So...whats for dinner?

eric95us

Earlier in the week, Sharon made a sauceless spaghetti-tomato-garlic dinner and then a couple of nights ago I made a lentil "curry" with coconut cream. DD texted me the idea and it turned out pretty good.

Last night I made a pie crust and then a pumpkin pie.

...sorry to hear about your classmate. It sure does push home the idea of "don't put things off for too long".

carolehalston

Last night we had navy bean soup made with the leftover navy beans with ham. Also a tossed salad and cornbread. We both enjoyed the meal.

BringOn2017

Sad sobering news Lacey.... More so at this time of year. Always so upsetting for the family when someone passes on unexpectedly as you are so unprepared. Though really I always feel it's the best way to go fullfilling dreams to the end rather than after months of suffering.

Yesterday was vegetable soup. So nice on a chilly day.

DD had her art lesson and after that  we stopped in one of the local coffee shops for a juice and meat ball arancini. Tonight my kitchen will be closed! So it will likely be fresh locally caught fish from the local fish and chip shop. 

KatyK

Hi Everyone. I have not posted for a bit. So this last week we bought an Instant Pot and have been experimenting. Pinto beans were great but I made two meals that I typically do in the Dutch Oven and honestly both are better in the Dutch Oven. I think some things are meant to cook slow. I used the pressure cooker for these meals. They were good but not as good as Dutch Oven. Any tips would be appreciated or recipes for the Instant Pot.

Went out for dinner at a nice restaurant the other day with friends. A Christmas get together. We had been to this restaurant once years ago and never went back. Again, it was O.K. I sometimes do not enjoy going out and spending a lot of money and it’s just not that great. These are places that are supposed to be “nice” but I think they are mediocre. Anyone else feel this way? I got sole, with a rice and green beans. The sole was mushy, rice was over seasoned and beans were not that great and I love fresh green beans. The best part was the lobster bisque. My DH and I would rather go out for lunch or good pub food. I would rather buy some nice quality food and wine and enjoy it at home.

This week I’ll make a few Christmas cookies not a lot. I have two favorites - triple ginger ( uses fresh ginger, candied and powdered) and a Swedish Dream which is a rich butterycookie with a little coconut. I’m also thinking of making Jelly Kakar and using my mom’ recipe. She was Swedish and a wonderful cook. And I need to get ready for Christmas Eve at our house. Our tradition is cheese fondue. I love it! Hope everyone is doing well and having some Christmas cheer!🎄

ChiSandy

America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated has an Instant Pot cookbook. I'm tempted to buy one--I have a conventional slow cooker which works well for the (very) few things I make in it, but I really dislike my stovetop pressure cooker (despite Alton Brown's recommendation of the WMF brand). All it's good for is boiling water for pasta--and I now use a microwave Fasta Pasta for that. The concept of a pressure cooker married to a rice cooker, yogurt maker and even semi-slow cooker sounds promising.

auntienance

Never used the pressure cooker as a slow cooker. Reviews of that function are not promising. You all know I use mine 3 or more times a week. But not today! Today was oven time. Baked three batches of cookies that I made the dough for yesterday - salted chocolate chunk, sweet dreams (a choc chip variation and DH's favorite) and chewy oatmeal bars. No rugelach or cuccidatti this year - not enough motivation. Also in the freezer are several loaves of a cranberry walnut yeast bread destined for gifts.

I'm marinating a brisket to serve when DBIL and DSIL come to visit Wednesday. Also planning chicken cacciatore for another meal. Both of these are destined for the pressure cooker on the designated days.

I think I've finished food shopping for the holidays. I think. The annual Christmas eve day "grazers" buffet menu is planned and I will start making a few things that can be done ahead of time. It's a day when family and friends can drop in at will and grab a bite. Christmas eve dinner is our traditional rib roast which I've already deboned, retied and frenched before freezing. I'll reverse sear it that evening.

All this food prep and planning have robbed me of motivation for tonight's dinner, so it's toasted ravioli with marinara (that I also made yesterday. In the pressure cooker!) I'll make a salad to go with it.

Sad news about your friend Lacey. (((Hugs))) to you.

carolehalston

Seems like Nance's house is the place to be for us food lovers! Good things happening there.

On my arrival home this afternoon, I sauteed fine-diced carrot and celery and mushrooms in olive oil and a small amount of ghee. The next step will be adding leftover cooked brown rice for our side dish. I marinated chicken parts in buttermilk for about an hour. Now they're breaded with Italian panko and roasting in the oven. And smelling good. I've been craving oven fried chicken since Yance mentioned it a while back.

CeliaC

Dinner was Trader Joe's Black Truffle Alfredo sauce, mixed with zucchini noodles, shredded leftover roast chicken breast & some sauteed baby bella shrooms. It was absolutely delicious!

illimae

Dinner last night was Outback Surf n Turf (celebrating a mostly good brain MRI) and tonight is a big salad topped with ranch dressing and sesame sticks.

No holiday-ish dinners for us, our friends host bbq’s on occasion but that’s the extent of it.

CeliaC

Oh, by the way, I am also a Cheetos (puffs variety) fan. Local grocery store sells very small bags for 50 cents each. Have also tried the "natural" white cheddar ones. Sometimes treat myself as the Walgreens where I obtain anastrozole scrip sells these.

Beaverntx

Lacey, so sorry to hear about your friend.

Tonight's dinner was reheated chicken cordon bleu (left over from DH's model airplane club's Christmas dinner) with small baked potatoes and green beans -- nothing fancy but easy and fillings we are still unpacking and sorting. That's down to two rooms so progress is being made!

I'm also still on the learning curve with my Instant Pot. Have used it to cook frozen chicken breasts, both plain and seasoned; sweet brown rice; black bean soup and a turkey breast. As a slow cooker have been very happy with overnight steel cut oats. Tried it for chili and decided making that in the soup pot on the stove doesn't really take longer and I can keep an eye on it!

Looking for IP recipes and cookbook recommendations.

Don't bother with the Instant Pot recipes for two book--the recipes that looked interesting to me were for things I would want leftovers (or is that planned overs?) and they truly were for two servings!I

Have a great rest of the weekend.

Moonflwr912

hoo boy. Just when things quiet down...

Everybody is fine now. But Thursday night or I should say early Friday Morning, i got to bed ay 2:00. Got a phone call at 3 am. I knew it was my daughter, so i grabbed for my phone bleary eyed. Missed it and reached further. Promptly fell out of bed, by way of endtable. Laying on the floor in pain, cause my foob and left side hit the table on the way down, i missed the call and had to call her back. Shes crying, shes been throwing up for hours and has a bad headache and is dizzy. Her husband is coming from 3rd shift to take her in to the hospital. So i need to get there so i can watch the 4 year old. I hang up. And spend 20 minutes trying to get myself off the floor, as i cant get my feet under me. My blanket was under me and everytime i tried to get up i slipped and fell down. Finally i woke up enough to scoot my body off the stupid blanket, plant my knees off the blanket, and push up enough to get vertical. Then drive the 40 miles to my daughter praying. Get there, send them off for IVs, tests and whatever else, and crawl in bed. Little one gets up at 4:30. Try to get her to sleep. Not happening. Then she starts throwing up. Daughter finally comes home, still pregant, thank goodness, at noon. I get home and fall asleep. The of course i eat and go to bed. What, I bet you are asking did I eat? I ate instant grits. Yes. Yes i did. Do you know that it takes more than one sleep to make up for missing a nights rest? LOL. And, BTW, i have the prettiest purple side and walk around home holding my breast, because it hurts! Oh joy.

Then on Saturday we had to go to my Son in laws graduation. He got hus Associates in Accounting. Geeze, i feel old. Cause after the graduation, i wasnt cooking so we stopped at Perkins. Came home fell asleep watching TV. Husband see this and takes himself to bed. Leaving me to sleep. Waje up at 11 pm. Get meyself in bed. Now I cant sleep. LOL. Drag out a book and read til i can fall asleep again, sometime aftrr 3 am... LOL

Supper today was squash, brussels sprouts, and chicken. Im going to bed early today.

I hope you are all doing well. Goodnight

MinusTwo

Moon - great to hear from you but sorry about your fall & all the confusion.

Dinner at Eddie V's with my nephew & wife last night. It's one of only two of three times they've gone out without their baby - now 3 years old. We sat in the lounge to hear the jazz combo and ate & drank & talked from 6pm to 10pm. Delicious bread & butter kept coming the entire time. I must have had 8 or 10 pieces. (oink, oink and up 3 extra lbs today) The bar pour for G&T was Hendriks Gin, and for Old Fashioned's it was Maker's Mark. Lobster tacos, crab cakes (7" across), Ahi tartare, lobster bisque, heirloom tomato salads, Crab fried rice...then Godiva Cake and a Bananas Foster that was flamed at the table with 151 rum. Today I only ate some oatmeal and one slice of left-over bread.

Lunch tomorrow with a friend at La Madelaine. Likely French Onion Soup. Or Quiche.

ChiSandy

Monica, hope you're not feeling too stiff & sore today, and that your daughter's hyperemesis doesn't impact her pregnancy.

This weekend, food, food & more food. Last night was the Advocate Christ Med. Ctr. holiday party at the Blackstone Hotel. OK passed apps (veggie egg rolls, bacon-wrapped dates, mushroom vol-au-vents and mini beef Wellingtons). Dinner was tomato bisque, short ribs over truffled grits with baby zucchini & romesco cauliflower, and petis fours (dark chocolate, carrot cake, and lemon-pistachio meringue tartlets). We stayed over at the hotel--the hospital picked up our room and valet parking. Then this afternoon, drove to Burr Ridge for the Holy Cross party, which was a buffet. So-so, although the roast & omelets were excellent. Tonight, ordered out from a new restaurant, Bar Roma. Cacio e pepe (housemade tonnarelli), carciofi alla Giudia (Roman Jewish-style deep-fried artichokes), suppli (rice balls in marinara) and a mixed salad with grilled shrimp. The artichokes weren't well-trimmed, and the outer leaves were like chewing cud. I guess if you want an authentic Roman Jewish dish, you need to go to a restaurant in Rome's Ghetto (which I have, three times--maybe I'm just spoiled).

carolehalston

Moon, what a nightmarish night! Your description was so vivid I kept wanting to help you up! Glad that everything seems to be ok in the aftermath.

Minus, your dinner out with nephew and his wife made me want to join you. The food and situation sound most enjoyable.

Sandy, I definitely could not handle being offered all that food. I would probably end up needing medical expertise for overeating.

I was happy with our meal at home last night. I turned the two leftover oven-fried chicken thighs into "sorta chicken parm" by heating them in the oven with diced tomatoes on top and then melting grated cheese on top of the tomatoes. Our salad was really good. Cold steamed asparagus over leaf lettuce with avocado and blue cheese chunks on top and mayo for dressing. Another side was a small baked potato with butter. Dessert was two dark chocolate kisses from the bowl on the coffee table. Then two more.

I may cook some variety of beans for tonight. I have an assortment of Camellia dry beans in the pantry and also frozen ham steaks in the freezer for seasoning. I want to try out the pressure cooker for beans. If I mention beans for dinner, dh will want to cook them on the stove top. Not a bad alternative.

KatyK

I used the instant pot yesterday to make a roast for my daughter’s birthday dinner. It came out quite good using it in slow cooker mode but took much longer than I expected. Also made delmonico potatoes and green beans. Don’t often get good green beans this time of year but these looked and were delicious. Got them at our local co-op, think I need to go get more! I’m a big green bean fan. Always have them in my garden but this year the deer really got after them and I was not motivated enough to do much about it. today is our daughter’s official birthday and we will take her out to lunch. This restaurant has good pizza and sushi ( funny combination). I’ll get pizza and salad but my daughter loves sushi. I used to like sushi bu ever since I’ve been on these meds it just doesn’t sound good.

Lacey12

Thanks for the kind condolences on the loss of my friend. Her sudden death has really hit hard in contrast to the goodbye we had just said to our other good friend in our neighborhood. He truly had a “good death” after terminating his difficult cancer treatments, which were ravaging his body. He was at peace when he died after having had so many people who loved him visit over his last two months, and a loving wife who created a peaceful, accepting space for that to happen. My college friend had a more complicated life and sudden, traumatic death but had recently found her biofather’s family, which apparently resulted in a meaningful meeting with those relatives. I can’t help but wonder if she was ready to leave the earth now since she had been searching for her birth parents for her entire adult life. Who knows....I feel so badly for her adult sons and boyfriend who I’m sure felt helpless on the boat as this was happening.

On to happier topics...

I am impressed with your holiday cooking and baking, Nance! I did spend Friday and Saturday getting a lot of pizzelles made. I had the deadline of having a tray of them prepared for a neighborhood holiday party we attend each year. This year I made some smaller ones with no anise seeds (just anise extract) and “baked” them in an iron I rarely use that makes four at a time. Now I remember why I rarely use that iron....using my “two cookie iron” is a much easier process. I used that one for my “with seed” dough, and prefer the look and taste of them. I’ll probably make choc chip/walnut cookies, Italian iced cookues and some fudge and call it a day (or season!).

Moon, I hope you are healing and that your DD is feeling much better. What a scary event.

Last night I baked turkey cutlets and made some of them into a quick turkey cutlet parmesan meal. We had that with little ear pasta and a green salad. Carole I loved reading how you count your Hershey’s Kisses! Such a loyal WW grad! Wish I had your discipline!

The Instant Pot talk gave me an idea for a Christmas gift for me.....an Instant Pot cookbook! Do most of you have or know of good ones? Getting the cookbook would certainly compel me to get the IP to my kitchen counter.

So many interesting meals out folks are enjoying....especially that marathon one for you, Minus. Yum!

I may make turkey meatballs for tonight, or use the leftover baked cutlets for some dish other than parm. Last week, our local store had all sorts of cuts of turkey....must be from the turkeys that never made it to Thanksgiving tables.

Katy, a pizza and sushi offering restaurant would work well for DH and me. He loves sushi and I would go for the pizza

Moonflwr912

thx all. I am feeling bruised but better. Im still holding onto my foob when i need a deep breath though. Going to my daughters to help tonight. Ill be able to be home in bed tonight. Supper will be leftover salmon with teriaki sauce, potatos and greenbeen side dish, whenever i get hone. Unless i eat what ever at my daughters house. Oh well. We will see! LOL. She just texted me to come over, so of course i said ok. LOL.

LCey, I missed your friends passing. Im sorry. Its hard to loose a friend suddenly. Hugs!

Chi, what a wonderful dinner that sounds like. Yumo.

Carole, there sure are a lot of instantpot cookbooks. Hope you get a good one.

Minus, sounds like your enjoying being with family. Yay.

Katy, pizza and sushi does sound like a weird combo, but whatever works! LOL

Much love to all

eric95us

Ouch Moon.

carolehalston

DH cooked the beans yesterday, large limas seasoned with ham. I cooked brown rice and made a side dish with thin-sliced brussel sprouts sauteed in olive oil and small amount of ghee, then flavored with balsamic vinegar. My goal with the brussel sprouts was to cook them in a way dh would like. He did like them more than I did.

A new day and the daily question: So...what's for dinner?

SpecialK

Tonight is a curry with full fat coconut milk, chicken, julienned carrot, yellow pepper, red onion - over brown rice, with chopped cashews

KatyK

Tonight will be lasagna again. I made two pans of lasagna a week or so ago and froze them. I gave one pan to friends for a Christmas gift and kept one. Figured if I was making lasagna I may as well make two! And I’m glad I did, nice to have dinner made. I’ll make a little green salad to go on the side. Better go check what wine I have

MinusTwo

This evening - absolutely delicious left over crab fried rice served on steamed spinach that needed to be eaten. I'm full as a tick and still have one more meal of the fried rice left. Not to mention a large piece of Quiche Florentine from a La Madelaine's holiday get together yesterday.

Another seasonal lunch tomorrow at a "down home comfort cooking" restaurant/cafe that's been in business for 46 years. I'm deciding between fried shrimp & chicken fried steak. Hoping they will trade the French Fries for coleslaw.

eric95us

Tonight was a chicken breast in a peanut sauce.

The curry recipe I made earlier came from DD in the form of a text message. It's more of a list of ingredients than a recipe as spices are all "to taste".

1 can chickpeas (1 pound can)
1 can coconut cream (13 fl ounce can)
1 cup red lentils
3/4 cup of vegetable broth
Sriracha sauce to taste
salt to taste
pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
onion powder to taste
pinch turmeric

Bring the broth to a boil. Add the chickpeas, coconut cream, spices and lentils. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Stir and serve.

The sriracha..."a little bit goes a long way"...be careful.... :-)

The other spices...I used about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, about 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and about 3/4 teaspoon of the garlic and onion powders. The turmeric is really just a pinch. All of these measurements were made using the highly accurate "dump some in the palm of my hand, decide that it looks about right and dump it in to the liquid" method.

DD said she adds spinach to the curry and lets it cook for a couple of minutes before serving. I didn't have spinach, so I left it out and I think it turned out well.

BringOn2017

Oh gosh Moonflower what a terrible experience. Hope the pain and bruising settles soon.

There's been lots of mouth watering dinner ideas over the last few days here.

Nothing too exciting here. I made a large pot of butternut squash soup 🍲 on Monday as well as a quiche with broccoli mushroom and pork. Yesterday was left over pumpkin soup with parmesan.

Today toying with idea of veal, mushroom 🍄 and creamy mash. But depends on how the day turns out.

carolehalston

Last night's dinner was air fried shrimp lightly breaded in Louisiana fish fry, scalloped potatoes and salad with lettuce, cucumber, avocado and blue cheese. Very tasty.

Tonight is a Christmas dinner party with golfing friends. I'm bringing an appetizer that's a version of a cheese ball but won't be shaped in a ball! More like a mound.

M0mmyof3

Leftover pork chops and baked potatoes

eric95us

Potato soup, courtesy of my mother in law. I was over fixing a few things at her house...leaky faucet, replacing a toilet seat and fixing a shower door that had slipped off of its track.

I've had a pizza stone for awhile and I just got myself a nice ironwood pizza peel (birthday present to myself..I turned 58 last week). So, tomorrow I think I'm going to try to make a homemade pizza crust and pizza. I've found some ideas for sourdough pizza crusts listed in the King Arthur Flour baking books and I have sourdough starter. Sharon has already given me some requests for the pizza itself....anchovies, pepperoni, LOTS of cheese, onion, bell pepper and some garlic sauce. I also like anchovies, but I'll probably not put too many of them on the pizza, otherwise I'll be drinking water all night.

illimae

Had a large holiday lunch with former coworkers, dinner ended up being a croissant with cheese.

Condolences to you minus

Glad you’re ok moon

Happy belated birthday Eric

MinusTwo

Iliemae - have a wonderful time in New Orleans. Looking forward to hearing about all your food & drink experiences.

Eric - adding my belated B-day wishes.

Carole - if you think it's appropriate, I'd love to hear what meds the podiatrist gave you. I'm back using the 47% urea gel with everything else that is actually in plain old Vicks Vapor Rub. Only from the podiatrist it costs $47.00