a dessert, so I'm making an apple crisp from ingredients already on hand. I'm also taking Brie, cheddar, and a selection of crackers.

[treehugger]

A batch of yogurt failed last night (6th batch, 1st failure). So, I am now making my first attempt at ricotta with that milk. Waste not, want not. I'm working at home today, so, projects that basically just sit on the stove unattended are a good way to multi-task.

Kara

[Rosemary]

We've finished all our leftovers and emptied the fridge of the most recent grocery excursion. Today I'm making split pea soup for lunch, and a wild rice/veg salad as well as a green salad to take to a cousin's for dinner (basically, supplying my own dinner since the other food there will be stuff I can't eat). Will also take some grapes so the kids have something healthy to fill up on ... at gatherings of this part of the family almost everything is wheat-and-sugar-based.

[treehugger]

The ricotta was a success (and supereasy), but now I need to use it. We are leaving town for 4.5 days tonight, so I am in aggressive use-up-all-the-perishables mode. Good thing I have been working from home all week.

I have two small butternut squash that I plan to slice and roast and turn into lasagna with that ricotta (and then it will go into the freezer). I made this (http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2008/08/red-russian-kale-and-red-onion-savory.html#)for dinner last night. Dunno why it's called Savory Breakfast Squares, when anyone can see it's a frittata. It was good, and a nice way to use CSA kale and red onion. The rest of that will be dinner tonight before we get on the road.

Kara